Blog and Soul

For three of the country’s most influential bloggers, it’s not all about fame and moneymaking ratings. Transit chats with Jayvee Fernandez, Phoebe Ramos and Coy Caballes who have turned their hobbies into a powerful media tool.

By Julian Catral
Photos by Mark Chester Ang

Internet’s high page ratings don’t always belong to the rumormongers, the gossip-frenzied, and those run-of-the-mill social climbers. We met three bloggers who prove that there is substantial life out there on the web. Their pages showcase their passion for a variety of click-worthy topics.

Coy Caballes
thisiscoy.net

Coy is a fresh UP graduate and an aspiring filmmaker, and through his vlog (short for video-blog) he takes on his aspirations YouTube-style. He started out in 2004 as a personal blogger. “And then when I discovered Happy Slip’s show in 2006, it inspired me to make my own show,” he shares.

Coy’s video blog was launched in April 2007, via a short personal introduction. What followed was a video blog about his family trip to Baguio, which got a lot of comments. “Readers said it was the first time they saw a blog that’s purely video,” says the 22-year-old. “It was new to them; and they said they wanted more. It inspired me to do more.”

While video blogging would be a toil for many—with all the conceptualizing, shooting and editing one has to do—Coy still prefers it to writing. “Writing takes a lot of my time. With video-blogging, you just face the camera, hold the microphone, and you can talk about anything. Your only problem would be editing. You have to fit everything in five minutes because web viewers have a short attention span. You have to be interesting within the first few seconds.”

This Is Coy contains hardly any of the Moymoy Palaboy kind. His vlogs are about witty observations on his everyday life. “My videos are a bit tame because my entire family is watching—even my relatives from the States. But I did one controversial entry about Malou Fernandez, the writer who dissed OFWs. I made an essay-type video blog about her—pictures included. It was even shown on ANC as a prelude to a show about her.”

While video vlogginh is still a growing niche, Coy has already been recognized in several contests, including last year’s Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs. The funny thing is, Coy doesn’t even use a fancy video camera to shoot the episodes of his vlog—just digital cameras. And he got them all for free. “I’ve been very lucky,” he says.

KNOW MORE ABOUT THE FEATURED BLOGGERS

Location: Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at A.Venue, Makati.
Special thanks to Geiser-Maclang PR.