Think before you click: Focus on quake victims not on Achee Flores 

An outpouring of sympathy flooded social networking sites on Monday after the Visayas region suffered from a 6.8 magnitude earthquake. However, hate comments and messages on one "Achee Flores" stole the spotlight.

 

In a Yahoo! Article regarding the earthquake, which killed at least 43 people, Ms. Flores commented:

Haters gonna hate  

“let us all pray… na matuloy ang tsunami para maraming bisaya ang mamatay, para mabawasan ang mga baduy sa pilipinas.”

 

“DI BALE GUYS, KUNDI MAN NATULOY ANG TSUNAMI NGAYON WAG TAYONG MAG ALALA, MARAMI PA NAMANG PAGKAKATAON NA DARATING. MATUTULOY DIN YAN, JUST KEEP ON PRAYING.”

 

These unwarranted comments spurred netizens outrage specifically on Twitter and Facebook. Hate comments, pages and campaigns have been put up in an effort to track down or get back at Achee Flores.

 

However, an internet specialist explained that ‘haters’ of Flores just did her a “favor.”

 

In an exclusive interview with GMA News Online, Sonnie Santos, internet safety specialist, said, “It could be that the person behind Achee, [ang] trip lang at mapansin. It is a normal behavior. Hindi ba pag may post tayo, gusto natin may mag-like?”

 

Santos pointed out, “The best way to handle [those like Flores] ay ‘wag silang pansinin” citing that putting up pages and commenting negatively is like adding fuel to the fire.

 

“Halimbawa, yung gumagawa ng hate pages in relation to Achee, padamihan na sila ng likes sa hate pages. Nagiging competition [ng mga pumapatol sa hate campaign] at nagiging pointless exercise. Sayang lang ang oras at internet,” he added.

 

Likewise, he explained, “Non-personal messages enhances boldness. 60% or even more, [in commenting in a post] hindi tunay na pangalan ang ginagamit kundi pseudonym, pwera na lang kung sa Facebook or other social media na kailangan mong mag log-in or sign-up.”

 

Instead of joining the mob following Flores, Santos noted that people may opt to “talk and advocate” how they can help the earthquake victims.

 

“Our energies could be used to some productive efforts [like posting] how to provide donation to the victims,” he told GMA News Online.

 

 

 

Trolling on the 'Net

 

In internet slang, people like Achee Flores are reffered to as ‘trolls.’ Urbandictionary.com defines a troll as “one who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument.”

 

Moreover, Santos noted that it all boils down to the “responsible use of social media.”

“Basically, [trolls in the Philippines] are product of so much internet freedom… freedom to express in social media,” he noted.

 

As an internet security expert, he recommended, “[Ang] importante sa mga social networking accounts, ‘yung mga strangers, dapat walang access sa account mo” explaining that some of the comments posted publicly might be misread by some people, thereby, causing a conundrum.

 

“Kahit na turuan mo ang netizens sa responsible use of social media, at the end of the day, ang user pa rin ang may kapangyarihan na mag self-regulate dahil wala tayong censorship,” Santos added. — TJD, GMA News