The Socio-culture of the misunderstood Jejemons

By: Francheska Mauriz L. Micu

Slanted head at least 45 degrees, making fingers crossed each other when posing, colorful caps that are slightly put on the head, an oversized shirt that at least three people can fit in, knee socks, big and colorful headphones, the use of incomprehensible and intentionally misspelled words, yes, just like what you imagined, the Jejemons. Jejemon is the onomatopoeic word for laughter, hehe (then turned out to be jeje, I do not know why) and -mon that came from pocket monsters pokemon or digimon. Cute combination, is not it? They say that these people are the todays jologs of the country. They also represent the lower income classes of society. But the rise of this culture is still unclear because as far as I can remember, they were like mushrooms that suddenly sprouted on the ground. Maybe it all started when the boom of text mania began because jejemons are first known in using words that would take your time deciphering it. Then until such time that these people became engrossed and made their own culture. In their own colorful world that is full imagination and gangster looking appearance, many do not like them, much like, hate them (just like the jejebusters). Even the officials of the Department of Education hate them because of their continuous use of misspelled and grammatically incorrect words. But honestly, you really cannot resist laughing at them when you see them in the street or be irritable once you have received or have read a jejenese (their own alphabet). However, most of the time, it is too much. It is like we are degrading them. Most basic value that I have learned when I was a child is to respect others culture. But why cannot we do it. I mean that is how they expressed themselves (although they should limit the use of jejenese because they might be so used to). That is their way to be noticed because maybe all their lives they were being shooed by many. They represent the cries of many Filipinos. They are just like the hipsters and gangsters in other country (although their clothes and accessories are much cheaper). All I want to say is that let them be them. Maybe in time, these people would no longer be fad and another group would rise. We do not know yet. But they deserve our respect because they also have dignity, worth, and value in the country.

The effects of social media in shaping the minds of the Filipino Youth
By: Francheska Mauriz L. Micu

The continuous use of social networking sites has been part of the everyday life of a typical Filipino especially the youngsters (like me). It is like an addiction that you cannot resist. Every move you do, every thought that you want say, it seems like you want the whole world to know about it. Your social profile is your testimony of life. One feels the sense of freedom once they have logged in because in social networking sites, no one will stop you, only yourself. But what good does it has to offer? The older generations have lived beautifully without these. Does the use of social networking sites such as facebook or twitter would make us better? According to statistics, Philippines is the most active users in different social media. 93.9% of the reportedly signed users in facebook are Filipinos. Also, we are regarded as the top photo up-loaders and web video viewers and ranked as the second blog readers. Which, I think, most of those users belong to the younger generation. With the increasing demands of using these networking sites, I have observed that the youth today is so much different than before. The way they think, speak, react, dress, and in every aspect that you can think of. Nowadays, we are more liberal in showing of our feelings. We are not afraid of telling how we feel. We become globalized. And because of that, we adapt cultures different from ours. Some traits and values that are being passed on by our parents are being set aside because it is like a closed-system policy. The Filipino youth today is breaking the walls of limitation in expressing themselves. We become more open-minded and accept other individuals. We become more realistic that certain things can happen beyond the countrys system and expectation. We are brave enough to fight for our rights and injustices. But one thing I liked the most is that we become more sociable. We now have confidence to interact and show what we got to others. In short, we are no longer afraid of competing to other nationalities. That we, too, can keep up with other countries. Language is no longer a barrier for us not be recognized. Todays generation is still the future of this country. When the time comes that is us who will lead this nation, I think it would be a better place to be because our generation are way far openminded than are forefathers.

The women bus drivers in the Philippines

By: Francheska Mauriz L. Micu