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[ronaamaee]

Lockdoooooooown

On January 30, 2020, the first case of COVID-19 virus was recorded in the Philippines, wherein the patient involved was confined at San Lazaro Hospital in Metro Manila. During that time, me and my mother were at the mall in Quezon City and we've both immediately noticed the quick changes in the movements of other people at the mall. Some of them are talking about the news and making their own speculations while the others were rushing to the drug stores to buy face masks and other essential stuff that is believed to be essential. Upon knowing the news, I spent time thinking about it, and I hope that it could be instantly treated by the doctors, and the scientists could immediately develop a cure to stop the virus.

Many days had passed after the news was released about the first case in the Philippines, I don’t feel worried because I kept on positively thinking that the new virus can easily be treated in just a month, and worse things will not happen. Just like me, many people continue to live their lives without fear, until the day comes that started to change the lives of each Filipino people. On March 15, 2020, the government placed Metro Manila on a strict lockdown. I feel scared a little bit because this set-up is new to me, there were also many authorities outside and I’m afraid because of the worse things that might happen in the country just like what I’ve seen on the movies. After hearing the news, I started to realize some things like having a feeling of joy because as a student who is also struggling for our final term, our summer vacation will be early and there is no clear assurance when will be the next school year will return. That night of March 15, I also think that the longest possible implementation of lockdown is three to four months then after that, everything will be okay and goes back to normal.

During the first lockdown, of course I and my classmates are still struggling to complete our final requirements for the final term. For me, it’s okay at least we are on our homes and we don’t need to wake up early to prepare for school, but still it is draining. After we have completed our requirements, I finally said to myself that I can now do all the things that I want to do. That time, I did fun stuff like trying to cook new dishes with my mother, having quality time with my family, watched all the movies and series that I want to watch, and improved my traditional painting skills. Months had passed, the government still continued to extend the lockdown without the proper plans on how to combat the virus and without proper aid to the poorest people. Although the government provided a budget to aid the affected workers because of the prolonged lockdown, it is still not enough.

While the lockdown continues, my happiness to do stuff was replaced by sadness, boredom and a bit of resentment. I felt all of these because I see that the government was not doing the right things to fight the pandemic instead, they do awful things that will not help to normalize our situation. One of these things was they still continued the beautification of Manila Bay in the middle of pandemic wherein they spend millions of money to put artificial sand or dolomites in Manila Bay. Because of the criticisms they have received from the public, some officials said that they continued this project because they believe that it has good benefits in the mental health of the people. I really feel sad for what the government is doing, because there is no improvement in the situation of the country and its getting worse because of their infinite lockdown. I believe that it is better if they will come up with a new plan that will no longer require lockdown because it will more likely kill the economy of the country.

I admit that I don’t feel comfortable wearing face masks because it irritates my skin and causes large pimples on my face. It is also difficult to breathe when wearing a face mask, but I don’t have a choice since it is required to keep me safe from the virus. I've already accepted the fact that we need to wear face masks until the situation of the country comes back to normal, but I was so disappointed when the government requires the public to wear face shields, another equipment that will keep us safe from the virus but will make our breathing even harder. Still, I don’t have a choice but to follow the rules to keep me and my family safe from the virus. As the time went on, I was really annoyed and sad because there is really no improvement in the situation of the country and what happens on the first lockdown seems to be happening over and over again.

Another thing that makes me sad is that our government keeps on blaming the public for what is happening in the country, they keep on saying that the public is “pasaway” or hard headed even if it is not. In my observation, most of the public is following the basic health protocols and almost all of the public or private establishments are strict on implementing it. For me, it is really the prolonged lockdown that worsened our situation because it is anti-poor and not everyone has a good job to withstand the lockdown. Sometimes, before I sleep, I’m thinking some worse scenarios that might happen in our country if the pandemic continues to worsen. It makes me sad and gives me some stress because I really do miss our normal life before the pandemic.

In the present moment, the stress that I feel is getting heavier because of the online class. I feel that the online class is more tedious compared to face to face classes. During our online class, we need to face our devices for long hours and after that, we will face it again to finish all our deadlines on canvas and then we need to study for the upcoming quizzes and exams. This routine repeats all over again every week. Moreover, online classes are so draining and I believe that we students deserve an academic break because we have almost no rest in the whole semester, and we feel that taking a break for a moment is a sin which is very depressing.

In order to lessen the stress that I feel, I let my mother and father know about what I feel and how the rest of my day is, so that they can give me advice on how to deal with it and they can share some kind words that I can use to fight and continue doing the stuff that I need to accomplish.  I also talk to my friends and check on them how they are doing so that can I can also help them to lessen the stress that they feel because of the pandemic and online classes. Moreover, if I'm lucky to have extra time to rest from online class, I treat myself by having a good sleep, eating healthy foods, ordering my favorite food and drinks, taking my vitamins, and watching series and movies that I love.

  Disclaimer: This is just an exercise for our Digital Publishing class. Thank you for understanding!  @bertongbigtime​. 

[ronaamaee]

“Digital Publishing Trends”

             During the first wave of the pandemic, governments of different countries implement lockdown, so people need to stay in their houses. People spend most of their time with their gadgets reading articles about COVID-19 and other kinds of stuff. Based on what I have read about the publishing trends, I believe that delivering information straight to our email and SMS will become more popular. For me, it is way more convenient because the information we need is delivered to us in a personal way. With this trend, we no longer encounter a volume of irrelevant and distracting information on the internet.

 I can relate to this situation when I want to search for something, lots of irrelevant information such as advertisements appeared. It is worst sometimes because I got redirected to another website, so delivering the information we need straight to our email and SMS are helpful. Aside from that trend, I think that the use of audiobooks will also become popular among Filipinos. Audiobooks are perfect for people who need to multitask because they will just listen to it and they will become updated on the latest news whenever they want. Also, Listening to audiobooks have good benefits like improving our listening skills that are important in our everyday lives.

Disclaimer: This is just an exercise for our Digital Publishing class. Thanks for your understanding.

[ronaamaee]

                                             “Why Go Digital?”

           In today’s age, the growth of ever-changing technology caused enormous changes in the world we live in. One of the changes brought by this technological change is that more people today are preferred to use new media over traditional media because it is way more convenient and easy to use. Moreover, digital publishing is not expensive because the publisher does not need to worry about its publication, ink, and papers so it is environment-friendly as well. Based on what I have read, I believe that we should go for digital publishing especially in our current situation.

 Today, where the world is facing pandemic crisis, it is way more convenient and safe if we will get the information we need digitally so there is no need for us to go outside to buy printed materials like newspapers and magazines. Moreover, digital publishing are going to be the trend today especially for those people who are in a Work-From-Home basis, where they can published their desired content to start earning without having to worry about its expenses and quality. As a kind of person who spends most of the time online, I believe that digital publishing will benefit me a lot. Now, that we are having our online class where most of the information to answer our homework can be found online, digitally published information will be a great help because we don’t need to go outside. Also, I can easily access and share information that I need wherever I am without having the burden to carry heavy printed materials. Digital publishing is indeed a great help for everyone, but we must still balance the print media and digital publishing. Considering those other people and businesses that cannot keep up with change and continuously relies on print media are still important. Because of this, it is undeniable that despite of technological change, print media have still purpose.

Disclaimer: This is just an exercise for our Digital Publishing class. Thanks for your understanding.

[ronaamaee]

“Activity no 3: Spotify (YTL Episode 1: Love Scams & How to Avoid Them)”

 The episode one of ‘Yung Totoo Lang Podcast hosted by Tarra Quismundo on Spotify is all about love scams which often happens through online dating apps and social networking sites. In this romance scam, women are the most targeted wherein the romance scammers create fake profiles on online dating sites or social media and then they will try contact their victims. The romance scammers will tell lies to their victims and claimed to be in the military service, a doctor, or working in an oil rig until they build their trust and make their victims fall in love with them. Now that their victim fell with their sweet and flowery words, they will now make up a pathetic story and ask for large amount of money. After discussing the modus operandi of the love scammers, Tarra Quismundo gave an advice on how to avoid this kind of scam and losing money to a love scammer.

The pilot episode of the YTL Podcast was very informative and gives awareness to avoid exploitative people like the romance scammers that increasing especially when the love month arrives. Tarra Quismundo’s podcast is very helpful especially to the single women who are a fond of using online dating apps and easily to get fooled by the romance scammers because of their desire of having a love life. Furthermore, her platform which is podcasting will surely sell to the audiences not just because they can listen to it for free but they can also gain knowledge in media literacy and fake news. I believe that podcasting is an effective medium because it allows the users to save time by doing other things while listening such as cooking, cleaning, working out, and among others whenever and wherever they are. In addition, some podcasts are informative depending on what type of the program is and its listeners can have an access to it as long as they have an internet connection or while connected, they can download it to their devices to listen later.

Disclaimer: This is just an exercise for our Digital Publishing class. Thanks for your understanding.

  #ACM4305

[ronaamaee]

“M2: How to Become an Overnight Sensation?”

             Sleeping in one of the humanistic needs to regain energy and relive stress from tedious work throughout the day. That is why we want a comfortable and private place to sleep so that we can give our best performance the next day. Sometimes, due to our countless tasks and activities, it is inevitable that we lack sleep and the reason why we suddenly fell asleep wherever we are. The viral video of a man who was spotted sleeping in the middle of the crowd went viral because what he is doing is not a normal thing to do in that situation. In that event, everyone is expected to be active and alive while that man is looking tired and no energy to participate with the crowd. In my opinion, that video went viral not just because of his situation but also because it is normal for other people to take photos or videos of people who are sleeping to make fun of it.

           The story of a man who has spotted sleeping in the middle crowd earned nothing but different reactions such as laughter, cyber bullying, and pity. While the story of another man who live streamed himself in Douyin app went viral and earned millions of dollars. Many people want their sleep to be private as possible, I think, the “sleep stream” is going viral because it is different and not a normal thing to do. Aside from its weird and creepy nature, I think the reason why the audiences engage in that kind of activity is because they want to meet new online friends since it is live. The audiences of the live stream have the chance to interact or chat with other people around the world and have the opportunity to promote themselves as an influencer to attract new followers. Also, by engaging with other similar accounts or content, one will have knowledge about what they are offering so that he/she can link their account or content so they will have a chance to gain new followers.

Disclaimer: This is just an exercise for our Digital Publishing class. Thanks for your understanding.