War of the Words: How I Faced A Troll Army
I have always believed words are powerful.
Maybe it was hubris or maybe it was hope, but I really believed the words I wrote and spoke during the campaign season would have made a significant impact.
It’s not like I was Leni’s campaign manager or a Rappler columnist or, heck, I’m no Piolo Pascual! And this is not a misplaced sense of importance; I know I am just one of the many volunteers. But when I say “I gave my all” — from researching socio-political issues, writing and simplifying them, and transforming them into articles, video essays, spoken word, or stories — I wanted to qualify my hurt.
I squeezed out my talent. I exhausted my skills. Because I know in the world of social media where disinformation and hate reign, TRUTH and REASON must stand out among all the noise. You can’t just use empty words.
Can you imagine how messed up that sounds — when those two values still have to compete against fake news and sensationalism? For attention or worse, for approval. Because you heard it straight from the Kingmaker: “perception is real and truth is not.”
It’s chilling how Imelda said that nonchalantly. I know what I was getting into last October: Word War.
And so I used my words — written, spoken, visualized. Letters and scripts are weaponized. I translated and contemplated what makes them effective. Tried to be creative and funny. Defended truth, attacked the fakery. I was fighting lies on foot but they have machinery. I tried to argue, make a point, and aimed it point-blank. I missed. Words were my bullets, narrated and bulleted. I still missed it. They said don’t shoot the messenger, well fuck it, we’re talking about a fake-news peddler. But I’m surrounded. Deadman talking.
And for someone who joined Pinktok (Tiktokers for Leni), DiWa (Digital Warriors), and Oplan Resbak, where all had the goal to push back against the black propaganda, one would have thought that having this battalion of volunteers, we would have decimated the disinformation drive. And for a moment during the campaign season, we felt triumphant. We’ve seen many people converted and enlightened. But maybe it was all survivorship bias. So imagine my devastation, my hurt, when I saw the numbers come election day. All that seven months where I gave “my all” seems like I barely made a dent.
It was not enough.
We only managed to win additional Leni votes by a few hundred thousand. If we’re going to be strict with the numbers, Leni got 14.4M in 2016 and now it’s 14.7M. Do the math.
It was not enough.
I have always believed words are powerful.
And I still do. And this election affirmed that. But it’s not MY words I’m talking about here. Our words appear to be insignificant. Because in as much as truth and reason are explained through words…lies are amplified through the same method as well.
When they say the pen is mightier than the sword, did they consider how that would work for a troll army?
When Laong Laan and Plaridel wrote, and when Ninoy Aquino and Pepe Diokno spoke, did they ever imagine the enemy responding with algorithms and heavy data science?
Words are indeed powerful. It can kill. Truth, reason, justice, and history were among the casualties…but the total body count is 31 million.
Andrew Beso is a Manila-based content creator who is exploring different ways of sharing art — whether it be written, spoken, or visualized. Aside from being on Medium, his work can also be seen on Youtube, Instagram, and Tiktok.
He is using his undergraduate and master’s degree in Economics and Political Economy, respectively, in discussing social issues through creative expressions.
