About two weeks ago, the company I work for turned two (happy anniversary, perky peeps!) and during our celebration my officemate Roz piped, “We’re not even talking to each other, we’re just on our phones!” And oddly enough, this is the culture that has developed. It is no longer weird for two people right next to each other to like and comment on another’s photo on Instagram while sitting next to each other. This culture has been extremely prevalent that even ad campaigns are calling for us to put down our phones and communicate with each other.
And while people may be quick to state the negative effects of technology, the positive effects of it definitely outweigh the bad. This is especially true for straight out of college kids who have already gained multi-hyphenated titles. Unlike the career path of the generations before us, there are no black and white rules, and everyone has a better chance at learning and adapting and progressing.
The unique culture has also quashed any “desk” jobs that used to be the norm. Today, the younger generation is making a killing at setting trends and gaining followers. It’s a generation unlike any other and as someone in her mid twenties (according to my boss, I still have a year to say that), I needed insight to better understand this from someone younger.
That someone was Nikko Panti, the producer of the popular online fashion magazine that houses the biggest bloggers in the Philippines including David Guison, Lissa Kahayon, Miko Carreon, Mikyle Quizon and Dani Baretto called MadHouseMNL. Nikko was quick to describe the latest sensation, “Most of us are online. Bloggers are the ones who deliver what’s happening in a instant through social media.” These days, bloggers are deemed more credible due to the fact that they are just your ordinary, everyday young twenty something with extraordinary taste in music, fashion, and food. Aside from traditional blogging, MadHouseMNL also has MadTVPH, also created by these fresh graduates. And true to its multi-hyphenated culture, MadHouseMNL also provides creative designs, blog management, and digital/ public relations to other bloggers.
Nikko, who graduated with a degree in Psychology from Letran, says the biggest challenge in producing an online centric company is to “deliver it first to the readers. The competition of the online platform is stuff and so publishing a story first makes all the difference. For Nikko, being involved in this line of work also means living in the now and engaging in his number one passion: sharing stories.
And what’s refreshing about this new culture is that they no longer find the need to wait, such as wait for the right opportunity, the promotion, to make enough money etc to pursue their passion. Technology has given us, possibly through the growing culture of Thought Catalog, BuzzFeed, and Bustle, the courage to pursue our dreams with our eyes closed and no questions asked.
And it’s shaping the world into a different place, yes, but also into ultimately, a better one where each voice is heard and no longer set aside.
