Facebook or any social media platform has emerged globally. According to Wearesocial.sg, Filipinos spend about 6.3 hours on the Internet and 4.3 hours on social media. Furthermore, the top 3 most visited social media platforms are:
1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. Google+
Source: Media Stats Philippines 2015
Having said that, the COMELEC or Commission on Elections and Facebook teamed up to promote faster and cleaner Polls this 2016 election.
This is how Filipinos’ votes were collected before. Luckily this year, the government will use machines to collate the votes.
According to the Philippine star report, Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista confirmed that collaborating with Facebook will increase the ability to reach more Filipinos worldwide. He further explained that Facebook will be an integral part of the May 9 elections, as well as, promote greater participation and meaningful engagement in the said election.
Furthermore, the head of Facebook’s Public Policy for Asia Pacific, Elizabeth Hernandez also said that the partnership would expedite the process for approximately 47 million Filipinos on Facebook.
Hernandez was quoted by Philippine Star, she said: “We are excited by this partnership with Comelec. Filipinos log on to FB daily because they want to know and learn more about the candidates. They are also debating on different issues with their friends and the candidates also want to reach out to voters.”
I absolutely agree with her. We casually use Facebook to check the latest news and updates.
In fact, this spot-on Poster of the presidentiables shared by Rizel Vertudes had gone viral.
With or Without Facebook
While I am glad about this partnership between the COMELEC and Facebook, I believe that Filipinos are smarter than this. I noticed that people don’t “buy” the political ads anymore. We also know how to spot the fake from the true and genuine post. That’s how smart Filipinos are now. This only means we are definitely hungry for change.
We still have three months to rethink and reassess our future game changers or leaders. Let’s gather our thoughts and prepare our mindset in this coming May 9 2016 election.
Good luck COMELEC and Facebook, I am looking forward and hopefully, this will bring a win-win situation.
So, how about you? Do you think the partnership will really make a difference? Share your thoughts below!
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