FIVE young Filipinos were awarded as the first winners of Google Philippines Inc.’s “Web Rangers” campaign—online heroes expected to empower teenagers in the prevention of cyberbullying on the Internet.
Millenials Bea Aquino, Headric Daguman, Reanna Noel, Anj Regidor and Hyun Ju Song bested eleven other entries in the “Web Rangers: Search for Online Heroes” contest by Google. The five produced a social-experiment video that compelled viewers to ponder on the impact of demeaning words.
“We were inspired by an idea, ‘If you can’t do it in person, why do it-online?’ with that we created a social experiment where we gave cards to people with mean statements and we asked them within the day to give the cards to other people,” Regidor, 18, said.
A set of cards printed with words like ugly, fat and gay were distributed to the participants for them to give away to any person of their choice. Randomly selected acquaintances of the group members were asked to partake in the experiment. At the end of the day, not one card was given away. The experiment evoked varying statements on why the participants didn’t give out the cards. Their reactions ranged from: “These words aren’t helpful,” “I know these words would hurt” to “Why can’t we say nice things instead?” were shown in the video.
“My favorite is the one that said even if you’re fat and gay, there’s nothing wrong with it, but it doesn’t mean you have to point it out to other people,” Regidor said.
At the end of the clip flashed a QR code that renders a positive message from a “cyber police.” The message aimed to brighten a person’s day and pass on the good vibes generated by the code.
The group also encouraged their peers to share their thoughts on cyber bullying by tagging @cyberbully404 on Twitter and Instagram and using the hashtag #cyberbully404. “404” refers to the error message that pops up on a browser whenever a web page cannot be found. The group incorporated the standard computer error code in the username to establish their stand against cyberbullying.
“The end goal is to eliminate cyber bullying through simple means,” Daguman said.
Better era
THE five young Filipinos said they aspire for an international launch with celebrities supporting their advocacy.
They took the initiative to go beyond their conventional boundaries, believing that they themselves would learn more in the process and that this would open more opportunities to the Filipino youth, according to a news statement by Google.
Google ranked the Philippines in 2013 as the fourth-highest country worldwide for cyberbullying.
In an era where bullying is prevalent, the group believes their generation holds the key to put an end to online bullying.
Aquino said she believes they can help eradicate the dangers the Internet pose with online etiquette education.
“Personally I believe in that because we grew up in the digital era, we know the dangers. Even if there are dangers there are good stuff on the Internet and we can get it [by learning] the right security and skills and awareness.”
Regidor agreed saying young people are now “better in the digital era.”
“But it doesn’t mean that we are susceptible to our own shortcomings.”
The winning group is set to fly to Singapore to visit Google’s regional office and present the campaign to Google executives, as what teens from other participating countries, including New Zealand, Isreal and India, experienced.
Risk times
GOOGLE launched their contest in March. Of more than 300 applicants, 60 were given the opportunity to partake in a workshop in July. Teenagers aged 19 to 21 were trained in conceptualizing and creating effective campaigns in making the Internet a safer and more conducive environment for fellow teens.
According to documents provided by Google, the contest aimed to instigate other young Filipinos to be “outstanders” against web bullying.
“It’s a time when most young people like us are at risk. This powerful thing we call the Internet that’s new to a lot of young people, how at the age of 6 or 7 is already browsing the Internet, we need interventions to keep the Internet a better place,” Gio Tiongson said.
The criteria in choosing the winning campaign included originality and creativity, relevance and impact, presentation, and choice of media. Entries ranged from interactive web sites to songs resonating the call for an end to cyberbullying.
“We chose those who went beyond awareness because it’s a good idea to make people aware of cyberbullying, but ultimately, what goes beyond that is encouraging participation and action in [fighting] cyberbullying,” said Gian Nealaga, a Google partner.