Chronically Online Country

When it comes to being online, Filipinos remain on top globally. Aside from being the social media capital of the world, the country outranks everyone else when it comes to watching vlogs and playing video games. This was amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic; Filipinos have grown increasingly dependent on their phones to the point that they are more social online compared to real life.

Why are Filipinos so online? We can assume that the Internet serves as a form of escapism.

A common theme found in the interviews is the longing for better public infrastructure.

In the optimistic scenario, Filipinos would not only have more public spaces to utilize, but also have easy and efficient modes of transportation for going to them.

Meanwhile, in the pessimistic scenario, such third spaces and transportation would be reserved for the wealthy, leading most Filipinos to be stuck in their homes.

We Filipinos are a social people, yet our surroundings are not conducive for socialization. Thus, we have no choice but to go online; social media serves as the most accessible public space that we can have.

In line with this, Filipinos’ inclination towards being online could be seen as a pursuit of freedom. The Philippines has a long history of dealing with repressive leaders, from various colonizers to local dictators. These leaders would often utilize censorship as a means of control.

By democratizing information, technologies like the Internet brought back power to the people.

…[M]ore than any other technology, data is…both the outcome and the prime mover…So the flow of information drives politics, [which] drives society…I remember reading somewhere [that]…political structures…could only exist in an era where information flows. [That’s because] that’s how you get debate, critical thinking, and…people challenging each other [and] expressing their views. Back when…information didn’t flow, we were governed by [the] [C]hurch, and royalty, and feudalism who had the monopoly on information…[The] Philippines is kind of a mix [of this], where generally…information flows; but the control of the information still falls on the hands of a few elites, right? Both feudal and…political. But that doesn’t mean the average Pinoy can’t get information on their own. That’s why [the] internet and AI, for me, is a game changer because the access to it so far has not been gatekept.

DOMINIC LIGOT
FOUNDER, CIRROLYTIX & DATA ETHICS PH

This could also explain why Filipinos are so tech-savvy, early adopters of emerging technologies like cryptocurrency and AI. Perhaps they view these as tools for creating better lives online, since many Filipinos now make a living through the internet; farmers have started playing crypto-earning video games full-time, while virtual assistants use ChatGPT to speed up their workflows. These digital workers are able to earn significantly more than typical wages in the country, which is afflicted by rising living costs and inflation.

Overall, the Internet helps Filipinos survive the real world by serving as a place of escape and as a tool for empowerment.