Developing Content for Migrants at Crossroads: Lessons Learned from Piloting an Online Community Portal for Overseas Filipinos

Millions of Filipinos have migrated to other countries to resettle and find work, forming one of the largest diaspora in contemporary times. But even with the ubiquity of the Internet, overseas Filipinos still complain about the lack of quality information sources for their myriad concerns (Del Rosario, 2007). This case study reports on the lessons learned from the pilot year of producing and managing content of HayPinas.org, an online community portal for overseas Filipinos. Taking cue from the trend of media convergence, this study seeks to outline a process model for developing content across online media platforms in the service of migrant advocacy. The study shares practical insights from HayPinas.org‟s experience in content development, online publishing, and social media management that is attuned to the information needs of its target audience.