Pinoy Passenger

Doing a Google search for the long-tail search query: How many Internet users are there in the Philippines?, the internetworldstats.com site came up number 3 in the list of Google results.

According to that site, we have:

14,000,000 Internet users as of April 2007, - that is 16.0% of the population, according to Yahoo.

I was inspired to write this post when I read about Facebook’s initiative to create language translation in its widely popular social networking site. Pinoys are known for being good suckers of social network sites. In fact, many believe that Friendster’s huge success can be partly attributed to the average Pinoy - the type who loves displaying his/her pics (and inviting friends online to come take a peek to his/her latest adventure). I mean you gotta admit it, don’t you love displaying your cute little bikini when you went to Boracay?

Anyway, Facebook is a growing social network in the Philippines. Due to its large base of patrons, it has gotten ways of monetizing the site - like ad postings, events, etc. Now it is busy cooking up a new initiative - language translation.

Imagine if we can all share applications in Tagalog. How would those stupid quizzes, and 2-minute tests sound? Something like: “Meron kang 1 Anong Klaseng Bulaklak ka na pagsusuri!” How outrageous! But I think it’ll be fun

How would this Facebook language translation affect the common Filipino?

1. It will open doors for a larger audience - pati ang mga nagno-nosebleed sa English

2. It will keep a lot of employees busy checking out the latest quiz in “Filipino” - as if we’re not sneaking during office hours haha!

3. There’ll be a lot of opportunities for local entrepreneurs to advertise on Facebook - Imagine if tagalog searches will finally return results for you

Social networking has taken a step higher than the normal picture sharing, and friend invitations. It has become a rich melting pot of varied cultures, experiences, and opportunities for everyone living in the planet. With Facebook’s latest initiative, it can encourage Pinoys to make use of more opportunities presented to them online. We can have smarter, and better equipped Internet users in the Philippines by then.

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