On social media and Duterte’s snub

A survey ought to be done to gauge and compare which between traditional and social media have been more effective in influencing the Filipino populace into voting for the eventual winners in the just concluded May 9 elections.

While winning candidates like President-elect Rodrigo Duterte and Cebu City Mayor-elect Tomas Osmena can readily point to social media as the anchor or linchpin of their successful campaigns, these claims have yet to be confirmed through numbers and figures.

Yet, their argument can be tough to refute especially by the traditional media which has acknowledged beforehand the crucial role played by social media not only in influencing public opinion but in real-time delivery of news and information to the public even if such information had yet to be validated.

What I can say from the outset though is that while social media has its advantages, it remains to be quite unpredictable and vulnerable to those who know how to readily manipulate it, making it a very potent and dangerous tool for misinformation and propaganda.

I have to qualify or preface my views on this issue since I am technically working in mainstream media, specifically as editor of Cebu Daily News. But social media as propaganda tool had been pointed out by Rappler, an online news site which held a discussion on the issue during the height of the campaign period.

I’m confident that this view is shared not only by those in the traditional and new media sectors but also by those discernible enough to go beyond the “likes” and “dislikes” and the so-called exposes floated by satirical news websites in favor of this and that candidate.

Having said that, does it mean that social media should be ignored and its value diminished as an information/news medium is concerned? I don’t know if anyone can afford to do that, the world being connected and all.

The bottomline solution is for people to set up their own filter system, to put it bluntly their own “BS radar,” to keep track of and delouse any bit of news, information, and whatnot that passes through their social media accounts.

It’s easier said than done of course, but what’s the point of having information on your fingertips if you don’t exercise a modicum of control over it?

Aside from avoiding information overload, it also helps people read, listen, watch, and enjoy perusing through their social media accounts more, to be free from the disturbance of propaganda panhandlers.

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By directly snubbing mainstream media, President-elect Rodrigo Duterte seeks to both directly and indirectly control the flow of information on his administration and his policies as the country’s clearly undisputed leader.

Direct in the sense that by shutting off rather than shutting down mainstream media, Duterte makes sure that only what he deems essential will be filtered down by his government’s information arm to the Filipino people.

While this is an effective check on his tendency to mouth off and attack anyone and everyone related to Adam and Eve, this also casts serious doubts on his vow to make his administration transparent and accessible to the Filipino people.

The hallmark of transparency is being open to public scrutiny including scrutiny from mainstream media which remains a vital bulwark of democracy in any country. It is not the Fourth Estate for nothing.

Lest Duterte forget, he was quoted as saying that he will “expand” press freedom during his term as president. Apparently he may have forgotten it and had accused mainstream media of being “full of themselves” and “thinking themselves as being special.”

Despite Duterte’s hostility towards media and his warning to media outlets not to “mess” with him, the country’s mainstream media will continue to be vigilant and faithful to its watchdog role since, (we hope that) like him, it is committed to the truth and to exposing whatever wrongs and abuses his administration and his people may commit towards the people.