To Follow or To Like???

With the influx of technology, information is no longer a scarce necessity. On the contrary, it has become a major income generating machinery in the so called world-wide-web. It paved the way for the advertisements in different websites and pop-up ads are here and there.

One of the interesting results of the so called information revolution is the active participation of the media men, both local and foreign media. Whether we are a viewer of television reports or a listener of a radio reports, you may also have observed that before the end of each program the news anchor will utter the words “Follow us on Twitter or Like us on facebook”. These short but powerful words concern me a lot.

I am a firm believer of fairness and equality. With the abovementioned practice of news anchors nowadays, I am concerned with the “small” and “not popular” social network websites. The latter are suppressed with the direct campaign or endorsement from powerful media practitioners. By analogy, “they are giving additional growth hormones to the giants and depriving nutrients and vitamins to the dwarves”. Also, it is like promoting (without a fee) the fastfood giants like McDonalds’ or Jollibee and failing to mention “Aling Gloria’s Carenderia” or “Mang Kiko’s Kaininan sa Kanto”.

I share this sentiment because under the law of France, the said practice is prohibited. On the contrary, in the United States it is sensationalized and now part of the tri-media system. Back to our country, our law on human relations under the New Civil Code provides under:

Art. 19. Every person must, in the exercise of his rights and in the performance of his duties, act with justice, give everyone his due, and observe honesty and good faith.

Art. 20. Every person who, contrary to law, wilfully or negligently causes damage to another, shall indemnify the latter for the same.

Thus, in my opinion something is not correct with the said practices. We are always captivated by fad and trend but sometimes we fail to realize that small people and small players are receiving more pains and more aches because of the undue advantage of the big and the famous.

We all love to be loved and be admired. We all like to promote and to recognize the big and the famous. However, we must not forget that every giant in this world also started as an infant. We must correct the said practice in order to avoid the harm against the “infants” in the social network arena.