PROFESSOR emeritus of Sociology and Inquirer columnist Randy David enlightened Thomasians on the limitless possibilities of the new media and its impact on people in his Inquirer Conversations lecture of “The Internet and Social Media: How are they Changing Lives.”

     Through history, David compared how long EDSA 1, 2, and the Million People March took place. David emphasizes the Million People March, pointing out it was mobilized only a few days.

     “It was the first Pinoy protest movement that was assembled on Twitter and Facebook. And everybody who’s participating in the Million People March was either carrying a mobile phone, an Ipad or tablet, or immediately sending images out while on Instagram or Facebook.”

     From a sociological perspective, David traced the development of Mass Media in EDSA Revolution 28 years ago.

     The only available devices that facilitated communication were the television, radio, and betamax during the 1980’s. David said that since majority of the television and radio companies were owned by Marcos, people had to invent “Radyo Bandido.”

     David claimed Mass Media spells out a great difference at the soul of information.

     “Sometimes now they refer to the new social media. If there is a new media, then there must be an old media,” David said.

     The sociologist defined Mass Media as the mass reproduction and dissemination of information. Internet based communication is now today’s media, he said.

     “Newspapers are now migrating to these new platforms—the internet,” he said.

Old Media and New Media

     David said the old media is passive. He said, for example, writing a letter to an editor may or may not be published. The sender of the information, such as the newspaper or television company, wields all the power. But with new media, it gives the recipient the power to respond.

     The new media compresses time and space, and global and planetary in reach. The new media is cheaper and faster.

Further worrisome developments

     “Out there, you have companies that are creating powerful monitoring, listening, storing, archiving, and retrieval programs that allow third party internet traffic.”

     He meant these programs will track and monitor what the user is doing in the internet which implies privacy issues.

     Another development, he warned, was that the internet has no limits.

     “The internet continues to grow, interconnecting all kinds of communication devices, beginning with your smartphone, tablet, personal computer, or your laptop with a variety of platforms, sending out digital data, images, files, and signals at enormous feat.”

     The result, according to David, is a complex system that no one can fully comprehend—there are extended infinite opportunities but also dangers, that grows more complex day by day.

     “I think of society as communications. If society equals communication, then the internet represents world society.”

     David said that the world society that exists in the internet transcends all-existing borders: territorial, political, religious, linguistic, racial, class, and ethnic boundaries.

     The world society is functionally differentiated and not hierarchical. It has no center and coordinating body, it is self-propelling which allows crowdsourcing, making it more complicated, he said.

Changes

     David noted that there are five intent changes: the self, family, education, economy and religious life.

     “Today, people think that their self-worth is based on the number of likes that they get in the internet,” David said.

     He added that what we stage or display on face to face interaction is different from what we project on the internet.

     David concluded his lecture saying that we cannot be judgmental, and we need constant assessment. David said there is an intense need to set aside ample time and space, and to reflect how technology affects us.

     Lastly, there is a need for citizens to preserve the autonomy of interest.

     “To me, it remains a blessing; it has democratized mass media beyond belief. And we do not want to waste that. We do not want to lose that. It becomes our responsibility as inhabitants of the internet to ensure the accountable, the proper, the beneficial use of this modern digital technology,” David concludes.

     Also in the lecture was Chairman of the Board, Marixi Prieto, and Former University of the Philippines (UP) Dean College of Law and Inquirer Publisher Raul Pangalanan.

     Prieto, in her opening remarks quoted a Chinese proverb: “A single conversation across a table with a wise person is worth a month’s study of books.”

     “This is the same spirit that led Inquirer to host learning conversations of its own, but with a crucial difference,” she said.

     Prieto said the forum’s objective is to aid understanding with the wisdom gained from each other regarding the issue. “The Inquirer’s ultimate mission is to become a catalyst for social progress and change,” Prieto added.

     The Philippine Daily Inquirer launched the Inquirer Conversations last year to allow readers to react to and interact personally with invited speakers to discuss bearing issues.

     Meanwhile, Pangalanan recalled the Inquirer’s history of public issues, particularly in the term of former president Joseph Estrada and the sustenance of free press in the Philippines.

     “And that the real threat of the independence of Inquirer happened when there was an organized boycott under Erap, which tried to bring the newspaper to its knees. There was another newspaper which was also the object of that boycott. That newspaper apologized. We did not,” Pangalanan said.

By Kenn Anthony B. Mendoza
Photo taken by Clara Angela R. Murallos