Most Pinoys on social media say web content has changed their political views
MANILA, Philippines — Half of Filipinos who use the internet for social media have changed their views on government and politics based on what they see online, the latest Pulse Asia survey suggests.
According to the latest poll, 47 percent of Filipinos use the internet, and 94 percent of those use their mobile phones to access the internet.
Of Filipinos online, 98 percent use the internet do so to check their social media accounts.
The same survey showed that 39 percent “of those who use the internet surf the web to read, watch, and/or listen to other things of interest to them.”
Meanwhile, 29 percent of internet users read, watch or listen to news. Another 20 percent go online to send, receive or read emails.
Change in political views
Pulse Asia said that 51 percent of Filipinos who use the internet to check their social media accounts “changed their views concerning politics and government at least once because of something they had seen, read and/or listened to over the internet.”
The same result was seen in Luzon (52 percent) and Visayas (71 percent), while National Capital Region and Mindanao posted 42 percent and 44 percent respectively.
In Class E, 6 out of 10 Filipinos who check their social media accounts when they go online change their views on politics based on what they see on their feed. 57% in Class ABC shared the same sentiment, while it was 49% in Class D.
The results marked a stark change from June 2017, which, Pulse Asia said, recorded that “most Filipinos using the internet to access their social media accounts say they have never changed their political views as a result of something they encountered on the web.”
According to the June 2017 survey results, only 37% of those who use the internet check their social media accounts. Of the said statistics, 39% of them change their political views based on what they see online.
The survey was conducted from September 1-7 and covered 1,800 respondents, in face-to-face interviews.
The survey results was released on October 10, a day before the Commission on Elections officially open the filing for the May 2019 mid-term elections.
Freedom House, a US-based human rights watchdog, said in November 2017 that there was an increase of reports of commentators being paid to manipulate social media information from June 2016 to May 2017.
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