Checking Your Phone While Someone is Talking to You – IRL

“Sorry, what were you saying again?”

It’s even worse when someone checks back into the “physical world” and introduces a NEW topic based on the virtual message they got and completely ditches what you were previously talking about.

Do you say “Hey that wasn’t what we were talking about!” or just go with the flow and completely forget about it?

I’m not hating on those who do this because I’ve done this countless of times myself. I’ve been both the “ignor-er” and the “ignor-ee.” Either the person I’m talking to all of a sudden gets a text message or a tweet and I’m left talking to myself or I’m the one checking out of the conversation to do the same.

Is this the new normal now? Or do you still consider this type of behavior rude?

P.S.

Check this restaurant out – it gives you a 5% discount if you DON’T use your phone in their restaurant.

Claudine Barretto, Raymart Santiago, and Now Blair Carabuena: How Social Media Makes Us All Contestants on MTV’s Boiling Points

If you never went through that period in your life when MTV was still the popular time suck and not 9gag, here’s a quick recap of what that show was all about:

Boiling Points was a prank reality TV show way back in the early 2000s where random people (including Stefani Germanotta before she became Lady Gaga) were subjected to extremely annoying situations. The goal was to basically exhibit ginormous amounts of self-restraint and not give in and lose your cool. If you could stand being in that situation for 2-20 minutes (the boiling point), you’d get $100. If you couldn’t keep your cool, well, sucks for you. No $100.

Fast forward to 2012 and we apparently have our own version of it. In fact, we might just have 3 of the most famous Filipino contestants of the year. Losing $100 cannot be compared to having viral YouTube videos of themselves in attack mode.

Case #1: Guy Loses Cool Over Traffic Rules, Goes Crazy on Enforcer

Case #2: Celebrity Couple Loses Cool Over Luggage Issues and Paparazzi

The main difference between actual Boiling Points contestants and these more recent participants is that the latter resorted to the hell-naw-oh-no-you-diint of the interwebs: violence. And boy did they feel its wrath.

Social media is strange. You can suddenly become a semi-famous fashion blogger or suddenly have your personal number and home address passed around so people can send you hate messages.

If you’re one of those rare people who never gets mad, good for you. For the rest of us, it’s always good to know that one outrageously disrespectful act can get you to lose your job, embarrass your family and friends and be the internet’s most-hated person… until they find a replacement.

The next time you encounter someone really really annoying (in public at least), imagine yourself on camera being watched by a couple hundred people.

Because you just might be.

That thought should give you enough willpower to… check yoself before you wreck yoself.

Women in the PH Tech Scene, Where Are You on Twitter?

I know there are already a number of Filipino women in the tech scene out there (e.g. awesome Ms. Myla Villanueva) but for this post, I’m talking specifically about those who are active on Twitter or who blog often. I’m obviously not looking for a PH counterpart of Meg Whitman or Marissa Mayer as I don’t think they will have time to tweet or blog, but perhaps someone like Alexia Tsotsis, Sarah Lacy, or in Asia, maybe someone like Vanessa Tan.

Okay fine, so the last three names I gave are all writers. But maybe that’s a sign? Look at some of the popular tech blogs in the Philippines… YugaTech, unbox.ph, pinoytechblog, are they represented by women? Do they have women contributors/writers?

Is it safe to say then, that Filipino women are just not inclined to writing or talking about tech? That they’re not interested in it? Or is it just because the tech industry here is still really small? I will leave that question alone for now.

What I did end up doing was bugging Francis Tan, asking if he knows other women from the Philippines who like blogging or tweeting about tech-related, even social media, topics. Like me, he was only able to give a handful.

But a handful is better than nothing! Here’s the list:
 

1. Alora Guerrero
   

Alora Guerrero used to be the Managing Editor of techie.com.ph and is also the lady behind TechLokal.com. She tweets daily and shares interesting articles. She also seems to have a very bubbly personality!


 

2. Anne Jacobe

I didn’t know about Ann until I discovered Shoephoric just recently. She’s the founder! Her company was also just recently showcased by Smart in the 2012 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.


 

3. Marga Deona

Marga is a PR consultant and a digital marketing strategist for a mulitnational software company. I obviously just copied that from somewhere. Ha! But in all seriousness, you’re sure to get not just tech news commentary but also thought-provoking tweets from her.


 

4. Katherine Pe

Kat is one of the more “social media active” female Ruby on Rails developers here. I don’t know if there are others out there but if you ask me to give you a woman RoR dev, her name is the first one I’ll give you. While I don’t understand some of the things she tweets about (I’m no developer), it’s always good learning something new. She also tweets about non-dev topics of course.



5. Ros Juan

I met Ros last year at Twestival MNL – she was one of the event organizers. Ros is an internet marketer and a heavy social media user so if you need to stay updated with the latest social media trends in the Philippines, be sure to include her in your to-follow list.

 
I know my list is extremely short so if you know someone who fits the description of what I’m looking for, please let me know! I’m not going to stalk them or anything (or maybe I will…), I just want more Filipino women (in the tech scene or someone who just appreciates it) to look up to and be proud of. :)

I’m a huge fan of Sheryl Sandberg so I will end this post with this (really short) video:

Watch Sheryl Sandberg on PBS. See more from Makers: Women Who Make America.

Hashtag Marketing: #Magnum vs. #ChowkingChefBowlSpecials

I do not work for Magnum nor Chowking. I also am not a fan of either. What I am is an active Twitter user who has seen both brands do “hashtag marketing.”
 

#Magnum Trends on Twitter PH

If you’ve been on Twitter a lot the past couple of weeks, you might have seen the buzz on this Magnum ice cream bar. February 28 was when they had their press event and had their brand ambassadors, together with food bloggers, tweet about how ridiculously delicious this ice cream is. Of course, the #Magnum hashtag had to be there.

Yes, I will admit, I was one of those who got suckered by this marketing tactic.

To be fair, I wasn’t alone in this.

There were a lot of other tweets but I won’t include it here anymore. I’m thinking you’ve already seen a lot. But yes, #Magnum trended for a few hours that day and even my Facebook newsfeed picked up on it.

Of course, you can’t please everyone and so naturally, Magnum also had some people feeling they were ripped off or that this is a ridiculous campaign that just used celebrities and food bloggers. I’m not here to judge the product as I am by no means an ice cream connoisseur.

If you appreciate marketing or you’re a marketer though, you’ll know that if brand awareness was your objective for this product, then this campaign truly succeeded. I don’t know just how many of these things were bought that day but based on the number of people I’ve seen tweeting that they’re going to Ministop, the 7-Elevens that “ran out” of Magnum bars, and the number of people I’ve seen walking around with chocolate popsicles, I’d say they’ve sold a significant number.

But yes, whether or not you liked it, if you tweeted/Facebooked/Instagrammed your experience, you just helped them create even more buzz.

As for reaching 10 million tweets, I wonder if they included all the other non-ice cream Magnums out there? I actually had a friend from the US ask me why I was tweeting about condoms. LOL. Turns out Magnum is also a well-known condom brand. Interesting.
 

Spotted: A Copycat?

5 days after the #Magnum tweeting first started, I see around 2 tweets for this Chowking Chef SuperBowl Specials promo. I do a quick Twitter search and find the following: (I am not even going to comment on the #ExtremelyLongHashtagThatTakesUp1000Characters)

1. They used Twitter bots.

I’m not sure if this is something they’re proud of but the way I see it, it just looks… sad. If you don’t believe me, check out this Twitter user named Andre Pitt. In case he deletes his account, I also took a screenshot.



They spammed users.

Obviously, they have not heard about what happened to Ragu in the US. This tells me they don’t care whether people get annoyed by what they’re doing or if they’re labeled as spammers. As long as people see this #superlonghashtagabouttheirbrand, they’re fine.



2. They don’t even understand what they’re talking about.

How exactly do you trend on a Twitter fan page? I suppose if it’s your fan page, you’ll be trending on it 24/7?

I understand Chowking may not have the same budget as Magnum in that they couldn’t afford to have brand ambassadors or have nice press events but I really think this could have been done way better. You know, without the spamming, the bots, or the #extralonghashtagyesishouldprobablystopdoingthis.

Got unfollowed, unfriended… rejected? Don’t feel bad.

Unfriending and private profiles are the new trends on social networks. I thought about this some more and realized there are 2 main reasons why people are doing this. Now I know this isn’t mind-blowingly new and there may be other reasons as well but I figured I’ll make a quick list out of it anyway.

Let’s say you’re the person who was unfriended. Painful and perhaps slightly embarrassing to realize but read up, it’s not that  bad. They most likely did that because…

1. They’re just trying to protect what they’re posting or will be posting.
• If you’re paranoid, they’re probably going to start bashing you. Dundundun.
• They’re just trying to downsize their friends list.
2. They are now questioning your “friendship level.” (Notice that I didn’t use “circles”) This is what happens after people realize the consequences of going on a Facebook friend adding craze.
• You barely know each other. You can’t even remember the last time you guys talked.
• Or you post things that make them question if you should still be their friend or why you’re even friends in the first place.

Whether you’re the one unfriending or the unfriended, understand that it’s… for the best. Maybe you’ll be friends again one day. Ha!

But seriously, now that you know why they’ve unfriended or unfollowed, is there really a reason to feel bad? Would you have wanted that person to keep seeing your posts even though it irked them? Clearly that person is just opting out.

Maybe there’s a good reason, maybe there’s not. Either way, no need to feel bad. Granted that you weren’t close anyway, look at it as just a “trend.” :)

Why I’m Tempted to Unfollow You on Twitter

People like reading tweets that make them learn something new: a good article, a new perspective, an interesting photo – anything that adds to their current “knowledge base.” At least that’s how I use Twitter.

To come up with this list, I just had to think of what other people share that 1) doesn’t add value and 2) even blasts negative energy out to whoever reads it. If you haven’t done any of these things, you’re awesome. Give me your Twitter username!

Now for my list.

I’m considering unfollowing you because…

1. You’re constantly being passive-aggressive.

   Your hobby is to hate on someone (whether IRL or online) and tweet about it without identifying them. You usually make it really vague and specific at the same time. As in “You are so annoying. Stop acting like you know everything!” (That’s a crappy example but you know what I mean) I don’t know what or who you’re talking about (vague) but you’re talking about someone who did something (specific).

   If I don’t really know you and I read this tweet – what value do I get? I just know you’re hating on someone and you’re telling the whole world. It makes me wonder if you’ve actually told the person involved (the decent thing to do) or I end up asking myself why you’re even telling us in the first place.

   Has social media turned us all into a bunch of cowards constantly asking for sympathy and attention from our friends/followers?

2. You like to whine… a lot. That, or you’re too emo.

I don’t think I need to explain this one. Who likes seeing multi-tweet rants? You whine about your job, your friends, the weather. I don’t know if you’re trying to make me feel better since I’m not complaining about any of that, or if you just want to share your misery… Eeyore.

Emo tweets are even worse. If you’re lucky, it could even be a combination of being passive-aggressive and ridiculously heartbroken/sad/lonely.

3. You talk about yourself 99% of the time. You even retweet compliments about yourself.

Do we really need to know that you have followers who think you’re the best this or that? If you think we absolutely must, here’s a meme that really captures how I feel for you:


I say I’m tempted to unfollow because I probably haven’t unfollowed you yet. I have hope that one day you’ll share something really interesting, or funny at least. If not, maybe I’ll just use it to my advantage. A Twitter friend once told me this when I told her I use the mute function on Twitter:

@Skushno ignoring & being tolerant is better practice. But mute helps us focus.

— Katherine G. Pe (@bridgeutopia) November 15, 2011

It’s tough being tolerant but I like the idea. Not trying to be cheesy here but it does teach us how to be more patient and understanding. Not everyone will behave the way we want them to. Besides, it’s Twitter anyway so if you still don’t share anything interesting and continue nurturing your Debbie the Downer side, then I’ll just hit unfollow.

No one should take being unfollowed personally. Twitter lang, walang personalan. :)

P.S.
I now use Tweetbot for my phone.

Posted on Jan 29, 2012 in Social Media, Thought Posts, Twitter | 4 comments
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