2020 was a year where everything changed, but as the old adage goes “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” Fans of K-Pop groups, K-dramas, and local celebrities continued to talk about their idols and shows online via Twitter despite not having in-person concerts and movie experiences that year due to pandemic restrictions.

With the dearth of in-person entertainment last year, more people gravitated towards talking about entertainment online, with Twitter reporting 678 million “entertainment-related conversations” in Southeast Asia during the first quarter of 2020, according to a press release.

“2020 was a year of unexpected and unprecedented change in the entertainment landscape, but Twitter continued to play its part in keeping conversations thriving,” said Carl Cheng, head of entertainment partnerships, SEA and Greater China, in the press release.

“Even as parts of the world look towards recovery and easing of lockdown measures, entertainment will certainly remain a key part of our lives. As this year promises new reality TV, local dramas, award-winning films and more in 2021, Twitter is excited to see where the next big escape will take us,” he added.

Philippine conversation about celebrities, local TV, and movies dipped in 2020, but conversations about shows available on streaming platforms increased throughout the region, with 184% growth (Q3 2020 vs. Q3 2019) in the Philippines, according to Twitter.

Generating a lot of buzz in the country last year were Academy Awards Best Picture Parasite by Bong Joon-Ho, and locally, the sitcom The House Arrest of Us and romantic drama blockbuster Hello Love Goodbye, both of which star Kathryn Bernardo.

Conversations about shows on streaming platforms also recorded big spikes in the number of related conversations in the third quarter (Q3)of 2020 in particular concerning Netflix, iWant, and iflix.

“This clearly shows that streaming services played an integral role during the extended periods of social distancing,” the company said.

The Sunday noontime show ASAP Natin ‘To continued to drive conversations on Twitter despite the closure of its mother network, ABS-CBN, in July 2020 (it has since found new channels online to present the show). The Philippine adaptation of the Korean drama series Descendants of the Sun also trended on Twitter as people “shared their sentiments seeing their fave K-drama with a relatable local spin,” the company said.

Fandoms also continued the conversations about their favorite love teams and groups online, with the fans of the “MayWard” love team (actors Maymay Entrata and Edward Barbers) and the P-Pop (Pilipino Pop) group SB19 some of the more notable examples. — Zsarlene B. Chua

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