📺 Impeachment Multiverse: One Trial, Different Versions?
Ilang versions, explanations, or memes na based sa clip na yan ang nakita mo online? Ako kasi marami-rami, partida bihira pa ako mag-social media nyan.
Hi, ako nga pala si Marvin. I make videos exploring how technology affects Filipinos like me. Join me in exploring bakit isa lang yung impeachment trial pero iba-iba tayo ng nakikita online.
Online Impeachment
Lahat ng social media posts about the trial nanggaling sa iisang impeachment lang. Kung isa lang, ibig ba sabihin pare-pareho tayo ng pinapanood?
Nung nanonood ako ng livestream, naisip ko na parang judges din tayo, hindi nga lang tayo makakapagtanong directly. Pero bukod dun we have access to the official livestream. Available din sa website ng senate lahat ng documents related sa impeachment. Bukod pa dun yung mga summaries, explanations, and reactions about sa mga nangyari every trial day. So, for anyone na gustong basahin lahat ng documents, panoorin lahat ng livestream, at maintindihan yung nangyayari, pwedeng-pwedeng.
Pero ilang oras ang aabutin nun? Kailangan ko ba ng Time Stone?
Fragments
Quick experiment muna tayo. Taas kamay sino nakanood ng video clips about the trial? Counted yung summary, reaction, or explanation video. Halos lahat. Now, sino yung nakanood ng isang trial day, as in from start to finish? Interesting, kumonti. One last: taas ang kamay, sino nakanood ng buong trial starting from day one? Oh! Kahit yung ibang senador, hindi makapagtaas ng kamay.
Kidding aside, it's okay. I mean, kahit ako, di ko naman pinapanood ng buo. Kakatapos lang ng day 29 ng trial and based sa official Senate YouTube playlist, 114+ hours ang kailangan para mapanood yung 29 trial days na yun.
Sorry, but I have other things to do like look for a job and try to provide for my family. Totoo na madali lang panoorin yung trial pero hindi lahat tayo may extra 114+ hours. Importante siya, yes, pero meron ding ibang mga importanteng bagay.
And now, the question becomes: sino -or ano- ang nagde-decide kung anong papanoorin natin?
Algorithms
This is where technology makes the biggest difference, for better or worse. Lagi natin naririnig yung tinatawag nilang "algorithm" pero siguro itong impeachment yung isa sa pinaka-clear example how that algorithm affects what we see.
Ito yung isang magandang example ng eksena sa impeachment na maraming pwedeng explanation. Naka-video yung nangyari, naka-record lahat ng sinabi nila pero ang dami pa ring way para i-interpret yung sagutan nila. Even the presiding officer admitted that the moment was not crystal clear.
One moment pero ilang interpretation ang meron online? I'm sure marami pero depende aling side ka, kung meron man, depende sa pina-follow mong pages or content creators, baka isa, dalawa o iilang interpretation lang yung umabot sayo. One moment in the impeachment trial pero multiple interpretations tapos each interpretation creates its own "universe" na may sariling version ng nangyari. In one universe, ang interpretation nila, napahiya yung defense. In another one, ang paniniwala nila, the prosecution is the one misleading. And maybe hundreds of others.
Notice how a single trial with the same evidence, the same questions, answers, and statements pero ang daming iba-ibang kwento. And, out of the thousands if not millions of possible posts online, the algorithms are constantly ranking and selecting which posts to show in your feed, kung alin yung malamang papanoorin mo or magre-react ka. Imagine how many slices of the whole thing, how large the impeachment multiverse is at the end of this trial because of these algorithms.
So ibig ba sabihin masama ang mga algorithm dahil nagko-cause sila ng information bubbles? If so, dapat na ba ipagbawal ang social media sa Pilipinas?
Superpower
Based on available statistics display relevant infographics Filipino social media users spend 34 hours on social media per week. Ibig sabihin mahigit 4 hours or half-day tayo nag-i-i-scroll. Sa oras na yun, ang dami nating nakikitang posts about the impeachment and other topics. Do we verify all of that? Do we really try to understand each one?
If you are like me, malamang hindi lagi, minsan lang. And that is normal, that is how we usually interact with information. Lalo na kung nagba-browse ka lang habang stuck sa traffic, for example. Madalas nagpapalipas lang tayo ng oras, hindi nagre-research for a video.
Just to be clear, I'm not advocating that we stop consuming all this information. Wide access to information is better for everyone. The problem is not lack of information, ang problema sobrang daming information. Originally, ginawa yung mga search and recommendation algorithms para 1) hindi tayo ma-overload sa available na information at 2) mahanap o makita natin yung information na malamang babasahin, papanoorin, or mae-enojoy natin.
Again, for better or worse, technology is helping us solve some problems pero madalas ring may bagong issues. The internet gave us the superpower of near-instant access to near-infinite information. Yung mga search and recommendation algorithms naman ginawa to help us to navigate all of that information. Pero ngayon, meron tayong bagong problema: we are unconsciously building information bubbles with the help of algorithms.
Reality
Dahil sa recent decision ng impeachment court about voting threshold, I'm sure marami na namang posts and videos ang lalabas pero alin sa mga yun ang makikita natin?
Our social media feeds are highly personalized kasi nga algorithms ang pumipili. Online, we may have our own information bubbles pero in the real world, we all live in just one reality, one country. At ang ibig sabihin nun, hindi maiiwasan na magkaroon ng bungguan ng magkakaibang opinions or incursions.
Sa MCU, pag nagkaroon ng incursion, at most isang universe lang ang natitira. Pero sa totoong buhay, dapat ba ganun din? Pag may kausap tayong ibang version ang nakita online, what do we usually want to do? I-prove na mali sila? Ipilit na tayo ang tama? Now that you know how algorithms help shape our own online bubbles, may magbabago ba?