Social Media really gets it right. The latest SWS survey came out, and more or less, we see the same results in their social media popularity. Wait for the March one that will come out soon. Social Media is the pulse of the people. You will not LIKE a page nor FOLLOW a person if you did not want to know what they are doing, or what they think of something. It is a sure way to get and keep their vote: engage with them.
Now 2016 is just a hop, skip and jump away. The Senators who will be running then should start beefing up their Social Media capital. Some don’t have good pages, or their pages are dead. Just used when campaign season comes. Which is sad. Media is about, again, engaging with the people. And that shouldn’t happen only when you need their votes.
So who are the popular ones now? Let’s rank the 23 current senators. (Italics meaning their term ends this 2013).
| Senator | Total | |||
| Manny Villar | 1 | 1,670,781 | 7,359 | 1,678,140 |
| Miriam Defensor Santiago | 2 | 136,901 | 340,470 | 477,371 |
| Kiko Pangilinan | 3 | 5,322 | 306,046 | 311,368 |
| Loren Legarda | 4 | 179,259 | 15,586 | 194,845 |
| Chiz Escudero | 5 | 87,722 | 103,542 | 191,264 |
| Juan Ponce Enrile | 6 | 171,055 | 19,512 | 190,567 |
| Pia Cayetano | 7 | 8,523 | 145,557 | 154,080 |
| Alan Cayetao | 8 | 153,013 | 755 | 153,768 |
| Bongbong Marcos | 9 | 33,075 | 64,145 | 97,220 |
| Koko Pimentel | 10 | 85,501 | 6,494 | 91,995 |
| Sonny Trillanes | 11 | 38,650 | 13,029 | 51,679 |
| Franklin Drilon | 12 | 42,274 | 256 | 42,530 |
| Bong Revilla | 13 | 24,645 | 3,461 | 28,106 |
| TG Guingona | 14 | 5,936 | 11,856 | 17,792 |
| Jinggoy Estrada | 15 | 8,333 | 1,870 | 10,203 |
| Gringo Honasan | 16 | 1,750 | 6,436 | 8,186 |
| Tito Sotto | 17 | 6,601 | 6,601 | |
| Lito Lapid | 18 | 4,745 | 4,745 | |
| Ping Lacson | 19 | 1,117 | 1,478 | 2,595 |
| Ralph Recto | 20 | 751 | 751 | |
| Joker Arroyo | 21 | 495 | 495 | |
| Serge Osmena | 22 | 284 | 284 | |
| Ed Angara | 23 | 179 | 179 |
Manny Villar understandably is very popular as he ran for President. Miriam is a firebrand and is always in the news. Loren and Chiz are topping the re-electionists. Pangilinan is Mr. Sharon Cuneta. And JPE, well, it was definitely his year in 2012.
The bottom 17 should beef up their staff. They need better PR… though not even PR, they need to really ENGAGE with the people. Better to let their advocacies be known, and also better to involve the people they are supposed to be serving.
Tip to Jinggoy, Bongbong and Bong… if you plan a run in 2016… work harder with these numbers.
