I think this incident once again shows how social media is making the news a shared experience. This, of course, is also a double-edged sword, because on the one hand, it brings the news to people who might normally not be interested in watching the news or visiting news sites. On the other hand, some may point out that this might, pardon the pun, inflate the importance of certain news items. Not to downplay the importance of the news, because I’m personally hoping the boy is all right, but as some Twitter users have already pointed out, CNN seems to have given too much coverage to it, considering other important things happening in the world, like, you know, wars and natural disasters.

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Many ordinary Filipinos have become heroes in the past two weeks, helping the victims of tropical storm Ondoy (international codename: Ketsana). We won’t be able to name them all, but to celebrate the spirit of Philippine heroism and inspire our countrymen, I hope Filipino Internet users can unite and vote for the Philippines’ Efren Peñaflorida as CNN Hero of the Year.

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Sure, CNN and Facebook have teamed up before for the historic inauguration of US President Barack Obama, but as I previously blogged, the online coverage of the Michael Jackson memorial is expected to become the biggest Web event in history.

If you want to take part in this online event, head on over to CNN.com/Live. If you’re on Facebook, you can already RSVP for the event. The Facebook/CNN event will start at midnight ET in the US.

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See, people can always say Ashton’s case is different because, well, he’s a celebrity, though it amazes me how some people can’t see how big a victory this is for the Web. We’re talking New Media going toe-to-toe with Old Media, because the final stretch saw CNN pulling all the stops with its TV appeals, which Ashton countered via live video streaming on UStream.TV. It doesn’t get more dramatic than that.

So how about a Filipino online celebrity doing something like this? I’d root for HappySlip against Philippine media giants

The problem with Old Media is that they want to turn New Media into old news. Whatever you might personally feel about Ashton, this is the day New Media took on Old Media — and won.

Not even CNN’s aggressive TV push could stop the Web from winning. So I guess you could say we Punk’d CNN Malaria no more!

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Here’s an excerpt from my CNET Asia blog post.

I’m on sick leave right now and feel pretty awful, but I have to be part of this historic Twitter faceoff for a charitable cause.

Follow actor Ashton Kutcher at http://twitter.com/aplusk and help make him the first get a million followers on Twitter. If he wins, he will donate 10,000 mosquito bed nets to charity for World Malaria Day, and 1,000 if he loses.

Read the full story and follow http://twitter.com/aplusk

Let’s make history!