social media – Page 5 – StuartSantiago.com

Category: social media

June 12, 2018 @ 2:27 pm.

independence day blues in the time of duterte (kris rises and falls, yet again)

One hundred and twenty years ago, our ancestors raised the Philippine flag from a balcony in Kawit, Cavite to signify the beginning of our journey as a free nation. Hijacked by the United States of America right at the start, and interrupted by Japan during World War II, the quest for an independent Filipino nation has been an arduous process. It tested our fortitude and persistence as a people. It brought out the best, but also the worst in us.

read the rest of randy david’s The challenge of nationhood in our time. what he says about our postwar leaders continues to apply to our leaders until today.

… if the revolutionary struggle had been painful and costly, the aftermath was perhaps even more so. The moral and political choices that had to be made under conditions of formal self-rule were less clear. In the immediate postwar years, our leaders found it hard to resist the easy path offered by those who sought to control the nation’s future. Political opportunism grew in the fertile ground of the popular thought that the country had suffered enough and badly needed relief.

… In the process, perhaps without realizing it, we gave up the opportunity to rebuild our people’s inner strength, tap their skills and talents, and create the basic foundation for a strong nation. The examples of Japan, South Korea and Vietnam demonstrate the truism that the rebuilding of a country destroyed by war begins with the rekindling of the people’s energy and belief in themselves.

… The quality of leadership, both at the national and local levels, has undoubtedly been at the core of this national inability to rebound from misery and soar into greatness. Lacking in vision and selflessness, our leaders have done well for themselves, using political power to bolster their own selfish interests.

But they have left the rest of the nation behind…

“they” are all of the elite, all of the oligarchy — pro- and anti-duterte, pro- and anti-marcos, pro-and anti-aquino, pro- and anti-america, pro- and anti-china — and their media arms and other enablers. they are all complicit in the sad and worsening state of nation.

this was driven home hard by the kris aquino episode vs. mocha uson who dared liken duterte’s pucker-up kiss-muna moment in south korea to ninoy aquino being kissed by lady admirers moments before he deplaned and was assassinated in august 1983. read rosario a. garcellano’s Kissing pictures:

But can parallel behavior be actually observed in the pictures of the President kissing a member of his audience and of Ninoy Aquino being kissed by admirers? I think not, if only in the fundamental terms of one being the kisser and the other the kissee. One solicited the occasion for the contact (to entertain and amuse, and also as part of “the culture of Filipinos,” according to his explainers); the other submitted to the act, with an awkward grin.

Kris Aquino was well within her rights to take loud umbrage, even if, as Uson claimed, “this is not about you.”

indeed. that was uson at her most malicious and unthinking worst yet. i was immensely pleased for ninoy when kris rose to the occasion, challenging uson to a debate, or sampalan and sabunutan, one-on-one, what fun! alas, uson copped out, LOL, what a loser.

and then there’s kris, who pala, while making hamon uson to a real catfight, reached out to bong go, no less, na kaibigan pala niya.

krisaquino I took the courage to reach out to PRRD’s SA Bong Go (sorry sa initial post, nag auto correct to Gong-although cute yung Bong Gong)… thank you commissioner Aimee Neri for helping me reach him via text. I have known & liked him for 8 years. In this instance I am Ninoy’s daughter- he believed in the power of true & honest communication… SA Bong, thank you for your reply. Thank you for taking my feelings as a daughter into consideration & showing me EMPATHY. I am most grateful for a man as powerful as you are now for texting & vibering me the words “we are sorry for the incident.” You have my sincere gratitude. We all have 1 goal, a nation we can be proud of, and the best possible prosperous lives for all Filipinos. I love our country as much as our president does. I pray for #PEACE & mutual respect for all of us. God bless you.

ito naman ang pinost ni bong go na pinost ni kris sa kanyang instagram.

Christopher Bong Go Kanina po, dahil ipinag-utos ni Presidente Duterte sa akin, I relayed a sincere apology to Kris. We apologized because nasaktan siya and we wish to reiterate that sincere apology once again. Sabi nga ng pangulo, “respetuhin dapat natin ang patay.” Iyong po ang pinanggagalingan ng apology namin.

Nirerespeto din namin ang opinyon ng mga supporters ng pangulo na nasasaktan din sa patuloy na pagbatikos sa kanya sa kabila ng lahat ng nagawa niya para sa ating bayan.”

(huh? so kung buhay si ninoy, okay lang?) at kinausap din daw ni bong go si uson.

Christopher Bong Go Nag-usap kami ni Mocha at nagkasundo na tapusin na ang isyung ito. We all agreed to put this issue to rest out of respect to all our fellow Filipinos. I believe that politics should not divide us. Magtulungan na lang tayo kaysa mag-away away, para sa ikabubuti ng bayan.

at heto uli si kris, grateful for the “olive branch” from the powerful bong go upon the orders of the most powerful man…

krisaquino Alam kong damned if you, damned if you don’t ako… but i was brought up to recognize an “olive branch” when it is being offered. Alam ko yung mga natitirang LP will bash me & the DDS will never like me. Alam ko rin na sasabihan akong bakit ako nagpapauto. Pero ito ang pananaw ko- the most powerful man, President Duterte affirmed my pain. When all his supporters have called me the most hateful names- th man who doesn’t say SORRY- inutusan ang kanyang pinaka pinagkakatiwalaan na mag relay ng SINCERE apology sa kin. Anak akong nakipaglaban na bigyan ng respeto ang magulang kong patay na. Sa puso ko, naramdaman ko na yun. So #carebears na po sa lahat ng babatikusin alo. In my critics words- this “media whore” “bitch” and “kulang sa pansin” BINIGYAN ng panahon at importansya ng pangulo ng ating bansa. Pasensya na kung #BRAT ang tingin ninyo pero this was a #WIN for the memory of the 2 people i love-unfortunately for the HATERS i am here to stay.

needless to say, what a waste. kris was in a position to demand, at the very least, that uson be fired and replaced with someone bright, smart, and competent. then we could stop wasting time arguing over the false comparisons and flippantly facetious questions that uson specializes in to distract from her daddy digong’s every perversion.

but the real question is: why did kris fold so quickly? basta na lang tumiklop, invoking nation yet, as does bong gong. i was still wondering about that when i saw this on facebook.

Angelo Suarez

Pantabla kay Kris Aquino, ang alas ng mga maka-Duterte ay Hacienda Luisita.

Ang Central Azucarera de Tarlac sa loob ng Hacienda Luisita ay pag-aari ng mga Lorenzo, pamilya ng mga landlord na kakutsaba ng mga Cojuangco-Aquino sa panglalandgrab.

Sino ang abogado ng mga Lorenzo sa pangangamkam nito ng lupa sa pamamagitan ng Lapanday Foods Corporation sa Tagum?

Sino ang abogado ng mga Lorenzong nagbantang babarilin ang mga magsasakang papasok sa lupang dapat naman ay sa kanila?

Si Manases Carpio, asawa ni Sara Duterte.

connect the dots. they who have left the nation behind, they are all in this together. let us keep that in mind as we navigate the muddy waters of our national life and pursue our struggle for independence.

independence day blues (in the time of gloria)
the real rigodon
june 12, what’s to celebrate (in the time of pNoy)
Is the Philippines a lost cause? by john nery
Nothing to celebrate? by rina jimenez-david
Independence Day? End of the Republic by jarius bondoc

June 2, 2018 @ 11:40 pm.

mike drop

when director mike de leon started quarrelling with rogue magazine and the MMFF peeps last year, i started getting nervous for his comeback film Citizen Jake. i wished him well, if not better than ever. in my book mike de leon was neck-and-neck with peque gallaga, next only to lino brocka and ishmael bernal in the roster of top directors of the second golden age of philippine cinema.

i wished atom araullo even better, hoped the new road taken would mean a level-up in his activist advocacies as journalist for nation. i wasn’t surprised that mike had thought him perfect for the role — atom is muy simpatico with tons of sex appeal, and he looks good on screen. can he act? was the 64$ question, but it didn’t seem to matter, or mike would not have made the effort to convince him that only he could play the role of jake herrera, citizen journalist — even, that if atom said no, then it would be the end of citizen jake the concept. that must have been the clincher, so to speak.

it promised to be interesting at the very least, a blockbuster at the very best. unfortunately the jury is in, and the verdict is out, as in, out cold. the legit reviews (as opposed to promotional pieces) are of a flawed film, but i haven’t seen it so i won’t go there. but i will go where mike de leon himself has dared, beyond the film, to his outrageously nasty and scandalizingly out-of-control take-down of atom as actor as journalist as person for some 10 days now on citizen jake’s facebook page. all in the spirit of truth-telling, he says

Citizen Jake: its strange that the phenomenon of social media has made us even more timid to speak the truth about anything. people cannot seem to get that one of the major reasons i have decided to speak out publicly on this issue is that it is undeniable that we have made a very politically charged melodrama. and AA was part of it not just as an actor but as a very active screenplay collaborator. please do not forget that. end of discussion.

it seems to me that it’s not speaking the truth that mike is up to as it is spinning the truth and blaming, taking out on, atom his failure as director of Citizen Jake. no doubt there was a huge clash of egos and that atom gave as good as he got, why not.

and then, again, it could just be a case of unrequited love, as in, hell hath no fury…. as many opine. or maybe mike simply brought out the worst, instead of the best, in atom. what.a.waste.

‘Citizen Jake’: Brave but unrealized by j. neil c. garcia
Monsters in white sneakers by arnold alamon

April 20, 2018 @ 7:05 pm.

facebook’s existential crisis

read randy david’s Politics in the age of big data

… Facebook knew the potential uses of its platform in electoral campaigns, and, indeed, its people actively promoted these in workshops they gave to campaign strategists. For Zuckerberg and his associates, bringing electoral discourse to Facebook would not only increase their traffic, it was also good for democracy.

Clearly, this was a naïve view. There were people who saw Facebook’s uses beyond these civic-minded intentions. One of them was Alexander Nix, CEO of Cambridge Analytica, who said: “If you know the personality of the people you’re targeting, you can nuance your messaging to resonate more effectively with those key groups.” His firm today stands accused of improperly using data it had obtained from Facebook on false pretenses in order to craft campaign software for their clients, including some from the Philippines. Facebook itself is accused of the unauthorized sharing of users’ accounts with Cambridge Analytica, including those of around 1,175,870 Filipino users.

The issues against Cambridge Analytica and Facebook have mainly centered on breaches of privacy. I think these issues pale in comparison to what has become Facebook’s biggest danger — the intensification of bigotry and partisan resentments resulting from the micro-targeted manipulation of Facebook users’ media feeds. Just take a look at the normalization of hate speech on social media. Politics in the age of big data preys upon desires, hopes, and fears, that often lie at the level of the unconscious. That is what makes it insidious and, quite often, deadly.

INSIDIOUS (adj., gradually and secretly causing harm) is the operant word. and it is said that facebook CEO mark zuckerberg was aware of it and went ahead anyway. read Facebook Founder Warns “God Only Knows What It’s Doing To Kids’ Brains” (nov2017)

38-year-old founding president of Facebook, Sean Parker, was uncharacteristically frank about his creation in an interview with Axios. So much so in fact that he concluded, Mark Zuckerberg will probably block his account after reading this.

Confirming every ‘big brother’ conspiracy there is about the social media giant, Parker explained how social networks purposely hook users and potentially hurt our brains…

“When Facebook was getting going, I had these people who would come up to me and they would say, ‘I’m not on social media.’ And I would say, ‘OK. You know, you will be.’ And then they would say, ‘No, no, no. I value my real-life interactions. I value the moment. I value presence. I value intimacy.’ And I would say, … ‘We’ll get you eventually.’”

“I don’t know if I really understood the consequences of what I was saying, because [of] the unintended consequences of a network when it grows to a billion or 2 billion people and … it literally changes your relationship with society, with each other … It probably interferes with productivity in weird ways. God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains.”

“The thought process that went into building these applications, Facebook being the first of them, … was all about: ‘How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?‘”

“And that means that we need to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while, because someone liked or commented on a photo or a post or whatever. And that’s going to get you to contribute more content, and that’s going to get you … more likes and comments.”

“It’s a social-validation feedback loop … exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you’re exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology.”

“The inventors, creators — it’s me, it’s Mark [Zuckerberg], it’s Kevin Systrom on Instagram, it’s all of these people — understood this consciously. And we did it anyway.“

and this. ANOTHER FACEBOOK EXECUTIVE ISSUES WARNING ABOUT ITS DISASTROUS EFFECT ON PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIETY (dec2017)

In a recent talk with the Stanford Graduate School of Business, former vice-president of user growth for Facebook, Chamath Palihapitiya, made some rather startling comments about the impact Facebook and social media are having on human culture. He acknowledged feeling ‘tremendous guilt’ about his involvement with Facebook, citing the fact that the technology is so widely used that it is actually affecting how human beings interact with one another, upending our entire cultural history of communication.

When asked what ‘soul-searching’ he is doing right now, Palihapitiya responded:

“I feel tremendous guilt… I think in the back deep, deep recesses of our minds, we kind of knew something bad could happen…

It literally is a point now where I think we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works. That is truly where we are.

It is a point in time where people need to hard break from some of these tools, and the things that you rely on.

The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops we’ve created are destroying how society works…

No civil discourse, no cooperation, misinformation, mistruth. And it’s not an American problem… this is a global problem.

It is eroding the core foundations of how people behave by and between each other.”

jaron lanier, said to be the founding father of virtual reality, in a 2018 TED conference attributed all the troubles of facebook and other tech giants like google to a “globally tragic” mistake made in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

“Early digital culture had a sense of lefty socialist mission about it,” he said, noting that a common sentiment in Silicon Valley at the time held that everything on the internet must be purely public and free. At the same time, there was (and is) an ongoing love affair with tech entrepreneurship and industry titans like Steve Jobs.

“How do you celebrate entrepreneurship when everything is free? The solution is ads,” Lanier said. “[Services like Google and Facebook] were free with ads. In the beginning, it was cute. Then the customers and other entities who use this system became more experienced and clever. Advertisement turned into behavior modification.”

Negative stimuli tends to rise to the top of social networks, Lanier said. This is because negative emotions rise up faster than positive ones. And that ultimately makes it easier for misinformation and other manipulative pieces of information to take over.

At this point, Lanier said, we shouldn’t call companies like Facebook social networks. “Call them behavior modification empires.”

yes. behaviour modification through operant conditioning, “discovered” (in a manner of speaking) as in, demonstrated and defined by psychologist b.f. skinner:

Behavior which is reinforced tends to be repeated (i.e., strengthened); behavior which is not reinforced tends to die out-or be extinguished (i.e., weakened)

Skinner (1948) studied operant conditioning by conducting experiments using animals which he placed in a ‘Skinner Box‘.

read smithsonian.com‘s B.F. Skinner: The Man Who Taught Pigeons to Play Ping-Pong and Rats to Pull Levers. read psychology today‘s The New Skinner Box: Web and Mobile Analytics

… successful social media companies like Facebook and Instagram are able to capture and keep our attention for as long as possible by tapping into the evolutionary reward systems in our brains. While it’s no secret to anyone that a web engineer’s job is to do whatever it takes keep you on their site, few individuals are aware that their methods are founded in the classic operant conditioning experiments conducted by BF Skinner. Skinner put rats in a cage and varied the type, amount and timing of rewards to reinforce different types of behavior. He found that when he manipulated the rats’ schedule such that rewards came at random times, the rats became more engaged and attentive so that they would not miss an opportunity to receive the much-anticipated reward. But his findings hold true for humans as well. For example, it is precisely this phenomenon that allows casinos to make most of their money from slot machines.

… While no research exists yet on the brain’s response to social media, we can generalize the results of classical operant experiments to help us hypothesize why so many of us obsessively check our social media accounts. As Skinner revealed, when a reinforcer rewards us enough times, we learn to return to it out of anticipation of future rewards. When we post content on Facebook (e.g. a status update), we are primed to monitor how many “likes” or comments our post will yield. The number of likes and comments we receive for our post then reinforces how brilliant, interesting or witty we feel and how much people love us. It is therefore reasonable to assume that you might get a brief burst of dopamine each time you receive positive social feedback on Facebook. However, the true effect may be remarkably more sinister.

insidious. sinister. to think that facebook was initially intended to be, and seen as, a force for “good”. read zuckerberg’s Testimony released just before his back-to-back Q & A in US senate and house hearings on the data scandal.

Facebook is an idealistic and optimistic company. For most of our existence, we focused on all the good that connecting people can bring. As Facebook has grown, people everywhere have gotten a powerful new tool to stay connected to the people they love, make their voices heard, and build communities and businesses.

… But it’s clear now that we didn’t do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm as well. That goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections, and hate speech, as well as developers and data privacy. We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. It was my mistake, and I’m sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here.

… It’s not enough to just give people a voice, we have to make sure people aren’t using it to hurt people or spread misinformation. It’s not enough to give people control of their information, we have to make sure developers they’ve given it to are protecting it too. Across the board, we have a responsibility to not just build tools, but to make sure those tools are used for good.

as it turns out, facebook‘s euphoric mission, i.e., to focus on “all the good that connecting people can bring,” is an epic fail. facebook has not only intensified bigotry and partisan resentments in this third world corner of the world, it has also enabled divisiveness of toxic proportions, much to the delight no doubt of trad-pols who know only to divide-and-rule.