"Social media or 'social disconnection'?" - The journey to becoming the first runner-up in the #Message4Digigen contest.

Team S-CTI - First Runner-up in the competitionMessage4Digigen- A message for the digital generation

"Message4Digigen- "Message for the Digital Generation" is a competition organized by the Hanoi National University Student Union with the support of Facebook. The host unit is the Student Union of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, and the digital version of the Humanities Club is the direct implementer. The competition is part of the "Digital Age Thinking" program, a collaboration between the University of Social Sciences and Humanities and Facebook, aiming to enhance digital skills for students, create a forum for Gen Z to exchange ideas, innovate, develop critical thinking, empathy, and mutual respect in the digital environment, and foster a generation of responsible digital citizens.
Stemming from that meaning, the student group S-CTI, consisting of Nguyen Thi Phuong Anh (University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi), Nguyen Kim Tung (University of Social Sciences and Humanities & Faculty of Law, Vietnam National University, Hanoi), and Tran Phi Luc (Hanoi University of Industry), registered to participate in the competition with the desire to demonstrate their role as citizens in the digital age. Nguyen Kim Tung shared: “In the era of digital transformation, social media plays an important role in connecting people, however, there are many challenges posed to social media users. Without the necessary skills in the digital environment, social media can very likely negatively affect us. Therefore, our group participated in the competition to contribute to building civilized behavior on social media.”

Nguyen Kim Tung - Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities & Law, Vietnam National University, Hanoi -
S-CTI Team member

Bringing to the "Message for the Digital Generation" competition, the team wants to spread a message associated with its name: "S-CTI." "S" stands for "Smart social network," meaning to use social media wisely to avoid its negative aspects. "CTI" stands for "Civilized Team on the Internet," representing a civilized online community. The team's slogan, "Think Clearly - Speak Persuasively," further affirms the message S-CTI wants to spread: to make the digital generation a wise generation in life in general and in cyberspace in particular, thereby building a safe, healthy, and positive digital environment," shared Nguyen Thi Phuong Anh (Leader of S-CTI).

Images from the short film "Social Media or 'Losing' Social Network" by S-CTI

In a conversation with the competing team, the members shared: “The first opportunity we had when participating in the competition was meeting and learning invaluable knowledge from speakers with expertise and experience in various fields. For us, this knowledge and these skills are not only useful in the competition but also valuable preparation for our future work and life. Furthermore, we had the chance to compete alongside talented and diverse teams of students from universities across the country; the different approaches of each team allowed us to learn a great deal. The competition also gave us the opportunity to spread messages as pioneering digital citizens. If we win an award, we will also have the chance to apply for an internship with the competition's professional sponsor: Dentsu McGarryBowen – a Creative agency with a global network spanning 150 countries and nearly 120 years of experience in media and advertising. All these opportunities are…” "The conditions are ideal for us to give our best in the competition."
However, S-CTI also faced numerous challenges. According to Nguyen Thi Phuong Anh, the S-CTI leader: “The biggest challenge was that throughout the competition, our team never had a single face-to-face meeting due to the pandemic. There were times when we thought we would have to choose a script that was too safe for the work, or even be unable to continue competing due to the health of our team members. But with unity and determination to overcome difficulties, our team always found solutions to ultimately achieve 95% of our goals.”

Faced with these challenges, the members of S-CTI did not lose heart and coordinated very smoothly and effectively. “The process of developing the video concept for the competition took a lot of time; the filming locations were quite far geographically. However, we developed a detailed script for each scene, rehearsed with the actors beforehand, and assigned tasks so that all members could showcase their roles and abilities,” shared Tran Phi Luc (a member of S-CTI). With their tireless efforts, on the evening of January 16, 2022, S-CTI excellently won the first runner-up position in the competition.Message4Digigen- The "Message for the Digital Generation" event has taken place.