The power of digital

For the longest time, restrained myself from registering to Twitter. I always thought that Facebook is more than enough. In a day, I probably check what's going on for 5 minutes in Facebook, and I already think that since I check daily, I'm already "active." Two days ago, I signed up to Twitter. I think many people share the same sentiment and especially for the elders, most have security concerns.

However, times have been changing. Trends come and go. Over the years, especially in the recent decades, technology has changed our ways of lives. Technology has changed our lives. No matter how we negate the power of technology and social media, it is compelling. I am old enough to share that I was once a Friendster user. Yes, people before Facebook, there was friendster. You grow your network there and even provide testimonials to close friends. The power of networking was intensified by Facebook. You get to share with and be aware of your friends and acquaintances' lives through stories told by pictures, status updates and comments. One can still connect with friends who are miles and miles away. However, more than this simple networking, socially responsible individuals and organizations have used facebook to make valuable propositions and organize activities for a cause.

To give you all an example, last year a senior citizen (Lola Aurelia) lost her 78-yr-old husband due to intermittent memory loss. Lola Aurelia printed a picture of her husband and distributed it in every street she can reach on foot. A student found her and posted her picture on facebook. People who have seen the picture doubled and tripled. Sooner than later, Lolo Luis was found.

Social media also revolutionized advertising. Coke open happiness was one of the most successful local product advertisement made using digital channels. Here's the video. Why did it become viral? Because it's very personal. It hit the soft spots of Filipinos - family. The most important message was stated in the video - Filipinos love merry making but many families are alone during the happiest day in the year, i.e., Christmas. So, Coke chose 5 overseas Filipino workers to come home to the Philippines for free. Talking about open happiness, right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_9fQEqZCWs

Why was it an example of revolutionized advertising? The video, like many of the advertisements these days, do not directly promote the product/service, instead, they tell stories; they appeal to the people's emotions. Obama's first race to presidency was fueled by social media and a youtube video "Obamagirl."

In my digital marketing class, I learned that actors, actresses, and other famous personalities earn a lot not only through advertising the products or appearing in TV commercials but because of their tweets. So guys, when you see celebrities tweet about a product, more often than not, they probably are being paid to do just that...

I can give you a lot of other examples of how powerful social and digital are but I think one way or another, you are aware of it. Networking? Social non sense? Think again...