From Sunday lunches to holiday get-togethers, this is a common sight: In one corner, the dads, titos and lolos gather around a table, laughing boisterously at a corny joke between sips of beer and plates of pulutan. At another table, the moms, titas and lolas exchange juicy bits of gossip.

These endearing quirks have become so familiar that Twitter accounts like @DadsOfManila and @TitasofManila have gained thousands of followers with their hilarious portrayals of these archetypes. Other kinds of personalities have also jumped onto the bandwagon—@YayasOfManila and @ManilaConyos have also been entertaining people with their witty one-liners.

Following these accounts surely gives people a good laugh, but they also bring attention to the uniqueness of Filipino humor and the various cultural quirks we experience on a daily basis.

Follow frenzy

These local trending Twitter accounts, which serve as a source of entertainment to many Filipinos, is in part inspired by Humans of New York (HONY). Created by amateur photographer Brandon Stanton, the wildly popular photoblog features candid street portraits with insightful anecdotes and quotes.

“It started when a couple of friends and I joked about how I was starting to sound like my mom,” says Menchie*, the twenty-something Twitter account manager of @TitasofManila. “We joked about starting a Twitter account that kind of parodied [HONY] minus the profundity and then bam, Titas of Manila.”

What started with the simple tweet of “Belinda, how do I use Twitter?” has now gotten nearly 14,000 followers in just a month, especially after Armi Millare, Up Dharma Down’s lead vocalist and keyboardist, retweeted her “[Paano] mag RT?” tweet.

Menchie’s sudden success certainly took her by surprise. “I didn’t mean for ‘Tita’ to be a mere stereotype or caricature,” she remembers. “Plain and simple, ‘Tita’ is my mom—and everyone else’s titas and moms, apparently!”

There are over 150 “Of Manila” accounts to date with other subcultures, such as @IndieGirlsofMNL, and even other creatures, like @IpisofMNL, represented online. Sebastian*, the Twitter account manager of @ManilaConyos, was in turn inspired by @TitasofManila and decided to poke fun at his own social circle. “It also acted as some sort of social experiment to see whether or not these [conyos] are aware of their behavior,” he says.

The Probinsyanos in Manila account (@NotFromManila) was created as a reaction to @ManilaConyos. “One night, my little brother and I were reading the tweets of the @ManilaConyos account and we thought that the guy was really funny,” recalls Mikey Baron, its manager. “But then we couldn’t relate to all of the tweets [because] we’re not really from Manila, [so] I asked my brother if I should try making one.”

Daily dose of laughter

The secret behind the success of these Twitter accounts seems to lie in their ability to find humor in everyday experiences and translate them into witty statements. For communication sophomore Andie Cruz, these Twitter accounts are entertaining precisely because they are so relatable. “A lot of the tweets, at least to me, are about situations and ideas that no one openly talks about… It gives you that ‘Now I know I’m not the only one!’ feeling,” she explains.

This seems to come easily to Baron. “What makes my tweet a uniquely Probinsyano in Manila tweet is the fact that it happens to a lot of people from the province,” he shares. “So even if it sounds as stupid as someone from Manila thinking I used to ride a carabao to school everyday, people need to understand that it happened.”

That isn’t to say that coming up with fresh material is never challenging. “There are some days when I find it hard to find things to tweet about,” admits Sebastian. “Sometimes, I feel like I’ve tweeted everything there is to tweet about conyos.”

For Menchie, sustaining a consistent voice or tone, especially over time, can be difficult too. “It’s hard to maintain a single tita voice, especially because I get contributions from friends, but the tita-ness in me comes naturally too, then I just laugh because it’s exactly what my mom would say or do.”

The tweets aren’t just funny because people can relate to them on a personal level; many of these are cultural inside jokes that manifest our distinctly Filipino sense of humor. According to Andrew Ty, a lecturer at the Department of Communication, “I think the reason why [the humor] is so Filipino is because [the Twitter accounts] don’t try to generalize about Filipino-ness—they only focus on a particular kind of Filipino character.”

Ty emphasizes his point by giving @DadsOfManila’s “Mcdo delivery: ‘Isa ngang Champ’” tweet as an example. “The fact that the Philippines refers to McDonald’s as McDo, or that ‘Champ’ refers to [a burger sold by] Jollibee… [Without knowing these things], you’re not gonna get this joke, so context is important.”

Beyond the stereotypes

Although these Twitter accounts entertain, others argue that they fuel prejudices against certain stereotypes and reinforce social stratification. As the Nigerian writer and speaker Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said during her TED talk entitled “The danger of the single story,” “The problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue but that they are incomplete.”

“I guess the problem with these accounts is that they reveal things we don’t normally talk about, like class divisions,” Ty explains. “These issues are serious, but when they are turned into objects of humor, there’s a complicated transformation process that takes place. It’s not easy for us to say whether these things are good or bad.”

Most “Of Manila” tweets are usually done in good taste, often endearing themselves to the very people they parody, but according to an article in the The Philippine Star by Jansen Musico, other accounts tend to be unnecessarily exaggerated and blatantly mean. “[Chinoy accounts were] spewing borderline racist tweets with reckless abandon. Probinsyanos were made perpetually naïve, jologs and jejemon ridiculed, and the poor continuously marginalized.”

Sebastian, however, disagrees. “I don’t see how my tweets from [a parody account] can really affect people’s view on certain groups of people. I’m merely pointing out the things they already know.”

As for Baron, he believes that this trend encourages a certain level of self-reflexivity. “I think the positives outweigh the negatives because at least now, the people who’ve seen my tweets are aware and could be more sensitive when they treat people from the province a certain way,” he says. “Another positive effect is that people who are in the province now can try and understand more what could happen when they get to Manila.”

Ty says that while most tweets are done in good fun, there is the danger of generalization or “drawing people in broad strokes.” “Humor does not excuse the insensitivity, but it at least keeps the insensitivity from turning into outright hate,” he shares. “I’m a believer of the way humor can mitigate things, though I do understand that there are certain things that you shouldn’t joke about.”

While social media will soon move on to the next big trend, the unique sense of humor that these accounts embody is here to stay. Perhaps Baron says it best: “I think we’re all, in our own ways, just trying to keep the people entertained.”

Editor’s Note: Some names have been changed as requested by the interviewees.

by Andrea V. Tubig

@YuppiesOfManila, @ArtistsOfManila, @DriversOfManila—these days, anyone worth knowing in Manila can be found online. Not all Twitter accounts are created equal, however, and some are more popular than the rest thanks to their hilariously clever turns of phrase. In 140 characters or less, here are the must-follow personalities:

[columns][two-columns]@ManilaConyos

28,563 followers

Walwal nights out with the bros, a brand new pair of boat shoes and an undercut fresh from Felipe and Sons—some days, he truly is #blessed. [/two-columns]

13,834 followers

Despite her frugal household tips and tricks, she regularly dines at Cibo and Bizu, and shops at Rustan’s with Belinda, her trusty alalay.

@YayasOfManila

6,750 followers

When she isn’t with her beloved alaga, she reads Precious Hearts Romances novels and secretly enjoys being teased with the driver next door.[/two-columns][two-columns]

@DadsOfManila

6,679 followers

He often drives his family crazy with his tendency to nag about his kids’ whereabouts, doze off during mass and get addicted to Farmville.[/two-columns][/columns]