HAPPY 1st ANNIVERSARY!!!

A year ago, December 20, 2010, The Social Scientist first went online.

I could barely remember the specific circumstances which led me to start this blog. All I know is that all of a sudden, I have a huge surplus of time and an oozing energy to write. I wanted to write about the implications of every major issue confronting Filipino society at this day and age. Thus, our journey through 40 posts in a year started.

We started writing at the opportune moment: the Arab Spring was just starting in Tunisia and would soon spread around the globe, Hubert Webb and the rest of the accused in the Vizconde Massacre case were acquitted by the Corona Court, and the next generation Philippine currency has just been released by the BSP. Our first post dealt with Filipino society's reaction to the purported flaws in its design and implications of our society's reaction.

Since then, we've covered many of the major events which occurred throughout 2011, not only here in The Social Scientist but also in its sister blog, Pilipinas 360. We wrote a feature on the dawn of the 24-hour all news channels in the Philippines and gave live blog updates on the March 2011 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami and the succeeding nuclear disaster it brought. We delved into the implications of the Egyptian and Libyan Uprising to Filipino society, as well as, linked to the Filipino consciousness the death of Osama bin Laden, the Royal Wedding and the beatification of Pope John Paul II. We were part of commemorating Dr. Jose Rizal's 150th birth anniversary, and reacted to recent actions of the Aquino administrations against the corrupt practice of the previous regime and its tentacles. Morever, we gave an in-depth look at the status of the Philippine Navy, our mental health, the education sector and even our penchant for pang-ookray.

With these posts, we were able to do something which other bloggers have not been doing -- to link the Filipino psyche and behavior to major political and socio-economic issues every Filipino is experiencing. Our posts made sense of the whys behind every major Filipino reaction to what's happening in the world today. It led us to a better understanding of our society -- its good points and great flaws -- its humanity! We delivered this consciousness to reach even other platforms within the blogosphere, by publishing our entries in other blog sites such as Definitely Filipino and Networked Blogs, and by creating our own Facebook page, so that more people can make sense of our content.

There is no other way than this. While we could have done it better, of course, the odds are not always in our favor. There were times that we cannot post for more than a month, and there are times that we are not being read, but in the end, there is no other way that this. If given a chance to relive this experience, we would have done the same thing. Expect us to make things even better in this coming year.

We would like to thank all our readers throughout a year of joining us through our journey inside the Filipino consciousness, to fellow bloggers who shared their ideas and expertise with us, to our friends and loved ones who always encouraged us to keep on writing despite the competitive nature of blogging. We would not have made it this big without you. We owe our existence to your constant demand for what we write.

This is not the end -- this is just the beginning of an even wonderful saga. There are still uncharted waters to sail through. While we wait for good winds to bring us there, let us hold hands and brace ourselves, for the journey is about to get more exciting.

Happy 1st Anniversary THE SOCIAL SCIENTIST!