Time Magazine's Person of the Year: YOU

Thank you very much Time Magazine for what they say, is not necessarily an honor, but a recognition of "user-generated Internet content as a driving force in the modern world." User-generated content has indeed kept the World Wide Web vibrant, for better or for worse.

To paraphrase a song slightly: "It's very clear. Our blog is here to stay. Not for a year but forever and a day..." I wonder when more people will want to start a blog or generate content on the internet? Usually, we hear that people have nothing to write about; if they have something to write about, they don't want to write it; they don't want to videoblog; they don't want to podcast. As the years have progressed, though, we see that the internet has become a very potent force for entertainment, information, and almost everything else. Talk to the young kids these days. Most of them don't go to a library anymore. They just Google for their research topics.

You can't believe how much the internet has allowed us to be in touch with people we never would have met personally: homesick Filipinos; mothers searching for a pre-school; families choosing a vacation spot. We started out by writing about things that interest us and in the process, we discovered, that people are interested in the same things too.

You and I know that the internet is here to stay. It has started to creep into my professional life -- "Uy, Angel, may blog ka pala" (Hey, Angel, I didn't know you had a blog.) -- said one of my previous contacts at my former office job. Celebrities like KC Concepcion have started their own blog and Gretchen Barreto complains about the things written about her in the blogs in relation to her Pantene commercial. Older people want to start a blog -- even your parents' friends.

Some people say that only those with time on their hands will have time to maintain a blog. Just like any activity, it is not a matter of time but a matter of interest. You will always find time for the things you really like. So, to all our viloria readers and for everyone who shares a part of their lives on the net, take a bow. You and I are changing this world. =)