Cultural Capital

and
Geography

Members:
Adolfo, Donnabel
Dimasakat, Eric John
Mostoles, Sunshine Grace
Septimo, Francisco Jr.
Vito, Nicole Andrea

BSSE III-10
 We, especially before the pandemic, had grown accustomed to going out. We travel to go
to school, to libraries, or to museums to learn. We head for the mall, for the parks, and other
attractions to relax or to have fun. We go to government offices to process documents, request
forms, and to appeal. Being outside is one of the cores of our human activities, that's why when
the COVID-19 pandemic hit and shut us in there’s this huge disequilibrium for many of us. This
led to the transition from the usual physical mode to a digital set-up, this ran smoothly all thanks
to the existing technologies, the wonders of the internet and its multitude of users worldwide,
and a digitally literate and competent generation. This metamorphosis all lead to the creation of
the digital capital, this capital will then interact and be necessary for the pre-existing capitals
(social, economic, personal, political and cultural capitals) (Ragnedda, 2019).

The concept of digital capital is not new. Bughin and Manyika (2013) have noticed how
countries like Israel, Japan, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States have invested in
the intangible digital capital to stir their economy and fully optimize their search marketing. This
capital has also become a crucial factor to global economic growth exceeding 3.1 % GDP all due
to the digital capital investment.

The digital capital had also bridged and overlapped professional and familial relations,
making solid boundaries between two permeable . With one phone or other gadget, a person can
receive a message about their dinner tonight and another one about the project proposal from a
coworker. It seems that work and personal relations now have the tendency to spillover. This also
is possible because of the awareness, motivation, and skill needed to perform technology
management as a form of incorporated cultural capital (Ollier-Malaterre et al., 2019). It seems
that the digital capital has seeped in our lives and proven itself as crucial not only during the
pandemic but also in a post-pandemic world.

A. Classes in Philippine Normal University

Figure 1. Class picture with Mrs. Rowena Sabate in Teaching Profession

Figure 2. Class picture with Dr. Yeban in Philippine Development Experience with Comparative
Economic Planning

One of the biggest changes that occurred in this pandemic is the sudden shift from the
traditional face-to-face classes to online remote learning. Due to the closures of schools,
colleges, and universities, classrooms need to be abandoned for the health and safety of everyone
(Rotas & Cahapay, 2020). For the sake of the continuity of education, academic institutions
opted for an online or a modular medium. Hours worth of commuting and walking to our
universities were cut, looking around for a place to eat during breaks or for mini-celebrations
were substituted for the dining area.

In the present set-up, specifically in the online modality, classes are held in Google Meets
or Zooms. Professors utilize the screen sharing to discuss, while the students use the raise hand
or chat features to interact with the professor. In PNU, synchronous classes are held only for one
hour as a way of consideration for those who use mobile data. Then there will be asynchronous
activities to further supplement the lessons. It is undeniable that education must continue,
however users of the new set-up continue to face challenges in learning. This could be how not
used they are with the approach and have preference with the previous set-up. Another could be
how their learning environment, their home, is not a conducive place for learning. Online remote
learning required digital competency for the educators and the learners for it to succeed. Sadly,
not everyone can afford wifi connectivity or the gadgets for it, thus resulting in a digital divide
(Santos, 2020). The modular alternative didn’t really prove effective (Magsambol, 2021).

Students would give anything up just to be able to experience whatever the remote
medium took away from them, what they were used to. Personally, that’s also how I feel, even if
the traditional set-up was tiring, I actually enjoyed travelling from Marikina to Manila and back.
I even really learned something, because I got to ask questions and the professors can give
feedback immediately. The time for discussions was enough and a trimester didn’t feel rushed or
forced. Collaborations are easier because we get to meet in person rather than in calls or chats,
we get to express ourselves and brainstorm better. Now I am at home learning from a screen and
at my own pace. I get easily distracted as my phone is now my school, my hang out spot, my
library, and my comfort zone. They are all synchronously doing their roles and it is just too much
for me.
B. Sharing of Ideologies for General Election in The Philippines

Figure 3. Pre-pandemic 2016 Philippine Election. Photo taken by BBC News.

Figure 4. Online Campaign, Federal vs Liberal Party during the New Normal Society
 The Philippines are now getting ready for the upcoming general election in 2022, and as
the country is still in midst of a Pandemic and never-ending lockdown, Politicians switched to a
new, advanced, and large-scale digital campaign for their political ideologies.

The Pre-pandemic Era in the Philippines, as seen in the first picture featuring the
Duterte-Cayetano campaign for the general election last 2016, is one example of how campaigns
before happened. The General Campaign was always seen as chaotic, heavily populated, and
accumulated lots of garbage. People go to a certain place to meet up and unite for their chosen
candidates, promote them as well their ideologies and plan for the nation, calling other people to
also vote for them. Together, people and the whole country gain knowledge and create a
relationship with other citizens through the means of communicating and voicing their
handpicked candidates for the election. However, as the Philippines battled with the COVID-19
Pandemic, Filipino citizens as well the running candidates were prohibited to go, meet up and
create a large organized meeting or any public campaigns to promulgate their advocacy because
it will require too many people. As a result, running candidates for the 2022 elections are now
aiming to boost their image, disseminate their plans, ideas and principles to the public using
digital tools such as Facebook, YouTube, and other digital platforms.

In 2021, 82.3 million Filipino used and had a mobile phone in the Philippines (Statista).
The increasing digitalization and ownership of mobile phones in the Philippines shows the
successful change of the candidate’s platform from a personal, hand-to-hand campaign to a
digital campaign. But, the successful switch in digital campaign doesn’t only have a positive
impact in the Political arena as it educates a lot of citizens by providing various reliable,
authentic and credible sources, it also has a negative side especially on the other part where the
Philippines experiencing the Digital divide. The recent survey of the Philippine Statistics
Authority (2020) showed the functional literacy rate of Filipinos and their exposure to various
forms of mass media. In urban areas in the Philippines, Filipinos attending school from the age
of 10 to 30 years old, 92.9 % of them were exposed to and surfed the internet in social media. On
the other hand, rural areas have a lower exposure in terms of browsing on the internet with over
79.3%, 38.3 % of them are even exposed seldom or at least once a week on using the internet.
The study above clearly shows the occurrence of the digital divide in the Philippines. It was
highly expected that those people residing in the capital of the Philippines, experiencing the
Second level of the Digital Divide are widely exposed to different political online agendas. Other
than being just a receiver, they are also an advertiser that promulgate their ideologies. The simple
‘share’, ‘react’, and ‘comment’ of a supporter to a certain Political Pubmat boosts the interest
and interaction of one’s party. Meanwhile, those people living in the mountains, especially the
IPs, and other Filipino citizens experiencing the third level of the Digital Divide were being
deprived of information on the running candidate as well as verifying if it was credible and
reliable. Mostly they were the main target of misleading information by other propagandists
party because of their lack of chance to fact-check and research for a widely available source on
the internet.
 C. Shopping in malls

Figure 5. Pre-pandemic family picture going to buy a pair of shoes at the physical boutique of
Bata store inside the mall.

Figure 6. Post-pandemic screenshot of adding to cart a pair of shoes from Bata Lazmall Store
with the use of coupons such as free shipping and other cashback.
 The term digital capital between economical capital mainly focuses on the use of the
internet. As you can see above, the pre-pandemic picture shows the importance of going to
physical stores and window shopping at different boutiques inside the mall. It depicts that
touching tangible things like shoes is important to prevent any conflicts like refunds, returns due
to wrong size and even changing of item. The post pandemic picture gives emphasis on the
maximum benefit of the digital world. Like, namely Lazada which offers high to low end
materials for the masses that also offers free shipping.

It also contributes to the fact that while using an e-commerce website like this, it prevents
the widespread of Covid-19 because it refrains people from going out and about just to buy their
needs and wants on a daily basis. Lastly, the perks of using it is the usage of coupons whereas a
consumer would benefit a lot, like for example free shipping fee, discounts and even freebies.
That's the reason why I got a new pair of shoes from Lazada because I accumulated valid
coupons in getting the shoes I've been eyeing in a while. But given the fact that it offers help and
easy access, it also has negative effects when Economical interacts with Digital capital. First, is a
lack of capacity to engage in digital job-seeking behaviors. Second, is the limited opportunities
to use the Internet for capital-enhancing activities like live selling or even online investment in
stock markets or cryptocurrency. Third, is the reduced possibilities to implement cost-effective
management strategies in daily life.

D. Attending Concerts

Figure 7. Pre-pandemic picture of attending and enjoying concerts and music festivals
 Post-normal picture of attending concerts online in my own room with my lightstick

Sleepless nights and playful days, those were the times where I knew what the adrenaline
and fun feels like. Being an avid music fan I frequently went to music festivals, concerts, and
gatherings that include music tho not really a musician or inclined to any musical talent but I
really appreciate good music. In order to show my appreciation, I always try to pay a visit to
their shows and from there I met so many amazing people whom I can consider as my “gig
people” or my group who I often go to whenever there’s a show coming up. Financially crippling
as it seems but I would pay a good amount of money if only we can go back to this. Relatively,
along with other industries, the pandemic shifted the music industry into an online era where
artists perform and interact with their fans online. COVID-19 is nearing its 2 year anniversary
and I’m still having a hard time coping with the idea that this is going to be the new normal for
our society. It feels hollow to attend concerts and music festivals online, it feels different without
the interaction between the artists and the fans, and my room isn’t enough to emulate the feeling
that I once frequently experienced. I’m sure the artists feel the same way too, recently I watched
the concert of Red Velvet and they themselves address the issue regarding performing without
the fans because they too feel alone and awkward when performing. Relating this to the digital
capital according to Weber (1949) digital capital is the bridge between online and offline life of
an individual hence in this case the life of going to enjoy music in terms of profiting into the
offline realm the way I did is by selling passes for the concert that gave me a little earnings
whether it may be pre or post-pandemic.
 E. Hanging out with friends pre-pandemic

Figure 9. Pre-pandemic hangouts with friends at SM Manila after class

Before the pandemic my friends and I usually go to SM Manila to hang out. We like to go
to different stores there like watsons, clothes kiosks, make up stores. We love to go window
shopping, touch different things in the store, try out clothes and buy some stuff that we don’t
really need. SM Manila is not that big, it is a 3 storey mall that you can go around for an hour. It
has many restaurants and boutiques. We also love to take selfies using our smartphones
whenever we hang out for memories to look back to. Whenever we hang out we make sure to not
use our smartphones so that we can enjoy our time together, but sometimes there are moments
when smartphones really demand our attention like games, chats or notifications that we can’t
stop ourselves from noticing and we end up being busy using our phones instead of talking or
hanging out together.

Figure 10. Post-pandemic video call with friends

Hanging out with friends post-pandemic
Since the pandemic started, we are forced to stay inside our home. We can’t go out due to
quarantine protocols, since then me and my friends just hang out online via messenger call, we
would talk about our lives, school works and online shopping. It is different because we can’t see
each other personally and go to places we usually go. Because of the pandemic, our social
interaction is limited, we only bond with the people in our house. Our only way to talk with other
people is through social media, we can’t go out to see other places because it is not allowed. This
is how the pandemic changes the social interaction of the people, instead of being together
personally, we only interact virtually.

The utilization of the technologies and the internet have aided us ease and cope with the
present situation. We get to attend class through Google Meets and Zooms, to hang out with our
friends in Discord calls, and to shop items in Lazada or Shopee. It might be just a substitution
from the physical interaction we had before, but its capacity to bring together connections to one
screen is more than enough company in this quarantined world. Still, we all look forward to the
day we can do the activities we did before the pandemic.
References:

BBC News. (2016). Philippines election: Populism, celebrity and ugly realities.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36223755

Bughin, J., & Manyika, J. (2013, July 1). Measuring the full impact of digital capital. McKinsey
& Company. Retrieved November 11, 2021, from
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-
insights/measuring-the-full-impact-of-digital-capital

Magsambol, B. (2021, July 20). Distance learning in the Philippines: A year of hits and misses.
Rappler. Retrieved November 12, 2021, from
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/distance-learning-philippines-assessment-
2020-2021

Ollier-Malaterre, Ariane; Jacobs, Jerry A.; Rothbard, Nancy P. (2019). Technology, Work, and
Family: Digital Cultural Capital and Boundary Management. Annual Review of
Sociology, 45(1), annurev-soc-073018-022433–. doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-
073018-022433

Philippine Statistics Authority. (2020). Functional literacy rate of Filipinos by exposure to

different forms of mass media ranges from 92.6 percent to 97.1 percent in 2019.
https://psa.gov.ph/content/functional-literacy-rate-filipinos-exposure-different-forms-
mass-media-ranges-926-percent

Rotas, E. E., & Cahapay, M. B. (2020). Difficulties in Remote Learning: Voices of Philippine
University Students in the Wake of COVID-19 Crisis. Asian Journal of Distance
Education, 15(2), 147-158. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4299835

Santos, A. (2020, October 6). In the Philippines, distance learning reveals the digital divide |
Heinrich Böll Stiftung | Brussels office - European Union. Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung.
Retrieved November 12, 2021, from
https://eu.boell.org/en/2020/10/06/philippines-distance-learning-reveals-digital-divide