We are still in shock over yesterday's massacre of civilians in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao in the run-up to the Philippine presidential elections in May 2010. The victims, who were beheaded, include at least 13 women, with the number of bodies recovered as of this writing already totaling 30.

Reporters Sans Frontieres has called the massacre a "dark day for press freedom" as at least 12 journalists were among the victims. On the social-networking site Twitter, updates may be found using the hashtag #maguindanao.


Here's the first exclusive video of the Maguindanao massacre site, which ABS-CBNNews has posted on YouTube. Warning: this video may be disturbing.





Meanwhile, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has just declared a state of emergency in Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, and Cotabato City.

Some users, including this writer, are puzzled by the deafening silence from the Twitter accounts of politicians, particularly the presidential and vice presidential candidates.

For example, here's what @essa tweeted:

Your silence (on #Maguindanao) is deafening--@giboteodoro @noynoyaquino @MaRoxas @ManuelVillar @SayChiz @loren_legarda @bayanifernando

The remark was directed to the Twitter accounts of presidential and vice presidential candidates (Chiz Escudero, by the way, has announced at a press conference this morning that he will not be running in 2010).

I think this just goes to show how politicians--in fact, anyone--should keep in mind that they are also being judged by how they use social media. If you're an elected official and you have the time to tweet about trivial matters such as what you had for lunch, then how can you not have anything at all to say about a tragedy like the Maguindanao massacre?

True, maybe like Barack Obama, some or all of these politicians may have never actually used Twitter, or have a staff member posting the updates on their accounts. But that makes it even more inexcusable. You have people who are diligent about posting updates on trivial matters, but you can't be bothered to post a statement about this tragedy?

Now, I'm not saying that these politicians don't care, or that they aren't doing anything about the tragedy through other venues. What they have to remember, however, is that by using social media as a tool, they are making it part of the public perception of them, and so should be sensitive to what they say and share on social networks. Or, in this case, what they don't say.


Seriously, what do you think will be the impression of people if you have all those tweets about your trip during your honeymoon, but not even one (as of this writing) on Maguindanao?

 

TechAtHand
Level:
Philippines

cvravishankar
Level:

slockums
Level:

kcyjason
Level:

mohammedyawer
Level:

matthewtan28
Level: