ACLE Season 2: Speak Out! Essay

Last January 24, 2013, classes were suspended beyond 12 pm by the chancellor, to give the students a chance to attend one of the lectures of ACLE or Alternative Classroom Learning Experience. I was able to attend the lecture organized by the Geographic Society of the University of the Philippines (GSUP), a non-profit non-partisan academic organization composed of undergraduate students dedicated to promote the discipline of geography in the Philippines. The title of the lecture was, ‘Cyberspace: the Geography of Social Media’. It was about how the internet is connected with reality, what our responsibilities are when using the internet, and learning how to express ourselves. There were five invited speakers. First was Johnson Damian, a geography instructor in UP Diliman. Second was Sam Gogna, or popularly known as ‘Samyg’, a radio DJ of Magic 89.9 and a TV host. Third was Lloyd Cadena, a student of Colegio de San Juan de Letran taking up BA Financial Managem ent, who is now famous on Youtube because of his comedic videos. Fourth was Joyce Pring, a student of UP Diliman from the College of Fine Arts taking up Visual Communication, who was once a vj on myx, a music channel. The last was Xeres Guia, a TV host. The lecture was held at Palma Hall, room 108-110. There were several points on the lecture that caught my attention. One was when Johnson Damian said that the internet is a place of self expression. You can be you, or not you. This means that in real life you may be anti-social, but in the internet the spotlight’s on you. I agree with this point of his. Many of us have the guts to say whatever we want to say in the internet, but we keep our mouths shut in the real life. Another was when Sam Gogna said that everything is possible through the internet. I agree with him because the internet is such vast place. Nowadays, you can connect with your loved ones from the other countries easily. You can order food when you’re hungry just by simply clicking. He also said that to be an influencer, you have to be interesting. It’s true because how can you possibly influence somebody when you’re dull, and the things you say are irrelevant. Another point was when Lloyd Cadena said that we should know our responsibilities when using the internet. A lot of people can see what we do on the internet. They may use it for us or against us. We have to be careful with the things we say. We may not be aware of it but there are young children who might see our posts that contain profanity, and we would not want to be a bad influence to them. The last point was when Joyce Pring said that the biggest fires start with the smallest sparks. This is true especially in social networks. Social networks help us connect with people who are far away from us, but these may also be the reason on why relationships get ruined. One comment of yours would be the cause of a huge argument. Overall, I really enjoyed the lecture. Besides the fact that the invited speakers were people which I’m a fan of, I definitely learned a lot. It was also very entertaining. Most of the time I was laughing. Although with the venue, it would have been better if it was held in a bigger room, since the speakers invited are very much known. It was definitely a full house. And I’m glad that I came early or else I’d be standing the whole time.