Damazo, Frances Grace P.

2009-08193

PA 111-WFR Prof. Erwin Alampay

Thought Paper #4: Competing Values regarding Internet Use in Free Philippine Social Institutions It is undeniable, the pervasive effect of the Internet in our lives. The internet redefined the manner in which information is disseminated all around the globe. There is without a doubt that the use of the Internet in Government, Schools, and Corporations is very useful to increase productivity. However, policies regarding the Internet and its use are still lacking. Like

everything else, there are pros and cons in using the Internet which gives rise to the competing values. The Internet has provided a new way of communicating. Whereas before, communication is just one-to-one or one-to-many, now it can be many-to-many. People can voice out their opinions and they are sure to be heard. However, one of the things that pose certain risks is those things being said in the Internet is hard to control and most of the time it violates some ethical issues. First of these is the use of Internet in the Government. Its original use is good since it enables the government to reach out to more number of people. Government updates in social media like Twitter has been helpful in disseminating information. Also it aims to build more citizen participation for nation building. However, issues of unregulated use of the Internet in government offices became a problem. Instead of increasing productivity, it slowed some transactions since government officials spend more time Facebook-ing and tweeting. One of the reasons why a group is specifically tasked to handle new media in President Aquinos term is to facilitate discussions and obtain feedback from the people. One example given in the article about how government handled a situation was the August 2010 Hostage Taking. When the media got wind of the situation and broadcasted it while it happens, negotiations between government and hostage-taker broke down. This led to many comments

that bombarded Aquinos site. Inappropriate and insensitive use of the Internet, the social media in particular, can lead to bigger problems and bigger misunderstandings. Now, questions suddenly looms: How free should media be?, How should government respond to such outbursts? With regards to the use of Internet in educational institutions, there are still debates arising. Yes, it is good to use since students have access to more academic materials online. However, some students do not use it for educational purposes. Based from experience, some of my classmates are accessing the Internet during class hours to search not for educational purposes but to open their Facebook accounts. Control is not yet fully regulated and arguments are still discussed as to whether or not social networking sites should also be regulated. The Internet has been an innovation. With just a click, information is right at your fingertips. However, like all things, we should develop some values in order to make use of this technology responsibly. One of the internets uses is to facilitate communication. People can have a say in almost everything since we all have freedom of expression. But this freedom should not be abused by posting derogatory comments against your fellow human being. In order to regulate the use of the Internet, policies should be made in accordance to our democratic rights.