(UPDATED) MANILA, Philippines – Have you ever been excited for two people to go on a romantic date?
After two months of waiting, AlDub’s much-awaited date finally happened on Saturday, September 19, at Eat Bulaga’s hit Kalyeserye. The fans went crazy.
As of 11:20 pm, #AlDubMostAwaitedDate was tweeted more than 12 million times. The AlDub community broke their previous record of 6 million tweets with #AlDubtheAbduction as early as 12 noon. (READ: 'How #AlDub is breaking the internet' )
In this Saturday’s episode, Lola Nidora finally allowed Yaya Dub (Maine Mendoza) to go on a date with Alden Richards, much to their fans’ happiness. As always, however, the episode ended with a cliff hanger: the date was cut short when Yaya had to go and give Lola Nidora her medicine. When Yaya Dub rushed out, screech of tires were heard, leading the audience to believe that Yaya was hurt in a car crash.
{source}
<a class="twitter-timeline" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AlDubMostAwaitedDate" data-widget-id="645237646378188800">#AlDubMostAwaitedDate Tweets</a>
<script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");</script>
{/source}
All throughout the show, Eat Bulaga hosts urged fans to tweet using the hashtag until it eventually surpassed the show’s 10-million target.
{source}
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="tl" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ALDUBMostAwaitedDate?src=hash">#ALDUBMostAwaitedDate</a> yung kahit may agwat ang isa't isa pero patuLoy pa rin ang ngiti nLa.</p>— Albin Fragata (@AlbinFragata) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlbinFragata/status/645236008691216384">September 19, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="tl" dir="ltr">Todo yung kilig ko kanina sa Aldub! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ALDUBMostAwaitedDate?src=hash">#ALDUBMostAwaitedDate</a></p>— Marie〰 (@FabFangirl17) <a href="https://twitter.com/FabFangirl17/status/645236004576628736">September 19, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ALDUBMostAwaitedDate?src=hash">#ALDUBMostAwaitedDate</a> continue to be an inspiration to every one... you never fail us to feel in loved every time we watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KalyeSerye?src=hash">#KalyeSerye</a></p>— ella marie andrade (@mikkiella18) <a href="https://twitter.com/mikkiella18/status/645236067344367616">September 19, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thank you <a href="https://twitter.com/mainedcm">@mainedcm</a> for being a role model to evry female esp d youth. Thank you for being real and for just being u <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ALDUBMostAwaitedDate?src=hash">#ALDUBMostAwaitedDate</a></p>— glee ardedon (@gLeeopatra) <a href="https://twitter.com/gLeeopatra/status/645236069558960128">September 19, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">One of the best moment in AlDub to Maiden journey. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ALDUBMostAwaitedDate?src=hash">#ALDUBMostAwaitedDate</a> <a href="http://t.co/JGlZUF3MFl">pic.twitter.com/JGlZUF3MFl</a></p>— Tom Rodriguez (@Tom_Engels) <a href="https://twitter.com/Tom_Engels/status/645220603096510464">September 19, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Be strong. Stay positive. Make them wonder how you’re still smiling. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ALDUBMostAwaitedDate?src=hash">#ALDUBMostAwaitedDate</a></p>— Yaya Dub (@ImYayaDub) <a href="https://twitter.com/ImYayaDub/status/645223368933928960">September 19, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
{/source}
Meanwhile, its rival show’s hashtag, #ShowtimeMagpastillas, lagged behind with only more than 580,000 tweets as of 9 pm. (READ: Meet 'Pastillas Girl,' on a quest to find love)
Now that we know that netizens can tweet this much in just one day, the future is bright for advocacy awareness campaigns.
Here is a list of other advocacies you can also support:
- #SharePH - campaign encouraging netizens to collectively share the beauty of the Philippines to the world using social media
- #StayNegatHIVe - a campaign that aims to raise awareness on the issue of HIV/AIDS in the Philippines
- #TheLeaderIWant - a campaign that encourages every Filipino to join discussions on the issues that matter to them (i.e. corruption, peace process, social inequality, climate change and disasters, OFWs, and foreign policies) and identify the leader that can address them for an educated vote come election season.
What do you think about today's trend? Tell us what other issues matter to you. Write a reaction on X. – with reports from Don Kevin Hapal, Stacy de Jesus/Rappler.com