When electricity conked out all over Metro Manila, the only source of news that we could rely on was Twitter which we accessed through our mobile phones. I got most of my information from two Twitter accounts – PAGASA and Meralco. Twitter has become a crucial tool for them because not only does it serve as their main online update tool for their constituents and customers but it’s also a way for them to interface with other companies and media outlets. More insights after the break.
Meralco used their Twitter account to correct ABS-CBN reporter Ces Drilon when she said that Meralco issued a statement when in fact it was the National Grid Corp of the Philippines. They even had a tweet exchange with COMELEC Commissioner James Jimenez (nothing hostile). The biggest highlight for me though was how they used it for customer support. If you check the Meralco Twitter page, it’s peppered with their replies to various queries, concerns, and even hate tweets. I admire the patience and determination of the social media team of Meralco. I just hope that they can still do this on a bigger scale.
PAGASA used Twitter to mostly broadcast updates on Basyang. It was the primary news source of media and other Filipinos online and it was common to see a lot of people retweeting the tweets of PAGASA. What I found funny though was PAGASA complained to SMART via Twitter (through SMARTCARES) about their low signal in Agham road, haha.
It can still get bigger!
As of this writing both PAGASA and MERALCO have around 7,000+ followers on Twitter. This is just a small percentage of Filipnos who are actively using the popular microblogging service. If both agencies exert more effort in raising awareness of their accounts then I wouldn’t be surprised to see them with hundreds of thousands of followers soon.
Kudos to the people behind the Twitter accounts of Meralco and Pagasa. You guys did good!
