More than anything else
While on a boat ride on the way back to Cebu from Negros Oriental, I tapped on my seatmate for a quick update on the queen city of the south. Apparently, what's making the rounds lately is the recent vehicular accident that happened Saturday morning; a tragic incident that landed online.
I did get to see photos of that gory accident. There were far too many vehicles involved that led to an anticipated traffic jam. The sight was horrible and left the life of a man gone. Everyone was in chaos. People flocked to the scene immediately. For the longest time that the city has tried to keep the traffic in order, an unexpected accident happened.
As much as there is an issue on traffic behavior, rules and regulations, there is also an issue with social media antics with the outburst of the incident. You see, there was too much insensitivity as photos of the accident were posted online. There was not even a censoring of the photos that was far too obscene: blood, body parts and an identified man that needed respect.
The family was outraged and wanted the photos taken down immediately. But the damage has been done. There was an intention to use the photo for one's benefit on his/her personal account. The same goes with other incidents that involve netizens who post the news faster than traditional media does.
So where does a citizen journalist stand on this day and age? I think it all boils down to responsible journalism. Back in the university, I scrutinized the trend of how citizens post news by tracing how specific hashtags were used. After quantifying almost a thousand tweets, I and my groupmates found out that a lot of citizens have little to no idea on what they are posting. Although their intent is clear, they really don't know the proper way of posting. Some of them posted selfies while using typhoon hashtags. What in the world is that? Sometimes we ask ourselves, for popularity or public service?
The line between the two is very thin. But still, an educated mind is the key. Without it, people will continue to post on their free will without minding proper ethics and then history will repeat itself. That's why our study came out with a recommendation to create infographics that would educate netizens how to effectively post their "news" stories. That way they are doing the community a favor by being a citizen journalist.
We wished that we could do what we have always dreamed of. But like any other student thesis, it remains to be in the papers. I wonder what could have been the effect if we did what we thought of. Maybe more decent posts on Facebook rather than rants and no non-sense. That too, why involve a personal life issue to the whole world wide web? It's a piece of information that I would rather not feed on. It would benefit neither me nor the society, a possible waste of time.
Soon it will be the elections and smartphones will once again be utilized to reach far areas where traditional news could not be found. I only wish for wiser netizens, more than anything else.
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