Yahoo launches Election Microsite Purple Thumb

A few weeks ago, I was invited to attend the Yahoo Social Media Forum held at Hotel Intercontinental.  As a writer for Blogwatch.ph, I had the privilege to be part of the event where Yahoo Philippines officially launched the Purple Thumb microsite.

Purple Thumb is an election dedicated microsite by Yahoo! that gives filipino voters the opportunity to share their thoughts, pictures & videos expressing their views on the upcoming May 2010 elections.  Users can join real-time chat through the site and socialize with one another plus gain knowledge from each other.  Users can also discover more about the candidates through Purple Thumb.

Technology really does progress so fast.  Would you believe that we can now share real-time news online?  With growing # of online users in the country, social media can now be considered as a great venue for important news & other stuff.

Aside from officially launching the Purple Thumb site, the event also touches on “How social media will change the way elections are covered”.  Respected people in the blogging industry were invited to speak in the forum relating to the topic.

Here’s the list:

• Jack Madrid (General Manager, Yahoo! Philippines) — Background to Purple Thumb
• Allan Soon (Managing Director, Yahoo! Southeast Asia) — Introduction to the ‘now’ revolution
• Joey Alarilla (Social Media Editor, Yahoo! Southeast Asia), Ellen Tordesillas (Vera Files/Political Blogger) — Ethics & news in the age of Twitter
• Howie Severino (Editor-in-chief, GMANews.tv), Arlene Burgos (Head of Social Media, ABS-CBNNews.com), Katrina Sandejas-Manosa (General Manager, Philstar.com) — Integrating Social Media in your newsroom
• Manolo Quezon III (bloggers/PDI columnist/TV host), Janette Toral (DigitalFilipno.com) — Why Social Media Matters in this Election
• Comelec Representative (on behalf of James Jimenez) — How are candidates using social media to engage voters
• Mong Palatino (blogger/lawmaker) — A Tweeting Life
• Margaux Salcedo (Estrada spokesperson/blogger) — Tweeting a candidate
• Mong Palatino, Gang Badoy (RockEd), Noemi Dado (BlogWatch) — Benefits & risks of social media in covering this election

Here’s a video taken by Blogwatch.ph editor Noemi Dado on Allan Soon discussing the ‘Now Revolution’:

Lastly, I would also suggest you go and create a Yahoo Meme account 🙂  Do share with the world why you are voting this May 2010, your message would really make a lot of difference.  Take a stand & encourage fellow filipinos to do so.

See sample below.  That was my purple thumb post last February 24 letting people know that we should make our vote count as the future of our children relies on it.  You can upload a picture relating to why you are voting, type your message & add #YourPurpleThumb at the end of your post 🙂

You can see more pictures from the Social Media Forum organized by Yahoo in my Flick account.