On February 21, 2007, the tweet – “Looking for Filipino Twitter users” – marks the first instance of the phrase “Filipino Twitter” appearing on Twitter. Sent by user @mikoko, the term “Filipino Twitter” first emerged as a categorization: an ethno-specific designation to reflect an individual’s ethnic association to the Filipino identity. During the early years of Twitter’s formation (2006 – 2010) and before the emergence of prominent digital enclaves, this label identified and located fellow Filipinos, both in the Philippines and in the diaspora.
Currently, Filipino Twitter aggregates and mediates numerous conversations and threads relating to Filipino/xs broadly. As it stands, Filipino Twitter has no definitive definition and is interpreted through different lenses depending on the user. Individual interpretations contribute to the on-going progression of Filipino Twitter as different narratives, perspectives, and understandings contribute to this accumulated snapshot of Filipinx-/America.