Super Bowl no match to Aldub in tweets — Twitter exec

For Richard Alfonsi, Twitter's Vice President for Online Sales, the AlDub phenomenon is proof of the power of social media and shared that the company continues to remain fascinated by its hold on Filipino tweeters.

 

"AlDub beats the Super Bowl—the biggest sporting event in America," he told reporters at #BuhayTwitter at The Mind Museum on Thursday. The #TamangPanahon hashtag generated 41 million tweets; the Super Bowl trails at 27 million. 

 

Aside from the strong show of force during that first meeting between leads Maine Mendoza and Alden Richards, Alfonsi noted that on a regular day, fans of the AlDub pair generate an average of 4.1 million mentions.

Photo by Aya Tantiangco 

In an attempt to explain this to Vice President for Media for Asia Pacific and the Middle East Rishi Jaitly, special guest COMELEC director James Jimenez shared what he thinks hits the right notes for the Filipino audience and why social media is such a strong platform in the country. 

 

"Preachy stories," said Jimenez, "Stories with lesson—'yung may mga aral sa buhay—and transformation stories."

 

True enough, fans of the Eat Bulaga!'s Kalyeserye frequently gush about Lola Nidora's values and adhere to the #TamangPanahon idealogy. 

 

Additionally, Jimenez said that Twitter and social media transformed former "monolithic" institutions like the Government into more accessible entities. 

 

"Now the public can casually talk to agencies," he said and remarked that something like that was unthinkable before the age of the Internet. He cited the MMDA's humorous messages as form of revolution introduced by social media. 

 

During the #BuhayTwitter event, Alfonsi cited other events that trended on their platform and remarked that these milestones speak volumes about what people care about.

 

People flocked to Twitter during the January 2015 visit to the Philippines of Pope Francis, expressing their devotion and faith. 

 

The social media platform also stands witness to events that unite the Philippines, like all of Manny Pacquiao's fight and Pia Wurtzbach's telenovela-like win as Miss Universe 2015. 

 

Given all this data, Alfonsi is convinced that the Philippines is truly the social media capital of the world. — APG, GMA News

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