After a long, tumultuous global health crisis, Sociovation finally returned physically! Supported by Temasek Foundation, the SUSS Centre of Experiential Learning (CEL) hosted 80 undergraduate students from 21 institutions across the ASEAN region for this year’s edition of the Sociovation Forum 2022.
This year’s event aptly focused on “The Power of Social Media”, owing itself to the pandemic’s acceleration of a booming global digital culture, which has inadvertently led to the proliferation of a complex range of challenges online. Held from 1 to 10 June 2022, the participants were introduced to the various boons and banes of social media, as well as industry know-how on creating powerful social media campaigns. With a total of 15 groups in attendance, each team was tasked to address one of the three main themes of the forum: Fake News, Internet Fraud and Hate Speech.
Through various talks, workshops and panel discussions from social media giants such as Meta Blueprint, Twitter, Google, Tiktok and SGAG, as well as distinguished speakers and non-profit organisations from around the region, participants gained deeper insights into online perpetrators and victims, how to protect oneself, our loved ones and others online, and the key elements to a successful online campaign.
Together with workshops and mentoring sessions from Air Amber, a social enterprise that works to positively impact communities, participants were further guided on how to transmute the valuable skills they had gained from each session into creating social media campaigns to address the challenges posed by the misuse of internet technology.
The participants collaborated tirelessly, using both their new-found knowledge and their familiarity with online ‘meme’ culture to create relatable videos, infographics and posts that were often as entertaining as they were compelling. Teams such as Group 11 tackled the gendered dimension of online hate speech with the campaign #OutdateTheHate: Change Starts with Youth, which aimed at dismantling sexist attitudes in the digital world. Another campaign that caught attention was the #YOUcouldbenext campaign. With the goal of combating people's vulnerabilities to Phishing, #YOUcouldbenext was launched to create awareness through normalised conversations about online scams.
Group 11 showcasing their knack for content-creation through a series of aesthetically pleasing and thought-evoking posters.
All final campaigns were also presented during the final Gallery Walk, wowing special guests such as Professor Cheong Hee Kiat, SUSS President, and Mr Gerald Yeoh, Senior Director, Temasek Foundation. Check out the students’ social media campaigns here!
Participants pitching their social media campaigns to special guests in attendance, giving more insights into their campaign motivations, goals and target audience.
Group 8 proudly showing off the hard work they had channelled into creating their very own social media campaign.
Some other highlights of Sociovation Forum 2022 also included the Amazing Scam Race which brought participants on an expedition around Singapore’s bustling and vibrant Central Business District (CBD). The teams also played a series of mini-games, allowing the participants to learn more about online safety while exploring the sites of the city.
Working together for the first time, teams put their heads together to solve the various clues and challenges of the Amazing Scam Race.
From the Marina Bay skyline to the iconic Merlion, the Scam Race was a chance for participants to explore and capture the various sights of the CBD.
The students also embarked on a Cultural Trail along Tiong Bahru, catching a glimpse of Singapore’s rich cultural history through a series of iconic murals and traditional Singaporean games.
Posing against one of the many iconic murals in Tiong Bahru, participants learnt more about Singapore’s past by exploring the country’s oldest housing estate.
During the Cultural Trail, participants were engaged in an exciting match of Chapteh, one of Singapore’s most popular traditional games.
Finally, Sociovation Forum 2022 rounded off with a special Cultural Showcase where students from the various countries dazzled the crowd with an array of dancing, singing and games. For the final day’s cultural showcase, participants from each country were tasked with not only performing, but also teaching a 15-minute performance piece to their team’s Singaporean participants.
Participants from Laos were draped elegantly in their Xout Laos, teaching Singaporean participants the steps to their traditional dance.
A small snippet of Team Vietnam’s sharing about their country’s food and culture.
More than just a conclave for learning, Sociovation Forum 2022 has also been an opportunity for deep cross-cultural friendships to blossom between both local and foreign participants. With the success of this year’s forum, Sociovation has carried on the torch of uniting youths from all over the region through social innovation.
Participants and Student Leaders in full force on the first day of Sociovation Forum 2022, eagerly anticipating the exciting days to come.
SUSS thanks the following speakers and organisations for their contribution to the forum:
Dr Carol Soon, Vice-Chair, Media Literacy Council
Dr Anuradha Rao, Founder, Cyber Cognizanz
Dr Omer Ali Saifudeen, Senior Lecturer, Singapore University of Social Sciences
Nur Aisyah Abdul Rahman, Senior Behavioural Sciences Research Analyst, Home Team Behavioural Sciences Centre
Yasmine Wong, Senior Analyst, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University
Afreen Chawla, Psychologist, Home Team Behavioural Sciences Centre
Global Anti-Scam Organisation
Dr Noor Huda Ismail, Founder, Institute For International Peace Building, Indonesia
Medha Lim, Trust & Safety Product Policy, TikTok
Air Amber
Balqis Ismail, Vice Project Director, NETHICS
Dhanya Balan, Public Relations Director, NETHICS
Rorie Fajardo-Jarilla, Asia Programmes Coordinator & Philippines Country Coordinator, Institute for War and Peace Reporting
Aribowo Sasmito, Co-Founder & Fact-Check Specialist, MAFINDO
Hazwany Jamaluddin, Co-Founder and Research Specialist, Malaysia Information Literacy Education
Fadzeera Fadzully, Senior Account Manager, SGAG
Meeta Doshi, Research Manager, SGAG
Trinna Leong, Southeast Asia News Lab Teaching Fellow, Google
Rachel Soh, Director of Communications Office, Cyber Youth Singapore
Michelle Chan, APAC Education Program Partner, Meta Blueprint
Monrawee Ampolpittayanant (Lynn), Head of Public Policy, Government and Philanthropy, Southeast Asia, Twitter