Mikey Bustos’ secret to social media success

Internet star Mikey Bustos is ready to emerge from the wings and take center stage when the Net takes over television as source of news and entertainment someday.

“If the opportunity to reach a bigger audience comes along, and if it means toppling TV networks (in favor of the internet), sorry guys.  I’m just doing my job,” Mikey told Yahoo! Philippines OMG! minutes before he went onstage to receive the Choice Internet Sensation award  at Jollibee’s Choice Ko Yum Awards.

Netizens have fallen in love with his YouTube tutorial series on things Pinoy – Filipino Accent  (1,707,083 views), How to be a Filipino Artista (303,012 views), Filipino Drinking (230,394 views) and others.

“The best reward is when OFWs tell me they worry less, and feel less lonely when they see my videos.  They tell me that they survive and are learning to hold on when they feel sad.  I feel that as an artista, I’ve given them a service. I have made them smile,” Mikey relates.

Making people smile  didn’t come naturally to Mikey when he was starting out as a performer in Canada.  He traces his roots to singing, and was a contestant in the reality show Canadian Idol. Mikey got his big break when his Filipino accent tutorial video went viral in 2011. He has never looked back since. Mikey became a regular in “Bubble Gang” and a semi-regular in the defunct “Party Pilipinas.” He appeared as guest in a slew of other TV shows.

He now endorses 12 name brands on YouTube (Cebu Pacific, Globe and Gold’s Gym, among others).

And he has gotten so in love with the country where his parents were born, Mikey decided to live in the Philippines for good. 

While he’s getting ‘Filipinized’ day by day,  Mikey is still an outsider looking in. His view of Filipino culture is still that of someone who has lived miles away for years. So  he can look at such things as Filipino time with the eyes of someone whose heart belongs to the Philippines, but who  still scratches his shaved head when his kababayan arrives an hour late for a meeting. Combine that with his social media know-how, and you’ve got a hit in your hands.

TV vs internet

“Television is cold. Not so with the internet. With the internet, you get instant feedback on Facebook.  You can give comments on YouTube and Twitter. It’s real time,” he observes.

So he jokes, dances, sings and talks in real time.  But he watches what he says.

“You have a responsibility to make sure your jokes have good content. Don’t offend people. I’ve walked that fine line ever since the beginning of my career. “

So you’ll never hear foul language, sexist or racist jokes from Mikey. He knows young netizens are watching him all the time. “The youth is our future. Anyone with a direct influence on the youth must be careful.”

Any influence on them, Mikey explains, will last forever.  So hopes to build, not tear down.  He hopes to inspire the young with his jokes. “I want my jokes to have a more lasting impact.  I want viewers to apply what they saw in my video to real life.”

He releases videos almost every two weeks and has over 530 so far.

All these,  Mikey points out, also aim to inspire Filipino pride. “I remember someone in Canada telling me that he  didn’t get the job because ‘I’m just a Pinoy.’  I still find a lot of Pinoys have a minority complex. I want to show Pinoys they can do it.  That we have the strength to do it.”

Mikey is living proof of this can-do spirit.  The good news is, he has social media at his beck and call.

And he wants to spread the word through the ever-powerful tool of social media.