A Social Networking Site For Those Who Need It Most

Facebook is IN definitely, but some people call it the Second Facebook. It's a new social networking site developed, designed and suited for Filipinos and it's called Pinoy Kubo. There are 40 million Filipinos working all over this planet, add those who have become citizens of their respective "guest" countries and you have an idea of WHY we think that it's time to have a social network suited for Philippine communities anywhere in the world. Reminds me of the Jewish diaspora and makes me wish they had the internet then.

Yes, the idea is Filipino and so is the design though the technology which made this possible is in two main cities in Canada. Some may say there is Facebook anyway, why the need?

- One, it is designed for suited for those who feel they are far away and need to "see and meet" their family on a daily basis in a cozier place where they are free to express themselves in English and in their own language. PINOY KUBO is a networking site which makes one "feel" that he/she is not far away. It's the feeling of "I belong HERE" which is typically ingrained in the national psyche of the people.

- Two, Facebook has become such a huge "place" that one can easily get lost. PINOY KUBO is a smaller version of a mongrel type of social networking place. It has the blogging features of Multiply; the usual FB features, except that in this site, you can store even your audios. For instance, you can have all your favorite mp3s stored in your PINOY KUBO account -- or you can tape a message or sing a song to your family or friends using the audio feature. It is designed to be more "intimate" and has better privacy controls. Chat is there but if you feel like writing (literally) a message to post in your chat board to someone, you can do so. Draw a heart or leave a short message in your own scrawl is possible.

- Three, what would life be without OPM? Isn't that why Martin Nievera and Charice are global hits? The site if filled with OPM that you can listen to all day. You can also sing a long, hear the news, exchange views about the latest news and gossips as if you were at home. There are also videos and movies!

-Four, talk about gaming we beat Facebook! There are about 3000 games when you visit the Arcade , from RPG games to quizzes, puzzles and well.. almost everything! There are the usual polls, "ask a friend a question" feature but what is spunky yet functional is that there are free ecards within this site that you can send to anyone in the world with an email address.

- Five, there is also the classified ads. But there is also the paypal protected "store" that anyone who is enterprising enough can open. Sell your stuff, "make" some stuff to sell, and you open your own business. Place the LINK on your site (or at any site for that matter). The good news is that is is FREE as long as one is a member of PINOY KUBO.

The management of PINOY KUBO also has plans to put on talk (as in free real voip) there plus turning the stores into a HUGE "mall". The network is still new, it's still a "baby network" but it is growing fast with now over 15,000 members and it just "started" a day or two ago. More applications and games are being "invented" and created. So these are very good signs for the initial stages. Anyone with enough business foresight will see that this could indeed be the next global site, though that is not the initial intention. Yet, there is such a thing as an inevitable success and this is probably going to be one of them.