Musician Jim Paredes hits 'armchair' rebels on Twitter, Facebook

Netizens should do more than click the ‘share’ button or tweet about burning issues like the Ombudsman’s impeachment or the reproductive health bill, celebrity Twitter user Jim Paredes (@jimparedes) said on Wednesday. “A lot of people think that just because they tweeted, they already helped," Paredes said in an interview with GMA News Online. “We have to translate it into action." Describing some netizens as “armchair revolutionaries," Paredes emphasized the importance of physical presence in a number of issues. When unprecedented flooding inundated Manila and parts of Luzon in 2009, Paredes urged his Twitter followers to go beyond tweeting about the disaster and to go out and help. At that time, Paredes — whose growing number of followers is now at 86,889 — said he put up a center in his residence where people could drop their donations and work as volunteers. “You have to get out of your comfort zone," Paredes added. He also emphasized the importance of posting informed opinions online, asking the youth to read up and hone “the discipline to appreciate complexity." “You have to go beyond a 140-character slogan," said Paredes, referring to Twitter’s limit of 140 characters per post. Calls for protests on Facebook and Twitter have rocked the Middle East and North Africa in recent months, even toppling decades of authoritarian rule. In 1986, the singer-songwriter stood at the forefront of the People Power Revolution and composed a song inspired by the peaceful uprising, “Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo." UNICEF report: Seize digital technologies Launched to the Philippine media in Quezon City on Wednesday, the State of the World’s Children 2011 report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) banners the “far-reaching" benefits of digital technologies. “Adolescents and young people are using these technologies to express themselves through videos, audio recordings, and games. They are creating inspiring political movements, watchdog groups, and new modes of organizing that combine the online and the offline," says a portion of the report written by UNICEF’s Gerrit Beger and Harvard University’s John Palfrey, Urs Gasser, and Colin Maclay. MobileYouth co-founder Graham Brown, in the same UNICEF report, adds that the world must seize the advantages of mobile phone technologies, which have given the youth affordable access to the Internet and other sources of information. “The landscape has shifted significantly in less than a generation," Brown says. “We can no longer rely on specific organizations to be the sole agents of change; the speed at which issues arise and crises strike requires that we supplement more traditional modes of organizing with the kinds of youth-led grassroots movements made possible through mobile phone technology," he adds. “The world’s mobile youth will not only change the nature of mobile markets; they will also transform the development community’s outreach to promote social change and realize adolescents’ rights," says Brown. Facebook groups Talking to GMA News Online after the UNICEF report’s press launch, high school students explained how Facebook and Twitter help them improve their social involvement. Martin Duran, a fourth year high school student of Commonwealth High School, said he has recently joined a Facebook page advocating the use of technologies for peace. Meanwhile, third year high school student Marijoy Calimlim said she has listed herself in a Facebook page to stop the prostitution of children. Without discounting the contributions of virtual organizations, another student described face-to-face interactions as irreplaceable. For third year high school student Jessa Mae Ancog, comments in Facebook groups tend to be sidelined or ignored. “Hindi nila ina-absorb ang mga advice na galing sa ‘yo (They do not absorb the advice you give them)," said Ancog, explaining that groups that meet in person tend to go beyond pure talk. “Puwede kang makagawa ng action (You can translate things into action)," she said. — TJD/VS, GMA News