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From 2010 to 2017, there was a thing called #AseanCitizen that we Aseans started as a grassroots movement. We were all bloggers from across, well, #ASEAN or South-East Asia.
Some of us joined together to produce one of the best multi-authored regional blogs. We talked about our cultures, write about what makes the region awesome. As well as, try to address the oftentimes silly and sometimes heated debates.
It's all gone now. Forgotten. The blogs dead or offline. We all grew up, got busy with our personal lives, and moved on separately. And the important reason? We lost interest in it as we started to see ASEAN was, is, and will never be for the grassroots.
That was the end of what was once a vibrant grassroot ASEAN Citizens effort. We did it all voluntarily. Without a single recognition from the top-down organisation that is ASEAN.
I had friends from #Cambodia, #Laos, #VietNam, #Thailand, #Singapore, #Malaysia, #Indonesia, #Brunei, and yes, even from #Myanmar (#Burma). (I'm from the #Philippines.) It was fun. It was not tiring at all. It was because we saw a bright future for ASEAN, and we believed in it completely.
But today? ASEAN is still a top-down organisation. They kept trying to get the grassroots involved, but they are always failing. Why? Because it is a top-down organisation, as simple as that. They will never understand until they shift their mindset and approach to bottom-up.
Who is ASEAN really for?
(P.S I want to restart this grassroots movement, but I just no longer have the spark. Give me a very good reason why I should give it another chance. Or, at least, guide the new generation.)
@youronlyone @asean @pilipinas @philippines @pinoy In my worldview SEA countries are severly underrepresented online. As a european, the only connection to the region I have is food. I`d love to learn more.
@goblin Ahh! Thank you for the inspiration and sharing it. Much appreciated!
@goblin @youronlyone SEAsians are actually a terminally online people, they form some of the biggest most online demographics. But they tend to spend their time on corporate social media and speak their own languages.
@ubi Haha, true! It is 99% impossible to get ASEANs to use the fediverse. We can forget the fediverse, just Threads itself is being ignored even though Instagram is very popular in the region.
It's only Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Plurk, in that particular order. ^_^
The reasons for this are (at least based from experience and observation):
1. Family connections.
2. Fandoms + official accounts of their idols
3. Government accounts.
I am hoping that Threads can make fandoms and those official accounts to create Threads with Fediverse. Theoretically, it can be helpful in getting a huge chunk to move to the Fediverse
(Unfortunately, there is an anti-fandom vocal minority in the Fediverse, who's trying to gatekeep the network. /facepalm)
Another one that's good are government accounts with fediverse enabled.
But, until those happen, those 5 SNS platforms will remain.
As for language, except for the #Philippines and #Singapore, English is not an official language in the 8 member Nations (even though English is the official language of the organisation itself). Many can speak English, but it's more natural for them to speak in their local languages.
There are ASEANs in the fediverse network, but in the grand scheme of things… we're still few and a minority.
#Twitter #Facebook #YouTube #Instagram #Plurk #SNS #ASEAN #TootSEA #fandom #family #fediverse #SocialMedia
@ubi @goblin @youronlyone
Having lived in #ViệtNam and travelled through many Asian countries, I'd say that there is a LOT of online activity but the platforms and styles of interaction vary dramatically from one country to the next, many of which have local chat platforms that dominate a lot of activity.
Do you know the local platforms they're using?
Here in the Philippines, we lack any local platforms, it's only Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and then more Facebook. ^_^;;
For Instant Messengers, it's Facebook Messenger and Viber primarily. With Telegram, KakaoTalk, and Line as secondary.
All foreign-owned platforms. Hehe.
I'm curious what local platforms are used elsewhere.
@youronlyone @ubi @goblin
Yeah, KakaoTalk for Korea, Line for Japan, WeChat for China. There are probably others I'm not aware of but those were countries where I needed to contact locals so I had to download the apps. A lot of those platforms have a variety of popular group chat features. FB was quite popular in VN, when the government would allow it.