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This is mostly Facebook since it's zero-rated where most Filipino mobile users are prepaid. Young and old, rich and poor Filipinos are glued to their phones li
by dannyr 8y ago
This is mostly Facebook since it's zero-rated where most Filipino mobile users are prepaid.
Young and old, rich and poor Filipinos are glued to their phones like zombies all day browsing Facebook.
- oh_sigh 8y agoI didn't realize zombies were intently interested in social life.
- zavi 8y agoThat's very condescending towards Filipinos.
- poldoga 8y agoFilipino here, I didn't feel insulted. Its probably true. For a lot of people, the Internet = Facebook. Add to that the fact that Facebook is free due to telco subsidies and a culture that loves social interactions.
- axaxs 8y agoIn the US, you require a white male to take offense on your behalf these days. Hope you understand...
- zavi 8y agoOnly because you're not insulted doesn't logically mean it's not condescending. If a nation with a young population has a higher adoption rate for a modern technology than "developed" countries that are twice as old on average then good for Philippines. No need to dismiss them as "zombies" and bring in the usual Facebook circlejerk.
- max_wen 8y agobecause this is a time metric, I wonder how much the Phillipines' time use is impacted .. by .... sloooooooow ..... connection ........ speeeeeeeeeds.
- kaetemi 8y agoIt's true, though.
- ciguy 8y agoClearly you haven't been here and seen it in action. Groups sitting around the dinner table, or drinking, never interacting with one another or looking up from their phones. There is no cultural stigma to sitting on your phone and ignoring your friends like there is in other countries and it's rather terrifying to see it in action.
- wyclif 8y agoI'm a Westerner in the Philippines now, and just the other day I went out to a restaurant and there were a group of young people having dinner at the next table. As they ate, they all were staring at their phones and not conversing, just eating. I thought, "oh well, after they finish eating they'll probably be social over drinks." Nope, I was wrong. After the plates were cleared away, they all remained zombies glued to Facebook. Not a word was passed between any of them. It's really sad to behold what Facebook is doing to the Philippines. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say what people are doing to themselves via Facebook.
- ciguy 8y agoSame here, I'm American but live in Manila at the moment. There are many things here that happen due to lack of cultural precedent such as rampant unchecked phone use during social outings. One can only hope that the culture will evolve eventually to make this type of antisocial behaviour less acceptable.
- wyclif 8y agoOppo, which is a top Chinese smartphone maker, has a huge share of the Filipino market. And how they market these phones here in the Philippines is very revealing. The ads say: "Oppo: the selfie phone." That's right, the phone is actually marketed as a device primarily for taking selfies, not voice, SMS, or web.
- endless1234 8y agoThat's pretty standard everywhere, though? It's not like the newest iPhone would be marketed with "iPhone - the phone that makes calls and sends texts"
- dannyr 8y agoI (the original commenter) am Filipino. Born and raised in the Philippines.
- goobynight 8y agoHave you considered that a negative comment about a group can be true, without any bias towards the group?
- nedp 8y agoFilipino here. I blame carriers here for making Facebook free-of-charge. Yes, good thing that Messenger let's us send messages for free. But the thing is, we can't see images nor visit links unless you get a data pack/promo or connect to a Wi-Fi. Especially news, people can't see thumbnails or click links so they directly jump to wrong assumptions based on what they see and hear from the comments. Some people just lost the time to click articles as time goes by. I wish they made the plan's cheaper but this is the Philippines where internet sucks and PLDT (PH's largest internet provider) and Smart (PLDT's carrier) are the worst.
- bdibs 8y agoCan you really blame the carriers, at what point does personal responsibility take over?
- kartan 8y ago> at what point does personal responsibility take over? Maybe a good approach can be: - When there are millions of people with otherwise functional lives falling for unhealthy behaviour then you blame the carriers. - When there is a very small percentage of the population engaging in that behaviour, then is personal responsibility. For example, personal responsibility cannot be asked for when people lack education.
- AmericanChopper 8y agoThis is such an unbelievably condescending opinion. Filipinos are not so uneducated that they lack the ability to assess the quality of their own lives. Facebook didn’t invent self-destructive behaviour (to use a hyperbole), it will always be available for people to indulge in. Personal responsibility will always be the only answer to it, and to imply that Filipinos lack the education to implement it is remarkably offensive.
- Lucadg 8y agoThe reference to education was an example. I don't think parent implied lack of education in Philippinos [Edit: spelling]
- ygkkojr6 8y agoI don't understand what the ISPs are earning here? We have zero-rated Facebook/WhatsApp plans here in Spain but they are only available for certain, somewhat expensive plans. If Facebook or WhatsApp were zero-rated for cheap plans, nobody would pay for data, including myself.
- phatfish 8y agoI would assume the ISP is not out of pocket. Facebook pays them to provide the free data. Hooking more people on the drug is clearly of benefit to Facebook. Especially if the ISP's customers end up thinking Facebook IS the internet.
- csomar 8y agoI can confirm that. Having travelled their extensively; their usage is not healthy.