How often do you come across an influencer conducting academic research that bridges media studies and their lived experience in the influencer industry? While studies on influencer culture are growing, the voices of influencers themselves remain rare. In this qualitative study, I use autofiction to narrate a fictional conversation between my 2025 self and my past selves from 2021 to 2024.
Grounded in Gilles Deleuze’s concepts of Virtuality and Actuality, the work views identity as a continuous process shaped by memory, media, and algorithmic culture. As “Beyapot,” I reflect on five years of being an influencer, where different virtuals of my identity emerged: the academic achiever, the lover girl, the beauty creator, the big sister, and the food vlogger. These are not contradictions, but expressions of different virtual selves shaped by desire, trends, and digital structures.
What emerges is a rethinking of authenticity: not as fixed coherence, but as a moment-to-moment negotiation between who I was, who I am, and who I could become. Trends, platforms, and brand collaborations do not simply mirror identity—they help shape it. Ultimately, this thesis reframes influencer identity as an assemblage, a site of ongoing transformation within the flows of media life.

gusto kong maging fishball is a comedy short film that explores child-like problem-solving and creativity and showcases the effects of capitalism on children. Engaging with Bliss Cua Lim’s discussion in The Commodification of the Human Experience, the film narrates a story about children dealing with “5-6 moneylenders.” To stay true to its commitment to using a child’s lens, it also embraces Kidlat Tahimik’s idea of sariling duwende and the Bathala Na! mentality. The film experiments with different storytelling media, such as narrative, animation, and music, to create laughter, reflection, and sing-alongs. gusto kong maging fishball follows the story three kids as they find ways to save Potpot’s house from a 5-6 moneylender. Their mission: to sell one million fishballs to earn one million pesos. In the end, their wish is granted.

This undergraduate thesis examines the role orientations of campus journalists amid the 2025 midterm elections. Campus journalists have played an integral role throughout Philippine history by providing alternative and people-oriented news during periods of political crises. In a time when disinformation and attacks against the campus press prevail, it is then important to shed light on the narratives of student journalists and their understanding of their roles. To do so, the study analyzes the perspectives of 15 campus journalists from The Philippine Collegian, The Varsitarian, and The Guidon
which were obtained through semi-structured and in-depth interviews. The study also utilizes the six journalistic professional roles to determine how campus journalists define and understand their perceived roles.

This exploratory study analyzed the media framing of MPOX articles in the online platforms of ABS-CBN News, GMA News, and News 5 during the disease’s re-emergence in 2024. De Vreese’s framing theory (2005) and White’s gatekeeping theory (1950) were integrated into a framework that guided the content analysis of 153 news articles published by the three mainstream media outlets from August to December 2024. Interviews with three mainstream health reporters were also conducted to give more context to the findings of the content analysis. The study revealed that ABS-CBN News, GMA News Online, and News 5 had predominant negatively-toned articles that utilized public health frames in reporting about MPOX. Disinformation factors such as the use of artificial intelligence (AI), stigmatization, and perceived COVID-19 sensitivity were also identified as themes of the MPOX re-emergence in 2024.

This thesis examines how Central Luzon community newspapers have adapted and developed in the face of rapid digitalization in the journalism and newspaper industry. Using a qualitative research approach, seven employees and staff members from three community newspapers were interviewed about the effects of digitalization in their publications. Although in decline, these newspapers are given second wind as they integrated new technology into their operations, including editing and layouting, publishing, and communication. Social media, particularly, gave these publications a bigger audience and more business opportunities. While general perception is positive among the publications’ staff, most still express missing elements of community and camaraderie that were once present in previous iterations of their newsroom operations. Even with this progress, community journalists still wish for the continued growth and preservation of their original endeavor: the community newspaper.