NAME: MEDELYN B.

PEPITO DATE: APRIL 4, 2021

Reaction Paper (ENGLISH 303)

Topic: Social Media Etiquette and Online Communication

Social media is actually very helpful in reaching out our loved ones and clients. It
gives ease to our communication sector and provides flexibility of time. Due to
pandemic in which we optimize the use of online mediums, we now have the access to
more resources during class hours, meetings are done even at home, distance learning
is more appreciated and utilized, deadlines are now extended until 11:59 PM compare
to the 5:00 PM availability of the teacher before going home and etc. However, if there
are gems, so as the germs. So, a lot of things should be considered and followed
when exposing and engaging ourselves to these mediums.

Last March 20, 2021, I was able to learn important points to ponder about social
media etiquette and online communication, and I am very thrilled to discuss the five
takeaways as part of my realizations and how these give impact to me. First, what you
post online is a representation of you. We tend to share, overshare, inform,
misinform, listen and be heard, entertain and be entertained. Since posting online is
already part of our system, we have to be careful and conscious with whatever we
post or share. If you do not have something good to say, it’s better to just keep quiet
and observe. We expose too much of ourselves that we forget the security of our own
privacy. This concern leads to the second takeaway – keep your personal drama
private. I was struck with the question raised during the discussion as “are you safe
online?” We usually use our different social media accounts to vent out our anger,
frustrations, disappointments and etc. It somehow lessens the weight of our emotions
for a while but at the end of the action, the consequence of venting it out will just give
us more ripple effects and it never resolves the problem in the first place. The more
people who will get involved, the bigger the problem will become. Another thing to
keep in mind is that when venting negatives vibes, there is a chance of the spread of
negative energy to those people who will read your post. Remember that it will only
take few unpleasant words to trigger your brain and ruin your day. Third is that social
media is how me communicate, but it is also how we procrastinate. Given with the
ease and convenience it provides, the discipline of how we manage our schedule is
tested every now and then. Setting priorities is utmost concern. However, how we fix
our time-management is actually how we will be able to address this concern. The
fourth thing that I want to highlight is the concept that we actually do not need to
associate ourselves to whatever we see online. Oftentimes, we are so conscious of
what might others might think of us. We are so dictated and dominated with other’s
perspective that we have set our mindset to always please and meet those ideals.
So, in return, we get easily affected with whatever we see online, and it should not be
the case because how you compose your inner peace is your responsibility. The
affirmations that we get through social media is too overwhelming but is fleeting. We
have to be reminded that posting online is not a guarantee that everyone will like us.
So, neglecting and ignoring negative energy is a choice. The fifth and last thing is
how we tend to do whatever we want. Our students tend to explore more to the point
of becoming reckless of the different uses of different platforms, but so are we. It’s
sad how we reprimand their recklessness, but so hypocrite to see ours. With this kind
of privilege, we are held accountable to everything that we do online, be it on the
information that we share, photos and etc. Remember that whatever we say and
provide can be used against us.

As professional, specifically as a teacher, everything is expected from us. We

are almost everything and everyone in one person. So, responsibility and
accountability should always part of our actions. We cannot live without these things.
Maybe the reason why our profession is called as the noble profession is because
when you become a teacher, you are expected to be the role model of everything
good, excellence, good attitude, upright moral, good reputation, and good identity.
That is maybe so surmountable to achieve, but unnoticeably, we are actually living it
day by day as we follow our professional ethics and as we follow kindness over
anything.