Inside Serendra: A social media explosion

MANILA, Philippines – I was personally wrapped up in the explosion at Two Serendra, Bonifacio Global City. My condominium is two floors up, and 20 meters across from the unit that exploded at approximately 8 pm on Friday night, May 31. We were in the living room and felt the blast. The windows blew out and paintings fell off the wall. Our only door to exit the apartment was jammed shut and needed to be kicked open by maintenance.

Unfortunately 3 people died, I assumed from the truck that got crushed across the street. What ensued was a social media frenzy, I tried to keep up but during the evacuation my connection wasn’t consistent.

So I looked on Radian6 and this is what I learned:

1. Over 16,000 social mentions in 6 hours since event

Social mentions peaked at 9pm with 5,481 mentions, but have since dropped significantly as people go to sleep.

 

 

2. Sentiment is 81% Negative

81% negative obviously because of the nature of the incident. However what is inspiring is the 19% positive posts that mentions things like “thank god they are safe” and “safe and happy.” It seems even in a time of crisis people talk about the positives.

 

 

3. No speculation of terrorism

There is no fear that this was a terrorist or criminal act. People are mostly concerned about the explosion and the deceased.

 

Here are some photos from my condo:

– Rappler.com

Robin Leonard is the CEO of AllFamous Digital. He is a passionate digital strategist with a strong background in Digital Marketing, Management Consulting and IT Strategy. In 2011, he started a digital marketing agency in Manila that serves an international market, and has been incredibly busy ever since. They specialize in Salesforce.com Marketing Cloud product. 

This post first appeared in his blog and is reposted with the author’s permission.