Multiply, another popular online social network for Filipinos
Posted on March 29th, 2009
Online social networking? Name it and chances are Filipinos are in it, and Multiply is no exception.
In fact, according to Multiply founder Peter Pezaris, out of Multiply’s 12.5 million subscribers worldwide, 3.5 million are based in the Philippines. He said that the Philippines is the second largest market for Multiply in the world, next to the United States.
For this reason, tech whizzes from Boca Raton, Florida, thought it is a good idea to make the Philippine a key market for social networking and content sharing site Multiply. They have already set up an office in Manila and is working to further beef up its presence in the country as it enters into a partnership with ABS-CBN Interactive.
“We’re working more closely with ABS-CBN and we’re setting up a Manila presence. We’re also ramping up promotions for Multiply Mobile, which will now feature an MMS posting capability,†Pezaris said.
David Hersh, Multiply co-founder and vice president of business development, said that unlike their American counterparts who are heavy internet users, Filipinos are more inclined to use their mobile devices to keep in touch. This, he said, makes the Philippines a good testing area for Multiply applications that ride on the mobile platform.
The upcoming updated Multiply version which will be released in two months should “resonate more with the Philippine audience than with US market.†“Multiply 4.0 will highlight our focus on media. I can’t disclose details yet, but I can say it will allow you to do just about anything you want with your digital media,†Hersh relates.
One of the reason Multiply is very popular in the country is that a lot of Filipino is using the site as a platform business. There are now thousands of online sellers who peddles almost everything on Multiply – from clothes, to trinkets, to pets, and even condominium units.
Pezaris however said that “sellers comprise less than one percent of subscribers in the Philippines. Most still use the site for photo sharing – the reason the service exists in the first place.†Still, he says Multiply is now reviewing its terms of service to accommodate this new breed of businesspeople.
It is always good to see how the Philippines embraces new technology and the internet is one sure way of starting to generate money without too much outlay which is a very positive element for a country with low salaries.
Tim