Reflecting on social media ‘bullshit’ in solomon islands

https://devpolicy.org/social-media-bullshit-threatens-control-of-covid-19-outbreak-in-png-20210323-3/

Reading Sue Ahearn’s well informed article published in Devpolicy.org (or see Who we are) provides a kind of a background to ways in which social media is used in this part of the Pacific. My knowledge and experience is with the Solomon Islands, an archipelago of small islands geographically and culturally close to the much larger PNG. At this time, the threat of COVID is very real, but in the Solomon Islands towns and more remote areas of PNG, news and ‘facts’ are shared primarily through Social Media, mostly FB.

PNG & Solomon Islands, Australia’s northern Pacific Island neighbours

Few people have the skills or literacy abilities for critical analysis or ‘fact finding’ beyond a headline or brief comment/claim. Paying for data to connect to the internet or to open links is out of reach of most people. Links are often posted to less reputable sites that present stories inspired by ‘conspiracy theories’ that look just as trustworthy as any other. If it is a ‘doctor’ or a ‘priest’ presenting these ‘facts’, and if they are relatable (eg dark skin), they are more likely to be shared.

https://www.ourtelekom.com.sb/deals/hot-deals/
Solomon Islands main provider. Note small print… Many people complain about their data disappearing, or ‘being stolen from them’ – it is very hard to keep track.
https://devpolicy.org/internet-prices-in-papua-new-guinea-20200130/

When you clicked on this blog post to open it, did you think about how much money it would cost you for the blog page to open? For many internet users in developing nations, such issues are serious considerations, given high internet prices, particularly when compared to generally low incomes.

https://devpolicy.org/internet-prices-in-papua-new-guinea-20200130/
Written by Amanda H A Watson

If my friend in the Solomon Islands has data, they can access the internet. We use Messenger or IMO to speak but the quality is incredibly low and intermittent. They may call five times, I hear the ring, answer, hello? hello? hello???? I can’t hear anything… After a minute or two, hang up, then again, hello? hello? Can you hear me? A delay … a response comes through to something I said maybe 40 seconds ago. Maybe we can have a ‘conversation’, depending on where they are standing. Sorry, you’re breaking up … sorry, what did you say? Sorry, I missed that, not clear. This is how we ‘communicate’.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-12/australia-solomon-islands-png-sign-undersea-cable-deal/9983102

Australia signs on amid security concerns

“Back in 2016 the Solomon Islands government signed a deal with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei to lay a cable to Australia.

But the Australian government was concerned Huawei would be permitted to plug into Australia’s telecommunications infrastructure. […] The Australian Government then announced its support for the PNG cable and a few months later said it would foot most of the bill to lay the cable to the Solomon Islands as well.”

Old news now. The undersea cable was completed in 2019. As yet, there seems to be no improvement to the system or lowering of prices/access.

“Bringing lower cost fast and reliable internet and communications to the Solomon Islands through the Coral Sea Cable System and Their domestic network “

https://www.facebook.com/solomonsubmarinecable/

[No new or updated information appears to be available.]

https://www.anao.gov.au/work/performance-audit/post-implementation-review-the-coral-sea-cable-system-project

So, beyond the data/communication issues…

https://www.statistics.gov.sb/ – The Official Website front page – note dates!

The most recent Solomon Islands National Census was held on 24th November, 2019. (I was there! – it was a massive and difficult task, and like a lot of information in the Solomon Islands, is likely to not quite tell the whole truth!) But it is clear to all that it is a very rapidly growing population, and keeping up with infrastructure to support and educate this population is constantly far behind what is required.

As can be seen clearly in the information provided below, the increase in social media users in the Solomon Islands is also massive, and rapid. It is hardly surprising that with this growth, the generally low levels of media literacy or English language skills, and the proportion of the population who live in rural areas (generally village subsistence) that misinformation and/or conspiracy theories and calls to ‘return to traditional (and godly) ways’, are often the responses on or to social media posts.

https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2020-solomon-islands#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20mobile%20connections,71%25%20of%20the%20total%20population.

Schools in the Solomon Islands are banning mobile phones – even boarding schools where the students live far from their homes and families, which has had a mixed response. (Link to interesting article about pros and cons of banning mobile phones in schools) Social media and internet access is often blamed for declining standards – loss of respect, declining education standards, increased rapes and unwanted pregnancies, domestic violence … all blamed on the proliferation of pornography and western values through mobile phone use and exposure. Interestingly, some commentators (particularly those working with NGOs) also note that it is more likely that social media and internet access just makes the news about instances involving these declining standards far more public than before.

Culture and close extended family networks mean that incidences have often been shut down and kept quiet as protection from shame being brought about after such events. Corruption at high levels has also continued ad nauseum. Social media has provided a ‘voice’ for victims and increase in awareness and human rights, but this is really so ‘new’ and so sudden that the controversy over banning Facebook by the Solomon Islands Government is hardly surprising. (see previous post: SOCIAL MEDIA IN LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES)

Covid-19

Globally shared information about Covid-19, in a country that has had only 20 cases, all brought in by overseas travellers and quarantined, with apparently few to no symptoms, is difficult to take on or believe or relate to. I hear regularly of far too many deaths in the only National Referral Hospital, people of all ages, dying primarily of Non-communicable diseases and lack of treatment options being available. These deaths are shared by family members and people pay their condolences with messages on Facebook. It is hardly surprising that local Solomon Islanders would be more inclined to stories and local pandemics rather than this foreign pandemic that has the world on edge, and a ‘vaccination’ for something that hasn’t touched them beyond closed borders and financial loss.

https://github.com/CSSEGISandData/COVID-19

As can be seen in the latest on COVID in neighbouring PNG (above), the case in the Solomon Islands is volatile and could change rapidly at any time. Much international Aid and attention has been put on the Covid pandemic with increased education and quarantine measures, but many people are resistant and aggrieved that this money is not being spent on existing problems.

For better or worse, social media is a tool that has opened up communication and access to information in the Solomon Islands but how much of this is ‘mis-informed bullshit’ remains a cause for concern and vigilance.

2 thoughts on “Reflecting on social media ‘bullshit’ in solomon islands”

  1. Hi Annabelle,

    I really enjoyed reading your deliberations on context. As as someone who works in a wide variety of contexts, I think their influence, impact and the challenges they represent can be underestimated. In my context here in Australia in paediatric hospital we have thought about using VR as a tool for providing perspectives on different scenes or experiences safely. For example, viewing a scene from the perspective of a child and allowing our staff or students to walk or sit in their shoes while the business of the hospital goes on around them. Then utilising these with students and looking whether they can prompt reflections on situational awareness or generate empathy. Ultimately you would love to see if that alters their behaviour when they hit the ward in person for the first time. One could argue that you can achieve the same from getting the students to watch rounds or interactions and reflect on the situation, rather than on the technical content of medicine. So what is the value of the VR version? Well, I am not sure yet. Certainly when physical restrictions were (or are) in place it provides access which is not possible in person. I think there is a sense of safety in a VR world and time to explore a scenario. In real life students are ushered in and out by the directions and according to the time constraints of others. What we are doing is not new – other interventions have created auditory hallucinations for students while challenging them to undergo takes, others have taken away sight, vision and dulled senses to get an understanding of ageing. (see review by Batt-Rawden et al, 2013). But we thought we could start simple and see where it makes sense (without too much effort or expense). For out students the first thing they reported was that VR was novel and new…above all they reported it was fun. So perhaps beyond anything else it is a new way to engage.

    As I reflected on the VR/XR session you describe above and your postulations on cultural competence the idea of using VR to put someone safely into scenes that may be unfamiliar, cause discomfort and potentially distress (if not handled well) began to grow in my mind. In medicine I think we often think about emergencies and or critical situations which may be rare. Yet, I began to wonder, what about a situation where translation is needed, what about observing a ward round where there are language, cultural and/or social barriers to eliciting the story or explaining the problem to a family – and using a 360 film for an observer to scan the room and pick up on actions/responses/biases/non-verbal and verbal communication. What if we put them in a world where they cannot understand what is happening (by making the setting in a language not of their own). Then of course your blog led me to Stephen Aiello’s excellent presentation. I wondered what others had done and here are a couple:
    1. A simple example from international business meetings (https://online-distance.ncsu.edu/teaching-cultural-competencies-through-virtual-reality/) looking at empathy and understanding form reflections on an observed interaction.
    2. A study of STEM students exposed to a VR scenario filmed on 360 where they are expected to respond to and reflect on a scenario involving collaboration with international colleagues (partly prompted by the inability to do so with pandemic restrictions, but acknowledging a global view of the world is needed). (Akdere et al 2021) They demonstrated some increases in intercultural competence but interestingly more realistic self reflection by the students of their own competence. I must say after reading this article I realise I have a whole lot to learn myself about this area of work!

    Lots of potential. It feels like the challenge is understanding where best to invest our energy and time in these interventions, with a clear idea of why we are turning to VR and what we hope to achieve or impact upon.

    References
    Batt-Rawden, Samantha A. MBChB; Chisolm, Margaret S. MD; Anton, Blair; Flickinger, Tabor E. MD, MPH Teaching Empathy to Medical Students, Academic Medicine: August 2013 – Volume 88 – Issue 8 – p 1171-1177 doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e318299f3e3

    Mesut Akdere, Kris Acheson, Yeling Jiang,
    An examination of the effectiveness of virtual reality technology for intercultural competence development,
    International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Volume 82,
    2021, Pages 109-120, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2021.03.009.

  2. Thanks so much for your response Amy.

    Really interesting in terms of your present context (paediatrics hospital) where I spent a lot of time in during my childhood (teens actually). As a patient, I thought, why doesn’t anyone get me? What I want, what I need, who I am? As a child with a chronic illness, and later, as an adult attending pre-natal checks, I was a critical observer of all of the differences in the patients surrounding me. I didn’t ever feel that the care was not there, but the lack of understanding of individual needs that didn’t necessarily fit the ‘norm’ or the majority has always stayed with me. ‘Situational awareness’ and ’empathy’ are, to me, critical components to good patient care – along with communication.

    In terms of training, and in my context, pre-service teacher training, I too have been thinking about VR/XR simulation and 360 degree film (maybe not knives on the ground, but things happening in a classroom that a busy teacher is unlikely to notice) to be used as a training/observational tool to elicit responses and reflections from students/trainees.
    One idea I had related to ‘critical incident analysis’, where the so called ‘critical incident’ is superficially very minor and unlikely to be noticed by observers or participants. A filmed scenario that contains a number of potential ‘critical incidents’ could be used as prompts… but does the technology offer opportunities for student responses to go on and the possibilities of consequences be incorporated, for further reflection? Then in thinking about this, someone putting together this ‘film/scenario’ is likely to have a pre-conceived idea about what ‘incidents’ are present, and expected to be noticed, and what responses are the ‘correct ones’…
    So many dilemmas, so many possibilities!

    (I just went looking for a nice neat little reference for ‘critical incident analysis’ – google scholar offers up almost 1 1/2 million references – in 0.09 of a second – but the majority seem to relate to either education or health, so assuming you’re already familiar with it!)

    I’d love to talk with you more about this Amy, I will email!

    Best, Annabelle

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