Where to Philippine blogging?
Published on 12 Oct 2005 at 7:42 am.
4 Comments.
Filed under Edong's Dreams.
Continuation of interview by Max Limpag …
Where do you think Philippine blogs are heading?
I think Phlippine blogs will more and more be the connection of the millions of Filipinos around the world. I think that blogs are taking away some of the viewership of the most popular Philippine website: inq7.net . With the emergence of thousands of Philippine blogs, people are turning to sites other than inq7.net to get the type of information they want and need – through blogs!
Let me illustrate. There is this popular Pinoy blogger, BatJay, who has a very personal blog named Kwentong Tambay. He blogs because he loves blogging. He blogs about his life and he tickles the funny bone like a pro. His regular readers, perhaps more than a hundred of us, have a connection with BatJay. I have exchanged a few emails with BatJay, we’ve traced a few common friends. People feel for BatJay. His readers know when he’s not happy, when he’s senti, when he’s just being silly (which he is most of the time). People know him through his blog.
Filipinos love connecting with others. Isn’t that precisely the reason we are the text capital of the world? That is what has made Friendster very popular among Filipinos.
Blogging has become another way for Filipinos to connect. It is a journal of life that we share with others. Through this journal, we get to know people and the way they think, the way they feel, the way they live. We will want more and more. That’s soooo Filipino. That’s what will make blogging very popular in the Philippines.
How do you assess coverage of mobile technology in mainstream media?
Mobile technology has a large aspect to it. Mainstream media tends to focus on news, on what’s new. We only have a handful of articles that come up with more in-depth reviews of products or services. That is the property of mainstream media. It cannot dive into too much detail that alienates a large part of their readership. They have to stay within bounds of relevance.
What I look for is concepts and analysis of mobile technology. Where is it going? How can the farmer use mobile technology? What values do mobile services bring to users? How useful are these services? These are questions that mainstream media do not involve themselves in.
This is the kind of discussion I look for. I do find some of these discussions on online email lists, but not on mainstream media.
This is the kind of discussion I try to create too. When I blog, I always try to imagine what a certain technology could do to serve people. Beyond the entertainment value, beyond the monetary value of a service, how can these technologies truly become useful for the average pinoy. Some of my ideas get some visitors to thinking. That’s all nice. But what’s really nice is when somebody walks up to me and offers to help make my ideas real. This has happened a couple of times. It continues to amaze me how ideas can become reality just by communicating them through my blog. That’s not just nice, that’s awesome!
Lastly, I wrote this note to Max:
Max, it hasn’t been easy writing replies to your questions
But it has been a good thought exercise for me.
At the end of it all, I’d like to think about what blogging can do for the Filipino.
I think blogging is giving Filipinos a way to connect with each other. It can help us keep an open mind, what with the varying ideas and opinions we will come across through blogs.
It will also connect us with our past. On a personal note, it will allow me to look back and see how much I have grown in knowledge and in thinking.
I took sheer pleasure in reading the handwritten love letters of my grandfather to my grandmother, people who I did not have the chance to interact with.
In turn, I am looking forward to the time when my own great grand children will have the chance to go back and read what their grandfather was doing in 2005.
O apo, hwag iiyak …. senti ba masyado si lolo?
lolo edong
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BatJay, Ang Dating Folk Singer ng Ma Mon Luk on 16 Oct 2005 at 12:45 pm: 1
maraming salamat sa special mention partner. nakakataba naman ng puso.
kamusta na sa mundo mo? kita ko ang blog mo, nagdaan ka pala sa singapore. sayang, kung kailan pa ako wala na doon.
ka edong on 17 Oct 2005 at 1:30 am: 2
Hey BatJay,
yup, wifey and I were in Singapore I think a week or two after you left. We were there in time for the 40th Foundation day of Singapore. Tapos dumaan ulit ako duon last week from Joburg.
Ha-huntingin kita pag mapadpad ako sa calif.
ka edong
alex argote on 24 Oct 2005 at 6:54 pm: 3
cool blog
ka edong on 25 Oct 2005 at 10:12 am: 4
salamat sa pag-bisita, alex.
ka edong