A vote for social media

CEBU, Philippines — A top-ranking police official considers Monday’s barangay elections

(for both regular and youth officials) as one of the most peaceful and orderly he’s witnessed so far in his career. Interestingly, he attributes the positive result to social media. And he may be right.

In the past, wrongdoers were more daring because of a perceived cloak of anonymity. If, for example, one broke into the polling precinct and muddled the election proceedings, the illegal act was too far from the attention of the general public or was hard to bring up to the authorities. It was very difficult to convince witnesses to come out and testify.

Considering the feeling of public frenzy that pervades an election day, it was doubly hard – if not harder – to contain people’s behavior within what is proper and lawful. Supporters of opposing political contenders found it hard to resist the urge to do something “extra” for their favored candidates. It was easy to give in to the momentary impulse to “break the law a little.”

As more and more election offenders often got away with their little crimes, many more got encouraged to join in. A lawbreaker felt he would not be exposed, considering the great numbers of offenders. The lack of willing witnesses added to the offenders’ daring; being a witness was both risky and time-consuming.  

And then comes the social-media technology providing a very convenient and discreet way of documenting and reporting illegal acts. With a smartphone, a witness to an infraction may simply train the phone at the scene and takes a photo, even a video footage with actual sound to boot. It need not pose some immediate risk, as the witness can simply pretend to be checking his phone for incoming messages.

It’s so convenient to do, since the equipment necessary for documenting and reporting a crime just fits the palm of the hand. Posting a scene on social media is easy, and a post reaches millions of other social media users in a snap. The general public perception has changed: Every little wrongdoing can now be exposed.

Of course, many social media posts are inaccurate or downright questionable. But the thought of the immediacy of possible exposure makes potential wrongdoers hesitate. Indeed, fear of negative exposure compels people to exercise self-restraint.

Everybody understands how necessary are self-restraint and self-discipline in the maintenance of peace and order in every aspect of community life. And social media can help a lot in this area. People naturally try to conduct themselves well when they get the feeling that others are watching.

The recent elections are just one example of how social media can be used in positive ways. It empowers every Facebook or Twitter user to be a watchdog in the political, social or any other aspect of people’s shared existence. Social media is a lot more than selfies and other such vanities.