Role of Social Media in Filipino Society

In today’s society, issues are continuously piling up like dominos that refuse to be lopsided as
we build it on our own. Henceforth, we settle on platforms that would keep us updated and
transparent of our thoughts, which is greatly provided by the social media. However, many Filipinos
are using it erroneously that instead of dedicating it for developmental purposes, it has become an
instrument to spread toxicity and is usually used to poison one’s mind to believe something that is not
true. Many Filipinos get manipulated and deceived to the point that what they see would serve as their
own basis for defining a person, an incident, or a situation. Is the social media really bad for us, or is it
us, Filipinos, who are bad for it?

Social media has been a crucial part of our daily lives since it makes social interaction and access
to news and information easy. It is both a valuable and influential communication tool that is used
worldwide, but most of us are still ignorant of its true role in our society. Most people are using it as a
medium for disseminating disinformation when in fact, it must be used to provide information,
especially those that are related to the human rights, implementation of law, and societal issues. As
Filipinos being known for our capacity to love and care for one another, we should use social media as
an instrument to inspire, educate, and spread awareness. Social media provides various platforms that
we can use to express ourselves and voice out our opinions and beliefs, so it is important to use it wisely
and bolster a sense of equity through it. A single post can reach millions of social media accounts, so if a
post is meant to spread lies or misleading information, people will be totally blinded of what’s right and
wrong. The true role of social media in Filipino society is to be an upholder of knowledge and truth, not
to be an uplifter of ignorance and lies.

Today’s generation is probably the most aggressive users of social media and because of our
different insights, our approach to it is also different from each other. Even so, everyone should be
responsible of using it since it plays an important role in our society and the actions we carry out with
the help of social media could either help or hurt our society. We, as Filipinos, should stop the stigma of
spreading fake information without certainty just to keep up with the trend. It takes a discipline to not
let social media to ruin our lives so we might as well use it to impact other people’s lives for good.
Remember, everything you say online will reflect your ability to be humane.