The 'Fight of the Century' and Social Media in the Philippines

It was hailed as the “Fight of the Century.” On Saturday, May 2, 2015, American Floyd Mayweather defeated Filipino Manny Pacquiao by unanimous decision after 12 rounds at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao was considered the underdog going into the match, a title that reflects his background, having grown up in the southern Philippines with largely nothing.

However, his home country of the Philippines is hardly known for nothing.

Here are two surprising stats I share with people whenever speaking about the Philippines:

1. The Philippines leads the world in time spent on the Internet, averaging a whopping 9.6 hours per day. Thailand comes in second, followed by Brazil, with the U.S. coming in 11th at 7.4 hours.
2. The Philippines ranks number one globally for time spent on social media at 4.3 hours per day against the global average of 2.4, cementing its reign as the most socially active country in the world.

Facebook plays a role in all aspects of a Filipino’s life, from connecting with brands on their Facebook page to socializing with friends. According to a 2014 study by TNS for Facebook, 78 percent of Filipinos have liked a business’ Facebook page; 73 percent have played a game on Facebook; and 50 percent have searched for product information on Facebook.

Angel Locsin, a local actress, has the largest fan count of a Facebook page, currently hovering above 12 million. However, the Manny Pacquiao Facebook page has been the fastest growing page in the Philippines in the past week, seeing an addition of 413,302 new weekly fans in the run up to his fight. At the moment, Pacquiao’s page has just more than 8 million making him one of the top 12 most popular pages in the Philippines.

As a comparison, Floyd Mayweather has more than 10 million fans on his page.

Filipinos are not just consumers of content, but also active producers and sharers of content. Fifty-four percent have “checked-in” or tagged their location. Fifty-nine percent have posted a news story or article. And 71 percent have posted videos or links to videos within Facebook. A 2014 survey by IPG Mediabrands showed that among Filipinos, social media satisfied the need to:

• Stay in touch with friends (74 percent)
• Meet new people (70 percent)
• Have fun (65 percent)
• Share new experiences (63 percent)
• Keep company (62 percent)

Even before Facebook, Filipinos became the world’s top users of the first and biggest social networking site in the world, Friendster. And beyond this, they also emerged as the top online video watchers globally across sites like YouTube and others.

And finally, for years they have remained number one as the top SMS senders in the world. In 2003, Filipino mobile subscribers sent an average of 195 text messages per month (about seven a day). In comparison, that same year, the average users in the U.S. sent just 13 messages per month.

By 2009, the average Filipino cellphone user increased their volume to more than 600 text messages per month.

According to We Are Social Singapore, Internet penetration in the Philippines is only hovering around 44 percent. And Internet speed is currently at a measly 2.5 mbps. As these two figures start to improve, we’ll see the Philippines start to pack an even greater punch on the world stage.

Image via Shutterstock.