Everyone text messages. It is just the normal way to communicate with someone quickly. Sometimes I've noticed my friends text messaging someone who is across the hall. I send several thousand texts per month alone. Never have I thought more of it than just a simple communication device to be used daily. Recently I read a very interesting article about a protest in the Philippines. President Joseph Estrada was a corrupt leader of the Philippines. We was impeached and had his trial on January 17, 2001. During this trial there were several loyalist in the Philippine Congress. They had voted to set aside key evidence that would surely put Joseph Estrada away for good.
As soon as the Filipino citizens heard they reacted quickly. They were extremely agnry that their corrupt president was about to be set free due to lack of evidence. In less than two hours after the decision was announced. several thousand Filipinos converged on the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue. The numbers kept on growing as time went on. Within the span of several days, over a million people arrived destroying all existing traffic patterns. The legislators were so shocked and alarmed the quickly reversed the decision and Estrada was gone for good by January 20. This result was due to the public's ability to collaborate and organize a massive and quick response.
The key method of communication for this protest was in fact text messaging. This really shocked me right here because text messaging seemed so mundane. I did not ever imagine it could amount to putting a corrupt official away. I mean within the span of three days, approximately seven million text messages were sent with most saying "Go 2 EDSA. Wear blk." Even the wording was very simple. Text messaging is a technology that can allow masses of people to collaborate. Never underestimate technology and how much it can affect the world.
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67038/clay-shirky/the-political-power-of-social-media
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