BakitWhy.com at 3: Out of the Terrible Two's and Into Preschool

Turning three, at least in human years, is an exciting stage in life. You run a little faster. Your mouth makes way for bigger teeth. You lose the diapers. Maybe more importantly, your speech starts to make sense. Now, can we really anthropomorphize an Internet entity? Does BakitWhy.com becoming three signal its journey into toddlerhood? It might not be so inane to give a human persona to the site. Let's flip through the baby album to see where this little runt came from.

Unseemly biological details aside, a fresh BakitWhy.com popped out after a gestation period at the University of Southern California on April 8, 2008. In its crib (literally in a Hawthorne, California bedroom) BakitWhy.com brought together a ragtag group of titos and titas from around to country to mold the site to the toddler it is today.

Inside pic of the first ever BakitWhy.com team meeting, April 2008

Back then, dreams of meeting YouTube star Happyslip and covering MTV's America's Best Dance Crew were long-term goals. With little to no resources, we were doing the baby crawl towards building a nationwide team of writers. We had to simultaneously prove that the Pilipino American lifestyle is not only a real thing, but also something the world would invest its time in. 2008 really was a year that we had to fight for existence.

At the Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture 2008 with Christine "Happyslip" Gambito

When BW 2.0 launched later that year, multiple budding teams and wise community leaders around the nation showed us how to walk on two feet. The dangerous ability to walk independently allowed us to interact with the community via Facebook and Twitter, become a media sponsor to one of the the greatest Pilipino American festivals in the country, and enter our first full year in style (thanks Laureen!).

As you'd expect in the early years of anyone's life, things move way too fast. BakitWhy.com 2.0 became 3.0 in 2010. We found ourselves traveling from Los Angeles to the SF Bay Area, New York City, New Jersey, and the hungry city of Chicago, to attempt to capture the diversity of the community. Recently, the almost-sudden growing pain of transitioning from version 3.0 to 3.5 over the past nine months brought protocol change over protocol change, team members coming and going, and the struggle to represent both the mainstream and local community aspects of the diverse Pil-Am lifestyle.

Fast forward to 2010

At least in our eyes (especially those who have volunteered for years), BakitWhy.com is very much a living, breathing kid that might spit up, put things in its mouth, and bob its head to Bob Marley. At 3 years, BakitWhy.com is starting to turn baby babbling into coherent sentences, and we're just learning how to talk (good) today.

So, happy 3^rd birthday (or hbd in Facebook speak) BakitWhy.com. May your teeth come in straight and your mastery of the bathroom be quick.

Look both ways before crossing and eat your vegetables,

Kaywan
One of the Oldest BakitWhy.com Titos