Filipinos spend most of their time on the internet and social media. At train stations, bus stops, fast food restaurants–wherever you look, you’ll see strangers scrolling through their Facebook newsfeeds or surreptitiously snapping a photo for the ‘gram.
In spite of the sluggish internet connectivity in the Philippines, we are still one of the heaviest internet users in the world. Based on the latest 200-page Digital report released by social media management firm Hootsuite and creative agency We Are Social, the Filipinos’ average time spent online is 10 hours and 2 minutes–dethroning other territories like Thailand and Brazil.
In terms of social media use, the Filipinos’ average daily time spent on Facebook and other social media platforms is around four hours and 12 minutes. Looking at the study results, it only shows that Pinoys, in general, enjoy anything that can entertain them or pass the time.
Conspicuously, social media–especially for many of us–is becoming an integral part of our everyday routine. However, topping the world in terms of Internet consumption doesn’t equate to us being responsible netizens. Even until now, there are still numerous cases of identity theft, misinformation, and data breach. In this culture of likes, comment, and shares, more Filipino netizens are falling victim to catfish scams; in fact, the 2018 Unisys Security Index disclosed that 88 percent of online users in the Philippines worry about their security. Not only that, keyboard warriors and online trolls are mushrooming everywhere–making our heads hurt every day with their “‘eh di wow, eh di ikaw ” arguments.
And last but not least, let’s not forget the many times we were deceived by fake photos shared by former Assistant Communications Secretary Mocha Uson’s on her “official” Facebook page.
Needless to say, social media has taken over our lives completely.
We just hit that “like” button even though we really haven’t read the article yet. We share posts mindlessly just because they look ridiculous without even thinking about the consequences. We easily get offended to the extent of becoming too aggressive in the comment sections without looking into the story further.
In the movie Spiderman, Uncle Ben once said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” And this is the same with how we take full responsibility on our social media activities. Given this much time on our hands, we should also practice – think before we click.
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Read more from InqPOP!:
This is why people don’t think twice when cracking ‘insensitive’ jokes
Forget the Kiki dance challenge, Mocha Uson gave us the ‘Pepe-dede-ralismo’ craze
It’s time we learn how to spot edited photos and stop the ‘fake news disease’ in social media
