Philippine Embassy in Madrid Holds Seminar on Ethics in Social Media Communication for Filipinos in Madrid

Chargé dÁffaires, a.i. Ralf G. Roldan emphasized the importance of the responsible use of the social media before the Filipino community in Madrid.

Charge d’ Affaires, a.i. Ralf G. Roldan underscored the Embassy’s thrust to provide meaningful interventions to promote the welfare of Filipinos living and working in Spain during the seminar on “Ethics in Social Media Communication” for Filipinos in Madrid, which was held at the POLO Hall in Madrid on 26 July 2018 and organized by the Philippine Overseas labor Office.

CDA Roldan emphasized that the seminar is very relevant and important in these times when use of social media has become pervasive in the daily lives of Filipinos and as such, the community can benefit from some guidelines and reminders for its use in a responsible manner.

Resource Speaker and currently Filipino Chaplain of Parroquia de Nuestra Señora del Espino, Reverend Father Mark Angelo Ramos Martinez, SVD, discussed how global transformation, particularly globalization, led to mediatization, birth of generation.com, and growth of social media.

Father Mark Angelo Ramos Martinez, SVD and presently the Chaplain of Parroquia de Nuestra Señora del Espino located.

Fr. Martinez also dwelled on the definition of social media for better understanding of the participants, its effects and purpose.  He then discussed the social media ethics, as it applies to Filipinos, particularly in Spain.  He also spoke on the main principles of social media ethics and etiquette, judicious use of freedom of speech, issues on privacy, content of posts, spotting fake news, and the Do’s and the Please Don’ts when using Facebook.

Fr. Martinez cited “Digital 2018”, a study by a UK-based consultancy, “We are Social”, which revealed that Filipinos topped the world in terms of social media usage with 67 million Filipinos in the country having Facebook accounts and using the internet.  The study also mentioned that Filipinos spend an average of 9 hours and 29 minutes per day on the internet, 4 hours of which are in social media, particularly Facebook.

As a precaution and to instill responsibility and accountability for personal postings, he reminded the participants to THINK (Is it – True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, and Kind) before posting and to aim for quality content versus quantity because in the end, a person’s post is his/her reflection.

The seminar was also part of the Embassy’s GAD program for the Filipino community.