Long before Reddit, Quora, social media platforms, and speedy internet connections, there was PinoyExchange (PEx), an online forum where wired Filipinos in the 90s used to “connect and converse”—its original tagline—about the latest local and international news, showbiz, sports (particularly basketball), travel, gadgets, sub-culture, and other hot and interesting topics where internet users could either like, lol, agree or disagree with, vote up, or promote. Amidst the humdrum of every student or yuppie life, the platform evolved into being the PEx-ers’ favorite digital ‘tambayan’ (hangout place). However, after almost 24 years, it will finally wave goodbye.
As it stated in its recent Twitter post: “From the bottom of our hearts, Maraming Salamat!” Yup, PinoyExchange, an important piece of the Pinoy internet experience, is shutting down, bringing with it the 90s culture every GenX-er enjoyed, hated, cried about, and loved. The online ‘Marites’ of the 90s are grateful and sad as we all bid farewell to an era.
For nearly 24 years, https://t.co/FW8IisZCSJ became the virtual home of many Filipinos here and abroad. It is with deep sadness that we announce that PEx will say goodbye on April 15, 2023.
From the bottom of our hearts,
Maraming Salamat! pic.twitter.com/zWT39dcn39— PinoyExchange (@pinoyexchange) April 4, 2023
PEx was founded by Michael Nolledo, Nix Nolledo, and Jude Turcuato (also known then as “Kaboom”) in July 1999. Michael Palacios soon joined the team as the lead designer and technical consultant. While these guys became official moderators who manage content and discussions, their initial idea was to create a digital message board as, in the absence of social media at the time, messaging was limited to chat sites and chat rooms.
Exposure was heightened as Kaboom used to host the UAAP Basketball games, and during half times, he would ask the crowd and the TV viewers to express their views and opinions in PEx. Students and alumni of each UAAP-member university checked the site and started a discussion about the games, celebrating their victories, and even expressing their disappointments. Soon, the website became a household name (being a novel way to connect then), and Pinoys online flocked to PEx, reaching an all-time high of 1.5 million users globally. Before the year 2000, PEx reached the 2,000-member mark, an incredible milestone, given that the internet penetration in the Philippines then was less than 2%.
From UAAP, NBA, and PBA, threads soon grew and included favorite travel destinations, cuisine, who’s the better love team, music, ghost stories, art, love and romance, books, the lives of OFWs, fashion, and history—everything that comprises Filipino pop culture. Like most platforms in the online space, PEx has somehow become a little toxic with politics, religious debates, wars, and scandals in showbiz, but it also offered cheerful stories about boys and girls coming out (when it was unpopular then), love letters that melt the heart, and other things one just cannot say or express beyond the forums.
However, all good things come to an end, and PinoyExchange just couldn’t keep up with the fast-paced and ever-changing tech giants like today’s modern social media platforms, that it is saying goodbye. The official announcement of its shutdown on April 15, 2023, made GenX-ers—who used to ‘hang out in PEx before transitioning to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms—so suddenly nostalgic.
When one Filipino online posted PEx’s official announcement on Reddit, it said, “For nearly 24 years, PinoyExchange.com became the virtual home of many Filipinos here and abroad. It is with deep sadness that we announce that PEx will say goodbye on April 15, 2023. From the bottom of our hearts, Maraming Salamat!” Philippines (reddit.com), many GenX-ers expressed dismay while recalling the good old days.
“I feel like they created their own demise. Didn’t update the circa 2000 layout of their webpage. Littered with ads. But I had a lot of experience there from tatang JT, school of Warwick, etc. Anybody else regular there before?”
“This is so sad. before I became a Redditor, I was a PExer first. the college threads helped me so much after high school. met some online friends din. so many posts and memories i made in that forum. i think it died with the rise of FB groups (and to an extension, Twitter and Reddit) and hasn’t been able to recover from it. which sucks, PEx had a charm to it na anonymous + well-defined ang forum structure. although it really got toxic pag UAAP cheerdance comp. I still remember the “cybersabunutan” 😆 :bop:”
“Back when I was just starting college, I used to lurk in the university threads. It’s pretty helpful.”
“I mostly go to the UAAP and Football thread. I regularly updated the UAAP Football forum. I could vouch that it’s the best thread for UAAP. Lots of good discussion from hardcore fans and yes even the trolls make the thread exciting. Discussions there are vibrant.”
“I’m not much of a poster there these days but every time I have a trip coming up, I go there a lot to ask people and get tips. Still pretty awesome.”
“Kinda miss the community there especially the trolls and the bashing.”
“PinoyExchange proved people wrong when they said walang totoong tao sa internet. Met the best people in my life right now from the forum, and I’m really glad to be part of this family. I love you, PEx!”
One Redditor noted that PEx has a better advantage than Facebook groups because you can anonymously state your no-holds-barred opinion and be free to express your emotions without getting any cancel culture repercussions. However, the rise of interactive social media like Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter bled forums and sites like PEx dry of users because of people’s apparent need to connect and converse with more synergy, the same reason for Friendster’s demise.
Paalam, PinoyExchange!
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