Oscars Embrace Social Media Tools

This evening, the Oscars air on ABC but this year, there will be a new addition in the mix. The awards show has adapted to the social media needs of its younger audience. For instance, this year, ABC has created a “Back Stage Pass” application that allows users to view images of behind the scenes moments from their Iphones, Ipods, and Ipads.

But that’s not the only social media adaption that the Academy Awards are taking this year. Google has created a Trends tool to help people find searching for trends about anything related to the Oscars. Also, Twitter also created a #Oscars tag for everyone, from fans to nominees to use to help share their Oscars experience.

Why do you think these changes have been made? Could it be to create a community around the event that also allows viewers to participate in it, or is it to help draw in the attention and viewing from the younger demographic?

* Nadia Ibanez. “Oscars uses social media to keep audience in the know”. Business Review.com. Feb. 26, 2011.

POST Method

In Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff’s book, Groundswell, they identify one of the biggest problems with companies engaging in social media is that these companies go into social media for the wrong reasons.  For example, the authors described one company wanting to know how to use social media just because their competitor has an on-line presence. This reasoning isn’t recommended by the Groundswell team because a company needs to have a plan over what they want and need from being on-line. According to the author’s, companies should use their “POST” method. This method consists of:

·         People: How will your customers engage with the technology?

·         Objectives: What are the main goals?

·         Strategy: how do you want your relationships with your customers change?

·         Technology: What applications should you build?

What I found interesting about the POST method is that many companies created a presence on-line without considering what they want from the social media sites. An example of a company creating a site without considering the customers is the original M&M Twitter account. This page, from what I could tell, was created because it was “the thing to do”.  This is because the site wasn’t based on building a relationship with their customers, which social media is allows companies to do; but instead used it to broadcast company information.  Since, then companies, including M&M, have learned how to build relationships with their customers. Let’s hope that when the next new on-line phenomenon happens that companies will know to use it in order to help build relationships.

*Li, Charlene, and Josh Bernoff. Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies. Boston, MA: Harvard Business, 2008. Print.

YouTube Phenomena

Have you ever wondered how the site YouTube can make the average person famous? It just takes an interesting video and an audience to watch it. There are channels for music videos, channels for the news and others just for personal use.  

The idea of YouTube phenomena makes web-celebrities hungry for more and they show up on local and cable television to promote their videos and related products. Sometimes these videos are composed by a third party. A popular video like this is features Antoine Dodson as he “sings” to “hide your kids and wife” from the dangers of the neighborhood. Yet, can we consider him the web-celeb? He didn’t create the popular song by himself; another YouTube user took his words and made it into a song. What I want to know is, why is he showing up on television shows and on Iphone Apps and not the creative geniuses who made the rant so popular? Shouldn’t they be given some credit as well?

The creators of Antoine Dodson’s song have created another song. I think it is better than the first. Do you think that this woman will become famous too?

Who are influencers?

When you are about to make an online purchase, or before you try out a new restaurant, do you read the customers reviews on? I do not. This is because; I (probably like you) only pay attention to the negative reviews.

According to the post: Social Media Reading¬¬-Influencers, “90% of consumers surveyed trusted recommendations from people they knew personally, 70% trusted opinions from other consumers posted online, and 70% trusted brand websites”. This means that consumers trust the opinions of strangers about a product as the company website. This is interesting because if we (consumers) trust a review as much as the company website, are these “influencers” doing munch on their part.

However, there are cases when influencers can make a difference. Which is why, companies need to keep an eye out for these people. If someone has a large enough audience, and is seen as a credible expert, then they possess the power to change the opinions of others. What does this mean for a company? That they need to watch out for what is being said about their company and products and who is saying it.

Also, I think that it is very important to note that every review is completely arbitrary to the reviewer. What if they were having a bad day or that they have bad taste or what if they received a faulty product? All of these things would skew their perception, and ultimately yours, of the product or service in question.


The English comedian, Michael McIntyre does a good job explaining consumer reviews over the internet. If you would like to watch his interpretation please watch the video below starting at 2 minutes.

How will the end of Del.icio.us effect social media?

Social Bookmarking is an online service that is generally unknown by internet users. Sites like Del.icio.us are in danger of being taken away from internet users. Yahoo has announced that they are going to discontinue Del.icio.us’ services sometime in the near future. Is the fate of this site the future for the rest of the social bookmarking? If so, then the entire internet community will be at a loss. This is because without social bookmarking, we will lose the ability to find new sites that are recommended by our peers. We will miss out on new information and opinion from other bloggers and sites. As well as the convenience of being able to keep all of our bookmarks in a location that the accessible from any computer. We need to show these sites that we value their existence before we lose them forever.

A reason why Yahoo might delete Del.icio.us is because it seems to be an ineffective technology. However, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. This is because workers for Del.icio.us looked back at all their bookmarked pages and found the first 20 users of each page and cross referenced them in order to find any repetition. In class I tried this experiment with a couple of sites. And while it took a while to complete, I found the same users bookmarking many sites. Which proves that people, in fact, are using this and therefore it is a relevant technology. If you don’t already have an account at Del.icio.us I suggest that you start one today. It’s an easier way to find sites that pertain to you, without wasting as much time as users tend to do on Stumble Upon. I recently set up my account and I couldn’t be more impressed by how easy it is to use. Be sure to set up an account today and see what it’s all about.

Mubarak steps down

 18 days after January 25, 2011, President Hosni Mubarak stepped down after 30 years of power. This revolution was aided though the use of social media. Which raises the question: where might social media aid another revolution?

Of course, I can’t give you an accurate prediction of the location of the next social media revolution. However, how we achieve change has been altered forever. Previous revolutions were successful without the use of the internet, yet through sites like Twitter and Facebook, we can expect to see revolutions happen much faster. This is due to the ability to move information faster than ever before. In this case, Tahrir Square could have been filled with protesters without the use of social media. But do to social media; the square was filled with people faster than what one would think possible.

Last week, when I heard that Mubarak was going to step down from power in 6 months I thought that he made that claim in an attempt to stop the protests. But as it turned out, he resigned just a few days later. Should we thank social media for his expedited resignation?

Can Social Media lead the next Social Revolution?

One of the largest criticisms against Twitter (and Facebook statuses too) is that it is mostly random and pointless ramble from its users. And yes, that’s true; some people just post the first thing that comes to their mind. However, through proper searches and the use of hashtags, these sites can be very helpful in the sharing and receiving of news.

Maxwell Gladwell, writer for The New Yorker, and author of “Why the revolution will not be tweeted,” has great insight into the role of social media with social changes. These mediums do not have the power to start the next revolution, however they have the power to organize and inform its participants. For instance, the use of hashtages can make it easier for people to organize for protests because everyone will search for the same tag.

Although social media does not have the power to start the next social revolution, it can help bring them together and can fuel a social movement. This is because social media gives us the ability to find and connect with others who have our same views and interests around the world. Which makes me wonder, as the internet and social media evolve, will its role in social movements increase or decrease? Is it possible that one day a revolution will be started by social media? 

KC Tweets for Attention

 As we all have heard by now Kenneth Cole distastefully tweeted about the protests in Cairo… in order to promote his new spring collection. Within the following hour, KC received over 1500 retweets. All were negative. As a result, KC deleted the original message and sent out an apology via twitter. But was the apology sincere? I don’t think so.  This is because KC has sent out other controversial messages in the past. Therefore, why is this incident any different? In my opinion, this tweet is an attempt to gain attention from the public by mocking a current crisis. This company should reevaluate how they use social media, before they post something even worse.