#Shift Davao Social Media Conference (Part Two)

iamsuperbianca shared her tips on building a strong social media community. 

                 “Puno kaayo  ang utok. Di mahutdan. ”, Wilfred shared after the talk of Maria Ressa. And Juliet Vasay approached us and said, “Hi. Luoy kaayo ang USEP. Way banner. Nagpaila lang jud. Ahaha.”

                “Pobre kaayo lagi. Paita. hahah”. I responded. A writer from The Collegiate Headlight replied, “Wala mi kabalo Ma’am/Sir na naa diay banner parade. Hahaha”. And the conversation continued while we were busy taking group pictures. USEP Delegates .And we were around 9 in the crowd.

                   I introduced Juliet to Wilfred. “ Juliet, this is Wilfred, the one that I told you the other day who would register me to this conference. Siya nagbuhat sa akong blog.”

                     “Hello. Taga – USEP ka? Gusto ko magblog pero the problem is I don’t know how to start a blog”, Juliet lamented.

                “ Yes. IC… I can make one for you. Just e-mail me the contents”, the  proud blogger Wilfred replied.

                “Really? Wow. Sige sige excited nako. Kay Sajed lang sah ko mag-ask about blog. I really love to write…”, Juliet continued.

                “Sure. Just give me your number and we will talk. What are your interests, Ma’am?, Wilfred asked.

                “Food.  Food.  Fashion.  Travel.“ , Juliet answered .

                “ Ganahan kaayo na magsulat si Juliet, Kuy. Sige ra na laag. Kaon diri. Kaon didto. Coffee diri. Coffee didto. Sige ra na magpost sa twitter ug facebook. Daghan jud na siya traffic ba. UIC ug USEP na.”

                And the bloggers’ discussion went on. Connections. Connections.  And we are now starting a strong social media community!

                And thank God because Bianca Gonzalez, yes Bianca Gonzales, was about to start a talk on “Building a Community in Social Media” and she is the right person to talk about this since she is one of the Philippines’ most-number of Twitter followers and known for her strong charisma in print, TV, and social media. No doubt she has one of the biggest and strongest community online.

                “Who you are online should be who you are in real life.” Bianca stressed out this in building a community in social media. She went on by saying what you can say online, you can say in real life. She added that if your enemy has no profile picture  , neglect him as if he does not exist in your virtual and real world.  She related also that bullying is rampant in social media and you need to deal with it. Face it. She has been bullied also in social media. “It hurts. Tao rin ako. Noon nga, binubully rin ako. Negra. Negra. Pero ngayon….”, she laughed. Her friends would just say to her, “ Wag mo na silang intindihin. Importante may pamilya ka.”

                “ Guwapaha jud ni Bianca uy. “ Bright pa jud. Kana! ” And the crowd was still mesmerized with the beauty of this celebrity.

Bianca shared 10 tips on how to build a community in social media:

1.       Pick a fitting (username and photo).

2.       Start STRONG.

3.       Start a CONVERSATION.

4.       Content is KING.

5.       Write your IDOLS.

6.       Use relatable HASHTAGS.

7.       Use catchy images.

8.       Go multi-platform.

9.       Grow your network.

10.   Follow with action.

                Bianca ended the talk with this, “ There is Annabel Rama  in some of us. There is Sarah Geronimo in some of us. “  True,  so we must be ready to face and stand on what we post.

The members of the social media community gather in this conference.