YouScoop Session hosted in DLSU

Last January 27, DLSU, in partnership with GMA News, hosted #IMSocialxDLSU at the Henry Sy Sr. Hall. Lloyd Cadena, Jay Jaboneta, and Tonipet Gaba were invited to talk as part of the Think Before You Click YouScoop Session, with GMA News Reporter Rida Reyes and DLSU History Professor Xiao Chua serving as masters of ceremony.

Struggles and hardships

Online personality Lloyd Cadena talked about his Youtube journey and the difficulties he experienced before becoming famous online. He originally wanted to post videos of him singing in an attempt to become a famous singer, but he explained that fate took a different turn. Instead, he started making videos featuring his everyday life, something that his audience could relate to.

It wasn’t easy garnering that many views back when he was starting, Cadena explained, who joked about refreshing the page multiple times just to get his videos’ view count up. Cadena’s Facebook page has over 2.3 million likes as of press time.

By the time he reached a hundred thousand subscribers in Youtube, he received the Youtube Plaque. He was also awarded as the Best Comedy on Youtube in the Globe Tatt Awards. Alongside with other international YouTubers, Cadena also attended the first Youtube FanFest in the country.

The Facebook advocacy

Jay Jaboneta, co-founder of the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation, described how he used social media to promote his advocacy. He told the story of how he first heard of the situation of children swimming to school in Layag-Layag, Zamboanga. He shared a Facebook status mentioning the condition of the kids in the area, and he was surprised to see people sharing his post and telling him that they wanted to donate. This, Jaboneta recounted, was how the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation was established.

The children from Layag-Layag named the eponymous yellow boat pag-asa, because they see it as a sign of hope. As of today, the foundation has expanded to help other over 50 communities in the country. “Big things start from smaller things,” Jaboneta said, alluding to the how his simple Facebook status triggered change.

Jaboneta stated that technology can be harnessed for social good, but explained that it is our humanity that brings about change in society.

Harnessing the use of social media

Meanwhile, TV host and food blogger Tonipet Gaba talked about how it was like when he first started using social media sites. After his team researched on what kind of posts the audience wanted to see, the blogger started posting behind-the-scenes photos which started garnering more likes from their audience.

In addition to Gaba’s show “Tara Let’s Eat!” which revolves around food trips around the country, Gaba has started using Instagram to post shots of food. Gaba explained that each photo should be shot, composed, and curated well to attract the attention of the audience.