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Mobile photos are hot, ringtones are not


Ringtones are out, photos are in. That's been the major shift in mobile phone use in the Philippines in the last two years, based on the results of two independent studies of Filipino users. But a growing number of Filipinos are taking pictures with their mobiles not to send as MMS but to upload to social media, according to a recent media study by The Nielsen Company. The Philippines is one of the hottest countries in the world when it comes to the use of Facebook. "Offhand, I think instead of MMS, which is a one-to-one sharing, mobile phone users would rather upload their photos or videos to their (preferred) social network to enable more people to have access and have a more interactive engagement. Plus, its free compared to the cost of sending MMS," Nielsen Media (Philippines) executive director Jay G. Bautista said. Another study notes that an increasing number of Filipino Internet users are accessing the web through their mobile devices rather than through home or office computers, or Internet cafes. Radio has also overtaken MMS and ringtone and logo downloads among the leading uses for mobile for Filipinos. According to the Nielsen Media Index, in 2008, a survey of Filipinos 10 years old and above across all economic classes in urban areas indicated that the most used cellphone features were SMS/TEXT, followed by ringtones, logos, and other downloads; MMS; camera; and radio. A follow-up survey in the second quarter of 2010 showed that SMS/TEXT continued to be the top mobile feature, but revealed a surprising shift in secondary preferences: camera; radio; MMS; and MP3 player. When asked about the significance of these new results, Bautista attributed the shift to the youth-driven emergence of the mobile phone as an all-around media consumption device: "We see a shift to a more 'entertainment'-oriented use of mobile phones apart from communication, particularly among the youth, whose appetite for music and social networking continues to increase," Bautista explained, noting that 50 percent of mobile phone users surveyed were below 29 years old. "It seems that ringtones and logos are no longer 'fashionable', plus they eat up on one’s prepaid load, which is being prioritized for SMS," he said about the disappearance of downloads from the list. Bautista attributed the decline in MMS —which was once thought to be the next big thing in mobile communications after SMS— to the rise of social media, which are becoming increasingly easier to access via mobile phone. These observations are bolstered by similar findings in a separate study by Universal McCann. In its latest UM Wave5 study on the impact of social media in the marketplace, the company noted that 30 percent of active Filipino internet users aged 16 to 54 now access the Internet through their mobile devices. Of these, 52 percent are aged 15 to 24. Moreover, Filipinos are avid content creators on social media more than just passive consumers. According to the Wave5 study, over the past year alone, usage of microblogging services like Twitter shot up from 30 percent to 50 percent of all respondents in the country. -HS, GMANews.TV

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