I just realized that with the information overload we’ve been recently subjecting our brains to, selective and conscientious reading is now a must not just for those who write but for anyone who is a living and thinking animal.

I don’t need to inundate you with links or a litany of examples to prove the point that the world wide web is — to
be blunt about it — full of trash. Generally, that is. Of course there are bits and pieces of valuable information out here, if you know where to look.

But the sad reality is that, it’s easier said than done. There’s just too much information everywhere that it even finds you sooner than you’d search. Sometimes, you don’t even realize you’re looking for it, until it finds you. And most times, you aren’t even looking at all — or probably never would. But what can you do if this annoying information is relentlessly pulling on your sleeves? It’s not like you can just look away.

That said, it behooves us, more than ever to be selective of what we read.

Remember comics?

There used to be a time when reading printed comics was considered a pastime. Now however, it is considered a vocation.

Because, really, with so many ‘versions’ of the printed medium floating aimlessly in cyberspace, to go through the hassle of going to a bookstore, skim through a pile of comics, pay for it, and actually get around reading it seem like too much effort for the regular homo sapien of the 21st century.

And this phenomenon has affected us in many if not all aspects of our lives. Information is power — so they say. That’s probably why I spend an awful lot of time everyday reading — news, blogs, magazines, instruction manuals, etc. I feel as though missing a paragraph would mean reduced ‘power’.

The irony, as I’ve noticed, is that with all the truckloads of information being delivered to our senses every waking second of our lives, there appears to be an ever-increasing scarcity for reliable information.

Speed and reliability have become inversely proportional with each other — as though it’s inevitable to sacrifice one for the other.

The faster the information gets delivered to us, the lesser the chance that it is 100% reliable. Everyone seems to care more about ‘who gets to break the news first’ — any other consideration is thrown out the window — at least for the meantime.

No wonder it gets even more confusing when the ‘facts’ and significant details seem to change by the hour if not by the minute. ‘Something happens’ and everyone scampers for little info, churning half-baked articles begging for verification.

Suddenly, ‘small details’ don’t matter — although we know the ‘devil’ is in there somehow. Writers don’t take both sides of the story anymore or just scrape off content and risk plagiarizing or just rip off photos because ‘it’s easier to apologize than to ask permission’.

The end result is more trash in exchange for trash. And that’s not even the worse part yet. What’s worse is that with so many people claiming authority in ‘this and that’, it gets more and more difficult to filter out the real from the not.

Now, compound this problem with black propaganda and ‘news’ tainted with vested interests and there my friend is your recipe for guaranteeing at least another six years of a pitiful Philippines.

If it is true that we are what we read, I guess it’s about time we exert extra effort and refuse to be fed with run-of-the-mill articles masquerading as ‘news’ or relevant issues.

You are not a droid. You are a living and thinking being. Besides we aren’t called ‘homo sapiens’ for nothing. It’s about time we live up to that scientific name, don’t you think? Otherwise, I suggest we petition for a new name.

~~~
Note:
This post is my protest against all manufactured lies online meant to deceive Filipino voters this coming May elections. May God grant us the gift of discernment to see through these evil smokescreens.

However, this post also applies to the web and how we consume online and even offline info in general.

Blogging and a slew of social media sites, it has been said, have somehow revolutionized the way we do politics. Some think that this ‘new media’ is slowly challenging, if not fast eclipsing the credibility, accuracy, relevance and timely news delivery of mainstream media.

Photo by underminingme

Some are even quick to conclude that the general social activity and everything else relative to it have already migrated online, and with it the ‘political market’. Hence, much of the effort concerning social and political activism and propaganda must be directed online. After all, everyone must be reading political blogs and blog readers follow like herded sheep where the blogger takes them, right? Wrong.

I think that’s a rather hasty assumption. Coming from someone who regularly consumes news published online and who blogs about ‘some’ politics, and reads ‘more’ politics, I suppose this is an opinion I share with quite a few bloggers. In fact, this article written for the UK audience which says “Social media will not be integral to 2010 elections”, rings true for the Philippines as well.

We all want to know, especially us doing opinion-blogging who some say, are ‘reactionary’: Is blogging self-serving? Is it nothing more than an ‘open’ journal which is of little or no value at all to the general public? If it cannot influence or inform, then is it merely a ‘political sideshow’ no better than poor entertainment — a political distraction?

As far as I know, no study has yet concluded that political blogging creates such a dent in our politics. Sure, there have been occasions when stories that came out of mainstream media where lifted from blogs. But that’s hardly an evidence of such ‘new media’ influence.

There is some level of influence, of course, but not ‘powerful’ enough to, say, make people ‘buy’ a flawed product or a ‘flawed’ political candidate.

We who blog about politics often wonder whether we actually generate influence on the overrated ‘voting’ population. Are these words of ours gone with the wind at first contact? Do a significant number of people actually read through long and boring posts like this?

And if there are actually a significant number of readers, how do they ‘act’ after reading the blog? Do they automatically have a ‘Eureka!’ moment and say, I shall do as this blogger says! Or I shall vote as this blogger says!? Hardly, I think.

How we wish there was a way to gauge reader participation and influence! Just so we’ll know if that post we’ve had sleepless nights crafting actually made a difference.

Well now, there is a way to find out.

Dear all casual, accidental and regular readers of “A Day in the Life of RJ”, if you’d be so kind to indulge an acquaintance, may I ask you to consider participating in this political blog readers survey to be administered through email by Ms. Grace Mirandilla of SIRCA. If you read political blogs, not necessarily this blog, you may want to participate in this survey.

If you have time to spare, I encourage you to coordinate with her (contact details below) and make your thoughts count.

You know how it is in statistics, the higher the sampling size, the more accurate it gets. The results of this survey is relevant to the times and is valuable to all of us, not just the blogging community. So your help in this project would be much appreciated.

Currently, the most convenient way of administering the survey is through email since there seems to be a formatting issue when it comes to transferring the formatted text from one word application to HTML format and vice versa.

I understand that many of you may have an automatic aversion to answering surveys and giving out your email addresses to strangers, this is perfectly normal. However, I have the assurance of Ms. Mirandilla that your emails and responses will be treated with utmost confidentiality.

I will coordinate with Ms. Mirandilla if we could work out a more efficient and convenient way of doing the survey, ie., possibly hosting it online. I will update you of developments.

What follows is the “Call for Survey Respondents” Facebook note from Ms. Mirandilla republished here in full, with her permission.

*****

A Call for Survey Respondents: Filipino Blogging and Political Participation Study

Good day! Do you read political blogs*? Can you spare 10 mins. to answer a survey? Then, please read on.

My name is Mary Grace P. Mirandilla, an independent researcher conducting a study on “blogging and political participation among Filipinos,” which is funded by the SIRCA ** grant program of IDRC*** Canada. This research wants to look at (1) why Filipinos read political blogs; (2) how they participate in politics–both online and in the real world; and (3) whether and how political blogs affect their participation.

I’m looking for respondents to answer a survey that inquires about these research questions. If you want to participate, you must be Filipino, at least 18 yrs old, and read political blogs (or have read them at some point during the past year). It only takes 10-12 minutes to answer the survey, which will be administered via email.

If interested, please send me a PM or email me at mg(dot)mirandilla(at)gmail(dot)com. Rest assured that your identity and response will be kept confidential.

I hope to hear from you by April 15. Thank you very much.

Regards,
Grace Mirandilla

–
Principal Investigator
Filipino Blogging and Political Participation Study
SIRCA Program – IDRC Canada
View LinkedIn Profile

Notes:
* Political blogs here are defined as online diary/journals that generally/often talk about Philippine politics and public affairs.
** Strengthening ICT Research Capacity in Asia (SIRCA)
*** International Development Research Centre (IDRC)

We hope to hear from you soon — preferably not later than April 15. I will be meeting up with Ms. Mirandilla on April 17 and your inputs would definitely help in her research. If you read through the whole post, please know that I admire your patience.

Hmmm. I think we can both agree — yes, you and me — that this blog has been out of the limelight for far too long (and by limelight, I don’t mean the fabulous kind, blame it on my recent writing vacation, I used the word for lack of a better term).

Anyway, for all those visiting this puny space of mine in the virtual world, and who does so every so often, let me begin by saying that although I am not really sorry, (because that is not the proper term — the word I’m looking for, the term that aptly describes my feelings towards this issue, my dear, escapes me), I am nonetheless, almost always heartbroken. Maybe I will remember the exact term after a paragraph or two, who knows? God knows how much I need your patience right now because I have run out of it for myself. I guess what I’m trying to say is that a writing/blogging vacation isn’t really good for me or for anyone else for that matter. Even for those people who stumble across my posts once in a while, either by choice or by divine intervention. And each and every time I see the same IP address arriving on my page on a different time, different day, my heart stops and bleeds — because the truth is, I never really wanted to stop writing, regardless if nobody but myself gets to read what i write. You see, what many people (bloggers) have discovered (whether they admit it or not) is that there is joy enough in publishing content for all the world to see (and read). Nevermind the prospect of fame or appreciation — those are just icing on the cake. The real joy of blogging is the act itself — sitting in front of a pc, with nothing but your thoughts running through your fingers, pressing each letter on the keyboard — that poor thing trying to absorb whatever emotion comes with each press..

You start with practically nothing — from scratch. And after the whole affair is through, which lasts variably from minutes to hours to days, the “publish” button eagerly waiting for your click seems to bat its eyelashes at you, teasing you, taunting at you, as if to shout “click me if you dare!” and the blogger spirit in you, the writer heart that you wear ever so proudly but traceless of arrogance, finally gives in — click you I will! Click you I dare!

Posts are made up of paragraphs. Paragraphs of sentences. Sentences of words. Words of thoughts. Thoughts of sparks — images conjured up by one’s valiant heart. There is apprehension, yes. But will I let it get me down? No. Will it stop me from writing? No.

The blogger of today is not so different from the prolific writers of the past, if only for the fact that once they start writing, they no longer belong to themselves, but to those who “read” them.

So yes, this blogger is yours. Apprehensively, yes. But yours just the same.

Ah yes, that “term” I was looking for? It got away. :)