ON SOCIAL MEDIA (Part 1 of 2)

Dangers of online social media

There is too much freedom online. The danger does not only come from the presence of obscene materials but from the lack of critical thinking in the internet. Young people tend to reveal too much of themselves on their posts without understanding that they make themselves potential victims of abuses and bullying.

The exposure of young teenagers to online social media also exerts some influence on the kind of values that the youth embrace and develop. Crucial to the individual is the formation of his sense of social commitment. This is not apparent in the internet since what is available in social networking sites are mostly selfish and vain self-projections. While there is nothing wrong in self-expression, it is also important to be able to develop some moral ground. A clear moral perspective is important in order not to diminish a person’s sense of self when one exposes himself or herself publicly.

A Christian perspective

Cardinal Luis Tagle, according to Fr. Ritsche Gamaya, DCD, of the Archdiocese of Davao’s Commission on Social Communications and Mass Media, calls for a deeper sense of relationship beyond what the internet provides. In a meeting with the officers of the Social Ethics Society (SES), an organization of philosophy teachers in Southern Mindanao, Fr. Gamaya explained the greater role of educators in terms of spreading the good news and espousing Christian values through social media.

The members of the SES are one in saying that in itself the internet is not evil. It is the information that one puts in the internet that determines its value and purpose. Technology is nothing but a tool that propagates what is good and bad. Ultimately, people will have to be responsible with what they put online. The meeting ended with the clear understanding that social media can be a means to promote critical thinking, the common good and Christian values.

Face-to-face encounters

Cardinal Tagle, says to Fr. Gamaya, encourages people to have face-to-face encounters. We can say, for instance, that the essence of commitment is our face-to-face encounters with people. This means being able to live with them, suffer with them, and understand more what they are going through. To be able to see the face is to remind ourselves of a moral demand, according to Michel Foucault – “Thou shall not kill”. This is what infinity requires – that one is for the other, that one is responsible for the other. Responsibility, in this sense, goes beyond what is merely a virtual experience.

In a classroom situation, for example, there is a deepening of relationship when the teacher meets his students. While knowledge and information can be imparted through technology-based tools, there is no replacement for the real experience of hearing, seeing and communicating personally with the instructor. The classroom experience implies a sense of participation, a sense of being-with. As such, face-to-face encounters are crucial in the formative function of education.

By Christopher Ryan Maboloc/Faculty, Ateneo de Davao University