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Filipinos are among the top users of social media in the world even with our country being one of those with the worst internet connections (“Digital 2019: Global Digit Overview”, 2019). Apart from Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram- Twitter has grown to be one of the most used social media sites by Filipinos with over 9.5 million users. It has become a norm for people to ask what personal  accounts you are active in Twitter so they could follow you on these accounts and gain a “follow back”. Twitter is a social media site widely available in almost all countries and because of this, it is culturally diverse and a hotspot of varied opinions from the global community. Twitter has become an avenue for discourse and sometimes, discrimination. This resulted to the prevalence of what has been dubbed as “woke culture” in Twitter.

SO WHAT IS WOKE CULTURE?

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “woke” is a chiefly US slang that means to be aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues especially those pertaining to racial and social justice issues. From then on, it has been used in Twitter and resulted to many other Twitter slangs such as “unchecked privilege”, “stay woke”, “we stan ourselves a woke queen”, and even going as far to having people “cancelled” for their problematic stances.

APPLICATION OF GENERALIZED OTHER IN WOKE CULTURE

One aspect of woke culture is because of how it takes place in a public social media platform and is intended to “educate” and “correct” people on their stances on certain things, it has become a public hate speech of sorts where people showcase how “superior” or “smart” they are. Some examples use humor to belittle and mock others, which is actually counterproductive if the real goal is to correct people so they could be part of the “solution” against a certain social issue and not merely define who is “in” and “out”.

“George Herbert Mead sees two parts in the development of the social self: “I” and “ME”. The “me” is the conventional part of the self. The individual’s predictable response to the expectations of others. In other words, the “ME” part of the self is an object which other people react to and judge. This ability allows us to modify one’s behavior by anticipating the reaction of others.”  

(Faroq, 2015)

People become overly conscious of what they post online because there is an online audience who would criticize them for not being “woke”. The generalized other in Twitter are the “woke” users who are the collection of norms, roles, and attitude that people use as reference to figure out what to publicly post or how to behave. Because of how harsh the criticism that may be faced by those who go out of line, the rest of the Twitter users have to see one’s actions and assess them based on how others would perceive them.  In social media, one sees “influencers” and set their expectations of themselves from the perspective of others.        

Written by Mariane Pearl Obial Tullao – ABM 11-K

In our early years, we can reminisce the times when we used to play with our neighbors. We start by observing them play, then imagining ourselves to play by their rules, and finally initiating to join them play. Little did we know that those were our first little steps to a journey discovering what game we will play, what position we will choose, and what hobby we will eventually love.

When I was a kid, I was given the opportunity to choose from a variety of hobbies that I could be able to do. It started out back in elementary school when I first saw higher level students playing the sport volleyball every after class. I was only a daily watcher until one day, the ball was falling down to my direction,  based on all the observations I have done watching them play, I tried to receive the ball exactly how I saw them received it. Then it all started on that day, 25^th of October 2011, when I first received a volleyball. I was then interested in playing the sport but it was not an easy journey to becoming part of an official team.

In that age, I was very small, skinny, and weak. I was mocked for being too short, I was laughed at for being the weakest in the team, and I was told that I don’t belong. Those words were painful but it did not stop me from playing, it motivated me to become what society wants a volleyball player to be and to reach the standards that society has set. They wanted me to become stronger, I became stronger, they say I have to become more athletic, I became more athletic, they told me that I need to become better, I became better.

I was that small, weak and short kid that strived to improve. I self trained, I joined summer trainings, and I trusted God along the way. I was no longer that weak kid who was told that she was not strong enough and I was no longer that kid who was told that she did not belong. Although, I was still that short kid. Well, I can’t do anything about that but what’s important is I believed in myself and I did not give up through Jesus name.

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”

– Philippians 4:13 (KJV)

George Herbert Mead’s Theory: The Generalized Other

This theory looks into how a person sees things from the point of view of society that there is a continuing interaction between the “I” and the “Me”. “I” was the undeveloped kid who wanted to learn to play something new while “Me” was the changed person who strived to reach the standards of society.

The Society’s Standards to Athletes

In the society today, you can’t just become part of a team whenever you want to. You have to reach a certain standard for you to be accepted and to be titled as an athlete. You can meet toxic people along the way that would tell you that you don’t belong but remember, it always takes courage and motivation to reach success.

DBC CUP 2015

Published by Lea Jane Baldo (April 29,2019).

Filipinos are known to have different traits that have become advantages over other races. Hospitality, generosity, strong family ties and religion, caring and loving, these are some of the classic Filipino traits and characteristics that they should be proud of.

And one of the most interesting abilities of the Filipinos is how they can manage to still smile despite of sufferings during and after disasters. Earthquakes, floods, landslides, volcanic eruptions and typhoons, these disasters were never new to the Filipinos.

According to Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, since 1990, Philippines has been affected by 565 natural disasters events that claimed the lives of nearly 70,000 Filipinos and caused an estimated $23 billion in damages. Typhoons have become devastating over the years. In 2013, Typhoon Yolanda hit the Philippines, which was one of the strongest storms ever recorded and brought a great damage to Filipinos.

Despite of all these tragedy, Filipinos remain to be strong and show positivity in so many ways. Many properties were destroyed. Losing of family members caused so much pain to them. Families were broken and starving. All these things left wounds in their hearts yet they proved that they are indeed resilient despite of the catastrophic events that happened.

Filipinos never failed to see the fun side of any calamities or disasters that come their way. They can turn such events into something fun through using humor and just laugh it all out. Wearing smiles, Filipinos would just go through floods, clean dirty surroundings and help others with all their hearts.

The Generalized Other Theory on Filipinos’ Ability to Smile During Disasters

The Generalized other is the vehicle by which we are linked to society. This is a symbolic interactionism, wherein a child may eventually be able to visualize the expectations of others and see him/herself from not just another’s point of view but from groups of others.

(Amper, Z & et. al., 2016)

The smiles and laughs brought by Filipinos really light one’s day. It is said that this ability was really part of their culture like greeting someone at first by smiling to connect with others. When they smile, it warms anyone’s heart which also making them smile back. Smile means a lot to most of the Filipinos. During calamities, they were able to still smile for they really believe that after rain, there’s a rainbow. After the struggles they faced, there’s hope. There are more good things to come so they choose to endure this hardships and stay positive at the end of the day. Despite of the sufferings they encountered; they remain strong with smiles seen through their faces.

Written by : Desiree C. Letran – ABM 11 K