Much ado over social media

Bencyrus Ellorin .

THERE are 67 million Facebook accounts in the country. That is roughly 3/4 of the population.

Population: social media account ratio; like population to cellphone users/ SIM card holders ratio however is not 1:1. A person could have multiple Facebook accounts and multiple SIM cards and/or mobile phones.

There are a lot of chatter over the entry of a known (read: notoriously) person because of his role in the “weaponization” of social media in the 2016 elections. Whether the social media campaign of the Duterte presidency was crucial or a game changer remains to be seen.

Aside from its proliferation and pervasiveness, social media, particularly Facebook in the Philippines, may not be as influential in terms of decision-making compared to traditional media platforms.

Understanding platform or medium is important. Facebook is a social media platform as newspapers are print media or press platforms.

Platforms, since the time man learned to inscribe on surfaces like cave wall sand stones, to leaves, to paper to digital screens have always been dependent on content.

Platforms without content or messages are like an empty stage. Elaborately decorated or not, an empty stage does not have relevance.

Those who thought they can use digital technology for campaigns do not only need the best content and/or message, but product. For me, Mayor Duterte won the presidency because he himself was the best endorser of himself. He is a highly saleable product who connected well with the electorate. He packaged himself as the one who would put social order in chaotic Philippines. And he proved to be a doer.

When Mayor Moreno ran in 2013, I remember writing he was the best endorser of himself because of his high competence and track record.

The social media campaign of candidate Duterte created a lot of chatter. It supported his strong, macho, courageous persona. It helped create the Duterte that is bigger than the person. Sometimes, it had overdone things. True or not, the social media campaign became barumbado. Ironically, the image of the barumbado — the shirtless, gin drinking, slipper wearing tambay — has become the punisher. Eventually, genuine supporters of the president joined the call for the removal of some his most effective social media endorsers. One resigned. The top dog, recycled, not once but twice.

What to me is more powerful and could possibly cause a threat is fake news. Fake news to start with should be distinguished from inaccurate reportage. Fake news is downright disinformation. Inaccurate reportage can result in disinformation, but newsroom systems have a way of putting these in check like the erratum and subsequent stories. As they say, news reportage could be inaccurate or wrong today but it can be rectified the next day.

Fake news, on the other hand, has the sole of objective of disinformation. It is propagated to make widespread disinformation. Fake news are packaged using fake news online portals. Often mimicking popular websites and multiplied with social media posts using fake accounts or trolls.

A simple use of the dash instead of the dot does the trick. Websites like the aljazeera.com for example has been tweaked into aljazeera-tv.com to spread fake news. bbc.com has been tweaked into tv-bbc.com.

There are innocent sounding portals and blogs that spread fake news like Mocha Uson’s blog which gained popularity because of her persona as a gyrating, soft porn starlet. Fake news sites however are self-limiting. Often, they self-destruct. Mocha and the recyclable official are examples.

The challenge now is for the press, some call traditional or mainstream, to strengthen quality of reportage and to install strong vetting and fact-checking systems. Newsrooms have editors. Editors aside from setting the news agenda and curating news content, are fact checkers or doorkeepers. And when mistakes are made, ethics dictate correction through the erratum system or the publication of an equally prominent accurate or rectified story be made.

The press, despite attacks and vilification, is stronger than thought.

In one conversation with popular blogger Tonyo Cruz, he asked us if fake is real or not. I said no. We agreed.

It is simple to determine if fake news has become relevant or not by looking at daily news space. Has fake news populated TV Patrol or 24 Oras or even the frontpages of Inquirer, Star and Bulletin? Not even one percent. If there are questionable stories, these are mostly  inaccuracies which can be easily corrected.

Except for some who have wittingly or unwittingly tolerated wrong reportage and fake news like the notorious news report that Mayor Moreno was replaced way back then, I have high trust in the propriety, professionalism and ethics of the Cagayan de Oro community press. It has its imperfections but it has been a consistent beacon of truth.

My warning to those who want to destroy this tradition is that they will self-destruct. So better be careful, as they say: “Don’t me!”

(The author is a former journalist with experience in managing and editing online news portals here and abroad. He is now a public relations consultant and political campaigner. One of the social media groups he co-administered was a finalist in Globe’s Tatt award in 2012.)