Filipino Pride on Facebook
Filipino Communities on Facebook are a home away from home for members
Being born in the Philippines and visiting almost every other year throughout my life, I call the Philippines my second home. So naturally, when I browsing through Facebook one day from my couch in Louisiana, I see delightful image of a Kamayan, and immediately; I wanted to join in. A Kamayan is “a traditional Filipino feast in which no utensils are used. Food is prepared and arranged along banana leaves for a group to eat entirely. I pretty sure I was salivating, just seeing this post. A large table with banana leaves as a table cloth, then a big heaping helping of steamed white rice. Then the layering begins. Boiled Crabs, grilled squid and shrimp, marinated milk fish, crunchy spring rolls and crisp pork belly, fried fish, bbq pork skewers, sweet sausage, corn, green beans, melon, mango, roasted eggplant or peppers, noodles, spinach and on occasion, I’ve seen lobster and other shell fish such mussels and clams. The best thing about this traditional feast is you can dig in with you hands!
Upon further inquiry into the Kamayan image post, I saw that it was posted to a group called Filipino Cooking Group, so naturally I joined. This popular group with more than 425 thousand members and counting, is going strong. People in communities want to find something in common and in the Filipino culture sharing food is caring. We love to eat, love our families and our culture and that is why this group is thriving. It’s a place where we can celebrate our food and our love for it, through images, recipes and traditions.
I’m not entirely sure how I stumbled and found my way on this group, perhaps it was the Facebook algorithms, or maybe a Filipino friend shared a post. How ever it came across my feed, I am grateful.
In my non virtual world, I belong to a Filipino community that has dues and members and served as vice president of the organization for two years. We get together and celebrate each other and our culture and it always revolves Filipino food! It’s nice to be have the same sense of community in the virtual world as well.
What’s interesting that in Filipino Cooking Group, there are is a ton of engagement. I am especially fond this group in particular. because there seems to be a nice mix of video, recipes, etc., which makes for interesting conversations and participation is usually encouraged.
Even though I am on other Facebook groups, I am not in any other group related to the Philippines even though there are tons of other Filipino themed groups such as Filipino American patriots, Filipino smart shoppers, Filipino bikers, boxing Philippines and then some of the most popular ones are the Filipino single women, or Filipinos looking for foreigners. I have a screen shot of the admin rules to this matchmaking group “Filipinos looking for foreigners”. I especially like how the admin kept the about and key rules abrupt and to the point. This is refreshing from some of the book long admin rules I have seen from other groups in my research.
Some other examples of group posts from Filipino Cooking Group, to show the diversity of the posts, The last post was a video of two toddlers eating Pancit(filipino noodle dish) so cute. Then a post from a Filipina married to a foreigner in Poland, which is quite common and that’s why groups like this is so important to bring that sense of home away from home. So If your missing your childhood comfort dish or whether you want to learn about other customs and foods, there are many Facebook groups out there that could be just for you! Just need to search for what your interested in and find a curious community that is waiting for you.
