Strategically Communicating

The news of Catalonia’s fight for independence piqued the interest of Filipinos everywhere.

What happened was, after police tried interfering with the polls, a huge public uproar took place Tuesday; understandable after nearly 900 were injured, attempts of seizing ballot boxes, and scorn from the king himself.

I talked to my boyfriend on Messenger, his mom in person, my mom on Skype, and my niece on Snapchat.

The moms are almost the same, the only difference being their cultural background, and they both felt sorry for Catalonia and viewed Spain as somewhat antagonistic. My boyfriend simply said it was pointless since there are no winners in both outcomes. My niece presented very idealistic views.

Aside from differences in the their points of view, the platforms used definitely had an influence. Talking, whether it’s in person or via camera, allows for gestures, tone, and eye contact, which may elicit emotional responses. Snapchat allowed occasional pictures, but the temporary nature of message history means we cannot look at previous points made in the conversation. Simply typing the facts on Messenger, supplemented with links to articles, allowed for a more objective response.

A discussion is possible on social media as all these people have accounts. It only takes the proper wording to attract commenters, or I cold simply tag these people and explicitly ask them to discuss. It may not be a friendly discussion, but a mediator could facilitate and make sure that the responses are not out of bounds.