Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Jejemons, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Many spoofs of international television programs and media outputs inclined towards the Jejemon phenomenon have been circulating online. To be particular, the Jejemon cyber text language has been thoroughly discussed in various public programs like Showtime, Saksi, TV Patrol World, etc. Nonetheless, the sizzling talks end up online through blogs, forums, chat messengers, SMS, and social networks like Facebook, Friendster and Twitter.

Don't be surprised if Justin Bieber tweets everyone and asks what a Jejemon is.

It cannot be denied that this phenomenon has had direct implications to society which is evident in the image below. It presents a spoof of an international game, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, wherein the player becomes troubled trying to decode the question being asked of him.

Photo Courtesy: Blog on my Mind

Now, I would like to ask you. If you were in his place, would you still want to answer the question?  What do you think is the right answer? Would you want to be in it to win it?? Would you want to study the Jejenese language and be familiar with terms like:

JejeDEX, Anti-Jejemon, Jejebusters, Jejeball, Jejemon Fashion, Jejemon Looks, Jejemon culture, Jejemon style, Jejeworld, Jologs-inator, Jeje Statements, Jejemon, Jeje Alphabet, Jeje Nazis, Digimon, Pokemon, Jejemon Blog, Bebemon, Jejemonism, word of the year, Jejedex Contest, Jejemon Blog Contest, Jejemon Blog Contest 2010, Jejemon Contest, Jejemon Living, Jejemon Society, Jejemon World, Jejemon on Saksi, Jejenese, Jejetyping, Jologs, Jeje Cap, Jeje Keyboard, Jeje Scooter, Jejemonism... and counting?

Monday, June 21, 2010

Jejemon History: How It All Began

Several years ago, a lot of the youth joined text messaging clans while others played online MMORPG games like Ragnarok, Flyff, and Gunbound. Some, with the urge to find and get to know people of all ages online, joined in social networks like Friendster and Multiply. At that time, Friendster was in while Facebook was not what it turned out to be at present.

Due to the necessity of having to relay a message abruptly so as not to be delayed in action (while playing, texting or commenting), they tried to make messages they type really short to an extent that every word was internally altered using numbers to creatively displace letters that would still make the words readable. Of course, Jejemonism was not that intense and obvious at that time. 

It took a longer time before the more educated ones realized that something's not right and one thing has to be done - to abide by what is being conventionally dictated by society. At that moment, many of the younger generation became adapted to this kind of typing style for they really thought that it was somehow cool,  manageable and widely accepted within their age range. It was the new hip at that time, but as it grew out of nowhere, concerned academic people took this as a threat to the educational standards. In time, Jejemonism became the latest source of boiling social debates.

As time propelled and confusion arose, people who got addicted to this type of grammar destruction were termed Jejemons and were subjected to social criticisms. Somehow, they were associated to the Jologs due to the similarities in their style and fashion statement. Not all Jejemons are Jologs since some only type Jejenese but do not wear the same attire the Jologs wear. Also, not all Jologs are Jejemons because Jologs love to use outdated or absurd attire while some do not type the Jeje way.

Because of their interest in meeting new friends online and group messaging in their respective clans, as well as that need to cope with what is happening around them, they too involved themselves on Facebook, recklessly adding new friends on their list and pleading "pLz aDd m3 p0whsz!". Who knows, they might just be on their way to join Twitter. :)

On Conventions, Jejebusters

The campaign of Jejemons for social acceptance has been one of the main issues being discussed within the Filipino community. For Jejemons, they only want to live normally, that is, their lives not being dictated by what is  conventional. To tackle this point, what in reality is conventional? Does this refer to our conformation to socially accepted customs, behaviors or styles brought by the Western colonizers?

Is Jejemonism or Jejetyping the unusual way of doing things particularly in communicating with other people? And by this, do we mean to say that Jejebusters follow the other way around and necessarily impose that they are more superior in the educational hierarchy? If anyone could clearly define what makes someone a Jejemon and what makes Jejebusters hate or subject them to criticisms, do show your guts by airing your side. Comment on this page. If you cannot, then you don't have the right to complain.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Jejemon, Talk of the Town

Social debates continue to heat up as the government wears its battle gear in trying to diminish the spread of Jejemonism in the sub-dominantly English-speaking country. However, the Catholic Church interferes, explaining that Jejemonism is a form of the freedom to express one's self without being judged and subjected to social embarrassment.

It can be recalled that the word "jejemon" has had a lot of origins, but most people believe that it is derived from "jeje", an alternate for the term "hehe" in the Filipino SMS texting scenario, and then affixing "jeje" with "mon" which came from the series Pokemon (Pocket Monsters). 

A fresh and sizzling article in Inquirer.net now talks about the Philippines' fight against the Jejemon cyber language. Just click Philippines Wrestles with 'Jejemon' Cyber Language. The appropriate question here is, should someone be really bothered by such an existence? Or should everyone accept the fact that Jejemonism has indeed infiltrated present youth's everyday living? What will be its moral, social and economic impacts?

Are you one of them? Or are you engaged in a major campaign to exterminate this thriving language?

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Jejemon Status Quo: How They Live Today


After lighting up a massive outrage from different sectors of the Philippine society, it seems like the Jejemons are now capable of living peacefully with their Jejebuster counterparts in the barrios, barangays, towns, and cities in the Philippines. It is therefore imminent in Filipinos that no matter how diverse we are, we still manage to keep our ties secured and value respect of other people's feelings and decisions.

This conclusion was derived based on my observation that in the fictional-surreal Jejemon world:
a. almost everyone stood by their principles and practiced their right to vote despite some pre-election and on-the-spot election violence related scenarios.
b. the Presidential candidate who proposed to admit the Jejemons back to elementary did not win the race since a lot of his youth supporters were hard hit and actually belonged to the Jejemon super clans and bunkers
c. a highly supported and respected President elect is expected to begin and mediate talks between Jejemons and Jejebusters, between the government and MILF, and between the pro- and anti- whatever-is-happening-and-being-proposed-at-hand-to-the-people.
d. a 7.3% economic growth during the incumbent Arroyo Regime should be underestimated and provided microscale focus by the incoming Aquino administration, since growth should not only be experienced by a few people, and Jejemons are ready to lend a helping hand so as to inflate the air of hope for the nation's future development.
e. Arroyo's bid for House Speakership was already verified untrue, which lowered down the political panic and emotional instability of our dear Jejemons and Jejebusters
f. both sides believe that the new administration's plans for the upcoming years will promote the general interest of majority of the people, if not everyone.

I just hope that no wars will be waged between both parties this time, 'cause the present world's been really doomed with too much natural disasters, unjust deaths, weird news, human repressions and dark sociolinguistic evolution.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Jejemons Fading, Bebemons Incoming!

After months of reckless Jejemon invasion, their (Jejemons) aggression seems to  have settled down for a while. Meanwhile, another influential class of language abominations are coming to town. This might just be an introduction to their rising prowess and regrettable entry into the Philippine language arena. Text messaging has indeed become a barrier in maintaining correct language use and conventional spell-typing.

The Bebemons now challenge the authority of the Jejemons. These people may be fictional, surreal or real. Some of them have already imparted their skills in communicating stereotyped baby talks. Bebemons do not only possess that horrible talent of jejetyping, but also, mimicking or somehow acting immaturely text-wise.

If we translate the message: "Ayoko na sayo! Hindi na kita bati. Galit ako sayo," the result would somewhat look like this: "Ayoto na teyo! Hindi na tita bate. Gayet at0 teyo."

Voice out your opinions. We are open to violent reactions.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Jejemon Blog Contest 2010 : Comment, Repost and Win!

Comment on this blog post! Repost!
And grab the chance to win 100 Php worth of load!

All you need to have:
a. Blogger or Wordpress account
b. Ability to comment legibly, sensibly and sensitively
c. Ability to repost this in your blog with a link below the post you made directing back to this site
d. Mobile phone number, for claiming purposes

All you need to do and make sure:
1. Both 2, 3 and 4 should be satisfied.
2. Only Blogger and Wordpress users can comment on this post, and repost this content in your respective blogs with the link to this site placed below the reposted content.
3. Comments must contain at least 30 words and must answer any of the question s
     a. What role did the Jejemons play in our society today?
     b. Why should Jejemons be accepted?
     c. What makes a Jejemon unique?
     d. Why turn yourself into a Jejemon?
4. Both 5, 6 and 7 should be strictly followed.
5. The repost must be found in your blog, together with the link to this site below your post.
6. The comment entry must follow the format below:
(insert comment here) (insert your blog's link where you reposted this content) (choose if you are a Smart, Globe, TalknText, Sun, TM subscriber)
7. The repost entry must follow the format below: (reason for putting up link: to avoid copyright infringement)
(insert whole content of blog here)
(insert "For more info, click the link below")
(insert url or link: http://jejedex.blogspot.com/2010/06/jejemon-blog-contest-2010-comment.html)
(insert "Ajejejeje!")
8. There is no limit in the number of comments as long as the number of comments you place in this post equate to the number of reposts in your blogs.
9. Jejetyping is discouraged as this is a formal contest. English is the preferred language medium. Filipino /Tagalog will also be accepted.
10. Registration is totally free of charge! Actually, there is no registration process! :)

What to expect after competition:
1. Three (3) blogging winners will each win 100 pesos worth of load. Moreover, the winners will be given 3-months long publicity of their blogs in this site.
2. Five (5) more blogging winners will be chosen to get 1-month long blog publicity in this blog site!
3. The blogging winners will be notified and will be asked to send your number for prize transfer.
4. The prize/s cannot be converted into cash, but will cater to all users from various local network providers.
5. The winning comments and its authors will be announced on June 30, 2010 (Wednesday).

Simple and Easy! Enjoy! 
Let the Jejemon power be with you!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

2010 Words of the Year (Personal Version)

If I were to choose the top ten (10) most influential words of the year, these would be the following:
  1. Halalan - This term topped the Twitter trending keywords and even toppled Justin Bieber from its throne.
  2. Immortal - Globe's goal to make users text more for less has brought about their hip promo, Globe Immortal Txt. The promo might have, in a way, publicized the word and made it one of the most popular words being used by Filipinos this 2010.
  3. Jejemon, Jejedex - Ever since the discovery and entry of the terms into the Philippine setting, Filipinos across the world have been buzzing about its origins and definition. These words also led to the sudden birth of the JejeDEX Blog.
  4. Ondoy - The wrath of typhoon Ondoy slammed Filipinos shaken, making Ondoy one of my chosen influential words because of the terrifying experience it had reminded us of how dangerous Earth is.
  5. Dota - The game, Defense of the Ancients, has produced 18 million links worldwide and has impacted on the Filipino youth making DOTA one of the longest staying games in the country. I give this word a shot at the list for its prevalence in Filipino recreation.
  6. Kuya - The airing of the Pinoy Big Brother made the term "Kuya" popular to Filipinos. Its continuous flow of program seasons has proved how reality television shows have become widely accepted by the Filipino public.
  7. Youtube - The term has been everywhere since the video portal opened few years back. DVD's have been forgotten due to the introduction of Youtube; that's why I include this in my list.
  8. Marimar - This television program aired by GMA, a giant tv network in the Philippines, made its title word "Marimar" a crowd favorite, as the character endorsed offers the stereotype of Philippine beauty and sizzles with one of the hottest love teams in the Philippines.
  9. Boto Patroller - This two-word term was introduced a year ago when TV Patrol World opened their public service program, Boto Mo, Ipatrol Mo Ako ang Simula, which later became useful in revealing the anomalies last May 10 elections.
  10. Emo - To complete the list is the word "emo" imposed on anyone who shares a dramatic story in life. Originally, the term "emo" was coined for people who love style of rock music which is typically characterized by melodic musicianship and expressive, often confessional lyrics.

Jejemon, Finalist for Word of the Year

A group of academics from the University of the Philippines - Diliman, the country's most prestigious academe, has chosen the word "jejemon" as finalist for the word of the year. Last Friday, ten (10) words were chosen by the Fillipinas Institute of Translation (FIT) as these words had a "strong influence" otoFilipino living for the past two years.

Included in the list of finalists for word of the year are:
  • Ampatuan
  • unli
  • load
  • tarpo
  • solb
  • emo
  • namumutbol
  • Ondoy
The winning word of the year will be announced on July 29 and 30 (after a two-day national conference) to be held at the Bulwagang Rizal (Faculty Center) in the UP Diliman Campus.

It can be recalled that last 2007 the word "miskol", Tagalog counterpart for the phrase "missed call", won as the word of the year. In 2008 and 2009, no words of the year were chosen because the awarding group believed that no word deserved such title.

GYROBALL