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Digital Practices

As a journalist, I have been exposed to various MIL practices both at home, in school, and outside. One of the practices that have greatly influenced my digital footprint is social media use. Social media platforms that I use frequently such as Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram allow me to engage with different audiences, share my own thoughts and opinions about different topics, and connect with people. However, to create a positive impact, I have learned to always verify the sources of information I share to avoid spreading misinformation. Along with that, I do it as effectively and informatively as possible, not by any way offending who I am informing or pushing it- as everyone may have different opinions it is best just to remember not to force someone to listen to what you have to say.

Another practice that has influenced my digital footprint is online privacy protection. While I am always aware that I should be careful and stay protected online, I have occasionally stumbled upon and ended up signing into sketchy websites, leading to a potential risk for my digital data. Therefore, I would like to modify my online privacy protection skills to ensure that my personal information is always kept safe.

Information evaluation and verification skills are also crucial in the digital age, and I need to strengthen my skills in this area. With the rise of fake news and misinformation, the ability to evaluate sources of information has become even more important. Therefore, I would like to improve my research skills to ensure that I only make use of and share credible information when it comes to creating write-ups.

Cyberbullying prevention and response are also important practices that I would like to strengthen. Guiltily, I have seen multiple posts that consist of bullying in the past, but failed to do anything about it. This time, I am well aware that reporting these types of malicious posts would do good for the online community and my self-improvement.

Finally, copyright and fair use awareness is an important practice that I have to be mindful of. As a journalist, I need to respect the intellectual property rights of other people and organizations. Therefore, I need to be familiar with copyright laws and how to cite sources properly. Along with that, as a student, I need to be aware of this as I write research papers. To avoid plagiarism, I have to always be aware that if I do take information from credible sources, I would have to cite these sources either in-text or leave them in a reference list.

In conclusion, I believe that it is important to continuously learn and improve on MIL practices to create a positive impact on my digital footprint and the online community. By modifying, strengthening, and gaining new digital skills and practices, I will be able to strengthen my critical digital literacy skills and enhance my credibility as a journalist and student.

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Media Manipulation: Clickbait

Social media has always been known for its ability to shape people’s opinions and influence their behaviour. The manipulation of information has become frequent due to the rise of social media. Clickbait is one of the better examples of how the media manipulates audiences to get their attention and shape their opinions.

Online content that is intended to attract clicks is referred to as "clickbait," and it frequently uses sensational headlines, provoking imagery, or false information. The purpose of clickbait is to draw attention and drive traffic, not to provide information. Hyperbole, exaggeration, and sensationalism are frequently used in clickbait headlines to arouse readers' emotions and persuade them to read the article.

By instilling a sense of urgency or panic, clickbait effectively manipulates its audience. This strategy preys on people's fears by creating a false sense of urgency that they must act right away or risk missing out on something vital or valuable. In the era of social media, when individuals are bombarded with information and have short attention spans, this strategy is especially effective.

In order to get clicks, clickbait frequently uses false or partial information. Even entirely false narratives devoid of any basis in reality are capable of being produced. These stories are frequently widely disseminated on social media, which helps fake news and inaccurate information spread.

When it comes to influencing people's attitudes and beliefs, clickbait can have a significant impact. People grow accustomed to sensationalist and deceptive headlines when they see them frequently, which makes it easier for them to believe false information to be legitimate. Conspiracy theories and fake news have grown dramatically as a result of this phenomenon, with serious societal consequences.

I believe one notable instance of how the media twists the truth for its own ends is clickbait. Clickbait undermines the foundational principles of journalism by putting clicks ahead of accuracy and quality and erodes public faith in the media. It is crucial that media outlets uphold higher standards for themselves and put the truth before sensationalism and gain.

In conclusion, clickbait and other media manipulation techniques have a big impact on how people think and act. These tactics could have a negative effect, so it's critical to be aware of them and hold the media responsible for their activities. We must be wary of the information we take in as avid social media users to prevent being deceived by sensationalist and misleading content.

References:

Digital Media Literacy: What is Clickbait? (n.d.). GCFGlobal.org. https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/digital-media-literacy/what-is-clickbait/1/

Jung, A.-K., Stieglitz, S., Kissmer, T., Mirbabaie, M., & Kroll, T. (2022). Click me…! The influence of clickbait on user engagement in social media and the role of digital nudging. PLOS ONE, 17(6), e0266743. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0266743

Weaver, B. (2019). Lies in copywriting: Hyperbole vs Realism. Copywrite Matters. https://www.copywritematters.com/lies-copywriting-hyperbole-realism/#:~:text=Hyperbole%20in%20(clickbait)%20headlines

Webwise. (n.d.). Explained: What is Fake news? | Social Media and Filter Bubbles. Webwise.ie. https://www.webwise.ie/teachers/what-is-fake-news/

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He was a man on the brink,

Lost in a sea of despair,

Choosing to take his own life,

Without a single care.

His spirit was like a balloon,

Floating up to the sky,

But instead of reaching the heavens,

He chose to let it die.

The man had nothing left to live for,

No one to hold his hand,

So he chose the path of darkness,

Rather than face the demands.

The world mourned for the man,

Who had been so kind and brave,

But he could no longer find solace,

In a world that seemed so grave.

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Pedagogic; An Adaptation

I walked towards the falling woods

to teach the trees all that I could

of time and birth, the language of men,

the virtues of hate and loving.

They stood with their fingers flaming,

Listened to me with a serious mien:

I knew the footnotes, all the text,

my words were precise and correct-

I was sure that they were learning-

till one tree spoke, speaking in dolor,

to ask why I never changed color.

-

An Adaptation

16 years old

It was an early morning and me and my younger brothers, Dylan and Joshua, had to get ready to go to school. It was boiling outside and I felt stressed. I strolled over to the living room and saw my mother sitting on the couch watching TV. Moving closer and tapping her shoulder lightly, I asked-

“It’s so hot outside, could you drive us please?”

“Hay nako anak! You know? Back in my day, we had to walk in the hot sun for so long just to get to school! You need to learn how to do it by yourself and bear with it, how will you survive without me?”

I sighed and walked back to my brothers informing them that we had to walk. They pouted and complained to me, but eventually we headed off to school.

17 years old

I was finally in college and was way busier than I was before. I barely got to visit home. Today was the day I got to visit again! Christmas! I was finally free. I brought out my phone and dialed in my mother’s number, ring…ring…ring…

No answer.

Obviously, I was quite disappointed to find out that there was no answer to my call. I haven’t been home in 2 months and she barely calls to check up on me, also meaning that I had no contact with my younger brothers. Hopping into my car, I started driving home. I knocked on the door a few times, but to no avail. I rolled my eyes and took the house keys out of my bag and opened the door. Walking around, all of a sudden a loud voice echoed from the living room as I was about to sit down on the couch.

“Hay nako! You both are so ungrateful! You know? Back in my day, we didn’t even get gifts for christmas.”

I stormed upstairs after hearing my mother’s voice. I couldn’t help but feel upset seeing my two younger brothers looking down as my mother continuously scolded them. She got them the same gifts over and over again, socks, socks, and more socks. After scolding them, she turned around and looked at me, handing me something too.

Wow, more socks.

I simply smiled and greeted her merry christmas as I then went to check up on my brothers. I ruffled through my bag and took out two bracelets that I had made for them.

“Merry Christmas little guys.”

18 years old

After working part-time early, I could earn money by myself. Well, decently enough of it. It was my 18th birthday and I had invited my friends and family to attend my humble debut, which I prepared with all my hard-earned money. The first to come were my younger brothers along with my mother. Seeing my brothers made me feel extremely happy as I've been away from home most of the time due to college life.

“Hey little guys, hey ma.”

I only realized that the drift between me and my mother grew significantly as time went by. The constant “back in my day’s” to back up her neglect and possible ignorance got to me. But today I was feeling good. All of my friends arrived, most of them were guys, but that was completely normal to me at this point. 

The party finally started, I did my speech, and friends and family gave me gifts. The party was near ending and suddenly a heavy tap on my shoulder startled me. 

“Bakit puro lalaki kaibigan mo dito, ang babaw mo naman anak. Back in my day, pag ganun ako my mom would have slapped me.”

Hearing that was the last straw of patience that I had for her, but I had the decency to pull her into a smaller room away from the party.

“Ma, do you not realize what you’re saying? You keep bringing things up from YOUR past, it’s true that you have educated us and corrected us several times in ways that were right for you but not for us. We might be ungrateful in your eyes, but from our eyes those Gucci bags that you’ve bought were quite the sight compared to the repetitive pairs of socks you gave my brothers. Times change, but it seems that you’re a bit stuck in the past. For the sake of me and my brothers please realize that times have changed and that things are different now.”

My mother was speechless, and could say nothing back. My words sunk in and she realized that times do indeed change, and that she had to adjust to how it was now and let go of the “back in her days”.

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Cultures of the World

Culture is known as the way of life for an entire society as it consists of the language, religion, cuisine, manner of dressing, and artistry. Many people have different cultures and beliefs and should be respected no matter what those beliefs may be. As stated in Getting Together in Dipolog, written by Francis Cabrera, different cultures such as Muslims, Lumads, and Christians managed to group to celebrate the Pasalabuk Festival.

Different types of questions are mentioned when thinking about the various cultures around the world. Let’s discuss this first question, “Firstly, how can prejudices, biases, and discrimination can be eliminated or minimized by showcasing the cultures of different ethnic or cultural groups?”. As shown in the excerpt, these things can be minimized through celebrating different cultural activities such as festivals. Harmony was brought to the people of Mindanao by showing other cultures fun and exciting activities they would do during their festivals, such as street dancing. 

Exposing other cultures to your specific culture can minimize the discrimination. I do not think you can completely get rid of it because I think that the human mind’s first initial idea of when you see or experience something that you are not familiar with, it is most likely that you have a certain bias towards one that you would know more of. So, the second question is, “What other ways can be employed to eliminate or minimize these biases and prejudgments?”. Well, to be quite honest, the simplest way to put it is, knowledge. The more you learn about something, the more likely you are to be more open-minded. This can apply to learning about other cultures, let’s say that you don’t know much about a specific culture, and they would, for example, eat bugs. Initially, in all honesty, my reaction would be a bit surprised or judgemental, but it would be great to learn more about these cultures because then I would be more open-minded if I were to find out more about other cultures that practice the same thing.

There are definitely more ways to spread knowledge about your culture besides holding festivals. For example, using social media to post cultural events, food, and showing off beautiful clothing. Almost everyone has access to social media, so that could be one effective way to spread knowledge about cultures. Other means could also simply be talking about your culture to your friends and family and researching about it yourself, so that you could learn more about it as well.

In conclusion, I do not think that discrimination can be completely stopped, but it can definitely be minimized. Spreading knowledge about one’s and other cultures, traditions, and religions may be beneficial for everybody, leading to peace and harmony.

-EM