mikaokii - Tumblr blog

mikaokii · 4 years

Text

The Social Dilemma

Technology and social media play a huge role in my daily life as a millennial. This is my way of being updated on the things happening around me especially now that we are experiencing a pandemic and we can’t go out and hang out with our friends and other relatives. Before watching the documentary I used to think that I could not last a day without using my gadgets for social media, most especially because it is very accessible in all sorts of types of gadgets, but after watching the documentary, I could say that I’ll be trying to lessen my screen-time for non essential things. I could see myself being vulnerable into believing fake news being disseminated on social media like the main character being portrayed on the movie. Some of the fake news that are spreading online are very believable and realistic, to the point that you will sometimes believe the fake news so easily. We can easily be manipulated into believing these fake news, which now makes me think twice before sharing these fake news, we should always verify first before believing and worst, sharing these fake news because we can also victimize those who are also not knowledgeable into believing something that is not really true.

As I do the SWOT-PEST analysis, I have realized that the political, economic, and social factors indeed influence my life. For instance, the government and the implementation of the laws made me aware of my surroundings as a citizen of this country. Aside from that, with what is happening in the Philippines in the present generation, the conservation of human rights also made me more conscious of my surroundings nowadays. When it comes to the economic aspect, it also affected me on how I satisfy my needs. In this time of pandemic, I have had several challenges finding ways to pay for some things because I do not have allowance since we are currently online. For the social factor, I must say that I have less time spent on social media nowadays because of school. I am currently affected by this change in terms of my mental and social aspect such as having confidence to communicate with other people. These, especially nowadays, are being affected by the technological factors that I have listed on my PEST analysis. Firstly, there are a lot of technological advancements that are happening recently. This affects the political factors since news can easily reach millions of people around the world. As a result, this technological advancement made me more aware as to what is happening in the country. On the other hand, the economic factors are also affected by the technology since the online market has been spread in cyberspace. This change helped the people to have income at home. Lastly, the social factors are also affected by the technology because social interactions, even if it is lessened because of school works, have been allowed by the technology to happen. It made the world a small place because people from home can talk and communicate with other people be it through chat, email, or calls.

The documentary presented how technological advancement connects and at some point controls us. It presented how people make use of cyberspace excessively. In some aspects, the realizations that I have are similar with what the documentary stated. There are times that being computer literate can be a threat for people because there is no room for improvement. There are also times that as we go through social media, fake news hinders us to walk away from ignorance. That is why computer literacy should not be just limited to proper usage of sites and things, but it should be to the proper way of searching for legitimate sources of information. We should be the one that controls the media, and not the other way around. As I look on the effects that technology brought me, I have realized that technology is there to help us, not to hinder us from learning. With that, proper usage of cyberspace is the key to a better and meaningful life. The social dilemma should make us realize that matter.

Technology plays an important role in our life especially now that we are in the middle of the pandemic. The emergence of the internet has helped people to communicate and make their money through cyberspace. However, despite all the positive things that technology brought to us, there are still negative effects that it had also because of the addiction of people. The documentary showed how the media took control of our lives since the internet is with us in whatever we do. That is why proper handling of things, especially in the face that we show in social media is necessary for us to lessen its effects.

Based on what I’ve watched, the future use of technology could lead into something that can manipulate everyone into believing something that is not true, for the sole purpose of the big industries to create more wealth through advertisements. At first, I believe that it is fair because they are just trying to build their company’s wealth, but I further realized that they do not have the ability to control what kind of content they are disseminating, which creates a space for fake news and propagandas. I also believe that the government will continue to use social media for their citizens to believe in what they want because it is deemed effective for the past few years and this is very alarming. Us citizens should wake up and start being aware of what really is happening and the bad effects of social media. We should start in our small little ways to fight back against these unethical practices that are being used by the big social media companies. I do believe that by starting small, we can achieve something big.

“If you’re not paying for the product, then you’re the product.” This line can mean that if something that you’re using is free, they are most likely selling you to different companies through advertisements. With most social media being free for its users, they usually sell your information and also your browsing activities through algorithms to companies and even politicians for their own benefit, to the point wherein they do not control and just disseminate fake news just to be paid. “There are only two industries that call their customers ‘users’: illegal drugs and software.” For me, this line is trying to compare us being the users of social media to those who use illegal drugs. They can both be addictive without us knowing that we’re already hooked and can barely remove social media in our daily lives. “Social media is a marketplace that trades exclusively in human futures.” We came to a point that we’re already selling our lives by devoting most of our time using social media apps. The worst part of this is that we’re not even getting paid. Only those big companies selling our information and those who want us to believe in things that are sometimes not even the truth, are the ones having advantage, leaving our society falling apart. "The very meaning of culture is manipulation.” I see this line telling us that when there’s a culture being practiced in a certain community, we tend to be manipulated into practicing their beliefs. We are being forced into fitting ourselves in that culture like what millennials do these days. Everyone wants to be updated to the point wherein we should follow the trend on social media even though it does not even benefit us. We get nothing from being updated, we are just giving away our information and making big companies wealthier.

1 note · View note

mikaokii · 4 years

Text

The Social Dilemma

"If you’re not paying for the product, then you’re the product." This line can mean that if something that you’re using is free, they are most likely selling you to different companies through advertisements. With most social media being free for its users, they usually sell your information and also your browsing activities through algorithms to companies and even politicians for their own benefit, to the point wherein they do not control and just disseminate fake news just to be paid. "There are only two industries that call their customers 'users': illegal drugs and software." For me, this line is trying to compare us being the users of social media to those who use illegal drugs. They can both be addictive without us knowing that we’re already hooked and can barely remove social media in our daily lives. "Social media is a marketplace that trades exclusively in human futures.” We came to a point that we’re already selling our lives by devoting most of our time using social media apps. The worst part of this is that we’re not even getting paid. Only those big companies selling our information and those who want us to believe in things that are sometimes not even the truth, are the ones having advantage, leaving our society falling apart. "The very meaning of culture is manipulation." I see this line telling us that when there’s a culture being practiced in a certain community, we tend to be manipulated into practicing their beliefs. We are being forced into fitting ourselves in that culture like what millennials do these days. Everyone wants to be updated to the point wherein we should follow the trend on social media even though it does not even benefit us. We get nothing from being updated, we are just giving away our information and making big companies wealthier.

1 note · View note

mikaokii · 4 years

Text

The Kingmaker

After watching The Kingmaker, I have come to realized that Lauren Greenfield was able to capture the different views and narratives of Ferdinand Marcos during his regime. With a lot of emotions being brought upon the Filipinos during the Martial Law, I do believe that a Filipino journalists or filmmakers can be prone to biases and will not be able to create a documentary the same way as Greenfield did. The documentary made me feel like there were no biases given that the director is a foreigner and she wasn’t there during the regime of the late President Ferdinand Marcos. With that being said, I do believe that Imelda Marcos agreed to take part in the documentary for her to appeal to the viewers that the charges against her family are just merely allegations. It was her attempt to clear her family’s name. Since Imelda Marcos knows that the director is a foreigner, I believe that she also knew that it will be free from biases and emotions, since she was not there to experience the dictatorship of the Marcos’. With regards to the other prominent people who were shown in the film, I believe they also agreed to be part of the documentary because they know that it will be watched globally, and they want to share their point of view of how much they suffered during the martial law to the whole world. From my observation, Mrs. Marcos’ tried to look generous to the marginalized and also tried to look pitiful on how their family were accused with different allegations. It was as if she had an empathetic façade, hoping to conceal the true narratives during her husband’s reign. Well of course, Mrs. Marcos has a different point of view compared to the other interviewees because she is trying to defend the name of her family by making it seem like she’s the mother of the whole country when she used to be the first lady. My overall impression is that our historical information during the martial law has a lot of biases with regards to what they’ve experienced during those trying times making it seem like the former president never did anything good for the betterment of our country. Even though a lot of people suffered back then, emotions should not cloud the truth. I do believe that when writing a historical information, we should be free from biases and reveal everything that was done and not just what we want for the younger generations to believe. Emotions should not manipulate nor alter the truth, likewise, writing historical information should not be used to conceal the narratives in order to clear one’s name. Being born a Marcos can be a curse for what has happened in the past, but I do believe that it is in the persons’ will if he is going to continue the bad things that his family has done or be the future leader that will help of our country flourish. I do believe that Sandro Marcos will be in the politics in the near future like his father and grandfather due to his exposure at a very young age, it is in-fact that he is very similar to his father Bongbong Marcos during the campaigns of his President Ferdinand Marcos. I can only hope that Sandro’s intention would be the common good of the country and not just to simply continue a legacy. One of the historical facts that I’ve learned that I was not previously aware of was that the Marcos’ were able to bring in Safari animals from Kenya which is strictly prohibited. This shows that with money and clout, all things are possible which is quite scary that an influential person can get away with anything in our country. In addition to this, prior to watching the film, I thought that the controversial issue involving Imelda’s shoe collection was merely an exaggeration, however, the documentary had shown that it was in fact true. This made me rethink Imelda’s argument when her family was accused of corruption. The younger generation can learn on how to promote quality documentaries that shows equal judgement and letting all different parties to speak up on what they know and what actually happened. In making documentaries, we should really put our emotions aside even though how much it hurts, for us to be able to grasp all aspects and not producing a documentary wherein you only show the viewers what they want to see. I do believe that this documentary can be used as an educational material considering that it has less or even completely nonbiased on the different parties involved. To conclude, we should always look at things in different perspective to further know what really happened but at the same time be careful to not be deceived easily. Truth should not be altered according to one’s preference or views, it should be relayed, free from bias and manipulation.

0 notes

mikaokii · 4 years

Text

Getting to Know DLSU’s Strategic Plan

In maintaining the University’s position as one of the top universities in the Philippines, must have been utilizing the key strategies Accompaniments, Innovation, and Organization. Under accompaniment, the emphasis on the faculty-student engagements, practical assessment, and comprehensive support may be the factors involved in helping the university maintain its quality education and performance. DLSU’s manner of systematizing the development of progressive tuition and compensation models would have helped the institution be recognized in the country. On the other hand, the Universities organization manifests DLSU’s high regard for efficient governance and services, helping it earn its title as one of the most sought after universities. In establishing the University’s international reputation and prestige, it would be necessary for the institution to utilize the strategies Accompaniment, Niches, and Mission. The manner as to how faculty-student engagements, practical assessment, and comprehensive support are still being observed by the University amidst a difficult time shows how pro-active the University is, helping it earn recognition internationally. This is then further enhanced by the University’s expansion to non-traditional markets and by continuing professional education. Mission, as a strategy, also helps the University in being recognized as it involves expansion of connection through shared commitments such as UN Sustainable Development Goals. Strengths – Efficient Learning Platform - Prior to the pandemic, the University has been utilizing a learning platform called AnimoSpace, and because of the fact that it has been utilized before, finding a medium of learning in the online setting was not a problem anymore. Trained professors – As the university switches to online setting, training professors on the nook and canny of the online setting helped the University in ensuring the quality education is not being compromised. Weaknesses – Complex Academic Calendar – One recognizable feature of DLSU would be its academic calendar, which divides the academic year into three terms. In a regular set-up, it might have been advantageous in ensuring that academic load is efficiently given. However, in this kind of situation wherein both students and faculty members need sufficient time to adjust, observing this kind of calendar might make it hard for the members of the university to adapt to the changes or it could possibly lead to comprises. Opportunities – Internationally recognized institution – DLSU, once again, made it to the THE World Rankings, proving that it is an institution not only recognized in the country, but also globally. Earning this title brings forth many opportunities for the University as this title reflects the continuous efforts of the University in providing quality education Threats – Threats of the Pandemic – without assurance as to when it will end, the current pandemic poses a threat to the University as it has impacted the operations of the institution. Because of the crisis, there might be a significant drop in the number of enrollees. Externalities – In line with the current situation of the country, there has been major shifts in delivering quality education. Factors such as poor internet connection and inclement weather conditions poses a threat to the institutions goal of delivering uncompromised quality education. Assessing DLSU’s strategic plan, it can be observed as to how it promotes the objectives of good goods, good work, and good wealth as embodied in the vocation of the business leader. Promotion of good goods is manifested by the University in many ways, an example of it would be how it provides quality education to those who are financially challenged by granting scholarships and assistance. On the other hand, the institution promotes good work as it uplifts the dignity of human work as it takes into account the wellbeing of its members in its operations. Lastly, it promotes good wealth by efficiently and effectively supervising its resources, ensuring that there is a just allocation of benefits to its stakeholders. Analyzing the objective of the institution’s strategic plan, I personally believe that it would help me transform myself into a good business leader. One thing that I have inferred from the plans is that DLSU is focused on helping it members develop and hone their skills under their care. In doing so, they provide top of the line assistance and integrate latest technology which are expected to assist the member’s in the development. Furthermore, the strategic plan, made me realize how important the role of the members of the institution is because without these people, achieving the institution’s goals would be close to impossible. With this it is only necessary to ensure that their needs are met by developing systems that would cater to their needs. As a student, I personally believe that I can help the University achieve its goals by striving in my field, and probably innovating ideas that could help DLSU be recognized. Another contribution would be voicing out my opinion, given the chance, especially on matters which directly affect the members of the institution. I believe this is important as it would help the University identify necessary changes in order to maintain a conducive space for learning and growth. As a stakeholder, I believe that the benefit I get from DLSU is its quality education. Without doubt, the University ensures that quality education is maintained at all times and in different conditions by developing systems which make it easier for the university to adapt to changes. Another benefit would be how the university gives me a space wherein I am able to hone my skills, not just as a student, but also as a member of the society.

1 note · View note