TACLOBAN CITY- The Archdiocese of Palo highlighted the importance of social media literacy in the recently concluded summer camp in Carigara, Leyte.
“Young people are fully adept at using these tools. They need less to acquaint themselves but to be trained to responsible social media users,” said Archdiocese of Palo spokesperson Fr. Chris Arthur Militante on the need for the youths to learn responsible use of social media.
“The power of the young together with the proper use of social media is a strong force that will benefit society,” he added.
During the camping, Militante lectured a group of youths on the track “social media in evangelization” as the Church sees that today’s young generation needs to be properly guided on how to be a responsible internet user, and at the same time, on how to use the technology in propagating the Catholic teachings.
Jhonel Cobacha, 17, and a frequent social media user from Palo town, said that youths like him need more information and social media literacy, saying this is the reason why most teenagers are drawn into “liking lewd acts” and even committing crimes through the internet.
“Youths need more guidance. Because of too much curiosity, they are not aware that this leads them to commit wrong actions online,” said Cobacha, who spends his time up to four hours on the internet.
Earlier, Gregorio Angelo Villar, the deputy director general of the Philippine Information Agency, urged netizens that every time they use the social media, they should look for the betterment of others, particularly in fighting misinformation, disinformation, and other cybercrimes.
He reported that with a total of 67 million Filipinos out of 105.7 million population who are active internet users as of January 2018 study, this phenomenon is both seen as a “gift and a curse”.
In a study, US-based social media think-tank Hootsuite revealed that Filipinos spent an average daily time of 9 hours and 29 minutes on social media via various devices and that their weekly online activities covered 47 percent for socialization. (RONALD O. REYES)
