Mugstoria.com’s talented young, guns engage in couch chat at the Marcelo Fernan Cebu Press Center: Danjick, Lim, COO Kevin Maglinte, Christian Ceniza, memes creator “Besh” Romero and Weiggibor Labos with their founder Jonji Gonzales, in silhouette, moderating the dialog. (CDN PHOTO/ TONEE DESPOJO)
Content is king, distribution is queen, and engagement is the kingdom.”
These are the pillars of social media, said Jonji Gonzales, founder of mugstoria.com, which specializes in creating viral content showcasing Visayan humor and pop culture.
Gonzales and his team, including his 21-year-old COO Kevn Maglinte, talked about their work and the importance of collaboration during the forum “Show and Tell: Out there It’s Micro-content, Memes, and Millennials” at the Marcelo B. Fernan Press Center yesterday.
The forum hosted by Cebu Daily News was part of the annual observance of Press Freedom Week.
“It should be relatable. In social media where there is small real estate, you need to generate bite-size, snackable content,” said Gonzales
Gonzales told the audience of mostly college mass communication students that millennials who make up the target audience, prefer short videos, memes and other micro-content compared to lengthy articles or long form posts
“We encourage you to explore this kind of format. Just look at your younger brother and you will see the future of how they consume media content,” he said.
Jonji Gonzales, founder of mugstoria.com explains the power of social media. (CDN PHOTO/ TONEE DESPOJO)
Gonzales ran his own public relations outfit for over 20 years before starting the website tenminutes.ph in 2013 and then mugstoria.com in January 2014.
He said Mugstoria, which is based in Lapu-Lapu City, collaborates with other sites like Medyo Maldito, Ato Ni Vines, Filipino Vines and Senyora Santibañez.
“It is very critical to collaborate with other sites because you can’t do it alone. It is important to get other communities,” he said.
Another viral technique, Gonzales said, is sharing posts with good vibes and humor.
He said social media can also bring out positive action as it did in raising awareness about the murder of Cebu college student Karen Kaye Montebon. He said the hashtag #JusticeForKarenMontebon went viral in a matter of minutes.
“After it went viral, true enough this was covered by traditional media. Too much conversation online also pushes the government to do something right away,” Gonzales added.
At the start of the forum he diclsoed that Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza and Davao City Mayor Rodolfo Duterte, a prospective presidential candidate, are his clients.
At two years old, its still early to monetize the “social entertainment network”, said Gonzales. He said they are focusing on increasing their audience first.
In two couch chats, Mugstoria team members talked about how they would spend up to 10 hours a day online, and brainstorm ideas for video shoots. Multimedia artist Danjick Lim said he relies heavily on his Android phone for mobile content. Content creator Christian Ceniza said he prefers to write than to talk. Megan Dale Romero known as “Besh”, who flew in from Davao, said he still feels awkward when strangers get excited to recognized him from his memes.
Social media curator Weiggibor Labos talked about trending online. Their COO Kevin said impromptu videos turned out “more nataural”.