Yahoo! Philippines Answers blog

Were you surprised by the results of last week’s American Idol finale? I was, but in a good way. I was personally rooting for David Cook to win but thought that David Archuleta was more popular. But, with an overwhelming lead of 12 million more votes, David Cook was really the people’s choice.

TD answers had to make sure of that so she asked the community if they think David Cook should have won American Idol. Mangotango100 fittingly gave the best answer and said that both were indeed talented and just amazing but Cook was the more flexible singer. If it was Pinoys who had to vote for the winner I would assume Cook will still emerge on top. What do you think?

But we can do our own voting here, American Idol brought the franchise to the Philippines and now we have Pinoy Idol. Ezekiel nicomedes asked if American Idol is better than Pinoy Idol and Rico Paulo gave him a good answer. He said it’s not about which is better but which can discover more talent. I agree with him, comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges.

Pinoys are certified music lovers so it goes without saying that a lot would want to become a famous singer. Preciso de respostas claras (or Denys for short) asked the community once how he can be a well-known singer. Guess what the best answer was? Yup, join Pinoy Idol (thanks Allan Y for the best answer)! X3lindalove asked a similar question but her dilemma was her dad did not want her to be a singer. Good thing quicksilver4224 shared to her some advice on how to explain her ambition to her parents and how she should always practice her voice. Diandra M asked how she can become an R&B singer, especially since she writes her own songs, and Percy L gave her some practical tips on how to use social networking to spread her music.

Somewhere out there, the future stars of the Philippine music scene are at home singing, practicing and hitting those high notes, waiting for their chance to show the country their talent. And most likely, we will know when their time has come because we will be voting for them as our Pinoy idols.

Subscribe to our RSS feed!

Chatting is cool and it’s fun, especially when there’s so many things to chat about – David Cook’s journey to becoming the next American Idol, the intense NBA playoffs, the new Indiana Jones movie, and the list goes on. You can chat through Yahoo! Messenger or in Yahoo! Groups, but definitely not here in Yahoo! Answers. This may sound new to some of you but it shouldn’t be because it’s in the Community Guidelines. Don’t’ take this against us, we’re not trying to limit your freedom of speech, we just wish to stay true to the mission of Answers:

Yahoo! Answers connects people to the information they’re seeking with those who know it. Everyone has life experience and knowledge about something, and Yahoo! Answers provides a way for people to share their experience and insight.

As you can see, Answers was never meant to function as a chat room or message boards. And although there is a tendency for us to be conversational within our actual question or answer (no problem with that), chatting per se is not permissible. Unsure about what’s considered chat? Here are some examples to help clarify what I’m talking about:

Chatty: “Do you like my poem?”

Better: “How can I improve my poem?”

Chatty: “Do you like my avatar?”

Better: “How do I make my avatar look more attractive?”

While chatting may not appear to be as grave an offense compared to other prohibited behavior like ranting, hate speech, cheating, or behaving maliciously, it’s still not allowed because it doesn’t necessarily add to the purpose of the site: to share quality knowledge. By preventing users from chatting in Answers, we can maintain a community of trusted shared knowledge instead of unreliable useless content. Remember, the community will only be an informative, engaging and fun place for all Pinoys if we keep it that way. So let’s all stick to the guidelines and keep to what we enjoy best about Answers, posting and answering questions.

Subscribe to our RSS feed!

It’s not what you think, this post is not about aliens. I’m saying this greeting for a newborn baby. Congratulations to my officemate Cris because his wife recently gave birth to a bouncing baby boy! I’m sure they are both so happy and feel so blessed for their little bundle of joy. They have yet to decide what to call their baby boy but maybe they can get some ideas from Gracie*C* who asked the community for help in deciding her baby boy’s name.

Becoming a parent is truly a major chapter in one’s life and it’s definitely something to prepare for. There are so many things to know and so many things to remember that a lot of questions have been posted by new and expecting parents at Answers. My1stduein0708 who is expecting soon asked the community if there’s any way for her to prepare for the birth of her baby. Mayarosie answers her with a very comforting and yet realistic advice. Marybguynn on the other hand asked why women who have just given birth are not allowed to drive for two weeks and pkjsturg shared to her how her doctor explained to the importance of letting her stitches heal first. Bella, who is adjusting to being a mom, asked what she can do to get her month-and-a-half old baby into a routine to sleep through the night and Chase, one of our top contributors, provides the best answer that it may take some time before that happens.

From the questions being asked, being a parent requires a lot of patience and understanding and it also involves a lot of responsibilities. But as many parents would say, it’s all worth it so long as their babies are safe, happy and secure. I have yet to personally go through it but I’m definitely looking forward to becoming one. I’m sure it will be an exciting and rewarding experience. Don’t believe me? Just ask your parents.

Subscribe to our RSS feed!

I’ve been talking lately about how online social media has helped Pinoys everywhere connect and establish a really thriving online community. Japs particularly shares in his comment in my previous post how Yahoo! Answers has provided Pinoys with a great avenue for meaningful connections. Another service that essentially provides the same benefit to users is MyBlogLog.

I’m sure this isn’t news to long-time bloggers but to those who may not know yet, MyBlogLog is a Yahoo! tool that allows bloggers to interact with their readers and create a community around them. By joining MyBlogLog, you can track your blog stats, view your recent readers, allow your readers to be part of your community, or lets you be part of other blog communities that you may find interesting. If you check out the right-hand side of the Answers blog, you’ll see the MyBlogLog widget and the names and images of the most recent visitors from the community.

So how does one join MyBlogLog? Simply click on “Join this Community”, sign up with your Yahoo! ID and create a new account. And if you’re a blogger, don’t forget to add the widget in your blog so you can easily create and grow your own community. So click on “Join this Community” on the Answers blog MyBlogLog widget now, I’m excited to see and meet everyone here in the Yahoo! Philippines Answers community!

Subscribe to our RSS feed!

I recently read in the news that according to a study entitled “Broadband Consumer Survey: Identifying Key Broadband User Segments in the Philippines” conducted by IDC , a US-based global research company, most broadband users in the Philippines are people who frequently blog, go to social media networks, and visit online communities. In another study, particularly the Universal McCann’s Social Media Research for March 2008, results showed that users in the Philippines ranked first in the world in joining a new social networking site (83.1%) and on uploading photos on photo sharing websites (86.4%), it ranked second in reading blogs (90.3%) and uploading of videos in video sharing sites (60.5%), and was fourth in writing blogs (65.8%).

Very interesting data because it gives us a glimpse of what Pinoys love to do online. Obviously the numbers show that we love social networking and online communities. Maybe that’s why The Outlaw asked the Answers community if we are more or less outgoing online than we are in the real world. It’s really something to think about and the answer to the question can be very subjective, although I remember reading somewhere that people who are sociable online have a tendency to be the same offline. Do you agree?

The data in the studies also showed that Pinoys are very much into blogs and blogging. I started blogging four years ago but only got the hang of it two years ago. If any of you are planning to start a blog, discover what 1Chance learned from Krishbhavara when he asked for help on how to start one. Also, Mac got some really good ideas when she asked the community for some ideas for a creative blog name.

It’s really good news to know how active we are in the online scene. I hope more Pinoys discover how online social media like Answers help us establish meaningful connections and continue to enable us to grow a relevant and responsible Pinoy online community.

Subscribe to our RSS feed!

It’s almost the middle of May and I’m sure everyone right now, especially the students, is enjoying summer vacation. With all the free time in your hands, there’s usually so many things you can do during this long break. The important thing is to plan for it so you make your summer memorable and worthwhile.

This month of May, one of the things you can do is to be part of the Flores de Mayo, a month-long Catholic flower festival in the Philippines held every May in honor of the Virgin Mary. Its highlight is usually the Santa Cruzan which is a parade of sagalas (or muses) held on the last day of May.  Spydey asks if any of the women here have experienced being a sagala. It must be an exciting experience for women to be a sagala in a Santa Cruzan and parade around town in a long procession.

Of course, there are so many other things to do this summer break. Redbedhead_24 is spending the summer reading books and asks the community what in their opinion are the must reads this summer. On the other hand, Mcdreamy is starting to feel bored already so she asks for ideas to help her overcome boredom.

So how has your summer been so far? Productive? Fun? Exciting? Mine’s been both life-changing and exciting and best of all, memorable! I hope yours is too.

Subscribe to our RSS feed!

Somebody once said that no one in the world can take the place of our mothers. True enough, our moms are really extraordinary. No one else but they are given the rare opportunity to bring us into the world, to nurture us, to provide for us, to teach us, to discipline us and basically to raise us up. That’s why it’s only fitting that we devote a special day for them every year.

Mother’s Day in the Philippines this year falls on May 11. It’s a good thing MC asked when Mother’s Day is celebrated in our country because apparently, different countries give tribute to mothers on various days of the year. Just remember that for us, it’s always the second Sunday of May. But I believe what people are mostly asking in Answers about Mother’s Day would be gift ideas for moms. It can be overwhelming to think of what to give to the most important woman in our lives, I know because I have that same dilemma. Momx3 asked that question and was able to get a lot of good ideas from the community, particularly from TxsWitchWAB.

Personally, I think the best gift we can give our moms this Mother’s Day is our time. It’s really not how expensive the gift is, it’s about spending quality time with my mom and letting her know how much I love her and how thankful and blessed I am for all she has done for me. Abuelamah thinks the same and asked everyone how we want to spend Mother’s Day and a lot shared how they and their families plan to spend this special day with their moms.

Reading all these questions and answers about Mother’s Day all the more inspires me and reminds me of how much my mom means to me and how important it is to celebrate her day this May 11. So to all the mothers out there, Happy Mother’s Day!

Subscribe to our RSS feed!

Mabuhay!

How cliché to say for a first post but it’s the most appropriate thing to say in this case for two reasons. Firstly, it marks the Yahoo! Philippines Answers blog finally going live! Now you can get your regular updates about what’s new, what’s hot and what’s not in Yahoo! Philippines Answers straight from this blog. It used to be just one blog before which covered all versions of Answers in Southeast Asia, but now each country has its own blog.

Secondly, it’s to welcome me on my new job. As some of you may know already, I was recently hired to be Yahoo!’s Community Manager for the Philippines and it’s simply a thrilling experience to represent Yahoo! and be part of the team that makes sure that services like Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers and Flickr continue to empower Pinoys and help us grow a meaningful and responsible Pinoy online community.

You’ll be hearing from me constantly from this blog and occasionally, you’ll be seeing me offline as well in upcoming Yahoo! events across the country so please feel free to leave a post, email me or even chat with me should you have something in mind or just want to say hi. I’ll be here to listen to you to help make your online experience with Yahoo! a continuously enjoyable and meaningful one.

So to everyone, mabuhay!

Subscribe to our RSS feed!