GCash vs DOST: How to Communicate a Technological Innovation
Marco Angelo Rasos | 4 November 2025
Through a simple comparison between an announcement by GCash and the country’s Science and Technology agency, we learn a few lessons on how to do Science Communications. So here’s the story and the comparison.
On November 5…
I received news from GCash CEO Martha Sazon, on my Linkedin feed -
“For all MSMEs, now your mobile phones can instantly turn into POS and accept credit/debit card payments!”
She shares a link. It leads to an article in a national daily -
On November 7…
I received news from the DOST Philippines page, on my Facebook feed -
“DOST Press Release: The DOST envisions a future where “Proven in the Philippines. Trusted by the World,” defines Filipino-made innovation…”
The post came with a link. It leads to the STII website -
The differences are clear and stark:
| Source of News | GCash CEO Personal account | DOST Philippines page |
| Channel of News | LinkedIn feed | Facebook feed |
| Opening | Short hook | Long announcement |
| Feel of Opening | Opening with an exclamation! | Opening with an ellipsis… |
| Target Audience | Directed to MSMEs | Directed to the public |
| Link to Article | Short link to article | Very long link to article |
| Webpage of Article | National daily paper | Government agency website |
While I was excited by both news, I LIKED the Gcash announcement better, followed the link, reading the article quickly, took screenshots, and SHARED it IMMEDIATELY - DMs to close friends and reposts on my personal LinkedIn and Facebook accounts.
Experts in communications have realized that somehow the small differences in the EXPERIENCE of Reading (some of which I pointed out above) makes the biggest impact on how people RECEIVE the news, RE-ACT to the news, ACT on the news and ACCEPT the news. I hope our government would take note.