Ateneans urged to be more discerning in social media

Ateneo de Manila University President Fr. Jett Villarin on Tuesday urged the Ateneo community to be more discerning when posting and engaging in social media.

In a statement, Villarin warned that social media is a "double-edge sword."

While the platform allows its users to facilitate debate and be exposed to new ideas, Villarin said it can also be "deceptive and manipulative, inaccurate, even shrill."

Villarin advised educators, students, and alumni to retain decency online amid the "increasing discord."

"Decent people act decently whether they interact online or now. We do not shed our inhibitions and dignity as educators and citizens when we log on to our social media accounts," he said.

He listed down the following guidelines and suggestions that will help keep netizens on the "lane of responsible expression":

- Sharing: Be careful about sharing articled from unverified or dubious sources. Such sources and outright falsehoods do not advance any argument and are not in the public interest or even yours.

- Hearsay: Discussing rumors and innuendo damages not only the subject of the intrigue, but your own name and that of the University as well.

- Complexity: Don't fall for easy or stereotypical answers. You know life to be bigger than tweets and sound bites.

- Self-inflation: You may be truly sincere in what you are advocating, but be critical and honest with yourself. Examine your motives. Ask whether or not your post is a carefully curated construct of an idealized self-image.

- Trolls: Don't feed them. You will find people online (and off) who are only interested in shouting and burning instead of dialoguing and building. When faced with these types, say your piece and end it there.

Villarin noted that controversial posts garner attention and popularity, but reminded the community that "what is loud and popular does not necessarily lead to wisdom or the greater good."

"The Book of Kings has Elijah looking for God in noisy and awesome events, e.g. a mighty wind, an earthquake, a great fire. But the Lord was in none of these. Instead, after all the drama, from the silence of a cave, there was only a whisper, a still small voice," Villarin said.

"Before joining the cacophony of online space, we do well to listen to that still small voice," he added. —Jessica Bartolome/KG, GMA News