POP CULTURE AND THE RISE OF NEW MEDIA IN THE PHILIPPINES

America, L., Data, A.M., Lamban, C., Samoranos, J., Santiago, K.

BSA 2-2
AH2- Philippine Popular Culture
Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela

Introduction

In present days, there are so many changes that happened because of the human's mind.
One of them are the existence of technology. Due to the presence of technology, people have an
ease of living. Some of them are acquiring information from different places in the world,
communicating to other people across the world, making the human's life more entertaining, and
etc. The said examples are some of the effects of new media arising from the existence of
technology. This paper will discuss the new media's background, as well as the relationship
between new media and pop culture, and the current status of the said topic.

New media is one of the mediums used in creating and collecting information. According
to Vangie Beal, "new media is used to describe content made available using different forms of
electronic communication made possible through the use of computer technology." In addition,
Robert Logan wrote in his book entitled "Understanding New Media", new media refers to the
digital media that are interactive, with a feature of two-way communication and involve some form
of computation. He also added that the said new media is very easily processed, stored,
transformed, retrieved, hyperlinked and, perhaps most radical of all, easily searched for and
accessed (as cited in an article entitled "What Is New Media?", 2019).

Another type of media that is used to create and gather information is the traditional media
or old media. According to an article published by Wikipedia (2019), old media or traditional
media, are the mass media institutions that predominated prior to the Information Age; particularly
print media, film studios, music studios, advertising agencies, radio broadcasting, and television.

Old media and new media are different from each other. According to Megha Shah (2018),
the following are the differences between the said topics: (1) in terms of medium used to create,
disseminate and collect information, the former use television, radio, print advertisements, and

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billboards while the latter use social networking sites, website advertisements, blogs, vlogs, and
podcasts; (2) in terms of the budget needed to market a particular product or service, the latter can
be used either a low or high budgeted project while the former can only sought by those who have
a high budget; (3) in terms of updated information and accessibility, the latter is superior than the
former; and (4) in terms of communication between two or more parties, the latter is more faster
and highly recommended than the former. Due to the said advantages of new media, nowadays,
more people use new media than the old media.

History of New Media

Being involved in social media (social networking) is one of the most active web-based
activities in the Philippines. Because of this, Filipinos are declared to be the most active users on
a number of web-based social network sites, such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.
The use of social networking websites has become so extensive that the country is now called “The
Social Networking Capital of the World.” In fact, social media related activities are also used in
the Philippines as a form of election campaign material, as well as political, marketing and
propaganda tools.

As of the beginning of this year, the total population in the Philippines has reached over
100 million – and 46% of the population are active Internet users. It’s not surprising that almost
all Filipinos are actively joining social media, not just to connect with friends and family but also
for the purpose of catching news, purchasing products and services, and even job searching.

Indeed, social media continues to change the way we live. Here is the brief history of new
media in the Philippines:

In 1953, IBM has already shipped its first electronic computer called 701 in the industry.
According to Cruz, the IBM 701 Defense Calculator (1952) was IBM's first production computer.
It was designed primarily for scientific calculation and included "microsecond circuits installed at
critical locations ... to send electrical impulses from one unit to another at a speed faster than one-
millionth of a second" devised at Columbia University's Watson Lab. In 1969, ARPANET was
created and considered as the military predecessor of the internet. During this time, the idea
became a modest reality with the interconnection of four university computers. The initial purpose

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was to communicate with and share computer resources among mainly scientific users at the
connected institutions. ARPANET took advantage of the new idea of sending information in small
units called packets that could be routed on different paths and reconstructed at their destination.
In 1971, Ray Tomlinson developed a system to send mail back and forth between users of
ARPANET. And the first e-mail sent was something like “QWERTYUIOP”. In 1983, ARPANET
adopted TCP/IP and from these researchers began to assemble the “network of networks” that
became the MODERN INTERNET.

During 1986, Bulletin Board System (BBS) was introduced and operated using a software
that ran on IBM XT Clone PC, with a modem that ran on a 1200 bpm. Based on webopedia, a
bulletin board system (BBS) is as electronic message center. Most bulletin boards serve specific
interest groups. They allow you to dial in with a modem, review messages left by others, and leave
your own message if you want. Bulletin boards are a particularly good place to find free or
inexpensive software products. In 1987, Inter-BBS connectivity was enabled through the
Philippine FidoNet exchange. One bulletin board system in Metro Manila is now able to connect
to other bulletin board systems in the same are. In 1990, email gateways and services broadened,
courtesy of some multinational corporations operating in the Philippines. Moreover, according to
"All Things Considered" (2017), the first text message was transmitted Dec. 3, 1992. Engineer
Neil Papworth typed "merry Christmas" on a computer and sent the first SMS message to the
cellphone of Vodafone director Richard Jarvis.

In 1993, with the support from the Industrial Research Foundation (IRE), the PhilNet
project was launched and the website credited as being the “first social media” site was Six
Degrees. In 1994, Philippines was formally connected to the Internet, using the PLDT network
center in Makati City on March 29, 1994. Also, the free and open World Wide Web (www) was
launched. In 2001, the first E-Revolution in Edsa Dos. "Full mblsn tday EDSA" (Full mobilization
today EDSA) and "Go 2 EDSA. Wear Black" (Go to EDSA, wear black, bring your friends.) were
among the millions of text messages calling upon Manila residents to gather at the EDSA Shrine.
In 2002, 2002, social networking hit really its stride with the launch of Friendster.
Social networking website that connects individuals across the world with the hopes of helping
them develop friendships. The Friendster network was launched in 2002 and is considered the

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predecessor to similar sites Myspace and Facebook. Friendster's popularity has decreased since
its inception as more and more social networks with a similar platform are developed.

Social media has evolved from a simple way to stay in touch with friends into a hydra that
has infiltrated every aspect of our lives. These days we know what everyone is doing every minute
of the day. We see what everyone is eating, what they are wearing, who they are with. And while
that may seem like fun at first, after a while it gets taxing and quite frankly exhausting. What’s
more, social media has amplified everyone’s voice and given him or her the permission to
comment on every single thing even if it doesn’t involve them.

New Media and Its Advancements

New media is often associated with computers and internet and so on its types. Using
internet as a medium, gives its types advantages and disadvantages when using it. The types of
new media show the advancement of new media among other medium. There are five types of
New Media, they are Online Newspaper, Virtual Reality, Social Media, Blogs and Digital Gaming.
Online Newspaper, according to wikipedia.org, is an online version of a newspaper, it can be a
separate newspaper or an online version itself of a printer publication. Online newspaper emerged
from the need of the people to know the breaking news instantly comparing it with printed
newspaper wherein one can know the breaking news after the day it already happened, making the
people late in the latest news for that day.

Virtual Reality as defined by marxentlabs.com is using computer to create a simulated

environment. It enables the user to experience what they are seeing on screen rather than just
viewing it in front of them. Virtual Reality serves as an entrance to an artificial world with internet
as primary medium of it. Examples of Virtual Reality are, PlayStation, Oculus, Vive, etc. Using
Virtual Reality has advantages and disadvantages as a counterpart. Durkin (2019) enumerates the
advantages and disadvantages of VR. Its advantages are, it is served as for training purposes, use
for online conferencing and, VR is convenient. Its disadvantages however are, addiction, a person
can get addicted to it easily as you can become the manipulator of the world VR creates. Next is it
can affect health, like it can cause eye problems etc. Lastly is it can affect human connections; you
can be more focused on that artificial world rather than communicating with people around you.

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 Hopkins (2017), defined Social Media as group of internet-based applications that allow
the users to interact and present themselves on broad and narrow audiences depending on their
preferences. It allows people around the world communicate using internet comparing to old
version of cellphones and telephones that only allows a person to communicate to those who are
near them. It emerged from the need of fast communication between people. Using Social Media
enhances connectivity among people, it has also great benefit for students like searching
assignment from it, can get information and updates easily, it can be used a method of seeking for
help when accident happens and lastly it can help government agencies to fight crimes like
reporting a crime that happen in your area on Facebook. Its negative effects on the other hand is,
one's personal data and privacy are being prone to hacking, a person they do not know might get
their information and use it on doing crime. Next is, cyberbullying is all around social media
platforms, and anyone can be a victim of it. Lastly is, it is easy to commit fraud in social media, a
person can get scammed easily on social media (Ahmed, 2016).

Skrba (2019) defines blog as an online diary or journal and an informational website
displaying information in chronological order with the latest update being displayed first. It is
where a writer can share their opinions about different matters. Blogs were started back then in
1994 but become famous in using in the 21st century where many people do blogs of any kind.
Blogs has many characteristics that differentiate it from a website like, blogs need he updated
unlike an ordinary website. Blogs also promote interaction between writers and readers and it
includes publishing date, author reference, categories and tags unlike website. Blogs enables you
to express own opinions about a thing you like, blogging does not require too much technical
knowledge making those the primary advantages of using blogs.

Digital Gaming is a game played using digital technology. It is a program where the players
can interact with one another and was meant to provide entertainment (Winter, 2005). Digital
Gaming is just gaming that comes from the traditional game system with the same elements
present, like players, the rules only it is played through electronic devices. Playing digital games
constitutes advantages and disadvantages. Khaos (2013) said that digital gaming is good for mood
and brain as it reduces the pressure that a person feels. But he stated also that increasing number
of young people are playing digital games, they are spending more time on playing it. He added

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that digital gaming can cause sickness and can be a barrier among families making it its
disadvantages.

Social Media: Applicability and Practicability

Nowadays, we have a lot of youngsters used Social Media in their daily life, But What is
Social Media? “Social” it refers to interacting with other people by sharing information with them
and receiving information from them while ”Media” refers to an instrument of communication,
like the internet (while tv, radio, and newspapers are examples of more traditional forms of media).

According to Matthew Hudson “Social media refers to websites and applications that are
designed to allow people to share content quickly, efficiently, and in real-time.” Social media is
internet-based and gives users quick electronic communication of content. Content includes
photos, videos, personal information and documents.

Social Media has their own features like personal user accounts that allow the visitor to
create an account that they can log into and it might be used for some kind of interactions. The
profile pages that help represent an individual and give them a space to create their own personal
brand. We also have here the friends, followers, groups, hashtags feature so the user can subscribe
to certain forms of information and once we want to get information about these people, the
information will be posted to our newsfeeds which is most likely to newspaper. We can also
configure our user settings, customize our profiles, organize our friends or followers, manage our
information details so we can see in our news feeds and even give feedback on what we do or don't
want to see and that is what we called personalization. Notification feature help us to be updated
about the specific information and we can also choose to receive types of notification that we want.
Information updating or posting features allows us to post or share something anything we want,
it could be a simple text message, photos, link or videos. After that a lot of our friends can interact
with us with the help of the like buttons and comment sections to our posts and besides that lots of
social media sites and apps rely on the collective effort of the community to review, rate and vote
on information that they know about or have used and that is review, rating or voting systems.

We have seven types of Social Media, first is the social networking site the Jill of all trades.
Users can share thoughts, curate content, upload photos and videos, form groups based on interests,

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and participate in lively discussions. They’re built around the user and everything that’s important
to them and their social circles. The social review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor display reviews
from community members for all sorts of locations and experiences. This eliminates a lot of the
guesswork that goes into booking a restaurant or hotel. The image sharing sites, users create,
curate, and share unique images that spark conversation and speak for themselves. The video
hosting site. Video hosting platforms help creators put together content and share it to a platform
optimized for streaming. This accessibility makes video a super important medium. The
community blog shared blogging platforms give people a space to express their thoughts and help
connect them with readers. These community blog sites provide an audience while allowing plenty
of room for customization and self-expression. The discussion sites, anyone is free to ask a
question or make a statement, and this attracts people with shared interests and curiosities.
However, unlike Facebook and Instagram, users tend to give out less identifiable information. And
the last type of Social media is sharing economy networks that bring people who’ve got something
they want to share together with the people who need it. These communities provide opportunities
that won’t exist otherwise by pooling resources on a large scale that wouldn’t be possible without
tech.

The power of social media is the ability to connect and share information with anyone on
Earth, or with many people simultaneously so the ability to share photos, opinions, events in real-
time has transformed the way we live and, also, the way we do business as it shapes preferences
and perspective of people. New Media manipulates the circulation of popular culture and it affects
popular culture in different aspects like communication where we get easily connected with
different people all over the world, entertainment where people have their time and place to share
same interests and likes that actually arise with the presence of social media that undeniably
manipulates the circulation of popular culture, education as it shares informative facts and useful
data with mass audiences that benefit, politics and commercialization that most of the time take
advantage the media to spread advertisement and advocacies. Social media is an ever-changing
and ever-evolving web-based platform.

According to Daniel Nations “The pressure of garnering tons of likes and comments on
regular social media posts also plays a huge factor, suggesting that more casual forms of social
sharing, such as through stories, could be the social media way of the future.” It's difficult to

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predict anything exactly, but if one thing can be said about the future of social media, it will
probably be more personalized and less noisy. Over-sharing will be less of a problem and filtering
out irrelevant information will become a stronger trend.

Conclusion

Given the rapidly changing of media structure, the rise of new media and its widespread
around the world continually become the new force of disseminating information throughout the
world. Unlike before, when it was only old media like print advertisements, radio, television,
billboards etc., it takes time and costs to acquire information but now, with just one click from
cellphones everything becomes instant, especially in communication. In connection to this,
different forms of new media such as virtual reality, blogs, digital game, online newspaper, and
social media leads us to experience the advancement of new media. Also, we had a further
discussion about social media because it plays a vital role in our lives. Social media enable people
to interact with each other by both sharing and consuming information. Facebook as one of great
examples of social media, allow people to get different information on the current situation of the
society, to be updated on the latest trends, as well as to share information or thoughts in life and
even a stand on a particular latest topic or issue on the internet. Additionally, social media has its
forms too such as social networking sites, social review sites, image sharing sites, video hosting
sites, community blogs, discussion sites, and sharing economy networks. Lastly, we also present
the relationship of popular culture to new media in which it shapes preferences and perspective of
people, manipulates the circulation of popular culture, and affects popular culture in different
aspects like communication, entertainment, education, politics and commercialization.

Today, we cannot deny the fact that new media is already consuming the time we have in
our everyday life. According to a report on Rappler (2019), 67% of online Filipinos access social
media on their phone, keeping social media as an influential force. The worldwide average of the
time spent online is 6 hours and 42 minutes compared with Japan spending the least amount of
time online at 3 hours and 45 minutes only considering the fact that we have a slow internet
connection in the Philippines. Moreover, the number of social media users in the Philippines has
grown from 67 million to 76 million this year, of these 76 million, 75 million are on Facebook.

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Just like last year, Philippines is still the top country when it comes to social media penetration
and 99% of internet users are on at least one type of social media platform.

In general, New media is an effective means of communication in which it allows a huge

increase in the volume of communication. It has language compatibility, it is a user-friendly media
in which it propagates social connections among people, it communicates a variety of information
to different people, it also influences younger generation and their social status is also improved
because of networking. And as the reach of internet becomes larger and wider, we should always
be mindful on reliable information that we must consume and share to other people.

References:

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