July 20, 2017 (1:36 PM)

3 min read

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Fr. Gerard ‘Jboy’ Gonzales
gives an animated discussion about social media. Photo by Alexis Matthew Reyes.

“You are interesting. And social media calls you to be authentically you. Social media, as a tool, will tell you, show your pictures as witnesses of God. Social media, as an environment, is calling you to dialogue with people. We encounter each other’s feelings as human beings in social media. Social media can bring us all together.”

Thus stated Fr. Jessel Gerard ‘Jboy’ Gonzales, SJ, yesterday July 19, 3:50pm at the Finster auditorium during the 1st Ignatian Conversation with the topic, “Tool and Environment: Why are you interesting in social media?”.

The 1st Ignatian conversation was held in hopes to rouse consciousness in multi-dimensional implications and impact of accessing and using the social media. According to Melanie Garino,“” of the Ignatian Social Formation Office, the event was organized for everyone to be guided towards critical understanding of the nature as well as navigating the role of social media.

The main speaker, Fr. Jessel Gerard ‘Jboy’ Gonzales, SJ shared his own experiences and insights throughout the talk. The Jesuit priest had been using social media in his mission to spread the Gospel and inspire the youth. He highlighted the role and importance of social media nowadays.

“Social media is a place where we can all share our being human, where we can share who we are, where we can be authentically ourselves. Why is social media important? It is because the content manifests and transforms our local relationships Social media also bridge that gap from public broadcasting to private communication to the extent that you get to see the scalable sociality,” Gonzales expressed.

Moreover, he compared the past and present situations of the youth. Gonzales asked, “Mayroon pa bang tinatawag na tambayan ngayon ang kabataan?”

“The physical tambayan migrated to the internet. Who says that it is only the Holy Spirit who gathers people? It is also the wi-fi that gathers people,” he continued.

“The internet now is not a separate world. In social media as an environment, the platform is not important anymore. The content is more important whatever platform is used. It is the content that influences us, not the platform,” Gonzales explained.

Chayeanne Baguio, 3rd year BS Accounting Technology student, was one of the participants of the said talk. According to her, she chose to join despite the pressure of the exam week.

“Niapil jud ko karon bisag kailangan pa mag-study for exams kay interesting kaayo ang topic for this IC. The whole talk was really mind-blowing, maka-inspire and maka-motivate. Makapawala pud ug stress. It’s an avenue to get to know yourself as a person and as a netizen,” she said.



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