In this modern time, media and information performs three main functions in a certain economy. It is to inform, to influence and to entertain the public. The public's demand for information is not satisfied with exciting events alone. The public has the desire and the right to be informed not only about tragic events but also about societal issues. Our main source to get information is media. Without media, we will never be updated on the day-today events that are happening in our surrounding. The power of media lies in its functions, as it strives for the rights of citizens to be served and is used also to raise awareness. In short, proper functioning of media is per-requisite for democracy because it is its cementing force. It has supplemented the authority of people by giving them awareness about political system and its functioning.
Furthermore, media has a power to connect government with the people. It plays an important role between the people and the government. It helps the public to be aware on the government's opinion and feelings about any policy. On the other hand, it assists the government's communication to the citizens to bring a mutual relationship and help develop the country. Likewise, it can also uproot the corruption and promote good governance in a certain country. But as a whole, it does not always guarantee that society is balance because media has biases also. It has the power to manipulate thus making viewers to believe on the information they seen. But all of those negativity written above can be abide, because being a responsible media user starts from childhood.
Kids nowadays grow up having access to social media. As such, they can be more expert than adults. So it is the responsibility of parents and guardians to teach them how to use social media properly. They should guide their kids to develop sound judgment and use social media securely. Of course, everyone should be mindful of the things that we post online. One of the big no-no is to post your daily routine, as what our Teacher in Empowerment Technology says, never post anything about a future vacation because it is similar as "rub my house at this date." Those with bad intentions can easily make use of such intimate information.
We must turn ourselves as responsible users. Media has two sides, the positive and the negative. It can help us but it has the capability to destroy us. But it all depends on us. If we let them continue to do those negative things, we are only letting them play our lives. But if we become vigilant, we can truly avoid or stop those things. Responsibility is a big word. But it is one of the things that are inevitable. Every individual plays a role in the society and a responsibility to take. There is one saying that serves as a reminder, "With great power comes great responsibility." So as a member of this modern century, the ultimate tip to maintain your good reputation is to think before you click!
NOTE:
This short essay that I have written is very much subjective and I am not encouraging you to go or agree on my opinion. I just want you to hear my side as one of the user of many technological advancement and any digital medium. I write this to inspire you and not to put influence in your opinion. We live in a democratic country, so each one of us has the right to chose which side should we be in.
“The Power of Media and Information Literacy, and the Responsibility of the User”
By: Nick Daniel Mahilum
A media comes with many forms and styles. It is accessible by anyone anywhere and is the center stage in digital society. A media literate person has the ability to read, analyze, evaluate and produce communication in a variety of media forms. On the other hand, an information literate person has the ability to recognize when information is needed and to locate, evaluate, affectively use and communicate information in its various formats (UNESCO, MIL Curriculum for Teachers, 2011).
But the question is, what is the power of media and information literacy? Throughout the evolution of technologies and its drastic changes that change the way we live, the way we perceive life, our vision, our lifestyle and even ourselves proves that the media and its various formats plays a big role in our daily life. Mankind undoubtedly been so dependent with it and also the information that the different forms of media wants to relay. Though media and information literacy comes in different formats, it is powerful enough to change the way a person’s perspective towards life. From the news and documentaries we have seen on television in urban areas to the radios and newspapers that have reached our countrymen in rural places strongly proves that anyone can have an access with this and from that, the power that it establishes can change the way an individual thinks. Media and Information Literacy focuses on the skills how an individual engage with media and information effectively, also developing critical thinking and life-long learning skills to socialize and became an active citizen. Many of us knew how to engage with media and the information it conveys but there is a small percentage who really does knew how to use it in an effective and a rightful way. It is indeed that media and information literacy widely covered-up our lives nowadays as there is a rapid growth of population of humankind engaging media and its information it relays, thus, greatly affects the way with think, our judgements, beliefs, perceptions, and attitudes and from this we were called as a “user” of this media and information. But being a user does not just focuses profoundly of being a “simple-user” but greatly focuses as a user who is responsible enough how to develop itself as an individual, know how to accept reliable information, know how to use media and its different formats in a rightful way, know the etiquettes of being a user such as the netiquettes is what defines a responsible user in this digital and technology-dependent society.
So, media and information literacy has the power to change an individual’s mind-set perceiving life, his belief, perceptions, attitudes and the way he/she accepts the societies challenge towards facing the society itself because it can be easily accessed by anyone throughout the world but the issue does not ended up from that, being an individual having media and information literacy in his life means being a responsible enough as a user who uses it dependently.
Essay by Nick Daniel Mahilum is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
“The Power of Media and Information Literacy, and the Responsibility of the User”
By: Altom Kent Tongol
Media and information are some of the most powerful and influential material that people are exposed and dependent to. People nowadays get information through media because we are more in to new technology. The number of users are rapidly increasing and issues start to grow because of the irresponsibleness of some users. Responsibility of users should be manifested in order to use the power of media and information wisely.
Today, the world benefits more with the use of media and information. It can be seen anywhere and everywhere. We all know that media makes life easy, and fun. “Media is a very powerful tool capable of mobilizing people’s contemplations and ideologies” (Mock 2004). Life is full of stress but with the help of media such as the television, cinema, newspapers, radio, magazines, telephone, and social media in the Internet, it serves as an escape or a stress-reliever and a perfect activity to do during leisure time. Also, information can be easily gained by using the different types of media like print media, broadcast media, and the new media which is a motor of mass communication. Media influence has become so powerful in the present that it can easily influence people positively and negatively. We also live in a society that depends on the media as a source of entertainment and information. The media and information functions to strengthen and enrich the connection of people, the social environment, and the economy. It opens different opportunities to us. It can motivate, inspire, inform, express ideas and feelings freely, and empower citizen.
Users of media and information should always be responsible. Being responsible helps us to be more aware of what we are doing. To be a responsible user, we need to be careful in posting personal hints to avoid privacy invasion, to protect our private accounts and for us to be safe. We should not spread false rumors and less significant issues to prevent misunderstandings and miscommunications. Correspondingly, users will be able to know that internet can be used for Citizen Journalism and for Tourist Support and to prevent the occurrence of perilous circumstances such as Phishing and Human Trafficking which is usually done with the use of media. Practicing responsible usage of social media is best achieved when adhered to netiquette standards. People should be careful, wise, and responsible all the time in order to ensure individual safety.
“With great power, comes great responsibility.” This quote is heard by each human being living on Earth. The power of media and information is a challenge. A challenge where people need to make use of this power correctly and not carelessly. Let us be responsible enough as users because media and information gives knowledge. And knowledge is power that leads humanity to becoming a media and information literate individual.
Essay by Altom Kent M. Tongol is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
“The Power of Media and Information Literacy, and the Responsibility of the User”
By: Enrico Rafael Basilio
According to the Wikipedia “Media is the collective communication tools that are used to deliver information or data. And information is stimuli that have meaning in some context for its receiver. When information is entered into and stored in a computer, it is generally referred to as data”
What if there’s no newspaper, television, or even internet what happens to the world? The people will be nothing because he didn’t know about the happenings. People nowadays reading newspaper, watching television or surf in the internet to collect information and influenced individuals over the passing of time. Media has a big role in the society as it influences the daily lives of an individual. Media has been playing an important role in forming our personality, enriching our background knowledge, and providing us with information of any kind – englishtopics.net
In the touch of the screen on your cellphone, click of the mouse in the computer, we interact with people around the world, watch live stream, communication tour friends and families, we can do whatever you can do, you can post your feelings, emotions, etc. or post pictures in the Facebook, twitter, and Instagram. We can buy things in the internet. And also we can easily collect information, idea or data to the happenings in our surroundings.
Empowerment of people thorough Media and Information Literacy (MIL) is an important prerequisite for fostering equitable access to information and knowledge and promoting free, independent and pluralistic media and information systems – unesco.org. But there’s positive and negative of media, for example there’s educational program of television that can be watched by the children, so it good to watch to children because they learn, another example is the news, because we all know what happen in our surroundings. And the negative side if we abuse use the internet like giving false report of the news, another is the tv commercial that encourage to buy that product, we don’t know that if that is good for our body or not because they focus on the income.
Me as a user we all have a responsibility in using of the power of media and information first of all is to apply the proper etiquettes when using these things. We also know what good and bad. Never be involved of the cybercrime act law it is a big sin. Our curiosity can kill us, so think before you click. And for phishing, never ever put your information in the internet because it would because your identity will be taken, or your account would be control of others. If you are careless of what you are doing your life will be in peril. And for sharing in information we all know about responsibility and limitation.
Essay by Enrico Rafael M. Basilio is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
“The Power of Media and Information Literacy, and the Responsibility of the User”
By: John Carlo Sustino
Majority of the veterans might say that “with great power, comes great responsibility” and it is true, with the technology that we have right now, I guess it is safe to say that the world is in our fingertips, with just a milli-second we can know what we want to know, and that could be, power.
Literally today, if we desire, we can acquire. With the help of personal computers and internet connection we can connect with our friends or loved ones from all around the world. The power of our technology has grown into something very big, still growing, and about to be uncontrollable. And this power has also given the people an opportunity to have the world at its disposal. With the technology that we have it could be very easy for anyone to stream, broadcast, share, and seek anything and it could be very easy for anyone to use it in evil. To say that the society we live in is technologically advance would be an understatement. Just by the use of our fingers, anything could be possible, and a lot could be done by anyone at any state -by the use of any technology and an internet. Trying to sort the innovations the society has made would make a long list. It is surely a list of positivity, but along this would be a partner of negativity. The growing power of technology has raged into two things: good and bad.
It is up for the person using the computer to use these innovations in a good or bad way. Because when you use the technology, you should know how to accept and face the consequences for alongside with all these great powers and opportunity is the responsibility that you will encounter in the long run. Every person knows how to use a computer and connect it to the internet should know the things to do and the things to not to do. Though social media or the internet is a good source of information and education purposes, social media could also be a source of death through cyber bullying and that is one negative effect of the growing power of our technology, thats just one but capes a big percent of damage.
It is up for the person using the computer to use these innovations in a good or bad way. Because when you use the technology, you should know how to accept and face the consequences for alongside with all these great powers and opportunity is the responsibility that you will encounter in the long run. Every person knows how to use a computer and connect it to the internet should know the things to do and the things to not to do. Though social media or the internet is a good source of information and education purposes, social media could also be a source of death through cyber bullying and that is one negative effect of the growing power of our technology, thats just one but capes a big percent of damage.
Essay by John Carlo Sustino is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
“The Power of Media and Information Literacy, and the Responsibility of the User”
By: Charlie Magne Valera
For many years, the invention of media change the way people live. It influences people when it comes to lifestyle, philosophical, psychological, and behavior as well. Nowadays, we cannot deny that media has the power to change and manipulate things. Virtually every day since early childhood, it has been playing an important role in forming our personality, enriching our background knowledge, providing us with information of any kind.
Before media, it is very tough to find reliable and genuine information. But today, media has revolutionized everything. Actually it is the most powerful sector of an economy. It is a tool to maintain balance society which is characterized by well-informed people, effective democracy and social justice. Basically, media performs three functions, to inform, to influence, and lastly to entertain. But the effects of this are multidimensional. It tends to shape individual’s point of view, politically, economically, socially and philosophically. Furthermore, media has broken the barriers of information, so that people that are illiterate become active citizens. It affects how we approach things and transforms dormant society into dynamic society. It gives us power to participate in the current issues in our society (particularly social media/internet); we have a freedom to address our feedback and opinion toward the topic concerning the issue. So it very logical to say that media is one of the basic need of people nowadays. But there is a downside of all of this positive effect of media, it can be abuse, corrupt, manipulate by negligent users. Media has its limitation, so it is better to know those. As a user of internet or other media platforms such as social media, it is better to have a personal netiquette on internet usage. Being media literate does not mean you know the “how to’s” of using media platforms, there more than that, being literate means how responsible you are when it comes to this aspect. It doesn’t mean that we are free of what we do on media that we abuse its purpose. Cyber bullying, cybersex, phishing, copyright, posers, plagiarism, are one of the many issues related to consuming media. Thankfully there are laws concerning to these issues but sadly people easily don’t care or even don’t know these rules because most individual had this mindset that media particularly social media can be access by anyone and you can do whatever you want. Social media’s purpose is to connect to the world, to inform or to aware us to the latest events and to influence and entertain, beyond that it is not fine. As I said that media has its limitation and it is extremely vital to know its restrictions. As a user it is essential to control ourselves through knowing not only the power and purpose of internet but also its limitation.
Today, we have the world at our fingertips. Literally, with the touch of a fingertip or the click of a mouse, we can do amazing things. But the more we improve and advance the greater the responsibility it is. As a social media user, it is really necessary to know our limitation as a user.
Essay by Charlie Magne C. Valera is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.