The Media Literacy Seminar was held last Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015, at the APC auditorium. They discussed... well... Media literacy. Well, just what is media literacy?
According to the Media Literacy Project, it means that it is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media. Media literate youth and adults are better able to understand the complex meessages we receive from television, radio, internet, newspapers, magazines, books, billboards, videogames, music, and all other forms of media.
In other terms, one must be able to "read between the lines" when faced with a medium. One should be able to see and understand deeper, hidden, more complex messages that the author wants to communicate with his readers. One must not be hollow or narrow minded. "An open book, an open mind", as I would say. As objectively as possible, one should not only rely on what he sees in plain sight, he must check all the surroundings, scan the perimeter, and check out all possible angles to the issue at hand. These are the characteristics of a media literate individual.
Ah, the four most oftenly used media by people today. It is true that to be media literate, one must have good anlytical and critical thinking skills, but I feel it still lacks something. I believe that a true media literate is someone who not only has the skills, but also the responsibility.
As the New Age develops, almost everything we need and want rests in the palms of our hands. All the information in the world literally at our fingertips. But just how do we use the information we possess to do good or at the least, NOT do harm?
When you're on Facebook and Instagram, you don't have to post photos of your food, your outfit fot the day, or your stupid-ass face crying cause your boyfriend left you when he woke up from the nightmare he was in. You just don't simply lay information about yourself like that on the internet for everyone to see then feel bad if they bash you for it, and feel worse if nobody gives a shit. Same goes for you, you shouldn't be using Facebook as a tool for you to bully or offend someone. Cyber-bullying laws will eat you up, believe me.
Same goes for Twitter, in which I find no necessity to tweet about every single thing that you do day-in and day-out, 24/7, like some socialite robot. Though it was created to be a site where one can express themselves, it doesn't mean that you have to type your curses and cusses everytime you're mad at someone or something. That ain't no fckin' ranting machine! And when your building's on fire or a robbery is in progress, dial 911 not "tweet" or "publish".
What we gained in technological advancements, we lost in human evolution. Yeah, that's my unpopular opinion, come see me if you got a problem with it.
We have lost humility everytime we post pictures of us at eating expensive food, drinking ridiculously priced coffee, and wearing clothes so foreign, they're from Mars. We do these things to achieve a certain level of self worth which we believe that the public would determine for us. With great anticipation, we would be waiting for likes, shares, and positive comments that we have been hoping for the moment we posted.
We have lost tolerance and respect. For every post made by one, another shall oppose. And not just any regular opposition, a lot of cussing and insults are included. We bash people for their opinions even if we are not offended by the difference of their perspective. We bash people because just like the first reason, we want attention. And we get this attention from those who are unpleased by the other person's opinion. You see? For the sake of a 20-second fame, we disrespect and hurt our neighbors just because they see things differently than us.
We have lost curiosity. This is the most crucial of all. We have lost the drive to find out the truth. Influenced by the New Age's technology, we have been spoonfed of all things we believe are "sufficient" to us. What the news channels report, we immediately believe. What we read in posts and tweets, we like, favorite, and share. In short, we commend those that share information no matter how incomplete or tampered it is simply because we couldn't find it in ourselves to look and find out for ourselves. Simple as that. We just simply take in and absorb everything that the media flashes in front of our eyes, hypnotizing us, manipulating us like we're some sort of puppets. We are made fools not by the media but by our lack of thirst for knowledge, thirst for the truth. We are simple "satisfied" with what is given us. And losing curiosity is tantamount to losing our humanity. Einstein would be so dissapointed at us right now.
Something to ponder on...
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