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Jakarta Post

Facebook tells teenagers to share good things

Think before you click: Volunteers pose for the campaign “Think Before You Share” during Car Free Day in Central Jakarta on Sunday

Corry Elyda (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, August 1, 2016

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Facebook tells teenagers  to share good things

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span class="inline inline-center">Think before you click: Volunteers pose for the campaign “Think Before You Share” during Car Free Day in Central Jakarta on Sunday. The campaign, organized by Facebook, Yayasan Cinta Anak Bangsa (YCAB) and anti-bullying movement Sudah Dong (Stop it), aims to increase awareness among teenagers about sharing good things on social media.(JP/Dhoni Setiawan)

Olanda Naomi Adhira, a 14-year-old student and singer, never thought that social media, a platform she had fun with, could make her lose a best friend.

“She shared bad things about me that were far from true,” she said during Car Free Day (CFD) on Sunday.

She said the post broke her heart and she eventually decided to distance herself from her friend.

Olanda said she was also sometimes bullied on social media because of her activity as a singer. “When we try to create something, there will always be people who do not like it,” she said.

She added that those who did not like her usually expressed their feelings on social media.

Olanda said what happened to her made her realize that anything she wrote on social media could hurt other people.

“Hence, it is better to think first about the consequences of our comments before writing anything down on social media,” she said.

Olanda was one of dozens of other youths who participated in a campaign titled “Think Before You Share.” The campaign was initiated by Facebook in cooperation with youth development foundation Yayasan Cinta Anak Bangsa (YCAB) and anti-bullying movement Sudah Dong (Stop it).

The campaign, beginning in Jakarta, encourages social media users, especially teenagers, to be careful in using the platform.

Claire Deevy, Facebook’s head of economic growth initiative for the Asia Pacific, said on the sidelines of the event that the campaign was one of the programs that had resulted from a community gathering from various stakeholders regarding their concerns about social media.

“We want to make social media a safe place to celebrate and cherish each other’s achievements. So, we are working with YCAB and Sudah Dong who are experts in this area,” she said.

Deevy said the program had produced a guide, called “Think Before You Share”, to encourage people to think before posting online. The guide can be downloaded online at https://fbnewsroomus.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/facebook_think-before-you-share_id.pdf

“It is about what does it mean to the person your posting about or what it will mean for yourself when you look back on it later,” she said, adding that 45 million Indonesians used Facebook.

The guide tells users to review their post first before hitting the button. Questions like: “Is this how I want people to see me? Could somebody use this to hurt me? Or, what’s the worst thing that could happen if I shared this?” are among the questions the guide encourages people to ask themselves before posting. The guide also warns users that the digital trail is hard to erase and an image stays online forever.

It also forbids users from sharing things that make others look bad, or could potentially embarrass them, or hurt them if the material or information was shared and distributed.

She said the campaign would be conducted in five other cities, namely Palembang, Balikpapan, Denpasar, Bandung and Malang.

“YCAB also encourages people to post a positive photo each day for five days to share Think Before You Share to celebrate their friendship and family,” she said.

Deevy said the biggest concern was to make teenagers aware that they had the full responsibility to create the kind of space they wanted online.

Sudah Dong spokesperson Fabelyn said her organization had received around 250 reports on bullying since it was founded in the middle of 2014.

Fabelyn said many of the reports revolved around bullying on social media.

“The worst case we found was when someone who had been bullied online had contemplated suicide,” she said.

Fabelyn said many people, including teenagers, often did not realize the impact of their comments on social media, which allowed them to be meaner than they otherwise would be.

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