AFP to hold 3rd social media summit Friday

In this June 23, 2015 file photo, CSAFP Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. poses with the attendees of the 2nd Social Media Summit of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.  SSG ORLANDO LIWAG/PAF

In this day and age of Facebook and Twitter, what exactly is the role of social media in enhancing the efforts of the country’s 80-year-old military?

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is set to hold its 3^rd Social Media Summit on Friday at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City to tackle various trends and issues in improving the military’s online presence.

With the theme “Change.Move.Achieve: Moving forward through Social Media,” the AFP Media and Civil Affairs Group and Civil Relations Service said the one-day conference aims to explore “initiatives in information and communication management, enhance the skills of social media managers and build bigger networks with AFP’s civilian counter parts to achieve organizational and national goals through social media.”

“It also aims to strengthen patriotism and public service awareness through online presence… It will further provide the participants the opportunity to get insights on exploring social media channels beyond Twitter and Facebook and understand that social media networks are critical in today’s public service,” organizers said in a statement.

One of the plenary speakers is INQUIRER.net editor in chief John Nery, who will discuss “Going Viral: Lessons for Creating Stories with Impact.”

The social media director for the campaign of President Rodrigo Duterte, Jose Gabriel Laviña, will talk about “Thunderbolt: Winning the Social Media Wars of the 2016 Presidential Election.”

Bank of the Philippine Island brand manager Noel Jeffrey Gonzales will dwell on the importance of big data and social media benchmarks; Christopher Hayes of the Military Information Support Team will tackle social media and countering violent extremism; and PLDT-Smart Communications public affairs head will discuss social media and public relations.

The event is expected to draw about 1,300 participants, including information officers from units of AFP, Department of National Defense, Philippine National Police, other government agencies, and non-government and civil society organizations. YG/JE