G.A. Viray
Do you happen to know someone who just comments on everything he sees on his wall without even looking at the post? It can get irritating, right? Well, Allan Robles of ABS-CBN’s Hot Manila made fun of this by making up a study which reveals that Filipinos usually comment on Facebook without actually reading posts. Robles said that the study was conducted by Asian Research Institutes for Understanding Humor and Silly Walks (ARIUHSW), the same prestigious institute which conducted the study that many Filipinos do not have the Satire Gene (SG).
The results of the study, according to Robles’ article, revealed that a lot of Filipinos would usually read the title and the first sentence, then proceed with their comments.
In Robles’ satirical article, a certain Dr. Soon Tu Ve Hung, spokesman of ARIUHSW even mentioned that some of the comments were even “moronic”.
They just read the title, and maybe the first sentence of the post, and then off they go writing their comments. This explains why most FB comments sound inane, uninformed and – how shall I put it scientifically? – really moronic.
Dr. Hung mentioned that this study was inspired by his previous finding when he posted the results of his study on the lack of SG in Filipinos. Some of the comments he got were:
Ang laki ng ilong mo.
You look like a sex maniac.
Dr. Hung then realized that the commenters didn’t read his post, and judging by their profile photos, most of the commenters look like they don’t have any chance to win any “human” beauty contests.
Also, based on the said study, there are two reasons why many Filipinos don’t read the post before they comment: one reason is that “commenters are cheap, or they don’t have enough money”, and the second reason is that “commenters can’t read, and maybe they’re illiterate.”
Aside from the two reasons, Dr. Hung also mentioned that there is another group of commenters: those who read the full post yet completely misunderstood what the post was all about.
On a final note, Dr. Hung also mentioned that there is a probability that people who will read this study will take it seriously and may ask the government to investigate ARIUHSW.
As real as Robles’ article may seem, of course, its content was obviously made up, but he was so creative to make up a “scientific research group” which makes many Filipinos immediately believe what the article says. And although the article is just a satire, we may have to agree with Dr. Hung that most Filipinos do not have a SG, and that really, a lot of Filipinos comment on Facebook without even reading posts.
After I read this, it seemed like most filipinos do really have an inane or what he called moronic nature. However in my opinion, filipinos, not only vulnerable to poverty, are attention seeker. Some of them knows what the article meant to point. But the mere fact that they want to steal the spotlight, makes them more moronic.