By Pam Rances and Ina Cabreza
As a young adult living in the generation of technology, I’ve always been expected to know clever ways to express myself. Assumptions are as high as Mt. Everest because they think, how is it possible for me to not know how to reconfigure our internet connection when I could simply Google and have answers right at my fingertips? I roll my eyes real hard whenever I get remarks about how lucky I am to have been born in an age where I don’t need to improvise and dictate my news report through a payphone at the corner of Ermita.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
Technology is a privilege. I get it. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m an expert at it.
I was born in it. I will grow with it. Heck, I might flourish through it -- just like everyone else. I still have to figure it out though, but I believe it’s possible for anyone. However, I’m having a difficult time understanding how other generations perceive it as exclusive only to us, millennials, when in fact there isn’t a single rule on who can take advantage of it. The older generation thinks that they’re too old for it and I’m like… why?
The digital world could go as deep as the Mariana Trench, for no one has ever been able to reach its boundaries yet. It’s one of the most exclusive tools that we get to enjoy regardless of gender, race, culture, and age -- as long as you have internet. For some, the web is a way of listening to the newest album of IV of Spades, but for others, it could go as far as a way of reinventing themselves.
Take social media for example. It has been an avenue for people to market their brands, to campaign for the election, and to create an open discourse ranging from the most short-lived eyebrow trend to finding a missing person.
One of the most popular social media tools today is Twitter. It started as a simple social media platform that aims to take part in online communication by means of posting a ‘tweet’ where people can reply to, to start a conversation on a certain topic.
Ten years later, Twitter has evolved into a platform where people not only share about their daily life or rant about their crush anymore. It has turned into a space for speaking your mind freely. From political views, to daily memes, to calling out someone’s misbehavior, to opening up about your sexual orientation, and to starting a campaign of self-love and inclusivity -- Twitter became that place -- a safe ground for voices who wanted to be heard.
It has affected lives, changed careers. And I’m not even talking about millennials only.
Popularly known as an actress-comedienne, Ethel Booba, who belongs to the Gen X bracket, is now one of the most exceptional Twitter personalities that made her mark in the Twitterverse by injecting her witty banters to socio-political issues of the country.
But how did her witty “tweets” peak the interest of not only her peers but to millennials and Gen Z’s alike?
In one of Ethel’s interviews, she admitted that she prefers Twitter because there are less violent comments, adding that her approach to her tweets is more of a comedic style, so that it’s just light to read.
She says that sometimes her tweets come with deep words that have meaning to it so that her followers can think for themselves and not just agree to what she has to say. When asked if she has advisers who help with what she puts out on twitter, Ethel says when there are words she cannot convey properly in English, she asks the help of friends to translate her tweets for her. She also said that all her thoughts are properly brainstormed before she releases them to the twitterverse.
Actively voicing out her views on the recent political state of the country, Ethel has also drawn ire to some people on Twitter. Being unapologetic about her tweets, she simply ignores the haters and says her views are of her own.
Some of Ethel’s most famous tweets where she was not afraid to be frank:
More and more people in this generation are becoming well informed with the help of these social media platforms, albeit there are still a number of fake accounts wandering around spreading lies and propaganda, it is a breath of fresh air when you see comediennes such as Ethel Booba who speak their mind on relevant issues -- minus the insults.
As of this writing, Ethel has about 1.4 million followers on Twitter. She has published a book titled ‘#Charotism: The Wit and Wisdom of Ethel Booba’ which is now available in leading bookstores.
The funny lady who reinvented herself from a comedienne-actress to a socio-politically aware queen -- Ethel Booba. CHAROT!