Send, Like, Share, and Comment. These are only a few of the lingos popularized by an active participation in the Internet across different platforms. Decades ago, who would have thought these words would be part of everyday speech in the context of our modern world? There is no denying now that most, if not all of us, live in two spheres – the physical environment and the digital environment – in such an integrated fashion that work, study, breaking news, and even evangelization, may be initially discussed in the physical environment then continued in the digital environment, or vice versa. Thus, the digital environment can no longer be considered a mere supplement but must be recognized as an integral part of communication in our time. This reality has made it possible for anyone to be a protagonist in anything!
“To be a protagonist in anything” sounds very empowering. This means that you do not have to be an influential person in the physical world for others to also come across something you wrote that is close to your heart or something beautiful or tragic that only a few people may have heard of. In the digital environment, many conversations have escalated issues that profoundly impacted people, leading to actions in the physical environment that address the climate crisis, abuse of authority, disregard for human rights, abuse of minors and vulnerable adults, the conflict among nations, etc. In these conversations, young people gladly and fearlessly initiated and continued the discussions with a striking ardor that showed just how important these issues are for them. One may recall conversations on how “it’s okay not to be okay,” changing the old mindset of looking at one’s children as ‘retirement plans,’ becoming more financially literate, viewing subordinates in the workplace more humanly, and calling for justice for exploited workers and victims of murder. With this power, young people have set the goal of building a better world as their personal and collective mission. After all, who does not want this kind of world? Certainly, the digital environment is an effective tool that continues to shape the culture and perspectives of humanity today.
However, “being a protagonist in anything” in the digital environment can also have a negative connotation in Internet users with evil intent, resulting in an adverse global impact. At a certain point, almost everyone felt how toxic the digital environment has become, seeing a slew of websites dishing out pornography, disinformation, misinformation, and hate speech as if they had become the norm. In due course, these types of conversations spilled into the physical environment, leading to distortions of the truth and broken relationships among people. These did not come naturally, for there are forces in this environment that are deliberately “creating mechanisms for the manipulation of consciences and of the democratic process” (Final Document of the Fifteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on ‘Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment,’ 24), as our bishops have warned. While some mechanisms are being placed to counter these, young people today, as digital natives, have an impeccable role to be vigilant and to champion a more fraternal and humane use of the digital environment that does not “create a delusional parallel reality that ignores human dignity” (Document of the Pre-Synodal Meeting in Preparation for the Fifteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Rome (March 24, 2018), I, 4). As technology continues to advance, may human conscience triumph in the use of artificial intelligence, and may a deeper search for truth overcome the misuse of ‘deepfake.’ The digital environment is the privileged field where the youth of today are called to be a “sign of contradiction,” like Jesus.
