On Facebook, Italian prime minister denies resignation rumors

On the social networking site Facebook, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi denied reports that he would step down amid a worsening debt crisis in Italy. Berlusconi was responding to a newspaper report that he would step down within hours, the tech site Mashable reported on Tuesday. “The rumors of my resignation are groundless," read an English translation of the prime minister's entry - originally written in Italian - on his Facebook wall. As of 8:25 a.m. Manila time, 2,499 people had "liked" his statement. Some 333,330 people "like" his Facebook page. Mashable noted it was "unusual" for a politician to post something that is so likely to receive a firey response. "Facebook can quickly turn from open dialogue to public lambasting in the wrong circumstances," it noted. NATO official On the other hand, Berlusconi's use of social media to make a major announcement came a month after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) top official bared plans to end operations in Libya. Following the capture and death of former Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) Admiral James Stavridis bared his plan on Facebook and Twitter last October. “An extraordinary 24 hours in Libya. As SACEUR, I will be recommending conclusion of this mission to the North Atlantic Council of NATO in a few hours. A good day for NATO. A great day for the people of Libya," he said in his Facebook account. He posted a similar message on his Twitter account, adding a link to his Facebook post. At the time, tech site Wired.com pointed out this “has to be a first in the annals of social media." It also noted NATO had yet to put out any such official press release at the time the Facebook and Twitter announcements came out. - VVP, GMA News