Smart Communications joins 2012 Social Media Day
Leading wireless services provider joins thousands of Filipino netizens as the country celebrates the 2012 Social Media Day this Saturday, June 30, 2012.
“Through several campaigns on popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Foursquare, Smart will show the world why Filipinos are the best when it comes to social media,” said Smart Broadband Internet and Data Services Head Lloyd Manaloto.
Touted as the biggest annual gathering of social networkers, Social Media Day will culminate in the form of meet-ups which will take place in several locations nationwide. Simultaneous get-togethers of the country’s most influential bloggers, and “Twitteratti,” have been scheduled in major cities such as Makati City and Quezon City in NCR, Cebu City in the Visayas, and Davao City in Mindanao as part of the global celebration
“This is the first time Filipinos will be celebrating this global event in the country and we’re doing it in a grand scale,” said Manaloto. Drawing inspiration from the movie The Social Network, he adds that “You don’t become the social media capital of the world, without getting its attention.”
Despite being a developing nation, the Philippines has been able to gain prominence online and was dubbed as the “Social Media Capital” of the world. It edged out more progressive countries such as the US and UK in large part because of the affordability and the accessibility of broadband technologies made available by telcos such as Smart.
Smart boasts of more than 20 broadband plans, products, and peripherals that enable Filipinos from all walks of life to enjoy the power of the Internet. Offerings ranging from entry level USB dongles with time-based plans to high speed pocket routers with volume-based allocations, for example, are all available in thousands of Smart retails centers and partners nationwide.
“We have consistently introduced the latest, the best, and the most affordable Internet services in the Philippines,” said Manaloto. “These, coupled with the Filipino public’s inherently friendly and communicative nature have spurred the Philippines to the top of the social networking heap,” he said.
In September 2011, Smart pioneered free mobile data access with the introduction of SmartNet on the Netphone 701.
SmartNet is a suite of applications which enables users to chat with fellow SmartNet users, search and add contacts from the cloud, check on their favorite social feeds, post updates, and read articles, among others.
But what really sets this world-first software is that it is absolutely free to use on Smart’s network thanks to a proprietary technology called Safe Browse.
“Safe Browse lets smartphone users take full advantage of their device’s data capabilities without fear of being charged,” said Manaloto. “It only allows access to white listed sites and services so you can keep using your phone worry free,”
SmartNet is available for free download on Google Play! for Android devices and on the Apple App Store fos iOS devices. A Windows version will be available soon.
In its own way, Smart has also been very active in social media sites. It boasts of having more than 1.2 million ‘likes’ on Facebook (the second highest in the Philippines), 15,664 friends on Foursquare, and over 200,000 followers on Twitter all of which, enable the company to further reach out to its loyal subscribers.
“Whenever Filipinos need to communicate, we will be there,” said Manaloto. “Not only that, we will continue to improve on our services so that they can enjoy and experience that will help them Live More,” he ended.
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