PHL Trust Index: More Pinoys trusting online media

More Filipinos are now seeing online media as a trusted source of information, the latest Philippine Trust Index released on Thursday showed.

The nationwide survey conducted from July to August 2015 among 1,620 respondents showed that while television is still the most trusted source of information on government and business, trust in the online media continues to rise.

The general public's trust in online sources jumped to 16 percent this year from 11 percent last year for information on government, and 20 percent from 15 percent for information on business.

The trust index is from stakeholder relations firm EON’s proprietary research that was launched in 2011 to examine trust levels and drivers in the government, church, NGO, business, and media sectors.

According to the PTI website, it also studied which communication channels and spokespersons are trusted by the Filipino Informed Public.

Malyn Molina, managing director of the EON Group's public affairs and government relations business, said the jump in trust may be attributed to increasing Internet usage.

“Results of the 2015 PTI Survey show how important it is now to utilize all channels – from traditional media to online news sites, and even social media,” Molina said.

She said there was a significant leap in Internet use, especially among the youth.

Usage of the Internet rose from 33 percent in 2012 to 44 percent in 2015 among the general public and from 50 percent in 2012 to 71 percent in 2015 among the informed public.

She said this incline was in contrast with the decline experienced by publications – both broadsheets and tabloids.

The 4th Philippine Trust Index covered respondents from various socioeconomic, educational and demographic backgrounds.

Among its respondents, 1,200 are considered the general public and representative of the country as a whole.

Additional respondents were screened to come up with representatives of the "informed public." These are Filipinos who are at least college graduates and who access media for news more than thrice a week.

Face-to-face interviews with respondents from urban and rural areas in the National Capital Region, North Luzon, South Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao were conducted to glean insights on the various factors that contribute to Filipinos’ trust in institutions.

Molina said the communication landscape today means that organizations and companies have to listen more to their stakeholders, even consider stakeholders beyond the usual groups it engages, and truly understand their position or concerns.

“Increasing trust on digital platforms definitely makes the communication landscape more complicated. However, it also means that more Filipinos now can express their opinion in a bigger, more public space and participate in important national and regional discussions,” she said.

Online media and the 2016 polls

In an interview with GMA News Online, Carlos Mori Rodriguez, managing director of Dig, EON’s digital agency, said the survey results show the influence of social media in the 2016 elections.

In his presentation during the launch of PTI, Rodriguez said 44 percent of Filipinos are online and 40 million have social media accounts.

Eighty-five percent of the online audience are of voting age or 18 years old and above but whether they are registered voters is another matter, he said.

“We feel that social media will have a very, very prominent role in the elections of the Philippines because more and more, as a country with the most active social media following in the entire world, Filipinos are using it as a platform, as a mouthpiece and also to be able to assess and filter between truth, between fact and fiction, and also what their loved ones or social circle think or believe,” he said.  

He said even purchasing power has been affected by social media.

“In fact, when you ask people why they bought a certain item, more prominently they will say that it was recommended by a friend in Facebook or Twitter,” he said.

Asked how politicians can maximize social media, Rodriguez said they have to make sure that they have official presence in social media.

“If they don’t have an official presence in social media, for sure their competitors will create a persona or their detractors will make conversations about them, albeit negatively,” he said.

He said politicians have to direct conversations about their names or about their brands by creating content or putting out content that will promote the positive campaigns, platforms, or even values that they hold dear.

“Because if they don’t, they will leave it to the groundswell of social media force for them to be bastardized, even trivialized,” he said.

He added that candidates should constantly engage the people in social media.

“These people are very sensitive and they seek attention. They seek answers to their questions. For politicians, in order, to win the trust of the citizenry must be able to communicate, ask questions, and provide answers to these citizens’ questions,” he said.

Rodriguez said social media is also a tool for social governance because the politician will be able to know what matters to the people, what people are talking about, and how they feel the government is acting on critical issues that the people hold dear. -NB, GMA News