How Media Convergence Affects the Concepts of Literacy by: Carl David Reyes

Media Convergence is defined by Encyclopædia Brittanica as a phenomenon that involves the interconnection of information and communication technologies, computer network and content. Everything in this modern world is already connected through the internet. It is something that enables people from different places and cultures interact. Socially speaking, media convergence becomes a medium for people to set standards from different cultures. But how does it affect the concepts of literacy?

Literacy is traditionally defined as the ability to read and write. As time progressed, the definition of literacy has also adapted to modern culture. With social media being apparent in today’s daily activities, what used to be just being able to read and write, has now become being able to use the internet well, being able to understand modern social media lingo, and being  knowledgeable in current affairs that involves the general society. I have seen posts on Facebook in which the original poster posted the video of a person being interviewed as she would vote for Bong Revilla for being handsome, and the a friend of mine on Facebook shared said video with the caption: “You illiterate and uncultured swine.”. Seeing that post, it seems apparent to me that in social media, being uneducated on political matters is equal to being illiterate.

With media being easily accessible to anyone who is connected to the internet, it can affect their lives and the way they behave, depending on the person, positively or negatively. The potential of media convergence is uncertain as it has many good effects and bad effects. It may help the society by uniting people with different cultures or it may divide people due to differences in ideals and beliefs.