A recent social listening study conducted by Capstone-Intel revealed that the Maguindanao Massacre, one of the most tragic events that challenged the Philippine justice system and the press, has been losing its presence across the Philippine social media landscape.
For its 14th year, the research agency conducted a backtracking of posts about the Maguindanao Massacre and analyzed how it’s being talked about online by Filipino social media users.
Capstone-Intel Corporation is a high-impact research company that uses innovative research technologies, tools, and methods to convert data and information into breakthrough insights and actionable intelligence outputs. It is committed to helping its clients solve problems, find solutions, grow markets and constituencies, build reputations, navigate risks, manage crises, and be the country’s leading private research and intelligence agency.
Background
On November 23, 2009, in the town of Ampatuan, in the then-undivided Maguindanao province (now Maguindanao del Sur), in Mindanao, a mass grave containing bodies was discovered. This bloody event was known as the Maguindanao massacre or the Ampatuan massacre.
After being abducted, the 58 victims were killed while en route to present a certificate of candidacy for Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu. As part of the 2010 national elections, Mangudadatu was running against Andal Ampatuan Jr., the mayor of Datu Unsay, who happens to be the son of the current Maguindanao governor, Andal Ampatuan Sr. Additionally, Mangudadatu belonged to one of the major Muslim political clans in Mindanao.
In addition to journalists, lawyers, aides, and motorists who were either witnesses or falsely recognized as being in the convoy, Mangudadatu’s wife and his two sisters were among those slain.
The Maguindanao massacre is the deadliest occurrence for journalists in history, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Known fatalities from the massacre include at least 32 journalists.
The Philippines was ranked as the second-most hazardous country for journalists by the Committee to Protect Journalists, after Iraq, even before the Maguindanao tragedy.
Methodology
Capstone-Intel examined the Maguindanao Massacre’s online presence for one year, from November 23, 2022, to November 23, 2023, by utilizing all publicly accessible posts from social and non-social media platforms in order to gather the sentiments of the public about the Maguindanao Massacre.
Facebook Performance
Capstone-Intel found that the Maguindanao Massacre garnered a 12,490.2 engagement score for its 400 total post count, which yielded over 35,578 total reaction counts. When broken down, “Facebook like” accounts for 65.5 percent of the total reactions, with 23,317. Followed by “Facebook sad” with 5,97 reactions (16.8 percent), “Facebook love” with 5,554 (15.8 percent), “Facebook haha” with 501 (1.4 percent), “Facebook angry” with 146 (0.4 percent), and “Facebook wow” with 89 (0.3 percent).
Looking at the data, the majority of “Facebook like” and “Facebook sad” reactions can be attributed to several Filipinos sympathizing and honoring the lives lost during the massacre.
However, by looking at the engagement score, it can be seen that it only generated small traction, which can be noted as even though Filipinos still remember the tragic event, it is no longer given enough emphasis or focus by users for it to be a widely-discussed topic across the country.
Online mentions
Capstone-Intel likewise revealed that the Maguindanao Massacre got 88 percent negative mentions, and the remaining 12 percent were positive mentions. It is also worth noting that the Maguindanao Massacre received 724,000 social media reach while its non-social media reach yielded over 339,000 non-social media mentions, initiating only 428 user interactions.
Aside from these mentions, the majority of the context of discussion for the Maguindanao Massacre talks about the safety of Filipino workers, including journalists, and impunity, among others.
Top posts
The top post for the Maguindanao Massacre was a video explainer from Rappler discussing the story of the Maguindanao Massacre, receiving a 1,679.4 engagement score. This was followed by a historical poster from Rappler featuring the bloody massacre in Maguindanao. This post yielded a total of 337.3 engagement score.
The third most engaging post for the Maguindanao Massacre was a news post from SunStar Davao, which also looks back at the Maguindanao Massacre, yielding a total of 231.0 engagement score.
Looking at the top post and the engagement it translated, it can be emphasized that the news is the primary driver for discussion of the Maguindanao Massacre; however, the topic’s news performance was not enough to generate enough discussion to uplift the presence of the historical massacre that took place in the country 14 years ago.
With the weight of the controversy in the Philippines, the engagement and presence it produced over a year of backtracking can be undeniably looked at as few compared to other national issues the country faced.
