When Comments Throttle, Would You Make Space For the Side Watchers?

THIS ARTICLE TACKLES SOCIAL MEDIA COMMENTS AND ISSUES ON UNEMPLOYMENT IN ONE INTERLOPED REALITY

 

At the start of the pandemic, as I read fleetingly social media sites, there was one thing I noticed in the local culture that could not be heard, found, or read in the era before the 2010s when social media is not yet peaked in popularity.

The rise of “throttle commenting”. Throttle commenting are sharp comments, given by followers, readers sometimes in an anonymous style, to social media pages and accounts.

The comments can vary from being frank and callous, to "personal"; at times laced with invectives;  to downright repulsive.

You’d wonder after reading and gulping social comments, without restraint (they are not just on social media by the way, sometimes you can find throttle comments on e-commerce platforms as well), if it is a “way of life” in the country.  

It is hard not to balk and wonder: "What hard life social media users in such stride, have come to survive real-world challenges, enough for them to jump on others' pages to “throttle?”. 

There is more to throttle commenters than meet the eye.

Sometimes they bond with others from their flock to brag or intimidate in their comment conquests as if it’s a badge of honor to do so.

Others do the blunt commenting in opposition to the subject, post, or content that is published.

But most of the time, the comments that fall by the throttle come from a personal bias; or ineptitude to be courteous.

Sometimes they want attention to their own profiles and that is how they want it.

In one study, social media use in the Philippines rose by up to 60 percent at the time of the pandemic.

The prospects of more people joining social media could still improve, what with the lack of available opportunities in the country, which pushes locals to find work that is non-traditional.  Social media seems to be a good haunt for this.

Romanticize this idea further and one imperceptive social media throttler could find, there are not many opportunities as well, no matter how you leap page by page on socials.  

And all that’s left are celebrity pages, for throttle commenters to join and follow, so they can get their share of the spotlight or attention.

Don’t get me wrong, comments are fine.

In the industry I worked for, it is an element of press freedom that makes it, “democratic”.

In a way commenting allows for the open sharing of opinion; but the boundary is, opinions must be issues-based before it sees print. It must not be meant to slur or demoralize another.

Most of the time, the throttle commenters are unemployed or have more time to lurk on social media.

Social media lurking is when hours and hours of time are spent on the internet.  Some, they like to take “prize on” on social media sites, like the disgruntled ones who want to pry into others' lifestyles.  

But the disgruntled commenters which is the nature of throttle commenters, are most likely reeling from another feel- the unavailability of opportunities that cannot be found by them.

Tip of the Iceberg: The rise of commenters is reflective of unemployment

Job hunting in the real world is not easy when you’re middle-aged.

But even the young, who are capable of doing the job, can find it hard to land on one.

At times, the unemployed choose to relegate themselves to odd jobs that have no professional dignity; but they accept jobs less than expected to tend and fend for their families.  They are the ones who have most of the hurt as throttle commenters. And one cannot miss out on them.

If “matatag na trabaho” is a phrase in the theme of this year’s Labor Day celebration, that is an idealized dream that cannot be held by the unemployed.

Plenty of throttle commenters live hawking at jobs, they want. But cannot have. 

Albeit even a professional must have suffered from “lost opportunities”, and an unstable job that one has no choice but to bear.

One industry practitioner I know simply dumped the idea of working for the industry she trained for and chose another industry to work at.  Another had to maintain a job and get a "sideline" (others call it a side hustle), while off-work. These are able people trying to make amends for the situations as "workers".

In a statement made by the Department of Labor and Unemployment, the unemployment rate is pegged at 4.8 percent up to February 2023 from 6.4 percent of February 2022, in a media release entitled, “February 2023 LFS reflects improving employment situation…”, dated April 15, 2023. It also claims the labor market is “beyond the recovery stage”. A very optimistic stance on the dismal rate of employers’ response to applications in the real and online world.

At the time of the pandemic, the prospects of online work were much harked about, but it was less of a truth that cannot be found.

In most job sites, resumes are simply “banked” and filed. Response rates to applications would be fast at times, but not promising.

And when a positive response is achieved in an application, the next that ensues is a less-than-encouraging interview and examinations, where the applicant is prompted to take an exam or be privy to an interview that briefs the applicant on the real status of employment benefits.

“This company does not have good benefits it only gives the basics…” one HR personnel shared in one plight or fly attempt to find employment online in what seems to be a stable company.

This is just one.  Meanwhile, another step in the employment process is to “submit samples of work” or portfolio, which is most of the time, primed for the employer to read and be selected; but the applicants’ resume and portfolio seem like “collateral” for finding work in vain. 

There are many scenarios in job hunting that add a burden to the realities of why the unemployed continued to be. 

The DOLE as a recourse, must pry on the why’s or the how’s employers limit, sift through, or filter applications.  

Is there a standard, a rigid standard being followed in giving employment to an individual or is there a bias in giving one?

The truth is, many jobs locally are fished by a “kakilala” or through job recommendations that do not make it fair for the rest of the applicants. 

It is only in the contractualized work that somehow, many can get a fair share of treatment from HR personnel.  In a way, this way of being employed gives workers opportunities, albeit in the short term.  But it is also not really being “fair”, as it does not give security of tenure as a worker.  

LOOK FOR THE COMMENTS THAT MATTER

Most of the throttle commenters can afford to hound on personalities and account owners of social media sites because they have loose time to waste.  But what we need to ask is, “Are they part of the unemployed, that gives social media its landscape of influence? 

The disparity between the employed and the unemployed is reflected well in the commenting ways of the side watchers on social media. This is what job providers need to resolve, to make social media in the line of truth and "educated" commenting.

 

 

 NEWS REVIEW PHILIPPINES 2023

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