We get asked a lot. Bacán.
The questions we get asked the most, answered the way we like: with facts and no beating around the bush.
Who's behind Somos Bacanes?
Today it is led by José Manuel. His story begins outside Chile and continues here: after becoming Chilean, he began building this map. Somos Bacanes was designed to grow with people who contribute facts, corrections and stories from across Chile.
Is Somos Bacanes a company?
Yes, formally we are, thanks to Tu Empresa en un Día (Chile's one-day online company registration). Today it operates with a small, flexible structure designed to welcome collaborators, sources and stories as the project grows.
Why is it called “Somos Bacanes”?
Because Chile has too many bacán things that we sometimes overlook. Somos Bacanes was born to change the way we see Chile: to gather evidence, make it understandable and turn pride into something that can be shared and verified.
Do you use AI to write the articles?
Yes! Even these pages and the map were built with AI. By now I work with a great team of AIs, each with a specific role: one digs through studies, databases and public records that would otherwise take months to find; another writes the site's code. My job is to bring the pride and make sure we keep our promises: every fact is checked, every source is verified, every claim is contrasted. AI speeds up the work. Judgment decides what gets published.
How can I take part or correct a fact?
Send a correction if you find a better source, or a story from your region that belongs on the map. You don't need to be born in Chile or hold a Chilean passport. If you love this country or love a good fact, this project is as much yours as it is mine.
How do I contact you?
Through Instagram, by messaging @somosbacanes.cl, or straight to hola@somosbacanes.cl. We read everything that comes in: corrections, facts and stories from your region. We are a small project, so it can sometimes take us a little while to reply.
Do you have a newsletter or social media? How do I subscribe?
Yes to both. You'll find us on Instagram. And if you leave your email at the bottom of the page, you'll get a welcome email right away, and from then on we'll let you know when new content is out. No spam, and your email never gets sold to anyone.
Do you accept sponsorships or paid content?
Right now there are none. If there ever are, the rule is already written and it is not up for negotiation: a sponsor can move up coverage of an achievement that would have cleared the filters anyway, never buy the angle, the number or the conclusion. And if a piece is sponsored, it will say so up top and in plain sight, not in small print at the end. What is not for sale is the fact.
Are you going to sell anything at some point?
Maybe, and if it happens it will be something of our own: material that extends what we already do, not ad space or flag-stamped souvenirs. Nothing is for sale today. What is already settled is what will not change the day something is: the site, the articles and the newsletter stay free, with the source right next to the number. If you ever have to pay to check where a figure came from, we lost the plot.
Where do the facts come from? Why trust them?
Every claim has a cited source, or it doesn't get published. Period. The “it feels proud, so believe it” formula doesn't work here: the approach is engineering and business intelligence, finding the fact behind the story.
What counts as a source and what doesn't?
In order. First, the document from the body that produced the data (Chile's INE, Central Bank, Subtel, UNESCO, NASA), linked to the specific document, never to the site's front page. Then a peer-reviewed paper. Press coverage is a way to reach the document, never the final source: if an outlet quotes a figure without linking where it came from, we go find it. Same with Wikipedia, a good starting point and a bad finish line. If a fact does not have that backing, it does not get published, no matter how incredible it sounds. Especially if it sounds incredible.
What happens when a wrong fact slips through?
It gets corrected and written down, not quietly deleted. One of our own: we had a piece almost ready claiming Gabriela Mistral was Latin America's first Nobel laureate. That is false. The first was Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentine, Nobel Peace Prize 1936, nine years earlier; Mistral is the region's first in Literature, which is not the same thing. The source check caught it before it shipped, and we logged the correction anyway.
How often do you publish new articles?
There is no fixed day yet, but the goal is at least one article per week. The rule here is not speed; it is making sure every article has its facts properly verified before it goes out. We would rather arrive late with the right number than early with half of one.
How do you choose which topic or region to cover?
The fact comes first, the writing second. We look for something Chile does well that can be compared with the rest of the world through a hard number, not an opinion. If the fact can't be verified with a reliable source, the piece doesn't get written, no matter how bacán it sounds. And if you have a story from your region that belongs here, we'll gladly take it (see “How can I take part?”).
What is the interactive map and how does it update?
It's all of Chile, region by region, with each one's bacán facts and their sources. You complete it as you explore, and once you cover all 16 regions plus the whole country, you earn the Certificado Bacán. It updates every time a new article with a region-specific fact comes out, it's not automatic: every fact that enters the map went through the same source check as a blog article.
What languages is the site available in?
The whole site, in Spanish and English. Switch the language up top and you're set. It's not a minor detail: we built this for the Chilean living abroad who wants to send a fact to a friend who doesn't speak Spanish, and for the traveler who visited Chile and wants to check what they were told.
Why do you leave “bacán” untranslated in English?
Because no translation survives it. “Awesome” loses the complicity, “cool” loses the pride and “great” says nothing at all. So bacán stays as it is, in italics, with a short gloss the first time it shows up in each piece. Every language does this with words that do not travel. And if you are curious where it comes from, there is a whole article about it, with a twist: it was not born here.
Can I quote or share your articles?
Please do. That's what they're for. We only ask two things: mention Somos Bacanes and link to the original article, so whoever reads it can trace it back to the primary source and check it with their own eyes. It's the same rule we demand of every fact we publish: everything can be traced to its origin.