Craig Knowles, Inle Lake, Burma, 2012
I live in Bangkok, Thailand, in the heart of Southeast Asia.
My passion for this dynamic part of the world eclipses even my love of
pop princess Kylie Minogue’s dance remixes, sipping a chilled Sauvignon Blanc
on my shaded tropical balcony and my penchant for fine food.
I’ve been knocking around in this region for a while — 20 years in fact.
It’s been a fascinating and fabulous adventure. I’ve covered civil unrest
in Thailand and East Timor; HIV/AIDS in remote mountainous parts of Laos;
interviewed Burmese dissidents, survivors of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime
in Cambodia, filmed stories on land mine victims in Vietnam, malnourished
children in Bangladesh, impoverished farmers in Indonesia and the catastrophic
2004 tsunami.
I have worked for newspapers, wire agencies including Reuters and The
Associated Press, radio stations, television networks and independent
production companies, even picking up an award or two along the way.
But that was all ‘MSM’ — No, not “Men who have Sex with Men,” as the
acronym stands for in the HIV/AIDS advocacy world, but MainStream Media, which
apparently is dying a slow death.
Recently, I’ve moved away from MSM (the mainstream media acronym not the
other one).
I have been thrust headlong into the world of social media, through
freelance work for Vocativ.com, an innovative new site which is currently in
Beta but is due go live later in the year.
Being an adaptable, if not always affable chap, I figured making the
transition from mainstream to social media would be a piece of cake, pardon the
bad cliche but I’m segueing, now, to an equally bad one.
Instead it’s left me with egg on my face, an online disgrace and “feeling
like a fool ” as Mary MacGregor sang in her only hit “Torn Between Two Lovers”
back in 1976, a song which still resonates with me as I’m sure it does with the
16 people reading this.
My foolishness stemmed from the glaringly obvious fact that when it came
to social media I was a Twitter twit, a Google Plus dunce who couldn’t even log
on to LinkedIn, let alone build a presence.
“You are somewhat lacking in social media skills,” my New York bosses
explained politely before I accidentally aborted our Skype call. I think they
ranked me somewhere between remedial and utter idiot. However, I do apparently
have a huge offline presence, they reassured me when I managed to reboot.
“Hi, I’m Craig and I have a huge offline presence,” I wanted to shout at
dinner parties.
The trick, NY said, was in parlaying my offline presence into “online
superstardom.”
To do that, I needed to “broaden my skills set,” which I always thought
were spatulas, stirring spoons and other kitchen utensils.
So over the past two weeks I’ve been doing just that; Tweeting,
re-tweeting, friending, commenting, posting, liking, hash-tagging and blogging
until my typing fingers cramped. I’m now on YouTube, Quroa, Blog.Spot,
Facebook, Twitter, have downloaded TweetDeck and TootSweet– sorry I mean
HootSuite.
Slowly, my efforts are beginning to yield results, thanks to the guidance
of a wonderful woman called Janelle and her colleagues in the Big Apple.
In fact, I’ve gone from limp-wristed wimp, to being able to pack a bit of
a punch, according to my ranking on Slap, or is it Klout?
In the past month, my Klout score has soared from 9 — which means you are
mildly retarded — to 55, which suggests I’m on the way to becoming an online “influencer.”
Either that or I’m teetering on the brink of lunacy and heading for a nervous
breakdown.
At first coming to terms with this vast, parallel universe was a chore.
But now I’m totally into it and starting to get the hang of things.
Mind you, there were a few major stumbling blocks. I was put in
both the Twitter and Facebook jails – temporarily — amid accusations of “cyber
stalking” when I tried to ‘befriend” and “follow” too many people.
Released on bail following this embarrassing setback, my journey
continues. Why am I doing this? So I can boast that I have 500 online friends,
492 more than in real life. Just kidding.
I’m into it because I’m learning as I move along that social media is
driving a quiet but powerful revolution in Southeast Asia.
Among other things, it has led to the rise — in stitched up Singapore of
all places — of gay rights advocacy with the advent of sites such as
fridae.com. This online influence has translated into the first-ever gay pride
celebrations in Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, which would have been unimaginable
just five years ago.
In Indonesia and the Philippines, ordinary citizens are taking corrupt
politicians to task via online people power forums. In Cambodia, a small but
active civil society is starting to speak out via social media, which totally
outshone mainstream coverage of devastating floods in Bangkok and Manila and
the bloody 2010 civil unrest in Thailand. It also played a significant role in
Myanmar’s decision to introduce political reform and reduce censhorship.
Southeast Asia is one of the fastest growing online markets in the world.
Indonesia ranks 4th globally and the Philippines number 8 in terms of Facebook
users.
Why? Because people are becoming more educated, sick of the censorship
and state-controlled media propaganda that was prolific in many countries for
so long, are logging on to obtain accurate information, crusading, campaigning,
making their voices heard.
Okay, enough ear-bashing for the moment. I now have at least six other “platforms”
— which I’ve discovered are not just 1970s disco shoes — in which to bang on.
And bang on I will.
Social media in Southeast Asia will continue to grow, it will play an
increasingly major role in leading the charge for change and reform.
Sure, we still have our issues: Corruption, political instability, lack
of democracy, poverty, environmental degradation and myriad other problems, but
as I’ll soon be an ‘influencer’, assuming I’d don’t lose my mind, I am
committed to help keep this extraordinary region on the radar. It is, afterall,
my adopted home.
Okay time to get off my high- horse and get on with things. I need to
check my four email accounts and log onto Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Google Plus,
Quora, Flora and Fauna — I made the last two up.
With all the hours I now spend online, I’m finding I have far less time
to ‘interface’ with anyone in the outside world.
Maybe I need to log off and get out
more!
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