Virtual world, real people
(Baonghean) - Bim came home from school today and ran to tell me, feeling aggrieved: “Bim has a stomachache because he ate bread from the vendor in front of the school gate. You must immediately text the Minister of Health so that he can punish the vendor for selling unsafe food!”. I was both amused and surprised, and replied:
- How could you have the Minister's phone number to text and tell Bim?
- You go to his facebook and send a message, yesterday Bon, the neighbor, also "borrowed" his sister's facebook to tell the Minister because the doctor's injection was so painful!
I was stunned, the Minister also has a Facebook? After searching for a while on Facebook, I found the Minister of Health. I excitedly went in to read a series of information and announcements related to the health sector posted on this Facebook, and also learned that the Minister also receives and responds to messages sent by people via his personal Facebook inbox. What a new way to approach people!
Actually, I am also a little interested in international news, so I am not too unfamiliar with foreign politicians owning personal pages on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. In some foreign articles, there are even quotes from the status updates of politicians on social networks. These can be personal thoughts and opinions on an issue or event that is of public interest, but sometimes they are a channel of information about the policies and viewpoints of the agency or organization they work for. On the one hand, this allows information to be widely disseminated, quickly and has a great influence on public opinion. But on the other hand, it is also a very sensitive media environment, when politics is closely linked to interests, the status of the collective is closely linked to, and intersects with, individual views and qualifications.
Recently, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan affirmed that social networking sites bearing the names of Party and State leaders are all fake (the case of the Minister of Health is an exception). In fact, the leaders themselves also use social networking sites, but only for the simple purpose of maintaining relationships with friends and relatives, and absolutely not for any other purpose. That means, regardless of their position or title, when accessing social networking sites, they only maintain their personal status like any other user. This is a meaningful caution when the authenticity of information and the responsibility of users (especially legal responsibility) are still quite vague concepts.
Recently, many of my friends have complained about Facebook's new rule, requiring users to use their real names. For young people who like to express their personality and ego through nicknames and funny names, this may not be a very popular change. However, if you simply think about social networks as a place where you can freely express your thoughts, opinions or personality, remember that this environment is virtual but its power, ability to spread and its impact on the community is extremely real. For example, the phenomenon of impersonating others on Facebook can go from a seemingly harmless joke between friends but can also be a complete scam, leading to mental and physical damage to very real people, not the virtual people we know through a personal page with a name and a few photos. Of course, that does not mean that we have to eliminate tools and environments such as social networks or more broadly the internet, mass media, etc. These are tools that effectively serve our lives. The potential danger does not lie there but in the way we control, manipulate and use them.
Hai Trieu