With some 9.5 million users, the Philippines is the tenth largest nation on Twitter, according to social media monitor Semiocast. An analysis of some 517 million Twitter profiles from around the world shows that the country is just behind Spain and ahead of Turkey.
Roughly a third of the Philippine population has Internet access, amounting to an online population of some 30 million people Of these, 93 percent also have a Facebook profile —leading some observers to dub the country the "social media capital of the world".
The country has managed to leapfrog progressive nations in the adoption of social media because of the relative affordability of gadgets, according to an executive from a local telco.
Filipinos' widespread adoption of Twitter is "not really surprising," said Smart Communications Inc. Chief Wireless Advisor Orlando Vea. "Filipinos have always been active in social media and we are increasingly using mobile phones to tweet or post on Facebook," he explained.
Smart Communications has over 1.2 million "Likes" on Facebook and almost 200,000 Twitter followers.
Twitter and Facebook were essential tools for communication on Tuesday for thousands of Filipinos in the wake of heavy monsoon floods. — TJD,
