Karl Cedrick G. Basco, ABS-CBN News

MANILA - In the Philippine Twitterverse, Filipino men are more likely to tweet about news and current events while women are more interested about celebrities and their recent purchases.These are the findings of a Nielsen survey examining user behavior of Filipinos on the microblogging service provider Twitter.The survey showed Filipino men are passionate about news, sports and politics, and will most likely tweet or re-tweet topics related to it. Filipino women, on the other hand, tend to share content about personalities and holidays more.The study, held in January 2016, surveyed 1,004 people who have used Twitter on any device in the past 30 days in the Philippines.It also revealed that 54 percent used Twitter to keep up to date on the news and stay connected with people. About 52 percent used the platform to search for information.Speaking during the launch of their #TwitterCityPH project in Taguig City, Twitter officials said Filipino netizens have a desire to participate in global conversations. They use Twitter as a platform for expression and a tool to converse about their faith and interests.Meanwhile, Filipino creativity and wit are evident in the social media sphere as jokes and humor topped the types of tweet content according to the study with 54 percent.It is followed by personal tweets and socializing with friends with 52% and 51 %, respectively. NEWS ON TWITTERAmid the big spike in the volume of tweets in the Philippines in 2015 mainly due to locally-produced trending activities, a Twitter official said the microblogging service is a viable tool for news organizations.Rishi Jaitly, Twitter vice president for media in Asia Pacific and Middle East, noted that news organizations have been the lifeblood of Twitter throughout the years.“They (news organizations) were first movers to Twitter. They use Twitter in multitude of ways; to source the news, to distribute the news, and whole lot more,” he said.Jaitly, who leads business strategy for media partnerships function, said Twitter will continue to offer more services, technology and ideas to news organizations in the Philippines especially during the elections in May 2016.He reiterated that Twitter, like its major competitor Facebook, has been the front door for every news website. He claimed their platform is more interactive and visually appealing than any other social media company.“We already are a primary listening and publishing platform for journalists and news organizations. Everyone needs to tell stories that are more interactive...and Twitter and our tools and our teams could help you do that,” he said.Jaitly, who is the former Market Director of Twitter in India and Southeast Asia, also said the company is making sure news organizations have access to additional technology, prediction of trends and news, ability to cut and publish videos real time, and the ability to visualize and listen to the large conversation to help them tell better stories.<div>Platform of live and virality</div>Twitter claims it has over 320 million monthly active users globally.Jaitly refused to comment on the competition between them and Facebook but maintained that Twitter is still the platform of choice for live reporting and virality, such as the notorious phenomenon &quot;Dressgate&quot; that had people debating over its color.“We are the platform of virality. Things go viral on Twitter and Twitter alone. The power of Twitter is not so much that content travels like this but it travels in circular ways, back and forth, in digital mass media,” he said.He also noted that it’s on Twitter where new ideas have been born such as the use of hashtags (#), at signs (@), and re-tweeting.Jaitly also downplayed the criticisms about Twitter’s recent updates such as the “favorite” to “like.” According to him, the comments they receive on every update are signs of commitment from its audience.“It (criticisms) will last for a few days, then most people would say ‘this is great.’ That has been my observation. Every time we do something, there are committed people who say ‘hey’ and those who say ‘it’s great.’”

Microblogging service provider Twitter revealed distinct characteristics and preferences of Filipinos using the platform after recent study about the country’s user behavior.

On Twitter, Pinoy men like sports, women like holidays

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On Twitter, Pinoy men like sports, women like holidays

Karl Cedrick G. Basco,

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 19, 2016 12:02 PM PHT

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