By Carlo Ople*

A lot of people used social media to condemn Hayden Kho for his actions, which eventually led to a full-blown Senate hearing (not that I’m agreeing that we should have a Senate hearing for a sex scandal). Now his supporters are relying on Social Media to support and defend him. I was given a link by a good friend through Yahoo Messenger. Apparently, someone made a blog called “Give Hayden a Chance“.

The first post entitled “Let’s give Hayden a chance“, already has 16 comments as of this writing. The site counter on the sidebar also shows that around 400+ people have already dropped by the site. I’m guessing that it’s only a matter of time before the hundreds become thousands then maybe even millions.

It’s a bit annoying and amazing that this issue has been completely blown out of proportion. I fully support the women… but a Senate hearing for a sex scandal? Shouldn’t we be paying more attention to Swine Flu and the fact that there are 14 confirmed cases already in the Philippines? I can understand social media going “gaga” over the Hayden scandals because it’s a human interest story but for institutions to go as far as they have… man!

Carlo Ople is the main author of New Media Philippines, a blog that aims to help Filipinos maximize and realize the potential of New Media. Apart from being a blogger, Carlo also serves as a Marketing Manager for one of the leading online gaming companies in the Philippines. He is also a freelance digital marketing consultant and has worked with various politicians and business owners expand their reach and influence through the use of social media.

Editor’s note: With the author’s permission, we’ve updated this entry to clarify some terms.

By Carlo S. Ople*

Over the past few weeks, there have been talks going around on what advertising agencies and marketers should expect from bloggers. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time now, and I think I have enough examples and put enough thought into this to publish it on this blog.

Companies who want to tap bloggers should be aware of the different kinds of bloggers. Not all bloggers can influence your target market, and not all of them can have the same level of interaction with their readers.

I’ve generally defined the types of bloggers into these 4 categories: Value, Hobby, Journal and Google. There’s a fifth type which I’ll share at the end of the post. Note that these categories can overlap, and in fact some of the best bloggers have stricken a balance on how to be all 4. However, these are rare bloggers. Most of the bloggers right now just fall to either 1 or 2 of these categories.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Niña Terol

(Editor’s note: Originally posted on author’s blog)

1. For writers and other creative souls, blogging is practice. Participants of my Freelance Writing for Dummies class know this: I cannot stress enough the importance of blogging, especially for an aspiring freelance writer. Blogging offers a free platform for writers and other creatives to test out their ideas, hone their writing style, explore various subject matters, and begin developing a relationship with an audience.

Writing is very serious work, and anyone who wants to become a writer—whether full-time or part-time—must treat it with utmost respect. It is a demanding art-craft that requires the reader’s full attention once the page is opened, so the writer must ensure that the written material is worth the ink, the space, and the reader’s time.

Blogging, then, is like the rehearsal before the actual performance. It allows the writer to flex those critical writing muscles and get into character so that once “real writing” is needed, the audience won’t be disappointed.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net

During the victory party of their movie, “When I Met U,” commercial model and actress KC Concepcion disclosed that she would be having her own website soon.

“I’m making my own website now. That would be my official website. I love blogging. Lahat ng nasa utak ko, makikita ng tao dun. [People will see what’s on my mind through that ],” the young actress says.

Concepcion says she began blogging when she was still a student.

She joined multiply.com in April 12, 2005 and collected 188 contacts cum friends. In her multiply site, she wrote, “hi… i have no myspace. no active facebook. no friendster. no blogspot. just this. a little island in cyberspace. hope you enjoy the ride.”

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THANKS to HappySlip, the US-based Filipino-American video blogger, the Philippine Department of the Tourism (DOT) has recently been awarded the Grand Bronze Anvil Award and the Anvil Award of Excellence.

The DOT launched its online public relations marketing program to reach out to Americans to visit the Philippines, according to Tourism Secretary Joseph Durano in a statement.

The Grand Bronze Anvil Award is given to the most outstanding public relations tool designed and implemented during a year, in this case, in 2008.

“I am very pleased that our venture into Internet marketing and PR to reach and invite thousands of North Americans to visit the Philippines is once again recognized by the country’s PR industry,” Durano said.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

Filipino bloggers are now picking up Filipino songwriter Gary Granada’s recorded complaint against GMA Kapuso Foundation, which he accuses of allegedly using his study without his permission.

A blog called “Ang Kape Ni LaTtex,” says Granada’s recorded complaint has been making the rounds via blogs, Plurk, Twitter and e-mail. The blog says:

In a nutshell, Mr. Granada, a noted Filipino singer-composer, voiced his sentiments against GMA Kapuso Foundation, regarding a jingle that he composed music for. According to Mr. Granada, GMA rejected his study for the jingle, but allegedly used his revisions for the lyrics (which was provided to him by GMA), and based the final tune on the musical structure of his study, all without attribution or pay. It would be best that you listen to the audio cast and hear it in detail and come up with your own opinions regarding the issue.

What makes this audiocast special, however, is the extent of Mr. Granada’s use of New Media — or, “Web two point oh” — to detail his complaint, in a totally unprecedented manner, and against Mainstream Media to boot!

Filipinovoices blog has also picked up on the issue.

Rarely do we ever write about the music industry here at FV, but this specific case will be an exception, only because this is a case of an entire media company denying a wrong that it has done, especially to a very talented composer like Gary Granada.

Songwriter and Composer, Gary Granada, was given lyrics which he was supposed to translate into music. This music would ultimately be used by GMA for a Kapuso foundation media campaign. But, GMA ended up not using Gary Granada, but it seems that they used his musical creation in the end, and basically ditched Gary and gave him nothing at all, not even a claim on the work itself, because as GMA says, Gary’s work was a “collective” work.

Ang Kape ni LatTex notes that Granada’s complaint is “totally unprecedented” because of the use of the Internet to air his sentiments.

What makes this audiocast special, however, is the extent of Mr. Granada’s use of New Media — or, “Web two point oh” — to detail his complaint, in a totally unprecedented manner, and against Mainstream Media to boot!

In the audiocast, he included a clip of his original study, the final product, and a detailed explanation on the musical structure of both, including the musical theory behind his gripes and a re-rendered tune comprising of his accompaniment and the tune used in the final cut of the jingle. To say that Mr. Granada maximized new media to explain his side is an understatement — he clearly understood that this is the best possible way to make people understand the situation in its fullest extent.

By Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON–TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington announced Wednesday he is taking a break from writing for his influential technology blog after being spat on at a conference and getting death threats.

Writing on techcrunch.com, Arrington, 38, said an unidentified man “walked up to me and quite deliberately spat in my face” on Tuesday at the Digital, Life, Design conference he was attending in Munich, Germany.

“In the past I’ve been grabbed, pulled, shoved and otherwise abused at events, but never spat on,” Arrington said. “I think this is where I’m going to draw a line.

[Read the rest of this entry »]