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Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION

From being a medium to connect with friends, social media has become a powerful
tool not only in advertising and public relations but also in promoting ideas and raising
social awareness of socially active Internet users called netizens. Since social media has
become a way of life for most of us, several researches had been conducted on how certain
individuals utilized Facebook to satisfy their needs and how certain organizations used the
platform in advertising and marketing efforts. However, few researches had been carried out
in order to determine its influence on an individuals opinion on pressing issues, a gap
which the researchers want to fill.
The researchers believe that the influence of social media, such as Facebook, on
individuals opinions need to be explored, as social media has given birth to the so-called
online activism, wherein people tend to voice-out their angst, opinions and calls for social
and political change through social media rather than going to the streets and join rallies
and demonstrations. It has later evolved into online revolutions, wherein certain uprisings
worldwide were said to be instigated through various social networks such as Facebook,
Twitter and Youtube.

Politics and Political Communication

Political communication has existed as long as human beings were engaged in either
persuasive communication directed towards political goals or informational communication
about politics, or both activities (Sanders 2009). As Aristotle said, man is by nature a political
animal and that politics is part of human instinct.

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Based on its etymology, the word politics comes from the Greek word polis,
meaning the state, which can be attributed from the writings of great political thinkers, such
as Plato and Aristotle. Around 380 B.C., Plato wrote the Socratic dialogue novel The
Republic which provides the characteristics of an ideal state. It must be noted that most of
the content of the novel focus on the discussion of justice. In the introduction and analysis of
the translated version of The Republic, Jowett (2008) states that for justice is the order of
the State, and the State is the visible embodiment of justice under the conditions of human
society. The one is the soul and the other is the body, and the Greek ideal of the State, as of
the individual, is a fair mind in a fair body. Thus, politics is not simply the process on how
statesmen govern over their citizens, but the process by which we strive for a just state.
McNair (2007) describes political communication as a purposeful communication
about politics, which includes all communication by political actors for the specific of
specific purposes. The dynamism of the comprehension on the nature of political
communication is clearly reflected on the workshop conducted by Annenberg Public Policy
Center in 2012, wherein participants gave different views and definition. Lynn Sanders
defines political communication as any direct or mediated exchange of ideas and either
visual or verbal messages in a noticeably public space which intend or significance is to
modify the structures or products of government or to avert that modification. Oscar Gandy
has a different view, and believes that political communication is the term applied to the
identification or characterization of messages, statements or information thought to be
relevant to the formation of responses to social problems. Judging from these definitions,
we can extract that political communication concerns any content that affects the function of
a political system, a two-way process from which those who hold political powers conveys
messages with ordinary citizens and vice versa.
Meanwhile, Meadow (1980) describes political communication as any exchange of
symbols or messages that to a significant extent have been shaped by, or have consequences
for, the functioning of the political system. A simpler discussion of political communication
was provided by Doris Graber (2005), wherein she elaborated in a journal article that the
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message senders or message receivers on a political communication maybe politicians,
journalists, members of interest groups, or private, unorganized citizens. This provides us
with a clear picture of who are the so-called political actors. She added that it encompasses
the construction, sending, receiving, and processing of message that potentially has a
significant direct or indirect impact on politics.
Thus, in order for a message to be considered political in nature, it must have a
significant political effect on the thinking, beliefs, and behaviors of individuals, groups,
institutions, and whole societies and the environments in which they exist (Graber, 1993).
The rise of the Internet significantly increases and complicates political
communication and promoting the sense of collective actions (Davis, 1999; Galston, 2000),
since it provides a source of political information and a sphere for political expression
(Dalhgren, 2000; White, 1997), both of which would seem to support civic engagement.
Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) is simply defined as "any
communication patterns mediated through the computer" (Metz, 1992). A working
definition of CMC was provided by December (1996), who describes it as the process by
which people create, exchange, and perceive information using networked
telecommunications systems that facilitate encoding, transmitting, and decoding messages.'
The following year, December (1997) further describes CMC as process of human
communication via computers, involving people, situated in a particular contexts, engaging
in processes to shape media for a variety of purposes. He further elaborated that studies of
CMC can view this process from a variety of interdisciplinary theoretical perspective, such
as political aspects and draw on fields such as human communication, rhetoric and
composition and media studies.
McKenna et al. (2002) hypothesize that CMC creates greater intimacy because of its
(1) anonymity, (2) lack of "gating" barriers (e.g., physical attraction cues), and (3) facilitation
of locating those with shared interests. They predict that these features will lead towards
self-disclosure and expression of true self and concluded that "internet relationships tend to
develop closeness and intimacy more quickly than do real-life relationships" and discovered
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that the relationship between liking and the processes of uncertainty reduction, depth, and
breadth of disclosure was greater in CMC interactions than in Face to Face (FtF) interactions.

Facebook: Connecting People

Founded in 2004, Facebook is a Social Networking Site (SNS) that aims to make the
world more open and connected, and according to the Facebook Factsheet 2012, people
use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover whats going on in the
world, and to share and express what matters to them.
In just 8 years after its launch, Facebook now has more than one billion monthly
active users, wherein approximately 81% of its monthly users are outside the U.S and
Canada. More than half of these monthly active users, or about 604 million, used Facebook
mobile products as of September 30, 2012, and an average of 584 million daily active users
wherein the median age of these users is about 22 years old. (Facebook/Factsheet 2012)
About 43% of Facebook users are male while the remaining 57% are female, and
there are around 300 million photos uploaded and more than 3.2 billion likes and comments
and Facebook everyday (Web Monitoring, 2012).
The top five countries with regard to usage are USA, Brazil, India, Indonesia and
Mexico, according to rank. (Facebook/Factsheet 2012) Meanwhile, the Philippines ranked 8 th
of all Facebook statistics by country, with more than 30 million Facebook users (Social
Bakers, 2012).
Data from SocialBakers (2012) shows that almost one out of every 4 Filipinos has a
Facebook account. Moreover, their data present that about 39% of Facebook users in the
Philippines are 18-24 years old while 24% are 25-34 years old, and 52% of Filipino Facebook
users are female, which is consistent with the global trend.

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According to the survey conducted by A.G. Nielsen (2012), there are about 94.7
percent of Filipino netizens who spent around 21.5 hours per week on the Internet, wherein
40% of this is allotted to social media. The said survey also revealed that Asians trust social
media more that traditional media such as television, radio and newspaper.
Considering the huge number of people who utilize Facebook, it will not come as a
surprise if it was being utilized by individuals and cause-oriented group in order to
popularize a particular issue and seek for support in order to achieve social change.

Facebooked revolution
Google Marketing Executive Wael Ghonim created a Facebook page, which he
named We Are All Khaled Said, after seeing a photograph of a bloodied and disfigured
face of 28 year old Khaled Mohamed, who had been beaten down to death by Egyptian
police. In a matter of two minutes, the page achieved 300 likes, which had grown to more
than 250,000 in just three months.
Being an online marketer, Ghonim knows that a Facebook page would be a better
way to spread information than creating a Facebook group. He utilized an informal tone,
using the pronoun I to establish the fact that the page was not managed by an organization,
but an ordinary Egyptian who is distressed by the cruelty that caused Khaled Saids death
and wants justice to be served.
He then created the page January 25: Revolution Against Torture, Poverty,
Corruption and Unemployment to promote the biggest scheduled rally in Egypt.
Thousands of anti-government protesters joined the rally in Cairo and 20 other sites, an
event which made history since it was the first successful action after so many failed
attempts to organize a protest action. On February 11, 2011 after weeks of continued protest
and pressure, Hosni Mubarak, who ruled Egypt in almost 30 years, was forced to resign
from office.
The success of the Egyptian revolution inspired other countries, such as Bahrain and
Libya, who also made use of Facebook to organize protest actions. The wave of protests
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organized through social media have reached Asia, wherein more than 100,000 people
gathered inside and outside the historic Stadium Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur on January 12,
2013, in the rally tagged as Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat (Uprising of the Citizens) in
support of the multisectoral campaign for more democratic reforms in governance.
In an article in the online publication The Guardian, Beaumont (2011) explained the
phenomenon. He said that The medium that carries the message shapes and defines as well
as the message itself. The instantaneous nature of how social media communicate selfbroadcast ideas, unlimited by publication deadlines and broadcast news slots, explains in
part the speed at which these revolutions have unraveled, their almost viral spread across a
region.
Judging from Beamounts explanation, the researchers believe that the rise of social
media has broken all the boundaries that the traditional media cannot penetrate and gave
birth to citizen journalism, wherein the news today cannot be monopolized by traditional
media outlets but can be broadcast by ordinary people, making the presentation of facts and
opinions more diverse.

TANGINA THIS! Facebook page

In Philippine setting, wherein bloody and peaceful revolutions have been part of our
history, certain groups and individuals have been using social media to revolutionize the
process of informing and educating Filipinos on different socio-political issues, in the hope
of arousing them to take actions to achieve genuine change.
The Facebook page TANGINA THIS! was created in July 7, 2011 and to date has
gained more than 147,000 followers. Since its creation, it has been a tool in discussing
different socio-political and cultural issues, often with the use of photographs and satire,
and a venue for members to share their opinions on such concerns. The TANGINA THIS!
mocks the status quo, presenting calls for change in the socio-political system.
TANGINA THIS! Facebook page has become a statement, where people tend to
associate the phrase TANGINA THIS! to express their angst on different occurrences in
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Philippine society which are often ironic. Moreover, though it is not being sold, t-shirts with
the words TANGINA THIS! printed on them have become a fashion statement for a handful
of people, including personalities such as writer Jun Cruz Reyes and artist Jim Libiran.
However, TANGINA THIS! Facebook page is now under threat, after the
Cybercrime Law was enacted on September 12, 2012 which is said to have questionable
provisions. Some of these provisions are Section 19, or the takedown clause that allows the
Department of Justice (DOJ) to shut down websites that contain harmful content considering
only prima facie evidence, and Section 6 which increases by one degree the crime of libel
which is already covered by the Revised Penal Code (RPC).
In response to the controversial Cybercrime Law, on online protest was held on
October 2, 2012 dubbed as Black Tuesday. A group called Philippine Internet Freedom
Association (PIFA) encouraged social media users to switch to the "black" profile photo to
support mounting protests against what they call the Cyber Martial Law.
Anonymous Philippines, a group of hactivist, had defaced government websites,
including the National Telecommunications Commission, the Philippine Information
Agency, the Food Development Center and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, as part of efforts
to stop the implementation of the Cybercrime Law. Some netizens put a black bar as their
status message, instead of words, followed by [POST BLOCKED], to simulate censorship,
which some fear the law would bring about.
Meanwhile, the arrest of 62-year-old environmentalist Esperlita Garcia, dubbed as
Cyber Perling, has become a rallying point for netizens who are against implementation of
the Cybercrime Law. Garcia was arrested on October 19, 2012 and detained overnight by
agents of the National Bureau of Investigation on a warrant issued on October 9, 2012 by the
Regional Trial Court in Appari, Cagayan on the basis of the libel cased filed by Gonzaga
Mayor Carlito Pentecostes Jr., who alleged that Garcias Facebook post on May 1, 2011, was
malicious and defamatory.

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Furthermore, during the oral argument on the Cybercrime Law, Solicitor General
Francis Jardeleza stated that a simple like or share of a Facebook post, or a retweet on
Twitter, of a libelous statement constituted a violation of the law.
The Supreme Court had first issued a temporary restraining order, stopping its
implementation for 120 days, which was supposed to be lifted last February 6, 2013.
However, in the course of the oral argument and probably due to several protest actions that
were held against the said law, the Supreme Court decided on February 5, 2013 to
indefinitely suspend the Cybercrime Law.
With a growing number of people who have joined in, it is logical for us to think of
the possibility of TANGINA THIS! following the same path as We Are All Khaled Said,
paving ways for genuine change in the Philippine society. The probability of the said
scenario can only be weighed by determining the effects of TANGINA THIS! on the opinions
of its members to current political issues, which for the purpose of this study is limited to
the Cybercrime Law due to its possible impact on the freedom of speech of netizens, since
the increase in political awareness through educated discourse is necessary in order to
realize concrete actions outside the boundaries of the virtual world.

Statement of the Problem

This research sought answers to this problem:
Is the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page effective in shaping the opinion of their
members on the Cybercrime Law?

Objectives
1. To identify the reasons why its followers visit the page
2. To gauge the level of influence of the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page on the
opinions of its members on the Cybercrime Law
3. To determine the role of social media as a platform in shaping public opinion and
achieving changes in the Philippine society
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Significance of the Study

Non-Government and Mass Organizations. The research would benefit nongovernment and mass-organizations as its conclusions and recommendations could provide
them with knowledge on the effectiveness of social media, specifically Facebook, as a
platform to promote their advocacies and gather support in their plights.
Media Studies. The study will also enrich scholarly researches about media as it
discussed the effectiveness of Facebook as a medium in shaping the opinion of its users in
order to produce concrete actions to achieve change in the socio-political system. It also
provides insights and analysis on Facebook as a Public Sphere.
Mass Communication Students, Professors and Media Practitioners: The result of
the study will provide students, professors and media practitioners with understanding of
the evolving era of social media, specifically on the claim that it can be used in order to
create movements and revolutions to achieve social change.

Scope and Limitations

The researchers chose to focus on the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page, since it is one
of the most popular political Facebook pages in the Philippines, and decided to limit their
study to posts related to the Cybercrime Law because it is an issue that may have a direct
impact with the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page and its members, considering that the
content of the said page may infuriate some people who hold key positions in the
government.
In order to accomplish the objectives of the research, the researchers utilized an
online survey method to determine the effectiveness of TANGINA THIS! Facebook page on
shaping the opinion of its members on the Cybercrime Law. The link of the said online
survey was posted on TANGINA THIS! Facebook page, and private messages were sent to
some members of the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page as well. The researchers limit their

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respondents to members of the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page in order to ensure that they
are already exposed with the content of the said page.
Furthermore, the researchers focused on posts on TANGINA THIS! Facebook page
about the Cybercrime Law from January 8 to January 16, 2012, the week when several
activities and protest actions were held in response to the Supreme Courts oral argument
about the Cybercrime Law, thus it is safe to assume that members of the TANGINA THIS!
Facebook page will likely be active in responding to our survey.
Focus interview with Dr. Rolando Tolentino, Dean of the University of the
Philippines Diliman College of Mass Communication, was carried out in order to gather
his views on the global trend of online activism and the effectiveness of social media in
promoting social change in the Philippines.

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Chapter 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents the related literatures that enhanced the researchers
understanding of the power of social media as a venue in promoting ideologies through
reflections on the use of social media in promoting civic participation, debate on whether
social media is a major factor in global events, cyber activism and Internet as a public
sphere.

Strengthening the Democracy through Social Media

The rise of social media has paved way for the proliferation of communications with
political content. Veramu (2011) said that social networks facilitate the process of diffusing
power from a centralized political system to the masses. According to him, many have
discovered the power of networks as a medium for clamoring for social change, and added
that these collective actions threatened the ruling clique since the power of ordinary citizens
to write and load pictures is a kind of Pandoras Box of threatening values that can remove
their corrupt systems.
According to Shirky (2010) As the communications landscape gets denser, more
complex, and more participatory, the networked population is gaining greater access to
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information, more opportunities to engage in public speech, and an enhanced ability to
undertake collective action. In the political arena [...] these increased freedoms can help
loosely coordinated publics demand change.
True enough, we have been witness to various social movements and protest said to
be instigated by political page in Facebook, such as the Egypt revolution that ended the
almost three decades reign of Hosni Mubarak. This incident spread like wildfire in other
countries.

Shirky (2010) emphasized the political importance of conversation. According to

him, mass media plays a vital role in message transmission. People who are into social
media are very open in expressing their opinions. Once the messages get uploaded, these
are easily transmitted by the media, and then get echoed by friends, family members, and
colleagues. It is in this second, social step that political opinions are formed. This is the step
in which the Internet in general, and social media in particular, can make a difference. As
with the printing press, the Internet spreads not just media consumption but media
production as well it allows people to privately and publicly articulate and debate a
welter of conflicting views.
We must also state that political discussions raise awareness about collectives
problems, highlights opportunities for involvement, and thereby promotes civic
participation (Kwak, Williams, Wang and Lee, 2005; McLeod, Scheufele & Moy 1999).
The rise of the Internet substantially expands and complicates the process of
communication between political actors and with it the logic of collective actions (Davis,
1999; Galston, 2000). In comparison, the internet provides a source of political information
and a sphere for political expression ( Dalhgren, 2000; White, 1997), something which cannot
be achieved by traditional media, both of which would seem to support civic engagement.
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However, Lupin and Sin (2008) assert that these optimistic appraisals overlook the
possibility that evolving technologies can make some collective endeavors harder to
maintain or easier to destroy. From his views, we can expect that the worldwide revolutions
that have been born from the embryo of social media activism may not be able to maintain
its current momentum, and may subside if not fueled by further actions outside the walls of
the World Wide Web.
The above-mentioned literatures provide the researchers with understanding on how
social networks can provide the masses the power to amplify their voice in order for them to
be heard by public officials. These literatures equip the researchers with knowledge on how
political communications through the Internet can give birth to civic participations.
However, these actions may not be maintained without physical actions outside the virtual
world. Since the researchers study aimed to gauge the influence of Tang-Ina This! Facebook
page in shaping their members opinion on the Cybercrime Law, the readings provide the
researchers with appreciation that its efficiency will rely on the medium it chose to exploit.

On Social Media, Cyber Activism and Revolutions

There is an ongoing debate on whether social media is a major factor in global
events, particularly revolutions that occurred in different countries. According to Gladwell
(2011), the new tools of social media have reinvented social activism. He added that with
the use of social media, the traditional relationship between political authority and popular
will has been upended, making it easier for the powerless to collaborate, coordinate, and
give voice to their concerns (Gladwell, 2011)
Gladwell further argued that people protested and brought down governments
before Facebook was invented. He cited that even though there are only few people who
had a phone in East Germany in the 1980s, they were able to mobilize hundreds of
thousands of people in central Leipzig and brought down a regime, and added that during
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the French revolution, the crowd in the streets spoke to one another with the use of their
own voice. He concluded that people with a grievance will always find ways to
communicate with each other. How they choose to do it is less interesting, in the end, than
why they were driven to do it in the first place (Gladwell, 2011).
Meanwhile, Ladhani (2011, p.57) commented that Gladwell fails to acknowledge one
significant point, which is that the objectives of online social activism are not the same as
those the type of activism found at a protest or sit-in.
According to her, instead of comparing online social activism through social media
to the physical act of social activism, it needs to be considered and evaluated as a vehicle for
free speech, information sharing, and online organizing (Ladhani, 2011). She also claimed
that social media will remain a critical component during major global events and that it
can be a powerful tool for activists when it will be used to exercise free speech, share
information online and organize (Ladhani, 2011).

From these different point of view, we can say that the causality between social
media and physical protests is yet to be proven, but there is somehow a correlation between
how people utilizes such platforms and how it supported the protests held in different parts
of the globe. These literatures also cited differences between Cyber activism and Social
activism.
According to Schultz (2008, p.4), movements cannot succeed without good
communication and effective communication among activists He cited Facebook activism
in his book A Digiactive Introduction to Facebook Activism and emphasized that Facebook is a
positive arena for Digital activism since it provides a huge, networked user base, wherein
each member has a newsfeed that allows newsfeed that announces every activity (Schultz,
2008, p.4). Creating a group on Facebook is easy and for free and it enables members to
participate in an advocacy by uploading their own videos, pictures, and commentary. Lastly,

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Schultz said that members of the group chose to participate, thus providing an opportunity
to talk with other group members.
Langman, Morris and Zalewski (2003) define cyberactivism as the extensive use of
the Internet to provide counterhegemonic information and inspire social mobilizations.
Afife Idil Akin (2011, p.40) stated that cyberactivism is praised as a means of change and
democracy since it reaches out to state and non-state actors all around the world and it
overcomes state regulations. Being a medium that is not constrained by any geographical
boundaries, Internet promotes the idea of creating a virtual public sphere within which it is
possible to pursue political goals without any constraints by any form of authority (Akin,
2011). With the presence of Internet groups, those who are blocked of access by traditional
gatekeepers in media and publishing now has the capability to bypass the barriers in order
to get into media and publication. (Naughton, 2001) Cyberactivism is now considered as a
new space for the struggle of voices and groups excluded from the mainstream media
(Kellner, 2001).
However, other theories that related cues in the study of Computer Mediated
Communication, such as social presence theory and the lack of social cues hypothesis
(Siegel, Dubrovsky, Kiesler, & Mcguire, 1986; Sproull & Kiesler, 1986), suggest that CMC
occluded the cues to individuality and normative behavior that face-to-face interaction
transacts nonverbally. The absence of such nonverbal cues serve as barriers for
communicators from learning the demographics and other characteristics of others, and as a
result CMC confers no peripheral cues to persuasion (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). Thus,
CMC users process messages through central routes to persuasion alone, which limits the
chance of having a change in attitude.
Schultz (2008, p.5) also cited the negative sides of Facebook activism, such as
disorganization due to huge amount of content that can be uploaded by Facebook users.
Posts regarding a socially relevant issue can passed unnoticed due to other content being
uploaded in a particular page. Dedication to a particular cause cannot be gauged by mere
joining of the cause and that group size does not indicate genuine interest, thus we cannot
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determine the exact number of members who will participate in a certain action until the
event actually occurs. Finally, we must take into consideration that Facebook is not really
designed for activism.
Dr. Rolando Tolentino (2011), in an article in the online newspaper Bulatlat, supports
this idea by writing,
Nagiging politikal o sa mas spesifiko, kontraryong politika ang posts
dahil ang user ay politikal hindi dahil pwedeng maging politikal ang FB.
Kapag

ni-like,

halimbawa,

ang

rebolusyon

ay

hindi

dahil

pinapahintulutan ito ng FB kundi dahil sa sandali ng pagpasok ng

rebolusyon sa FB, at maging sa internet, ito ay nagiging chika na.
Nasa aktwal na tao (hindi lamang dalirit koordinasyon nito sa matat
utak) para ang rebolusyonaryong chika kapag dumaan sa virtual na
platform ay muling maging politikal na pagkilos. At magagawa
lamang/pa ito kapag ang politikal ay ibinalik muli sa aktwal na pagkilos
para sa pagbago. Hindi mababago ang mukhat kaluluwa ng Internet
pero ang aktwal na lipunan, maari.
From Tolentinos remarks, we can say that the possibility that revolutionary
discussions on Facebook, which is a virtual platform, will be translated into political actions
lies in the hands of those who engage in online political discourse. The debate on the
causality of Facebook and revolutions is again being questioned, and this research aims to
add an argument that either support or contest the cause-and-effect relationship of the two.
Quoting from the title of the book written by Wael Ghonim, the power of the people
is greater than the people in power. More than ever, we need to identify or at least provide
empirical data in order to gain a deeper understanding on how social media shapes the
opinion of its users on socio-political issues that is essential in promoting civic participation
on actions against pressing issues.
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The above literatures make the researchers decipher the pros and cons of utilizing
social media in organizing protests in order to achieve changes in the society. These texts
provide the researchers with knowledge on how social media reinvented social activism by
providing a venue to discuss current issues without any constraints from traditional
gatekeepers and also present the researchers the claims that Facebook is not designed for
activism and that having political discussions online will not guarantee political actions.

Internet and the Public Sphere

Jrgen Habermas, a German sociologist, defines the Public Sphere as the sphere of
private people come together as a public. (Habermas 1962, p. 27) This concept has always
been connected to the concept of society, wherein it is said to be central to the daily
functioning of the democratic society where the ruled can develop and express their
political will to the rulers. (Dahlgren & Sparks 1991, p.2)
In his attempt to connect the concept of the Public Sphere and New Media and
Journalism, Peter Dahlgren and Colin Sparks in their book Communication and Citizenship:
Journalism and the Public Sphere in the New Media (1991) described the concept of the
Public Sphere as one which points to the issues of how and to what extent the mass media
can help citizens to learn about the world, debate their responses to it and reach informed

decisions about what courses of action to adopt.

However, there are popular studies which contradict Habermas Theory of Public
Sphere, such as Oscar Negt and Alexander Kluges The Public Sphere and Experience.
According to them, the bourgeois public sphere is a mere illusory synthesis of the totality
of the society and organizational form of the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, and that it
fails to put into consideration and contextualize life experiences of the people involved in
the system. (Negt & Kluge, 1993: 55-56) Thus, they conceptualized a proletarian public
sphere to consider the life of individuals who participates in a discourse. Because of
Habermas lack of consideration and disregard of the proletariat with his promotion of the
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bourgeoisie public sphere, he has been accused of being an elitist and idealist (Crossley &
Roberts, 2004).
An issue has also been raised by Poster (2004) in his essay "The Net as a Public
Sphere". He claimed that "disembodied exchange of video text is not a substitute for face-toface meeting" He argued that the ability of netizens to "define their own identities and
change them at will is "not consonant with forming a stable political community as we have
known it" (Poster, 2004).
The above-mentioned literatures relate to the study since the researchers study
aimed to determine if the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page can be considered as a Public
Sphere through analyzing if there is presence of discussions that will help the TANGINA
THIS! Page members reach a consensus. The statements presented such as the lapses made
by Habermas in conceptualizing the Public Sphere and its inability to create a unwavering
political community can either be proven or challenge by the results of this study.

Synthesis
The rise of social media has broken the gates by which communication passes. It
revolutionized the flow of information, which is for the longest time has been monopolized
by the various but few traditional media outlets, which more often than not are controlled
by the elite or those who already hold key positions in the government. Furthermore, social

media has broken the barrier between the public servants and general public and further
democratized the political system by providing a mean for ordinary citizens, particularly
those who belong to the middle class, to express their voice to uplift their existing social
conditions.
The role of social media to give birth to protest action can be gauged by identifying if
it has the necessary qualities to be considered as a Public Sphere, which is an important
factor in this study since there are also questions that were raised with regard to the

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effectiveness of social media to form a public consensus regarding a certain issue and lack of
empirical evidence to support that social media indeed caused uprisings in some countries.

Chapter 3
STUDY FRAMEWORK

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The following communication theories were used as the foundations of this study on
the effectiveness of TANGINA THIS! Facebook page on shaping the opinions of its members
to current political issues.

The Public Sphere

In his book The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (1962) Habermas defines
the Public Sphere as the sphere of private people come together as a public. (Habermas
1962,p.27) By the term public, Habermas refers to events and occasions that are open to
all, in contrast to closed and exclusive affairs. In The Public Sphere: An Encyclopedia Article
(1964) Habermas further describes "the public sphere" as a realm of our social life in which
something approaching public opinion can be formed. He further discuss that citizens
behave as a public body when they confer in an unrestricted fashion, where everyone has a
guaranteed access and anyone has the freedom to express and publish his or her opinion
about matters of general interest.
It must be noted that the ideas Habermas was promoting were referring to the
bourgeois public sphere. One might get the notion that the said ideas can only be applied to
those who belong to the middle-class or the bourgeoisie, but this limiting factor of the
concept of public sphere must be attributed to the fact that Habermas study came from his
observations on discourse being held in facilities that are only accessible to the bourgeois.
Such facilities include coffee houses and salons, which in Habermas point of view "may have
differed in the size and compositions of their publics, the style of their proceedings, the
climate of their debates, and their topical orientations. (Habermas 1962, p. 36) From this
perspective, Habermas concluded that there are three institutional criteria in common, first
of which is that this public sphere preserved a kind of social intercourse that, far from
presupposing the equality of status, disregarded status altogether. Second is that
discussion within such a public presupposed the problematization of areas that until then
had not been questioned, and finally that however exclusive the public might be in any
given instance, it could never close itself off entirely and become consolidated as a clique.
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(Habermas 1962, p.36). From these ideas, readers of Habermas concept may interpret that in
the public sphere, there is equality among members notwithstanding what class they
represent and that it is a venue than can be accessed by anyone. It can also be said that due
to their discourse, participants in a public sphere can predict issues that may occur based
from a particular instance.
Dahlgren (1995) said that publics exist only in so far as there are active exchanges of
views and information among its citizens. He added that the public sphere takes place
when citizens, exercising the rights to assembly and association, gather as public bodies to
discuss issues of the day, specifically those of political concern. (p.7) Habermas concept of
public sphere insists on the analytic centrality of reasoned, critical discourse, thus active
reasoning of the public must be present and such discussions will give birth to public
opinion that will shape the policies of the state and the development of society as a whole.
(Dahlgren 1995, p.8).

Member 1
Member 2

Public
Opinion

Civic Participation

Member n

Figure 1. Researchers Theoretical Model of Public Sphere

The oblique that encompasses Member 1 to Member n signifies they belong to a

Public Sphere where they discuss about different issues. These rational discourses will later
create a public opinion represented by the circle overlapping with the oblique. The public
opinion created will then result to civic participation. The line from public opinion going to
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the box containing civic participation means that members who share the same opinion will
join such action.

Two-Step Flow Model of Mass Media and Personal Influence

In The Peoples Choice, a 1944 study focused on the process of decision-making during
an election campaign specifically the United States presidential election of 1940, Paul
Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet introduced the two-step flow of
communication hypothesis. The research was conducted in order to find empirical evidence
that media messages directly influence voting intentions, but the researchers were surprised
that the personal contacts were cited by the respondents far more frequently than exposure
to radio or newspaper as influence on voting behavior. With the use of this data, Katz and
Lazarsfield developed the two-step flow theory of mass communication
(see page 21, Figure 2).

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Figure 2. Kantz and Lazersfields

Two-Step Flow Theory of Mass Communication

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The model shows that information from the media flows in two distinct stages. First,
the opinion leaders who pay close attention to the media and its messages receive
information. The second step involves the delivery of message from the opinion leaders to
those individuals who have social contact with them. The two-step flow of communication
model reveals that the power of mass media to influence public opinion is indirect and relies
on the influence of local opinion leaders.
The model of two-step flow involves the following main assumptions (Mcquail &
Windahl 1981:63) :

1. That individuals are not social isolates, but members of social groups interacting
with other people.
2. That response and reaction to a media message will not be direct and immediate,
but mediated through, and influenced by, these social relationships.

3. That two processes are involved, one of reception and attention and another of
response in the form of acceptance or rejection of the influence or information attempt.
Reception does not equal response, nor does non-reception equal non-response (because of
secondary acceptance from personal contracts)
4. That individuals are not all equal in the face of media campaigns, but have
different roles in the communication process and, in particular, can be divided into those
who are active in receiving and passing on ideas from the media and those who mainly rely
on other personal contacts as their guides.
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5. That the occupants of the more active role (opinion leaders) are characterized by
more use of the mass media, higher levels of gregariousness, a self-perception as influential
on others and as having an attributed role as source and guide.

Since the result of the research was unexpected and was not designed to specifically
test the flow of influence, the model they have came up with needs empirical verification.
Several criticisms and revision have emerged especially in relation to political
communication in modern democratic elections (Kraus & Davis 1976). According to
Macquail and Windahl (1981), the most serious weakness of this model was its implicit
denial or subordination of the original one-step process of influence from media to
individuals.
However, despite the many revisions and criticisms, it is clear that the idea of
personal influence is an important one for understanding many of the limits and alternatives
that still exist to mass communication (Mcquail & Windahl 1981:65).

Conceptual Framework
The following diagram (see page 23, Figure 3) is drawn to explain the methods by which
Tang-Ina This! shape their members opinion on the Cybercrime Law. Utilizing Public Sphere and
Two-Step Flow Theory of Mass Communication, the researchers come up with concepts that will
help them explain how these theories support their study.

Online media and other

Facebook pages

Member 1
Socio
political
contents
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Member 2

Member n

Public
Opinion

26
Facebook Page
Administrator

Civic Participation

Figure 3. Conceptual Framework

The figure shows that Facebook page administrator grabs contents from online
media and other Facebook pages and posts the links of these socio-political contents
through wall posts. The administrator of this Facebook page acts as an opinion leader that
shares his or her opinion with those he or she has contact with, the members of the page.
These members belong to a virtual Public Sphere represented by the dashed oblique. The
members read the posts and respond through like, share and comments, and their actions
will be reflected on their timeline. There will be exchanges of opinions, a rational discourse
between page members as well as the page administrator, represented by two way arrows
going to and from the socio political contents, which will later form public opinion. The
dashed line from public opinion and the dashed box containing civic participation means
that there is no guarantee that all members who share the same opinion will join such action
since it is on a digital platform.

Operational Framework
The following diagram (see p. 30 Fig. 3) is drawn to explain how the researchers will
dwell on the role of TANGINA THIS! Facebook page in shaping the opinion of its members
on current political issues using the stated communication theories stated above.

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Online media and other

Facebook pages

Member 1
TANGINA THIS!

Posts about
Cybercrime
Law

Member 2

Public
Opinion

Member n

Participation on
social actions related
to Cybercrime Law

Figure 4. Operational Framework

The figure shows that TANGINA THIS! Facebook page administrators grab contents
from online media and other Facebook pages and posts the links of these contents about the
Cybercrime Law on their wall. The administrator of the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page
acts as an opinion leader that shares his or her opinion with those they have contact with,
the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page members. These members belong to a virtual Public
Sphere represented by the dashed oblique. The members read the posts and respond
through like, share and comments, and their actions will be reflected on their timeline.
There will be exchanges of opinion, a rational discourse between page members as well as
the page administrators, represented by two way arrows going to and from the posts about
Cyber Crime Law, which is expected to form public opinion. The dashed line from public
opinion and the dashed box containing participation on protests against the Cybercrime

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Law means that there is no guarantee that all members who share the same stand will join
social actions related to the Cybercrime Law since it is on a digital platform.

Definition of Terms

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Comment - a post on Facebook that is a remark often related to the wall post in order to
provide added piece of information, give observations or statement.

Cybercrime Law a controversial law which criminalizes acts such as cyber- squatting,
cybersex, child pornography and libel.
Educated discussion exchange of views and opinions on a certain topic in a manner that
each member focuses on the issue at hand and no one will give any remarks that will alter or
hinder the logical flow of discussion.

Facebook is a popular free social networking website that was originally designed for
college students, but later on became open to anyone who is 13 years of age or older. It
allows registered users to create profiles, upload photos and video, send messages and keep
in touch with friends, family and colleagues.

Like - a feature on Facebook that allows users to show their support for specific comments,
pictures, wall posts, statuses, or fan pages.

Page Administrator a person/group of people who manages a Facebook Page

Page Member anyone who joins a Facebook page through hitting the like button.

Wall - the area on a profile or page on Facebook where friends and fans can post their
thoughts, views, or criticisms for everyone to see.

Wall posts any content that is posted on a Facebook wall

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Revolution involves a radical change in government that may also result in changes to the
economic system, social structure, and cultural values.

Share - a feature on Facebook that allows users to show their support for specific comments,
pictures, wall posts and statuses by enabling them to post a link of such content in their own
Facebook wall.

Timeline a feature on Facebook that allows users to track their activities on Facebook in
chronological order.

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Chapter 4
STUDY DESIGN

This is a qualitative and quantitative research that aims to describe and explain the
effectiveness of TANGINA THIS! Facebook page in shaping the opinion of its members on
the Cybercrime Law.

Methods and Sampling

Content analysis was employed to identify if there is any educated discussion that
occurred in TANGINA THIS! Facebook page regarding the Cybercrime Law, a factor that is
necessary in order to shape public opinion.
Monitoring was done from January 8 to January 16, 2013, the week when several
activities and protest actions were held in response to the Supreme Courts oral argument
about the Cybercrime Law, and the researchers analyzed related posts about the Cybercrime
Law based on number of likes, shares and comments, as well as any discourse that occurred
between members and administrator of the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page.
Survey method was utilized, which was done through convenience sampling. The
researchers made use of Survey Monkey, an online survey website, and the link of the said
survey was posted on TANGINA THIS! Facebook page. The researchers sought the aid of
the page administrators to ask the members to answer it and sent private messages to
selected members.
Focus interview with Dean Rolando Tolentino, Dean of the University of the
Philippines Diliman College of Mass communication was conducted to find out about his
views on the role of social media in promoting change in the Philippine society.

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Units of Analysis
There were three major units of analysis that were studied in this research.
First was the content, the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page, which was analyzed
based on the content of the posts related to Cybercrime law, the response of its members
that was reflected by the number of likes, comments and shares.
Second was the effectiveness of TANGINA THIS! Facebook page in shaping the
opinion of its members on the Cybercrime Law, which was analyzed based on their
individual answers on the survey form.
Third was the platform, social media particularly Facebook, which was evaluated
based on its role in achieving changes in the Philippine society.

Instruments
The researchers made use of Online Survey Form for the TANGINA THIS! Facebook
page members, Interview Guides for Dean Roland Tolentino and Monitoring Guide for the
content analysis.

Data Analysis
Data analysis was conducted as simultaneous activity with data collection,
categorization of information and interpretation.
Content analysis of posts in TANGINA THIS! Facebook page related to Cybercrime
Law was conducted simultaneously with data gathering through online survey. Contents
were reviewed based in the number of likes, comments and shares, as well as the discourse
that occurred on the page regarding the Cybercrime Law.
Respondents answers to the survey were analyzed based on the following criteria:
1. Reasons why the members liked the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page
2. Stand of TANGINA THIS! Facebook page members on the Cybercrime Law and
how the page influences their opinion on the said law.

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Chapter 5
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

This chapter presents and discusses the results of the online survey, content analysis
of posts on the TANGINA THIS! Facebook Page related to the Cybercrime Law and focus
interview with a social media expert. The data gathered primarily aimed to explain how
TANGINA THIS! Facebook page shape the opinions of their members on the Cybercrime
Law and the effectiveness of social media in promoting socio-political change in Philippine
society.

RESULTS OF THE CONTENT ANALYSIS

The following post on TANGINA THIS! Facebook page contained messages and
related links on the Cybercrime Law.

On January 8, 2013, TANGINA THIS! Facebook page administrators posted You

can't put a good website down~Sotto. E nagdown nga e bobo. with the link of an article from
[Link] entitled Sotto website hacked. The article conveyed that Senator Vicente Tito
Sottos website was hacked by Anonymous Philippines, a local hacking collective, in
connection with his participation in crafting the Cybercrime Law. The post had 188 likes, 16
shares and 35 comments. Most of the comments contained satirical remarks about Sen.
Sotto, a proponent of the Cybercrime Law who inserted the provision for online libel (see
page 30, Figure 5).

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Figure 5. Post about Sottos Website

TANGINA THIS! Facebook page administrators shared a photo from Baluarte Artists
Collective Facebook page on January 10, 2013, which showed the samples of t-shirt prints
that states #NoToCybercrimeLaw. It also promoted the different activities that were
launched in connection to the Anti-Cybercrime Law campaign. The said post had 100 likes,
22 shares and 2 comments (see page 31, Figure 6).

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Figure 6. Post on Anti-Cybercrime Law Activities

They also shared a post on Pixel Offensive Facebook Page on January 11,2012
containing the text Four days more! Another day, another destiny. This never-ending road to
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Calvary; He who does not want the Law of Cybercrime will surely come a second time. Four days
more! and an edited photo of the musical Les Miserables with a man holding a placard which
states Junk Cybercrime Law. The post has 179 likes, 29 shares and 10 comments. Most of the
comments contained statements of disgust against the said law. Some of the comments were
Even DOJ agrees that Sec. 19 of RA10175 is unconstitutional! and Fascists censoring the
internet! The said photo was reposted on January 13, 2012, which received 127 likes, 23
shares and 12 comments.
On the same day, the TANGINA THIS! Page administrators posted Mga cybercriminal ng bayan, sugod!, referring to the photo from Anakbayan Phil Facebook page that
contained the schedule of activities for the campaign against the Cybercrime Law. The said
photo was accompanied with the text Ibasura ang Cybercrime Law ni Aquino! Labanan ang
paglabag sa freedom of speech at iba pang karapatang pantao!, calling for actions to defend
freedom of speech and other human rights. The said post had 95 likes and 35 shares (see
page 33, Figure 7).
On January 12, 2013, TANGINA THIS! Page administrator posted Baka
magkalimutan lang. Black Tuesday ang January 15 para manatiling ok tayo dito sa Tangina This, in
connection with the photo on Tonyo Cruzs Facebook account that contains the date and
venue of the oral argument on Cybercrime Law. The post had 84 likes, 50 shares and 3
comments.
To further proliferate their campaign against the Cybercrime Law, TANGINA THIS!
Page administrator updated their cover photo, which states that I-Cyber Martial Law Nyo
ang Pwet Nyo. The said photo achieved 894 likes, 351 shares and 61 comments since it was
first used on September, 2012. Majority of the said comments were statements of disgust
against the said law and the lawmakers who endorsed it. Some members believed that the
said law was a threat to freedom of speech, while there were members who posted a
supposedly censored post accompanied by the text [COMMENT BLOCKED] [RA 10175]
to deliver their point. Some comments suggested that an argument took place between a
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certain member and other members, as well as the administrators, of the page regarding
their different stand on the said law.

Figure 7. Repost from Anakbayan

On January 13, 2012, TANGINA THIS! Facebook page administrators posted a photo
which contained the text DUGTUNGAN! Bumuo tayo ng tula kontra Cybercrime Law
in order to seek the aid of members to come up with a poem against the Cybercrime Law
that will be edited and to be read on the vigil against the Cybercrime Law conducted at the
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University of the Philippines Manila. The said post garnered 157 likes, 23 shares and 142
comments.
The same day, they posted a link via Tabakk Facebook page that contains a video
from Youtube entitled Anti-Cybercrime Law VP. The said post has 75 likes, 43 shares and 6
comments. Jack Villar Bernabe commented Imbes na FOI bill (bill) and (ang) ipasa, cybercrime
law ang sinampal sa atin! Tsk tsk tsk. Biktima nang [Link] dae (dati) pero utak [Link]
din, while member Le'Che Guevarra posted a quote from Internet activist Aaron Schwartz
saying "Information is power. But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves
(Figure 8).

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Figure 8. Cybercrime VP
On January 14, TANGINA THIS! Page administrator posted Ikanga... 'di nila, at
namin, kayo tatantanan! TANGINA THIS! lang ang walang ganti! which contained the link of
an article from [Link] entitled Hackers begin string of govt site defacements on
eve of Cybercrime Law oral arguments which discussed about government websites that
was defaced by Anonymous Philippines. It was able to achieve 36 likes and 13 shares, but no
comment. (Figure 9)

Figure 9. Hacking Spree

On January 15, TANGINA THIS! Page administrators shared a photo from Baluarte
Artist Collective Facebook Page, which simply promoted their free t-shirt printing that will
be conducted on the protest action in connection with the oral arguments on the Cybercrime
Law. All of the 7 members who posted a comment only inquired about the said activity. This
post had 83 likes and 5 shares.
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On January 16, TANGINA THIS! Page administrators posted a link of an article on
[Link] entitled Anonymous-Philippines makes public appearance during
Cybercrime law rally at Supreme Court. The said article discussed about the participation
of Anonymous-Philippines on the protest action held last January 15 in response to the oral
argument about the Cybercrime Law. There were 49 members who liked the said post, 5
commented while 2 members shared it. One of the members who posted a comment
thought that the Cybercrime Law was already repealed and was responded by a member
explaining that there is a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on the said law (Figure 10).

Figure 10. Anonymous Philippines

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RESULTS OF SURVEY

The greatest number (44%) of the respondents liked the TANGINA THIS! Facebook
page for more than a year, while about one-third (34%) are members of the page for about 6
months to a year. Other respondents have been a member of the page for about 3 6 months
(15%) or a quarter of a year (7%) when the survey was conducted (Table 1).

Table 1. Duration of membership in TANGINA THIS! Facebook page

Question

Frequency

Percentage

N=100

0 3 months

3 6 months

15

15

6 months 1 year

34

34

More than a year

44

44

How long have you been a

member of the TANGINA
THIS! Facebook page?

The respondents also enumerated their motivations why they liked the page. More
than one-fourth (28%) said that they support the page due to its socio-political content,
while some cited the pages catchy name (13%) and general content (13%) as reason why
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they became members of the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page. Other reasons cited were
support for the advocacy of the page, humor and entertainment, source of information,
freedom of expression, influenced by the promotion of the page by Tunay na Lalake
Facebook page or by a friend, photos being posted on the page, celebrities that are members
of the page and personal reasons (Table 2).

Table 2. Motivation why members liked the page

Reason

Frequency

Percentage

N = 100

(%)

Socio-Political Content

28

28

Catchy name of the page

13

13

Content in General

13

13

Supports advocacy of the

Humor and Entertainment

Learn other perspectives on

Source of information

Freedom of expression

Influenced by the promotion

page

current issues

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of the page by the Tunay na
Lalake Facebook page

Influenced by a friend to like

Personal

No response

the page

Like the photos being posted

on the page

Celebrities that are members

of the page

Almost all of the respondents (92%) have read post related to the Cybercrime Law on
the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page, while minority of them (8%) was not able to browse
such content. Almost all of the respondents are against the Cybercrime Law (91%) while
some (9%) agree with the content of the said law. While majority of the respondents are
against the said law, more than 7 out of 10 (73%) of them doesnt believe that their views
were affected by the posts that they have read and only 27% of the respondents consider that
their stand on the said law was influenced by the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page (Table 3).

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Table 3. Stand on the Cybercrime Law

Question

Frequency

Percentage

N=100

Yes

92

92

No

Yes

No

91

91

Yes

27

27

No

73

73

Have you read any post

related to the Cybercrime
Law on the TANGINA THIS!
Facebook page?

Are you in favor of the

Cybercrime Law?

Is your stand on the

Cybercrime Law affected by
the post you have read in the
TANGINA THIS! Facebook
page?

One-tenth of the respondents believes that their stand on the Cybercrime Law was
affected by the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page because they have gained more knowledge
about the said law. About the same number (9%) said that they share the same advocacy and
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opinion of the page about the Cybercrime Law. Some respondents believe that the page has
strengthened conviction upon learning they share the same opinion with other members,
while there is a member that found some of the posts offensive (Table 4).

Table 4. Effects on members stand on Cybercrime Law

Reason

Frequency

Percentage

N=100

10

10

Some posts are offensive

No / Irrelevant Response

64

64

Became more knowledgeable

about the Cybercrime Law

Share the same advocacy

and opinion of the page

Conviction was strengthened

upon learning they share the
same opinion with other
members

8 out of 10 (80%) respondents thought that they became more educated about the
Cybercrime Law because of their exposure to the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page, while
almost one-fifth (19%) of the respondents state that the page didnt affect their
understanding on the said law. On the other hand, three-fourth (75%) of the respondents
believe that the content and style of the post in the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page is
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effective in giving information about the details of the Cybercrime Law, while one-fourth
(25%) of them didnt share the same opinion (Table 5).

Table 5. Effectiveness of TANGINA THIS! in providing information about the Cybercrime

Law
Question

Frequency

Percentage

N=100

Yes

80

80

No

19

19

No response

Yes

75

75

No

25

25

Does TANGINA THIS!

Facebook Page provides you
with more knowledge about
the Cybercrime Law?

Are the content and style of

the post in the TANGINA
THIS! Facebook page
effective in informing the
page members about the
details of the Cybercrime
Law?

Simple and direct presentation of arguments (18%) and being informative (18%) of
the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page are the most common reasons why the respondent
thinks the page is effective in providing details on the Cybercrime Law. Aside from the
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stated cause, humor and satire, pages interactive nature and stand on what is true, respect
of members opinion and use of photos were also cited by the respondents (Table 6).

Table 6. Effectiveness in shaping opinion on Cybercrime Law

Reason

Frequency

Percentage

N=100

(%)

18

18

Informative

18

18

Humor and Satire

10

10

Interactive nature

Stands on what is true

Respect members opinions

Use of photos

No / Irrelevant response

41

41

Simple and direct to the

point presentation of
arguments

Majority of the respondents (79%) are prepared to take action outside the barriers of
the cyberspace, while around one-fifth (21%) are not ready to go to the streets to protest
against the Cybercrime Law (Table 7).
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Table 7. Possibility of civic participation
Question

Frequency

Percentage

N=100

Yes

79

79

No

21

21

Are you willing to join any

protest action against the
Cybercrime Law?

RESULTS OF THE INTERVIEW WITH SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERT

On the evolution of social media

Dr. Rolando Tolentino is currently the Dean of University of the Philippines- Diliman
College of Mass Communication and is the founding chair of Katha, the fictionists group in
Filipino, and is a member of the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino and the Congress of
Teachers and Educators for Nationalism and Democracy (CONTEND-UP). He finished his
baccalaureate degree in Economics and masters degree from the De La Salle University and
obtained his doctorate degree in Film Studies from the University of Southern California.
Aside from being a well-known film critique, he is also an accomplished writer who
received numerous awards such as Writers Prize given by the National Commission for
Culture and the Arts (2001), Manila Critics Circle Award for Best Film Criticism Book (2001),
Gawad Chancellor for Best Literary Work (2001), and Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for
Literature (1998, 1994, 1991).
Dr. Rolando Tolentino, discussed that all media develops as a medium for social
commentary. He said that when radio was invented, the means of commenting on social
issues were also invented creating changes in the society. He cited that radio transformed the
landscape of national politics in the Philippines when Radyo Veritas and Radyo Bandido
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called for support for rebel leaders. Dr. Tolentino also shared that texting, which we thought
are just for sending text jokes became influential in the ousting of President Joseph Estrada.
According to him, since the medium of choice today is the Internet and the specific
use of said platform, specifically Twitter and Facebook, for this generation is social
networking, it also became a platform not only for personal venue of state of mind talks on
certain things but also made the delivery of social messages viral, thus transforming it into
something else, a kind of social politics that have an advocacy.

Facebooked revolutions
The researchers, who are keen on learning about his views about the so called online
protests which has became a global trend and the claims that the recent revolutions on some
countries were Facebooked or Tweetered, asked his opinion on the possibility that online
protests through social media will deliver changes in the Philippine society. He responded
that the so-called spring revolution in Egypt wherein a woman called for civic participation
on ousting their president will not be achieved only through Facebook. He said that they can
only appeal, and she was not the only one who has the capacity to do that, nor a person can
be the center piece of the plea. There is a need for a community that will encourage everyone
to participate in this plight for change, and he said that he is certain that Facebook was not
the sole reason for these events to occur.
He explained that there is a need for a ripe political condition wherein the action will
correspond to the changes. He cited that there were numerous calls for people to go to EDSA
to oust Gloria Arroyo, which corruption is still being unveiled, but it did not materialize.
He said that Facebook is only one among the many platforms, and since it utilizes
the Internet, it doesnt have real depth and impact. He cited TANGINA THIS! Facebook page
and explained that out of the 147,000 who liked the page, few of them are perennially vocal
and that we know for a fact that when we subscribe into these pages, we do not visit them
on a regular basis. According to him, our yearning to learn about the commentary of our
group mates in Facebook about a particular issue is not enough to transform society since
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there is no empirical evidence that it was able to achieve such, and that the social
transformation that we envision are changes in our society.

Facebook as a Medium to obtain Reforms in Philippines Society

Dr. Tolentino said that what Facebook has achieved so far is really community
networking, wherein he mentioned the Ondoy tragedy wherein Facebook served as a paper
trail to find missing persons who were victims of the massive flood, which cannot be done
through (traditional) media as we know it. He added that media will not zoom in in the
treaty of everyday tragedies, and will focus on the statistics since Ondoy itself is a huge
tragedy compared to the misfortune of those missing persons, wherein Facebook was able to
magnify to such extent. However, not all of those missing persons were found through
Facebook, since we only have 30% Internet saturation rate and the specific use of Internet for
us is more on gaming and not social networking. He also added that,

Kahit mahilig tayong mag number one, texting capital of the world,
Facebook capital of asia, etc. hindi pa rin siya sufficient in terms of
demographics pero crucial itong demographics na ito kasi siya yung
middle class mo. Siya yung makakapagpabago ng lipunan dahil ang
middle class ang mga pinaka-maingay at the same time pinakamaarticulate so sila yung nagpapasikat upang magmobilize ang mga tao,
pero wala pa tayong proof dito, wala pa tayong evidence sa Pilipinas na
kayang gawin ito ng FB dahil hindi nga niya kayang gawin yun. Hindi
naman magagawa yung People Power 1 and 2 kapag hindi hinog yung
political condition na sobrang-sobra na yung panunupil therefore, right
for social change at yung social change yung nga ay ihahatid ng media.

On utilizing Facebook to promote social change

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Asked on his opinion on how we can best utilize Facebook in order to achieve
changes in the Philippine society, he responded:

Malinaw naman yung causality. yung logic na dahil may Facebook at

may panglipunang problema makakatugon yung isa sa isa. ang sinasabi ko,
may correlation. Ibig sabihin may ugnay pero hindi one would affect the
other. Yung parang chicken or egg na klase ng issue.

He added that what Facebook can achieve are changes in local conditions such as
problems occurring in a university, and can mobilize news that will not be ordinarily pickedup by television or newspaper since it is not newsworthy, quite localized that it cannot oust a
president. He discussed that it can only stir opinion into some extent since Facebook is also
being utilized by commercial media as a source of news wherein there is a possibility that it
can achieve a national profile by landing as an article in Inquirer or GMA News. He then
reiterated that the capacity of Facebook is quite local and will not serve on a national scope
since there is a need for people to have a vote of confidence on what they want to happen,
that even though the middle class wanted to oust then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,
the call was not supported by a significant number of people and they were not able to send
warm bodies in Edsa to provide political oppositions to Arroyo.
He remarked that we can achieve so much within our local communities by utilizing
Facebook and added that since the researchers are communication students and there is an
issue on the Cybercrime Law, we can blackout our profile picture. However, he said, such
move did not mean that Cybercrime Law will be repealed and there is a need for action.
Before the interview session was concluded, he asked the researchers whether we
have joined protests on the Cybercrime Law, and after responding that we have yet to
participate in such activities, he remarked:

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Pero kung kayo na mass communication students ng FEU at ito ang
pinaka-central ng practice natin, sa paglabas ngayon pa lang ay pwede na
tayo makulong, ay bakit hindi tayo nagpaparticipate? ibig sabihin hindi
effective. Kayo na lang ang target audience nitong protest na ito. Ano
yung radicality na ina-assume natin na mababago ng FB yung Philippine
society kung ang batas na ito ay magpapatuloy at mamamayagpag at wala
man lang tayong protesta para rito, anong aasahan nating mababago ang
Pilipinas?

DISCUSSIONS
In order to gauge the effectiveness of the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page in shaping
the opinion of their members about the Cybercrime Law, we must first qualify if it can be
considered as a Public Sphere.
Dahlgren (1995) stated that we can say that a public exists if there are active
exchange of views and information among members of a community while Habermas
(1962) concept of public sphere insists on the analytic centrality of reasoned, critical
discourse, thus active reasoning of the public must be present and such discussions will
gave birth to public opinion. Considering these statement, we can say that in a public
sphere, it is expected that members will have educated and critical discussions.
The importance of such discussion or sharing of opinions was expressed by some of
the respondents of the online survey, who stated that their stand on the Cybercrime law was
affected by the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page upon learning that they share the same
opinion with other members. There are also respondents who cited that the reason why they
liked the page is to learn other perspectives on current issues. Certain respondents also
expressed that the interactive nature wherein members can share their ideas makes
TANGINA THIS! Facebook page effective in providing details about the Cybercrime Law.
While it is true that the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page is free from any mediation
and every member enjoys freedom of expression, it also gives them the freedom of nonFAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION SY 2012 2013
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expression or non-participation on discussions. In the posts that were analyzed, there are
limited instances wherein members who posted a comment had any discourse with other
members, and that the number of comments is far from the number of likes the posts had
achieved. It is also essential to observe that out of the more than 140,000 members of the
page, the highest statistics it was able to achieve in relation to the posts on the Cybercrime
Law was 894 likes, 351 shares and 142 comments. Some of the posts do not even have a
comment on it. The comments on the post about the hacking of Senator Sottos website,
which is the highest based on the data analyzed, are mostly sarcastic and insulting remarks
and far from being a political discourse.
Another characteristics of the Public Sphere as discussed by Habermas (1962) is that
it preserved a kind of social intercourse that, far from presupposing the equality of status,
disregarded status altogether. Due to lack of data gathered regarding the class
representation of the respondents, we lack the empirical evidence to support or contradict if
the same is true about the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page. However, we know for a fact
that access to the Internet requires an Internet service provider and necessary hardware, and
it is also a common knowledge that there are still places in the Philippines who do not even
have access to electricity. In addition, users need certain skills in order to operate the
computer and navigate their way around the Internet. If there are about 30 million Filipinos
who have a Facebook account and the countrys population is around 103 million, it means
that there are roughly 7 out of 10 Filipinos who were excluded in the Internet public
sphere, which contradicts the notion that a public sphere must be open for everyone.
However, as Dr. Tolentino explained, although Facebook is not sufficient in terms of
demographics, we cannot deny that the middle class is a great factor in changing the society
since they are the most vocal and most articulate, thus they can popularize an issue that will
give birth to mass mobilization.
Going back to the definition of "the public sphere" as a realm of our social life in
which something approaching public opinion can be formed, it can be concluded then that
TANGINA THIS! Facebook page cannot be considered as a Public Sphere.
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The result of the online survey backed-up this claim, which shows that while 92% of
the respondents have read post on the page regarding the Cybercrime Law, 73% of them
believe that these posts doesnt have any effect on their stand regarding the said law.
In order to further explain why the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page has a limited
effect on the opinion of their members on the Cybercrime Law, the researchers can make use
of some of the main assumptions of Kantz and Lazersfields Two-Step Flow Theory of Mass
Communication, which states that individuals are not social isolates, but members of social
groups interacting with other people.
First, we must analyze if the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page can be considered as a
social group. As earlier discussed, the members lacked interaction and although they are all
members of the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page, they can be considered as social isolates
since the only connection that binds them is that they all liked the said page.
Also, the said theory also assumes that there are two processes involved, one of
reception and attention and another of response in the form of acceptance or rejection of the
influence or information attempt. Since there was no mediation, though the TANGINA
THIS! page administrators acted as opinion leaders, members have the free will to either
accept or reject their ideas.
The researchers must also reiterate the claims of Petty and Cacioppo (1986) that the
absence of nonverbal cues hinders the communicators from learning the demographics and
other characteristics of others and as a result, CMC users process messages through central
routes to persuasion alone. Thus, there is a small chance that the discussion on Facebook can
result in change of attitude.
Meanwhile, on claims that peaceful revolutions such as Egypt and Arab Springs
were Facebooked, the knowledge we have gathered on the focus interview provides us
with understanding that online protests, or cyber activism for that matter, will not make us
realize the changes that we want. It provides us with historical accounts wherein even
though media played an important role on mobilizing people, events such People Power 1

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and 2 was only realized through concerted actions. It supports the claims of Gladwell (2011)
that even before Facebook was invented, protests that brought down government were
already present.
Contrary to the belief that the Egypt revolution is Facebooked, the political
condition wherein many citizens are oppressed gave birth to the uprising. There is only
correlation between social media and the revolution, wherein the existence of platforms
such as Facebook can support social unrest, but there is no causality, a cause-and-effect type
of relation, which means that even if there are online protests on Facebook, it doesnt follow
that there will be actual protests.
The reason for such lack of causality is because Facebook was not really designed for
activism. There are three steps for organizing a social movement: arouse, organize and
mobilize. The discussions above already expound that social media cannot facilitate rational
discourse; hence it cannot awaken the sense of nationalism of social media users and thus it
will be impossible for us to organize and mobilize social media users.
Indeed, media to some extent can shape public opinion, but changes can only be
achieved through physical actions outside the barriers of the cyberspace. As asserted by
Lupin and Sin (2008), the worldwide revolutions that have been born from the embryo of
social media activism can be easily destroyed if it will not be fueled by further actions
outside the barriers of the virtual world. Quoting Gladwell (2011), what is important is not
how people with a grievance chose to communicate with each other, but why they were
driven to do it. Restating Dr. Tolentinos stand, it is on the actual person, not on the
coordination of his or her fingers, eyes and minds, for a revolutionary gossip that passes
through a virtual platform can be converted to political actions, and it can only be done if
these political remarks are transformed into actual actions for change. The face and soul of

the internet cannot be changed, but we can change our society.

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Finally, we must not let online activism replace offline activism and that we need to
realize that interpersonal communication is far more effective in influencing an individuals
opinion than Computer Mediated Communication.

Chapter 6
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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The most cited reasons why members visit the TANGINA THIS! Facebook Page can
be generalized into content, catchy name of the page, desire to learn other perspectives on
current issues and freedom of expression.
The findings of the research highlighted that there are Filipinos, particularly
netizens, that are still concerned with what is happening in our country and utilized social
media platforms in order to widen their horizon and achieve social learning. The challenge
that we face today is to transform these concern, these hunger to unveil the truth and the
craving to achieve changes in the socio-political system, into actions.
However, it cannot be done through social media activism, since social media,
particularly Facebook lacks the necessary qualities in order to be considered as a Public
Sphere. This can be reflected on the lack of influence of the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page
in shaping the opinions of their members on the Cybercrime Law, an element essential in
order to produce civic participation. While the said law can have direct impact on the
TANGINA THIS! Facebook page and its members, political discourse that was expected
never occurred and a common stand on the issue was not achieved. Thus, we cannot expect
that the members of the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page can come up with a united stance
after an educated discourse on other issues which are highly political in nature.
In the course of Philippine history, media has played a vital role in the delivery of
social messages and amplifying the call for action. The role of social media today is not
different from the role that radio and text messaging played during the People Power 1 and
2 respectively, which is to provide a medium to express our discontent on different sociopolitical issues.

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Social media can support our advocacy by providing news and information in a
speedy way. However, social media not only became a chain that links people together but
also a chain that further strangles our mind by creating an illusion that simply posting a
comment on Facebook and expressing disgust on social issues is enough. The claims that
several uprisings were Facebooked are irredeemably flawed. It demeaned the value of
actual civic participation that is required to achieve societal reforms and made us forget that
we are a nation of heroes and that heroes did not face the oppression in their era sitting
down, they courageously fought and died to achieve freedom.
Even before social media was invented, we have taught the world how to achieve
societal change through peaceful revolutions, and thus we must not really so much on
technology to push for reforms. We must go back to basics, utilizing Face-to-Face
communication and put prime on the offline arouse, organize and mobilize method in order
to achieve for the reforms that we want to happen.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Practical: The researchers recommend that the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page
administrators must provide a platform for a more involved and educated political discourse
through instigating discussions among its members. Giving antagonistic remarks on those
who oppose their ideas must also be discouraged. By doing so, they can somehow facilitate
educated discourse that will shape their members opinion on socially relevant issues. We
also suggest to the TANGINA THIS! page administrators to limit non-political posts in order
to lessen the clutter in order for the member to easily view political contents. We also
recommend that they conduct offline activities such as forums and symposiums that can
serve as a venue in discussing relevant issues.
Research: Other researchers may focus on an issue that is not as popular as the
Cybercrime Law to better determine the influence of the TANGINA THIS! Facebook page on
the opinion of its members. A comparative analysis on TANGINA THIS! and other
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political pages such as Pixel Offensive must be done in order to identify the differences
between the two pages with regard to content and facilitated discourse. The result of this
comparative study can further justify that discourse, even on a virtual platform, can be
related to social actions. Focus group discussions among members of the TANGINA THIS!
Facebook page may also be executed in order to have a deeper understanding on how the
TANGINA THIS! Facebook page affects their opinions on social issues, comprehension that
cannot be achieved through survey that is free from mediation or facilitation. An social
experiment can also be done by creating a page to promote a particular cause, facilitate
discussion and sharing of information and assess the effect of such in their opinion
regarding that issue. Finally, there is also a need to have a class analysis, which is to identify
the class representation on Facebook. The said data can be used in order to determine if the
limitedness of Facebook as a medium accessible only to those who have Internet access,
majority of which came from the middle and upper class, can be related to the amount of
impact it has on the production of public opinions which can later transform into social
actions.
Theoretical: Puig-I, Abril and Rojas Extended Communication Mediation model can
be used to explore how informational uses of information communication technologies can
create expressive forms of participation that can result into mobilizations and civic
participation. This model illustrates how expressive participation online manifests offline
through self-mobilization.

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