I.

PROMOTIONAL STATEMENT/STATEMENT OF ENCOURAGEMENT

A. To the Youth
B. On the Proper and Responsible Use of Social Media

Nowadays, people are very indulge with this thing called “social media”. Most of this social media
users are from the Philippines, declaring it as "the social networking capital of the world," by a study
released by Universal McCann entitled "Power To The People – Wave 3". The study also says that
83 percent of Filipinos are actually members of a social network. According to the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) that “young people all over the world are the most active users of ICTs”.
Social Media is design for communication not only through texts, it is also through photos, videos, audios
and more. Through social media, you can connect to the people not only to your country, but also to the
world. With this, we need to be responsible and should be aware of what we share and what we click
because it is public to the eye of the social media users called “netizens”. Social media is a good thing
since it really helps us a lot, like informing us to be aware of our surrounding and making communication
easy for the people in far places, like sharing cultures, perspectives and more. But some use it in a bad
way like scamming, blackmailing, cyberbullying, cybercrimes, identity stealing, libel, sharing fake news and
obscene videos, black marketing like selling drugs, babies and more.
Social media is very powerful in a way that it influences the minds of the people, especially the
youngsters so we need to be careful, aware and responsible in using it. In today’s generation, youth are the
most victims because they are the ones who are most frequent in using gadgets. Some youth are known
for being impulsive, gullible, heedless, careless, tetchy and insensitive toward social media sites like
facebook, youtube, instagram, snapchat, twitter and more. They are unwary of the photos and informations
they share or comment. Like posting their home address, current location, personal informations, obscene
photos or videos, and fake news, giving their predators some important informations and strategies.
Because of the irresponsible use of social media, it does not only leaves a negative effect on the normal
lives of the people, but also to their health. Irresponsible use of social media could cause us stress, lack of
sleep, social media addiction, and eye strain. Social media also has become a site for crimes specifically
the cybercrimes. Sex videos and lewd photos has become rampant to social media sites making the youth
more curious and open to sex. Online dating is also resonant in social media, the predators are asking for
lewd photos or asking their prey to meet them then victimized them making it dangerous for the youth that
are into it. According to BBB that 21,000 in 2015 to 28,000 in 2017 are the number of victims of online
dating scam. Also, online selling has become popular nowadays in social media sites specifically mostly in
facebook, that is why the number of online scamming victim has also increased.
One of the trending issues now in social media is the suicide of a 25 years old Korean idol named
Choi Jin-ri, popularly known as Sulli of Korean girl group f(x). And one of the suspicious factor of her death
is her, being a long time victim of cyberbullying. According to the data from ACG that 4,103 cybercrimes
were recorded in 2018, higher by 79.64 percent when compared to 2017 where 2,284 cases were reported.
These crimes are online libel with 1,041 cases, followed by online scams with 1,012, 414 cases of photo
and video voyeurism, identity theft with 395 and online threat with 364. These violations are against the
Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, officially recorded as Republic Act No. 10175. Crimes under this are
libel, cybersex, child pornography, and offenses against the confidentiality, integrity and availability of
computer data and systems like illegal access, illegal interception, data interference, system interference,
misuse of devices, cyber-squatting, computer related fraud, computer-related Identity theft, and unsolicited
commercial communications.
In order not to be a victim of these, people should be aware and responsible of manipulating their
social media accounts. Photos, videos or other medium in social media are very easy to be downloaded
and uploaded. Refrain from posting texts, audio, too much unnecessary photos and videos especially those
that are obscene, embarrassing or has personal information or unnecessary information that can be used
by the others against you. Refrain from posting or sharing fake news that might affect the public. Refrain
from commenting harsh words, proposing an illegal activity or joining into illegal pages or sites. Do not
accept friend requests from the people whom you don’t know nor chat with them. If a stranger asks you
about your personal information or pictures especially those are nudes, do not entertain them or block
them. Do not post your location, your home address or your flight. A criminal might stalk you or take
advantage while you are out of your house, like barging in your house. Do not plagiarize posts, may it be
photos, videos, text, audios or other medium nor post a video or pictures of others to avoid violating the
right to privacy of others. Be sensitive to your posts to avoid bashing and report from other people. Make
your social media accounts content more creative, educating, informative in a good way, helpful and aware
of your environment. Be a good advocator of responsible youth and a good influencer to your followers.
Separate your account for personal and for work. Do not post sensitive or secret information about your
school or work place nor involve your school or work place in your illegal or barbaric activities. Do not post,
share or comment texts, photos, videos, or audios that might tarnish your credibility or reputation as a
professional or student. Do not input nor entrust your personal information such as phone number, atm
account pin number, address, name, emails and sensitive information to unreliable sites. They might steal
from you, not only money but might as well steal your identity. Never commit libel into your posts and
comments. Do not share your password and email address to others for privacy and change it from time to
time so that, it won’t easily get hacked. Be careful on the words you used in commenting or posting and in
sharing videos, photos or audios, cause your social media account is another mirror to your attitude and
life. Do not easily be persuade of the posts you read.
And lastly, think before you click, read the terms and condition, direction or any details before
agreeing or clicking into something.
Manipulating a social media account does not only involve the number of your followers, face
structure nor talents, but how a user can responsibly and smartly manipulate it and critically use it.
Following these tips would be a great step in becoming a responsible user and safe from the dangers of
social media. Instead of using it in unnecessary things, find the value in having and using it.
Students could use social media in their school for educational purposes, like researches,
reviewing, acquiring knowledge and more. Social media also has become a medium for school tasks and in
sending document files and copies of lectures instead of writing that would take a lot of time and focus.
Youth can use social media for advocasies on how to make our world more better, spread
awareness and opening the minds of other youth about the issues that we are currently facing, how can we
contribute to it and how can it affect us.
Social media are created to bring entertainment and relief to others. But because of the improper
use of it, social media had become a problem and one of the sources of issues here in the Philippines.
Social media can be a great help to businesses, in advocating, awareness, dissemination of information,
meeting new people, learn different cultures and perspectives, school, work and many more. Learning new
places, things, opening our mind for a new learnings, spreading positivities, new adventures and
discoveries are good things that we could share using social media.
As a youth, it is a great help for discoveries, researches, self esteem and independence and in
developing social and computer skills. If we could put it in good use, it could result to a better world, less
crimes, good communication and advance life.
Social media has nothing to do with our online dilemmas, but the action of the users does. In fact, if
we could learn the responsible way of using social media, we’ll realize how helpful it is in our contemporary
world today. As a youth, how will you contribute? Let us be critical and innovative in our every actions.
Being responsible will do us no harm. In fact, it would mold us and make us more a critical thinker and
independent youth. We should also learn and apply the word privacy. Minimize posting your time to time
daily activities and rants to avoid conflict, ruckus and issues. Above all, promote love and peace through
your social media accounts.