KEVIN D.

PASCUAL
BS ACCOUNTANCY
GED0021

“The most resilient FEU virtue that allows me to succeed as a student and a responsible digital citizen
amidst the struggles of the pandemic.”

Innovation birthed to a seemingly convenient cyber space we often so use. It offers convenience
that we bid for. It has been part of our lives, mostly part of ourselves, in which we unforeseen our
attachment that it had been so solid even discipline couldn’t pierce through it. Though, it is undeniable
that we benefit from these advancements however, there are a lot of drawbacks that remain unheeded.
Also, time has generated a lot of contemporary trouble that further increases the vulnerability of digital
space to its users. In such trying times, where we are dependent on the use of cyberspace because of the
never-ending lockdowns due to the pandemic, I have equipped virtues that uphold the morals and
decency of a responsible digital consumer; self-control, respect and purposefulness.

Being a student in the present set-up requires a certain degree of dependency in using the
cyberspace. It is now the adapted new way of learning as we cope through this pandemic. Even so, I have
managed to always self-remind to detach myself from using the cyber space once in a while to minimize
my reliance on it. Self-control offers me to be responsible towards myself, to give time, reflect, do things
and be active on what’s happening around me every so often. It is a virtue of being a responsible digital
citizen as it leads me to be responsible for myself first.

As a cyber space user for more than a decade now, I have witnessed the journey it went through
and how the users of it changed drastically. I started using social media when I was 10 years old, as much
as I can recall. I was introduced to it at a very young age that I do not even know what really it is. However,
as time passed by, I was baffled by how daunting the cyber space is. It is a chamber of anonymity and it
feeds off of moral ascendency. Therefore, I always try to embed respect on to myself whenever
wandering through the cyber space so I can give it back to other people too. It is a moral virtue that allows
me to be reminded that being a responsible digital citizen starts off with being a respectful person and in
by doing so, receiving the same virtue back.

The wretched condition of our society due to the pandemic is no doubt an unimaginable agony
among us. As we face our new normal, it is important to not let go of your purpose. The last past years
almost tear my motivation to pieces as I thought this pandemic has consumed all the time I needed to
grow, to socialize, to experience the world, especially in my age, a young adult who is scared of what the
future has to offer. Reminding myself of my purpose is a virtue that kept me going and will keep me fueled
to take my steps. It brings me back to day one where it all began. It takes me back to what drives me to
take the path that I am leading. It reminds me what hope I had felt in that moment of my beginnings. I
have made this far, because I know I have a purpose and that is what I am always trying to relive.
 In navigating through the cyberspace, especially in the middle of the pandemic, the dauntless
threats that come along with it are inevitable. It is almost something that is inextinguishable. However,
we are left with no options but to use it, to optimize it, because it is the primary tool being used in coping
and adapting to the inescapable changes this pandemic brought to us. Now, we owe it to ourselves to be
responsible digital citizen consumer so in whatever endeavors we pursue, we will succeed through it with
fortitude. I have made a promise to myself, that to be a responsible digital citizen, I must equip all the
moral virtues aforementioned earlier in this speech. To recall the few:

Self-control, being the virtue that enables me to maintain equilibrium in consuming media and
real life and to be able to live life beyond the digital barriers of the cyberspace and maintaining to keep
myself in the pedestal towards my goals.

Respect, being the virtue that opens my mind to offer what I want to be offered and to take every
action, especially towards another with cautiousness and respect as I know that differences are always
going to be in between of two strangers.

Lastly, Purposefulness, being the virtue that allows me to get back on track and remind myself
the “whys” of my beginnings so I could make it to the end. That whatever phase am I in life right now, I
was the one who decided that because it is all according to my plan. It is the virtue that taps me on the
back when I get lost. My purpose retracts me to whatever position I was when I decided to move forward.

The world might be in chaos right now due to the harm and changes pandemic delivered to us,
however, we should not allow it to thrive and defeat the motivation that we built for ourselves and for
our future. We already found ways to cope and we are still continuing to find new more ways to further
improve the quality of life under the new normal. This pandemic publicized the importance and usefulness
of digital media or the cyber space as a way to carry on through the struggles of the lockdowns, even if
presented with a lot of threats. That is why it is important to equip such virtues that goes along with your
own morals and values as a decent person to make the cyber space a safe space for all. Remembering that
along with the virtues I stand for, being a responsible digital citizen in these trying times is more than just
being responsible per se, rather, it symbolizes our empathy, among many other things.
REFERENCES:

:Lupien, Pascal. "Indigenous Movements, Collective Action, and

Social Media: New Opportunities or New Threats?." Social
Media+ Society 6.2 (2020): 2056305120926487.

Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2056305120926487

: Bizzi, Lorenzo, and Alice Labban. "The double-edged impact of social

media on online trading: Opportunities, threats, and recommendations for
organizations." Business Horizons 62.4 (2019): 509-519.

Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0007681319300369