#commres

            For developing countries such as the Philippines, call centers are important economic entities, as call center corporations are hiring workforce from developing countries due to the cheapness of labor. Such is exemplified in the documentary Dispatches: The Data Theft Scandal (2006). We follow Sue Turton as she transact with data thieves of cal center data, which include the name, address, bank accounts, credit card numbers and other important financial information of British call center clients, who unknowingly gets victimized by people in the call center who trick clients into disclosing confidential data.

            Apparently, the illegal data trade is a naturalized part of the call center industry, as how informant reacts about the matter in a light way.  This may imply that the digitalization of previous offline transactions is a highly risky process, with the correspondences being prone to wiretapping, which is demonstrated by the documentary. However, it was because of a glitch in the system, thus the mechanization of the databases is also a factor that contributes to the riskiness of transactions. Two forms of data thievery are thus in play – on the one side is that by human intention, and the other by mechanical error.

            Two countries are placed in the forefront, United Kingdom, a developed country, and India, a developing country. The documentary has implications on the digital divide phenomenon that we are experiencing, and the capacity for it to be an avenue of crime. Looking at the dynamics of the call center labor pricing in developing countries which is cheaper than those from the first world, it would seem that the reason for resorting to crime is the deficiency in salaries. However, that is not the case, as call centers contribute highly to the local economy. Thus, the drive to commit the crime may be attributed to the corruption of individuals who have the power to control the data.

             As communication researchers, such as have implications on our role as data analyzers who must keep the confidentiality of our sources. In the case of call centers, lives may be put in jeopardy if the financial data of the clients land on the wrong hands. From the perspective of the call center agent, and in our case the researcher, selling client/respondent data for personal gain is extremely in violation of the ethics of research.

             Another perspective to the issue is social media research on the other hand, which usually looks at the aggregate of Facebook or Twitter enunciations, without the profile owner’s consent. However, the assumption here is that the person’s profile is public on the web, and thus consent is given without the need for formalities. However, in the context of bank accounts, formalities are held in high regard, because of the delicacy of the matter. Financial damages may be procured from the unethical disclosure of information. Thus, in this sense, cyber crime law is applicable, as theft is by in its essence, a crime.

            The documentary presents a grim fact about the digitalized worlds we move in. It also says something at the applicability of the crime in the Philippine context, being that our country is of the developing type. In the end, it must be at our careful judgment whether the information being sought from us will affect us in a detrimental way, and thus we must know how to safeguard. Criminals may be hard to spot because of the mediated nature of the process, but cues exist, particularly suspicion over the data gatherer’s online demeanor. May such judgment ward off cyber criminals. 

MANALESE, Kevin John C.

2010-17726

          The 21st century has witnessed the transformation of the connotation of the word submit, from the simple passing of an object to another person to the digitalization of the act, as can now mean the uploading of thoughts in the intricate world wide web, making possible the making known of such thoughts to a wide audience, particularly the netizens. 

            With such digitalization of real-world actions particularly communication, everything that we say is transposable online, and with this includes the statement of our opinions and commentaries on things that are also online. Oftentimes, we hold very strong opinions against others that we express these adverse attitudes against another person’s online representation, such as his or her avatar online, postings and general online demeanor, which can escalate to the phenomenon we know as cyber bullying.

            Like its offline counterpart, cyber bullying takes a wide range of forms, from bullying that is centric on the person bullied by virtue of personal hatred, to the more general bullying because the bullied person fits an online archetype, such as people who use leet speak and avatars that feature low-class clothing, identified locally by the subculture of the jejemon. Treated by disgust by most Filipino netizens, the phenomenon transcends cyber bullying because it involves hatred towards a specific social class, or those who belong to the lower social classes, evidence of the internet’s identity as ideological state apparatus that favors the middle class upward, and it’s capability to be permit crimes that will normally get penalized if done in the real world.

            The anonymity promised by cyber bullying naturally is an enticing reason to commit it, and more people are falling prey to such act. I myself had been quite a victim of such online crime. It happened when I was in high school, during the intramurals. As the tension among the classes grew, all hell broke loose as my section was pit in against another section, because of an online invitation in Facebook that was made public, for all the class to see, also an indicator of the need to be careful before submitting a message for the internet is more capable of being breached than real life correspondence.

           Nevertheless, like its online counterpart as well, cyber bullying can have grave and detrimental effects to those victimized, such as the case of Megan Meier in Submit, the documentary shown in class. The case is a paragon because it shows that cyber bullying can lead to extremes, such as the commission of suicide of the victimized. To the cyber bully, the act may have been taken lightly, but to the victim, the effect is damaging, particularly the breakdown of the ego and the hurt caused by the act, ultimately leading to the loss of life.

            In the local context, cyber bullying has implications on the recent passage of the cyber crime law. Such may mean that the previous hard to punish acts of cyber bullying may now be sanctioned by the state. However, amidst all the possible cases that will be filed, the passage is bombarded on both sides by its chilling effect, and the cyber crimes committed. Implications call for the reliable indicators that can say that a cyber bullying has been committed, as such may become an opportunity for the wrong accusation of the act on certain people.

            Cyber bullying, in the end, is a condemnable act that is worthy of punishment because of the detrimental effects that is imprinted on the victims. Using as example Submit’s hashtag campagn #NoBystanders, it can be seen that resolution to the problem begins in the virtual world before being transposed again offline thru the exercise of law, for by being responsible netizens and by looking out for each other online just as how we do online, the act may be  brought to justice, and the loss of lives prevented. 

MANALESE, Kevin John C.

2010-17726

        Having interned in a social media research firm, I was immersed to in the quantitative-qualitative analysis of the public social media enunciations such as Facebook posts and tweets of people of different demographic profiles. Differences are observable based on the user’s gender, socio-economic profile, and age, to name a few. From observing their online pronouncements, it can be seen that the youth, compared to the older generations are more likely to participate in social media campaigns, particularly those that use hashtags. Why is the trend as such?

        Hashtags are tweets (or Facebook posts) that use the symbol [#] placed before a word. The use of such social media device, as how my supervisors in my internship company explained, is for the organization of data. For example, by using a hashtag such as #YolandaPH in your tweet, interested parties such as in this case, people who are willing to donate to the Philippines may be able to find all tweets that are related to the event. Such will increase the efficiency of publicizing relief efforts, and thus may increase the number of donating parties.

        The Filipino youth had the most share of using the said hashtags, primarily perhaps because majority of internet users are the youth, and because of their knowledge of the said medium. Regardless, the youth are no doubt participatory and are catalysts of change, when participating in such advocacies. Motivations in using the said medium are of course varying, ranging from the youth retweeting the hashtag for the better reasons of intending to help, to the more trivial reasons of retweeting the hashtag because of fanaticism and novelty such as because the celebrity that they are following tweeted the hashtag, or because of group think – that because the news feeds are salient with the said hashtag, the youth join the bandwagon. Whatever the motivations, in the digital medium that standardizes and simplifies the masses, differing motivations are not taken into consideration because the mere use or retweet of the hashtag is contributory to the success of an advocacy.

        However, it will not hurt to explore the motivations, as by learning those motivations, we may learn the factors that can affect the success of a social media campaign. Looking at the Filipino culture, such success of advocacies may be attributed to the socialization of fanaticism in the behavior of colonial period Filipinos. Particular in the domain of religion, fanaticism has long since been ingrained in the culture of the Filipinos. The Spanish colonial Filipinos, having been described to have inferiority complex, are inclined to witness festivities with fanatic fervor, and participate in it.

        On the other hand, there are those that have as motivations, sincerity to utilize the hashtags because of the realization that the hashtags are vital in disseminating information and publicizing the cause. They are those that believe that collective movements are important in saving the lives of their fellow countrymen.

        Needless to say, as I said earlier, the motivations are just part of the complexities of the simple action of pressing the retweet button under tweets that banner advocacies. With our next retweets, let us take the time to question ourselves for reasons as to why we are taking part in the relief efforts. Are you sincere or not?

MANALESE, Kevin John C.

2010-17726