With all the disturbing news in the country and the world, it’s time for us to speak out. In a world where social media reigns, it’s become your responsibility to learn how to use your platform effectively.

While most of us think that it just means spreading awareness about the issue, you can go much, much deeper than that.

1. Share content that educates.

Ever watch a video or read an article online that made you think, if only everyone knew this. Well the first step to using your platform is actually sharing that piece of content in your timeline or news feed. Sharing something nowadays literally only takes two taps, and it can already do so much.

Always remember that staying silent is why nothing gets changed in the first place. Make it a mindset to share anything that adds value to a topic that you feel needs to be talked about.

2. Do not underestimate your reach.

You may only have five followers, but never be discouraged to educate online just because you feel like you’re not “influential” enough. Changing the mind of even one single person is important in the grander scheme of things.

You never know how strong an impact you really have on others. Who knows? Maybe one of your followers could be so inspired with what you had shared that they start to influence their own set of followers instead.

And then it becomes a chain reaction with more people starting to influence each other…. just because you chose to share something online!

3. No dilly-dallying, take a stand.

Creating awareness about an issue and educating your friends aren’t enough. You absolutely need to pick a side and share your personal opinion to be successful in using your platform effectively.

While most hashtags are already a stand in of themselves, they’re really nothing without your personal input. Your internet moots would like to read something that comes from you personally. After all, they’re not online friends with the news organization where you had shared the article from, they’re friends with you.

If you want to change mindsets, you need to understand that you play a pivotal role that comes after awareness and education.

4. Speak like a human being to your audience.

This is a common mistake that a lot of people including myself make from time to time. Learning how to use your platform effectively means erasing your narcissism and pride. It’s the worst time to sound smart!

I know it’s not just me who rolls their eyes when they see an online post with so many “big” words. Yes, you can probably speak in perfect English and you know all these relevant concepts.

But who are you talking to here? Whose mindsets do you want to change? Do they understand you?

Flaunting your intellect and trying to outsmart others could actually be counterproductive in your goal to influence. It’s difficult to do especially when you’re used to a circle of friends that can understand what you’re trying to say.

If you want to influence others, however, you may have to dumb it down. Otherwise, you’ll find that the people whose opinions you want to challenge will just gloss over everything you had said.

5. Mix facts with emotions.

In using your platform, avoid sounding like a fact-spitting robot or an emotional trainwreck.

Do you know why the top-selling products on earth are probably not the best at solving the problems they try to address? Because advertisers know that having the best product is just half the game. Creating an emotional connection with their customers is what separates the top dog from the rest of the pack.

Trying to influence other people online isn’t a game of Jeopardy. You have to appeal to their emotions, too.

On the other hand, you can’t just let your emotions drive the statement you’re trying to make either. Cursing is okay, but it’s not really an effective way to use your platform. You have to explain why you feel strongly about something through facts.

6. Be creative.

If you’re an avid news feed scroller, you probably only read the posts with compelling images and videos. In the same way, when crafting a post online, make sure it’s not just a generic statement that anybody could make. It has to stand out!

All the things you have learned about how to use your platform so far will be for nothing if no one reads your piece.

Inject your personality into whatever you’re posting, and the reader will probably be enticed to listen to you more. This is why memes can be an integral part in many online movements. Humor is an effective way to educate others when done tastefully.

7. Defend your stance, but be open-minded.

Once you post your opinion to the world, there will undoubtedly be those who disagree with you. The first thing you need to do is to keep an open mind; maybe said person has a point. Now what you can do is engage with them so you can educate each other.

Correct yourself if you must. The worst thing you could do is be stubborn when all the facts had been laid out for you.

However, if you still feel that you’re right, you have to address their comment. It’s not a good look if there’s a flood of people contradicting your argument, and you have nothing to say to them. It makes you look like you didn’t really know what you were saying in the first place.

Finally, choose your battles wisely! You do not want to waste half of your day arguing with a troll who just wants to annoy you. Argue with the ones whose minds can be changed.

8. Persuade others to take action.

Now that you’ve convinced your followers that there is a terrible problem that needs to be addressed, the next step is, well, to tell them the next step. Basically, show them the way so they can help.

Is there a petition that they can sign? Is there somebody that they can e-mail? Can they donate somewhere? Whatever it is, remember to include that important information in your post. If you don’t, you’ll basically just leave your followers hanging without knowing what to do.

People’s attention spans are short. If they’re not able to take action ASAP, the worst thing that could happen is their losing interest. They may forget to help out in the future.

You don’t have to follow all of these items in the list every time you want to signal-boost an issue, but it’s just a guide on how to use your platform to its fullest potential. The most important thing to realize is that you, a zoomer, have the power to influence other people, no matter how small you feel in this world.

Feel like you now have to use your platform for something? You can read up certain issues that the Philippines have come across during the coronavirus pandemic here. Don’t forget to follow us @ZoomersCornerPH on Twitter!

Featured Image: Plann on Pexels

The post ‘Use Your Platform’: What it Means and How to Do it Effectively appeared first on Zoomers Corner.

Dear Facebook, you have effectively killed our democracy by turning a blind eye on fake news and troll accounts. Do we need to start our own Facebook ad boycott in the Philippines to get you to listen to us?

We know you don’t care much when you’re still turning profit from our advertising pesos, but tech giants like yourself need to know your place. Stop messing with how the world operates because if the people get angry enough, we could crush you like the bug that you are.

Facebook is Basically a Military-Grade Weapon

Just weeks ago, something crazy jolted me up from the bed, and into a pool of anger. A lot of my friends and I who had graduated from, or studied in the University of the Philippines, woke up to news that gave me absolute goosebumps. Multiple “duplicate” accounts had been created using our names overnight. These accounts had a default profile picture, which was a huge indicator that they were created by trolls. Oh, and what’s worse is, some of these accounts were sending threatening messages to the real users.

Now, some of you might be wondering why it’s such a scary thing. Well, this happened right at the peak of the #JunkTerrorBill movement that forced a lot of zoomers to speak out online against the government and the Anti-Terror Bill.

With how vaguely the ATB could be interpreted, the writing was on the wall: these duplicate accounts could post something incriminating under your name, like pretending to threaten people for example. If they do that, you could easily be thrown in jail without question.

Later on however, we’d realize that it was not just students and alumni from my school who were being targeted. Most of the victims of this cyber identity thefit situation were those who were vocal about their opposition to the Anti-Terror Bill.

There were a lot of theories as to where the data came from.

It could have been from an algorithm that targets people who had used the hashtag “#JunkTerrorBill” in one of their posts. Another theory is how the trolls targeted users who had signed a Change.org petition against the ATB. One thing is for sure though: with how quickly the accounts were being created, Facebook was once again being used as a weapon by the troll farms.

So after that happened, Facebook said no malicious activity happened, and the National Bureau of Investigation claimed it was a glitch. Pretty sure no one who was victimized believed that.

What kind of Black Mirror episode did I just live through?

How Facebook Killed our Democracy

After that whole thing, I decided to watch The Great Hack on Netflix. It’s a great look into how a data analytics company, Cambridge Analytica, had used our Facebook data to skew elections in different countries with the aid of targeted ads. While that might seem like fair game, they planted fake news and intentionally created dissent in these countries to make their client win. Of course for some reason, they decided to side with candidates who were bigots for these elections.

Here’s the kicker. They were a British consulting firm, but had the balls to test out their strategies on developing countries like the Philippines. Then, once they proved their success in these areas, they then decided to take on the 2016 U.S. presidential election and Brexit next.

Like… are they for real? Why do these people think that they can just swoop in and totally change how other countries operate?

We are not your guinea pigs! If you’re going to pull down your zipper and piss all over the plants, do it in your own backyard!

But besides that, the fact that Facebook is doing virtually nothing to regulate political ads, fake news, and troll accounts shows where their allegiance truly lies: their bank account. Having these things unregulated in a social media-heavy country like ours is tantamount to a dead democracy.

If you don’t have facts, you can’t have truth. If you don’t have truth, you don’t have trust. If you don’t have these two things, you don’t have democracy.

Maria Ressa in a 2019 interview with CIGI

So if you’ve been on the political side of the internet for some time now, you’d know how our current government has used Facebook to create chaos. Paid troll armies are the most notorious example, coming to the defense of the president when he is being criticized. As they grow in number, the divide between Duterte’s supporters and detractors just keep getting bigger and bigger by the day.

Which is exactly what they want. And something that Facebook has done nothing about.

July 2020 Facebook Ad Boycott

Since Americans have caught up to Facebook’s role in democracy and elections, lawmakers have been rightfully grilling Zuckerberg for lack of regulation when it comes to fake news. And now that the 2020 U.S. presidential elections are coming up, the anger of the people has been piling up, as Facebook could very well be weaponized to favor a presidential candidate again.

Additionally, the platform has been used to post hateful content against vulnerable communities, primarily those that include BIPOC. They have refused to take down hate-filled comments in relation to recent killings against POC. One such comment was made by President Donald Trump himself, where he encouraged protesters to be shot. Throughout this debacle, Mark Zuckerburg remained silent about the issue, despite a huge backlash from numerous people and groups.

And believe me, this just fueled the fire even more.

As a response to their inaction when it comes to racially-charged comments, a prominent number of big and small advertisers have vowed not to run any Facebook ads in the month of July. Activist groups have been working non-stop for more advertisers to join their call to #StopHateforProfit. Yes, there have been many ad boycotts in the past, but this seems to be the biggest one yet.

Why This Boycott Means Something

Even being a Filipino, you’d be able to recognize names of brands who have agreed to take part in this movement: The North Face, Upwork, Ben & Jerry’s, Rakuten Viber, and probably the biggest fish yet, Verizon Wireless.

To provide context, Facebook was able to to earn a whopping $69.7 billion dollars in 2019, with 46.1% of their 2018 revenue coming from U.S. and Canada alone. From those numbers, you’re probably thinking that this boycott will not do anything in the long run, especially when these brands are planning to resume their ads after July anyway. Great, that’s what other marketers are thinking too.

However, let’s look at the bigger picture.

By participating in the boycott, all these companies are using the reach and influence that they have to spread awareness about Facebook’s problem in addressing racist and discriminatory comments. More than that, these advertisers could very much influence how their customers think and feel. Just by explaining why they refuse to run ads for July, they are already educating people on how dangerous the tech giant could truly be.

As this continues to gain steam, the activist groups and brands who joined the boycott have already made a statement. And now that more advertisers are taking part, this story has continued to gain momentum throughout media and news outlets. The best part is almost all of their content gives context on why this boycott is happening in the first place: Facebook’s inaction towards racially-charged comments. While this won’t put a dent in Facebook’s revenue numbers, this movement has been chipping away at their credibility and reputation.

Plus, the public pressure is probably weighing heavily on Mr. Robot right now. If he’ll finally cave in, we will have to wait and see.

Why We Need a Facebook Ad Boycott in the Philippines

What that in mind, imagine if all the big and small local advertisers could come together to create a Facebook ad boycott in the Philippines. We even have our own, extremely valid concern to rationalize this: the weaponization of Facebook against free speech.

Imagine if the likes of P&G, Unilever, and Jollibee Foods Corporation would actually take a stand against disinformation, troll armies, clone accounts, and other shenanigans, by not running any Facebook ads for a certain time.

Having an ad boycott would be a big step in taking back our virtually-dead democracy that we worked so hard to earn. It’s probably true that the advertising revenue from the Philippines is barely a blip in Facebook’s radar, but a movement like this has a ton of potential to create awareness and educate the masses. Media outlets from all over the world and the country would pick it up and help impart our message about responsible regulation of online platforms.

Then, we could inspire the people and truly make a change. Now that’s what I call a power move.

Unfortunately, this all seems like an unreachable and unrealistic dream.

If someone does start a Facebook ad boycott in the Philippines, we’d probably just have other companies taking advantage of the lighter competition on the platform. I also presume that the gesture wouldn’t be appreciated as much as in the U.S., as most of the population haven’t realized the impact of Facebook has had in our democracy yet. Even so, realistically speaking, the big advertisers here don’t have the guts to take part in something as small as a Facebook ad boycott. I’d literally have to see it to believe it.

But hey, we can always stay hopeful that advertisers will be able to realize that they play a much bigger role in society than they’d like to think. Someday, I know that citizens and advertisers alike can put our differences, fear, and greed aside to slay the Facebook dragon once and for all.

Want to hear more hot takes from zoomers like this one? Take a look at our opinion articles here.

Featured Image: Thought Catalog

The post Facebook Killed PH’s Democracy (But Advertisers Can Help Take it Back) appeared first on Zoomers Corner.

Aggressive fandoms going after each other and celebrities is killing the enjoyment of social media, as they grow more rabid and hostile by the day. And unfortunately, it’s also been taking people’s lives.

What is stan culture, anyway? Well, to answer that, it’s important to know what ‘stan’ truly means. The word ‘stan’ comes from a song named “Stan” released by Eminem and Dido back in 2000. The lyrics of the song is written from the point-of-view of Stan, a dangerously crazy, psychopathic stalker who happens to be obsessed with Eminem. And since we’re on the topic, feel free to watch the beautiful music video of this modern classic here:

To put it simply, being a stan of someone means being a dedicated fan of someone or something. You can be a stan of celebrities, idols, TV shows, TV characters, and maybe even political figures.

The word ‘stan’ has made way into our lexicon today, and is pretty standard Gen Z slang. However, it has been repurposed to mean something a bit lighter and less violent. It’s not uncommon to hear someone say that they stan someone and mean it unironically. But even so, it has always carried around a negative connotation, especially because stans have always had questionable behavior. Not only are they the first life of defense for the idols and celebrities they worship, but when you go against whomever they admire, they will relentlessly come at you like a pack of hyenas.

Stan culture is the culture online where dedicated fans come together to rain support, and discuss all the details about their favorites. Unfortunately, what’s supposed to be a good thing has devolved into an arena where stans go against each other to prove that their idol is better than the others. While there are positive ways to show their support like fancams and endless praises, toxic things like fan wars, online bullying, and cancelling someone are all encouraged in here. And in some cases, the people who are meanest to celebrities are their stans themselves.

So it’s no surprise that people who are not part of this culture look down at those who partake in these things. It seems crazy looking from the outside, but once you’re there, it’s not hard to be sucked into the whole mess. I mean, we all have that one thing we can’t shut up about, and only a handful of people also appreciate.

Listen, I am a self-proclaimed stan of certain celebrities, and I even have a stan account (a separate social media account for the sole purpose of fangirling over things you stan) that I handle. I am a pretty active reader of different subreddits that are meant for fandoms to come together. So this is not just another article villainizing being a stan, but it’s a precautionary measure to hopefully make you think twice of your actions.

Why do we have to cancel people and keep on making #IsOver parties?

Twitter is probably where the stan culture is at full effect, and every week, it seems like there’s always a new celebrity receiving massive hate for small things. I’m not talking about racist, homophobic, or transphobic comments that could genuinely harm people, but petty drama reserved for trashy reality TV.

Of course, who could forget the #TaylorSwiftIsOver party back in 2016 that forced her into hiding for sometime? Ever since then, it seems like there’s someone finding and replacing the hashtag with the name of a celebrity. While I personally enjoyed the drama it gave us, can we just talk about how it always achieves nothing? Since then, Swift had released two albums and went on a globally successful tour. Not once did she ever become irrelevant, and the same can be said for the other people who found themselves getting “exposed” on Twitter.

Let’s reserve those hashtags for scumbags like the cops, Brock Turner, Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein, and countless others — people who actually put people’s lives in harm.

Have you ever noticed how much more women celebrities get “cancelled” as opposed to their male counterparts?

A lot of people preach about feminism and female empowerment, but they don’t realize the amount of hate they give towards successful women. Often, the reasons for cancelling them are often unfounded. They could just be liking a tweet that implies they do not get along with someone, and they’d get massive backlash over it. While I’m not a fan of Demi Lovato myself, it’s crazy how much flack she’s getting for daring not to be friends with Selena Gomez.

If Justin Bieber circa 2013 were a woman, his career would be over. But because he’s an attractive young boy, he got a free pass and went on to have success in music. Hell, his bad boy persona probably sold him more records. Do we even need to talk about Chris Brown who beat up Rihanna, and is still getting hits? Or how about Dr. Luke who is publicly known to have abused Kesha, but just made a Hot 100 comeback with “Say So”?

Why are women getting all the heat for the littlest things? Fellow stans, we can do better than this. I’d like you to be a little more mindful about the gender of the people you hate, and see if the reasons you have for not liking them are justified.

Why do we need to undercut the success of other celebrities?

I don’t understand why some stans can’t be happy for other people, and keep on parading their idols around like they’re the best thing in the world since sliced bread. Okay, I am calling out myself on this. Do you all remember the Grammys this year when Billie Eilish swept the four major categories? Lana del Rey and Ariana Grande stans alike were furious as their idols lost out on to Eilish for the Best Album award.

While there was a lot of uproar over this decision, a lot of people got angry at Eilish herself even when she was not part of the selection process. Moreover, she went on stage to literally say that Ariana deserved the award. So why do we have to send out hate to her?

Why can’t we accept genuine apologies?

This one really gets under my skin. It seems like stan culture can’t accept any apologies, and once you are caught guilty of doing something irresponsible, you can’t try and mend those fences no matter what you do.

I will hold out on naming any examples, because doing so would imply that I agree with the apologizer’s actions. But my point is that we shouldn’t be accepting apologies just because they did, but it’s always good to read or listen to them without judgement beforehand. It’s not good being cynical all the time either. The lack of empathy and genuine intent to listen from stan culture is pretty alarming. It’s pretty common for celebrities to say their piece, and just be made fun of even if they got their point across. We can’t preach forgiveness and mercy when we can’t practice it ourselves.

Why can’t we be kinder?

I am still heartbroken today, weeks after the death of Terrace House and rising professional wrestling star Hana Kimura. After receiving huge backlash from her stint in Terrace House, she took her own life. As a fan of both the Netflix show and professional wrestling, I was pretty devastated, especially when I remembered that she was just my age and had a bright future ahead of her.

It was crazy because only a week prior, I had watched the scene in Terrace House that seemed to launch all the haters against her. People were sending her death threats, or wishing for her to kill herself. And even after the fact, I saw tweets that celebrated her death. Could you imagine what was going through her head when she had read those things? Probably not. All of this hate from dedicated fans of the show contributed to her death, and it is honestly sickening.

While I have been through a personal event that changed my view on cyberbullying, this just helped me even more in realizing that I need to be kinder in social media, even to celebrities. Because as Hana’s death reminds us, the people on our screens are just like us: they want to be loved. Celebrities are frustrating, but most of the time, they haven’t done anything grave that warrants being burned at the stake. We can’t keep losing people to harsh words and hate.

So where do we go from here?

I think it’s high time that we reevaluate how we interact with each other in the stan landscape. This is a bigger issue that needs to be addressed by the social media giants who have the power to regulate the posts that we see in our feeds.

On the individual level though, there are a lot of things that we can do to encourage positivity within our own communities. As much as celebrities need to change, we also have to pick up our own weight, and practice empathy. Support the people you want, but not at the expense of others. Hold people accountable and be critical of their work all you want, but don’t be mean. If you really can’t stop hating someone, just keep your hateful thoughts to yourself. There are already too many Negative Nancy’s in the world, and we don’t need another one.

Instead, with all the turmoil in the world, why not use your platform to help out others? I already see countless stan accounts raising awareness on movements, educating others on issues, and encouraging them to sign petitions, donate, etc. The followers of your stan account are probably people whom you don’t know personally, so you could reach those who are not too familiar with global issues.

Hey, if the K-pop stans you hate so much are doing their part in the movement by overloading despicable hashtags like #WhiteLivesMatter with fancams, then maybe stan culture isn’t so bad after all. And in true stan fashion, I will now end this post by telling you to stream eight by IU and SUGA!

Featured Image: Jon Tyson on Unsplash

The post Why Stan Culture is Problematic, Written by a Stan appeared first on Zoomers Corner.