UP CSA and UP AdCore's ACLE

Last Thursday, January 16, I attended the Alternative Classroom Learning Experience (ACLE) of UP-Chinese Student Association (UP CSA) and UP Advertising Core. Both of the speakers talked about topics on the internet and I have found myself enlightened by what they’ve talked about. Here is a glimpse of the ideas they contributed in the ACLE.

The speaker of the UP CSA was Vince Golangco, the founder of When In Manila, he talked about how to make blog. He pointed out that anyone can make a blog as long as he is interested in it. With the rising technological development, we don’t have to be poets or professional writers to be able to create a blog that can be known. All we have to do is talk about what interests us, and hope that someone on the internet can connect to what we have in mind. Blogs can be done by anyone, anywhere, with any topic. Mainstream topics are not the limits for the things that blogs may talk about. Achievements, Failures, Foods, TV Shows, Fashion, these are only some of the things that we may blog about. The internet has connected us and it is only waiting for our ideas to hatch and be shared.

For the UP-Advertising Core, Joyce Pring was the speaker. Close to what Vince talked about, she talked about social media. She emphasized the importance of being relevant in such an interconnected way of life that is given by the internet. She points out the downsides of having social media influence our opinions and views on certain ideas. Often times, we lose our identity in too much social media. We often fail to stand out and be different because we choose to fit in with what “most” people on the internet say. However, this must not be the case. Social Media may be used to broaden our views; it may help us to finding what we believe in. However, the opinions we have must not be simply influenced by what we see and read on the internet. We have to go deeper and understand the topics more and become more relevant rather than just riding the bandwagon. It may be hard to stand out from the rest when everyone is becoming more and more influenced by the views on the internet, but we have to strive to be able to have our own stand and fight for it.

Blogpost by: Querubin Anne C. Yap