#writescapade

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Writescapade: New Beginnings

Life in college is never easy, but the experience that you’ll be getting from it will help you grow and mold you into the person that is prepared to conquer the wonders of reality. It is a phase in your life where you’ll be meeting new people, and have the opportunity to know yourself better.

Be the witness of my growth as a writer. As I write about my experiences, learnings, and personal reflections about my course. Allow me to share some events and activities which I think is helping me grow as a writer, and as a student.

Becoming a Communication student, I am exposed to the wide array of mediums that are used in conveying messages. It could be through television, cellphone, radio, newspaper, and a lot more. Aside from those, we are also taught on how to maximize or use the aforesaid mediums. Writing in New Media is one of my major subjects right now and with this subject, we, students are being taught on how we navigate our way, write and deliver our message with the help of the new media. This course aims to expose the students with the techniques that are used in writing for new media.

What is New Media?

You might be wondering what “new media” is. Let’s cut to the chase and go directly to the point. New media is the digital technology around us that helps us get in touch or connected with one another regardless of the distance between the sender and receiver. It is a diverse medium composed of diverse audience that are being connected with the help of the internet. Therefore, the audiences in the new media doesn’t have to be located within a specific geographical location.

With the help of new media, it became easier for us to connect and continue with our work and academics during this pandemic. The new media made it possible for us to have our classes at the comfort of our own home. Aside from that, it gave businesses a chance to continue their works or even market their products or services with the help of the online platform. Based on an article by the Carrier Clinic (2019), there are three positive sides when it comes to our exposure to the new media: (1) anonymity, (2) 24/7 availability, and (3) No geographical limitations.

With the help of anonymity, people are able to share their personal problems and vent it to the public. I, myself, can relate to this and I, to be honest, find it therapeutic. Back in 2016, Tumblr became my diary. It is the platform that I use to vent or even rant about whatever that have happened to me. It is also the first thing that I update whenever there’s something good that happened to me. It was a phase where almost everyone was using Tumblr to share their personal dramas and curate a ‘blog’ that has a playlist on it. It was a time where people can confess their deep darkest secrets without getting canceled.

Knowing that people are 24/7 available, is both a blessing and a curse that we’ve been living by since this pandemic started. When the idea of having online classes and work-from-home set-up came, a lot of people forgot to set boundaries. They forgot to have their own personal space. All of a sudden, it was a chaos of events. You no longer have a sleeping pattern, you tend to focus more on your socials non-stop, you began sending emails or even work-related messages in the middle of the night. All of the happened because we thought that the availability of a person is now 24/7 since he/she is just at home.

I actually admire how times have changed and allowed us to communicate with no geographical limitations. As a daughter of someone who is always away from his family, having this limitless access is making it easier for me to connect with my father who is working abroad. Sending a life update or a simple how my day went allows him to witness and feel that he’s with us while we’re growing. We may not see each other physically, but the internet is making it possible for us to connect with each other. Having all these being said, we can say that the internet is making it possible for us to have a network society.

What is Network Society?

In simple terms, it is the process of sharing information within a social network that is made possible with the help of the internet and/or mobile devices. According to Castell, these social networks are efficient for us, humans, because it allows us to be complex, dynamic, and innovative. The evolution of this Network society allowed us to change social dynamics.

An example that I could think of where network society allowed us to change the dynamics of our society is the #BlackLivesMatter movement. This movement wasn’t just a street movement or rally that are composed of African Americans. It was a movement which first started on Twitter due to the death of George Floyd. It was known as a movement which first started as a worldwide trending hashtag. The death of Floyd was then followed by a series of racist acts among these law enforcers which therefore, triggered the majority to rally and use their voices to fight for the rights and lives of the black Americans.

Source: Teen Vogue

The opportunity that the network society have opened for us shall be used meaningfully. At the end of the day, our simple words, posts, or even hashtags could save or even change the lives of other people. As they say, use your platform to serve as a voice to those who are unheard.

For now, this would be the end of my first blog post. I am hoping that these basics will make it easier for you guys to understand my future writescapades. Get to know more about writing for new media and, of course, myself as I unravel more of my learnings, insights, and personal experiences with my next blog posts. Ciao!

Sources:

BBC News. (2020, November 30). Black Lives Matter founders: We fought to change history and we won. Retrieved September 7, 2021, from BBC News website: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55106268

Black Lives Matter: From Hashtag to Movement. (2020). Retrieved September 7, 2021, from Anti-Defamation League website: https://www.adl.org/education/educator-resources/lesson-plans/black-lives-matter-from-hashtag-to-movement

The Good, Bad, and In-between of Social Media - Carrier Clinic. (2019, August 8). Retrieved September 7, 2021, from Carrier Clinic website: https://carrierclinic.org/2019/08/08/the-good-bad-and-in-between-of-social-media/

Introduction to Sociology. (2016). Castells and the Network Society [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLF5J8Y5zyg

BBC News. (2020, November 30). Black Lives Matter founders: We fought to change history and we won. Retrieved September 7, 2021, from BBC News website: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55106268

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Writescapade: Duterte was Genius

This post might contain spoilers from the documentary “The Great Hack”. Read at your own risk.

During my previous entry for #Writescapade, I unraveled some necessary terms that I will be using throughout my next blogs. If you haven’t read it, here’s the link for Writescapade: New Beginnings. Now, allow me to discuss a very timely issue on the political aspect of the Philippines.

The reign of our current president is bound to end in a few months’ time. We are about to enter the campaign period of the aspiring politicians in our country, and it would be nice if Filipinos would take a pause to think and reflect how the 2016 Elections went and became a burden for us during the past six years.

According to Dahlberg (2001), new media welcomes the idea of disseminating political views and agendas because this platform is very liberated in terms of limitations. In new media, we are all exposed to the three (3) areas of political life which are: (1) Formal, (2) Alternative, and (3) Citizen-based. These aforesaid areas of political life were all maximized by our current president in order for him to convince people that he is the best option among the other options back in 2016.

Citizen-based

Courtesy: Rappler

Among the other areas of political life, this citizen-based approach is the most familiar for most of us. This area maximizes the use of social media (specifically Facebook and Twitter) in disseminating the campaign paraphernalia of the political candidate.

During the 2016 era, our social medias are bombarded by various campaigns. It ranges from the leftist and rightist post (well, at least, on my end). I don’t want to claim that the same thing is happening on the social media platforms of everyone because Facebook uses algorithms in order to come up with a newsfeed that is curated to your liking.

In order for me to prove this point, I would like to use how the former President of America, Donald Trump, used Facebook’s algorithm to convince the neutral people to vote for him. Back in 2014, a voter-profiling company named “Cambridge Analytica” was able to secure and investment that is worth $15 million. With that, they were able to get the private information of an estimated 50 million Facebook users illegally.

Courtesy: Netflix

In a documentary on Netflix with the title “The Great Hack”, explored how Cambridge Analytica maximized the personal data that they’ve gathered and how they helped Trump with his 2016 campaign for the presidential position. In this documentary, Cambridge Anaytica identified which users are neutral for the upcoming elections based on the information that they’ve gathered through Facebook. Through this process, Cambridge Analytica bombarded these types of people with videos, pictures and other propagandas on their Facebook page which convinces these people that Trump is a way better president compared to Hillary Clinton. They manipulated these people into thinking that Trump should be the next president. If you want to learn more about this issue and how a professor sued Cambridge Analytica for buying the personal information of an estimated 50 million Facebook users, you may watch the documentary “The Great Hack” via Netflix.

So, how is this event relevant to my claims earlier? Duterte did not have an agency that is similar to Cambridge Analytica which is why they created a troll farm. They hired people who will create dummy accounts in disseminating and increasing the reach of their campaign paraphernalia. That is how genius Duterte is.

Alternative

Courtesy: GMA Network

This area of political life talks about the movements and activism. If I were to relate this to Duterte’s campaign, he used the “Anti-Drug Campaign” in order to get the votes of the majority. He promised that he will end drugs in our country within a span of 6 months. It sounds surreal but, the Filipinos did not mind at all. Instead, they took the risk and trust the process that Duterte is the key to solve such problem.

Through this campaign, the issue of extrajudicial killings rose when Duterte got elected as the president. He was persistent with the shoot-to-kill order and other orders such as the “Patayin pag nanlaban”. It was a traumatizing era for some or even most of the Filipinos who experienced this first-hand. One of the victims of this was the late Kian Delos Santos which woke the eyes of some that Duterte wasn’t really clever.

Formal

The formal area of political life focuses mainly on the organized political parties, legislative lobbying, and referendums. I could still remember how the citizens of the Philippines begged for him to run as the next president. For them, Duterte is the key to attain peace in our country since, he managed to do that during his reign as the Mayor for Davao city. Little do they know that having him reign as our president would include mishaps and misfortunes especially right now, during the pandemic.

Courtesy: Rappler

A lot of people would probably say that our President is not clever enough. But then again, isn’t it we? If Duterte isn’t clever enough then, he wouldn’t be the president right now. During the campaign period, Duterte (especially his team) were very clever in convincing the naive Filipinos to vote for him. He straight up said that he will eliminate drugs in our country. There were no concrete plans provided but, almost everyone did not seem to be bothered at all. He knows how to get the votes of the majority and for that, he is clever. He is clever enough to make us feel that we need him and we should vote for him. For that, he was clever and we are dumbfounded.

Let the previous election be the greatest lesson of the Filipinos for the upcoming elections in 2022. Stop voting just because someone is famous or is currently helping the lower class financially. Vote for someone who will care for you and our country even if it’s not the election period.

References:

How Trump Consultants Exploited the Facebook Data of Millions (Published 2018). (2021). The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/17/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-trump-campaign.html

GMA News. (2015). Duterte’s promises and his first year in office: Law and order. Retrieved October 4, 2021, from GMA News Online website: https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/616342/duterte-s-promises-and-his-first-year-in-office-law-and-order/story/

Jaboneta, J. (2016, May 14). 10 takeaways from Duterte’s digital campaign. Retrieved October 4, 2021, from Rappler website: https://www.rappler.com/moveph/lessons-duterte-digital-campaign

Punongbayan, J. (2020, April 14). [ANALYSIS] Duterte’s coronavirus aid: Too little, too slow, too politicized. Retrieved October 4, 2021, from Rappler website: https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/analysis-duterte-coronavirus-aid-too-little-slow-politicized

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WRITESCAPADE 3: Keep the fire burning

Back in high school, I used to write short stories and screenplays for our class productions. Eventually, I found myself reading magazines and books which is something that I didn't really enjoy before turning 15.

Those requirements that were given to us by our teachers eventually became my passion without me even realizing it. I could still remember how my classmates adored the way I wrote back then. They would even seek my guidance or comments on their works. Indeed, it made me flutter.

Senior high school eventually came and I must say that I freestyled my first two days in SHS. As one of the pioneer batch for this so-called “experiment” I literally had no idea when it comes to the differences of each strand. It felt like I cannot digest or fathom the changes that are happening.

I won’t lie nor deny because I was really hoping that their minds will change and we’ll be freshies for the upcoming year. But, no, their minds did not change and we had to deal with the situation that we're in.

Now, going back, I indeed freestyled my first two days in SHS. You are probably asking “Why?” and “How?” right now. Well, as I have mentioned, I was having a hard time picking which strand I belong to. All I know is that I want to be in UST for college with a degree in Communication Arts. But then again, senior high happened and suddenly, it felt like I’m lost!

Given the situation, I chose to become a part of ABM (Accounting and Business Management strand). It took me 5 hours sitting in an ABM section to decide that this is not for me and I am not meant for this entire ABM thing. Which is why I decided right away to switch my strand and I immediately talked to the senior high school coordinator. I no longer asked for the permission of my parents regarding my decision. I just simply went for it. I was really excited, but I never thought that this decision would change my life and aspirations. I used to dream of becoming the next editor-in-chief of a prestigious magazine but when I realized that I am not the best ‘writer’ out there, I stopped writing. I told myself that I will never be like some of my classmates who are better at writing than me.

Which is why I would like to dedicate this blog post to those who feel like they should extinguish the fire within themselves. This blog post is for you.

Same thing happened to blackberry and iPhone (well at least according to the rumors). Let’s say it’s true that the CEO of BlackBerry saw how Steve Jobs launched the iPhone and did not see it as a “threat” to their device. They were complacent because they feel like they are already the “best” and they feel like no one will ever be better than them. And at the very moment that they’ve realized that Apple is way better than them, they decided to stop making smartphones to focus on software development.

Such an instance is similar to what happened to me, almost everyone was praising my works and when I became exposed to the new set of people, I realized that there are people who are way better than me. Therefore, I stopped what I used to be passionate about.

If there’s one thing that I have in common with the CEO of BlackBerry is that we both extinguished the fire that is burning within us. Why? That’s because the society that we live in is fast-paced and before you know it, there are new generations of phones already and that would mean that those who wanted to be up-to-date when it comes to their gadgets will be upgrading once again. Some would even joke that the phase wherein they change phones is as fast as when they wanted to change partners.

Speaking of phones and relationships, Adorno (1978) mentioned that the relationships that we’re able to form online have a slight difference to the relationships that we form in real life. In the Philippines, men are expected to do the “first move” when it comes to dating or courting. In an article by Torres (2019), men are also expected to do harana, paninilbihan, balak (spoken poetry), and other traditional ways of courting to prove the sincerity of their intentions to the girl that they are courting.Having that being said, women aren’t supposed to ask a guy out first but with the changes that are happening in our society. Girls who are making the “first move” are being normalized to break gender stereotypes.

In the dating application, Bumble, it was a life-changing innovation for men who are shy and for women who wanted to break free from such “gender roles” because through the use of Bumble, both genders are able to challenge the outdated heterosexual norms in our society.

It may not be a “slight difference” based on what we were once used to but, it indeed became possible through the use of mobile phones and the constant innovations that are brought to us by these gadgets.

One of the innovations or life-changing discoveries would be the invention of 3g, and 4g. It is through these generations where we were able to communicate with our loved ones who live across the world. Through the rise of these, smartphones came into existence and are continuously changing our day-to-day lives.

It may seem that my story earlier makes no sense but, if you come to think of it, my blog entry wouldn’t be as tacky as this one if I never gave up on becoming an editor-in-chief. Just like the smartphones around us, people tend to be less functional and efficient if they do not update or feed themselves with new information. Which is why I would like to encourage everyone to keep that fire burning and to never stop feeding yourself with information which will help you upgrade as an individual.

Reference:

Bumble Date. (2020). Retrieved October 29, 2021, from Bumble website: https://bumble.com/en/date

Adorno, T. and Horkheimer, M., 1997 [1947], Dialectic of Enlightenment. London: Verso

Torres, I. (2019, March 20). Filipino Dating: Evolution of Courtship in the Philippines. Retrieved October 29, 2021, from Medium website: https://medium.com/@afacebu.irish/filipino-dating-evolution-of-courtship-in-the-philippines-b4881a69aeee