The Social Media Holiday Cheer Award Goes To....

One of my favorite things in the digital scene during the holidays are the creative campaigns and acts of good cheer that people post!  And I am awarding my first ever Social Media Holiday Cheer Award!! This act transforms one of the worst things that can happen in a day to one of the best.

Ever been pulled over?  Not that I have (wink wink) but I would imagine that the feeling you get in your stomach when you see police lights behind your car is TERRIBLE.  Well, in Lowell, Michigan, the local police teamed up with UPtv (short for Uplifting TV) to transform that experience. 

The police pulled over drivers on a snowy afternoon for supposed traffic violations.  The video then shows the drivers getting out their license and registration while the police office makes small talk with them, namely about what they or their children want for Christmas.  Then, in an incredible sneak attack, the officer stalls the fake ticketing process long enough to radio to his co-workers at the nearby toy store who bring the exact wish-list gift!  Instead of getting a traffic ticket, the unassuming drivers get a wonderful holiday surprise!

The video is awesome and guaranteed to make you smile!!

Have you found other uplifting stories on social media this holiday season?  Share them below!!  Maybe I'll award another Social Media Holiday Cheer Award next week!

A More Serious Side of Social Media

In Public Relations, social media is often highlighted on the softer side of a brand or cause.  Large social media campaigns are often used to increase brand awareness, positioning or help influence thought leaders in an industry.

But the recent explosion of the Bill Cosby accusations have highlighted the more serious side of social media and its effects on public opinion and mass media news. 

Longstanding accusations against Cosby for rape were highlighted in social media last week due to an onstage "joke" that went viral about Cosby's rumored actions.  In a perfect storm of happenstance, Bill Cosby had just put out a challenge to those who followed him in the digital world to meme pictures of him. Little did he know he was adding fuel to the fire, and most who participated "memed" him with allusions of Cosby drugging and raping women. Probably not what he had in mind when putting that challenge out there!

These two actions, the onstage joke and the memes, both went viral, bringing a long dormant accusation to light and blowing up the mass media everywhere.  Essentially, shredding Cosby's reputation and leaving many asking why this didn't get more attention earlier.

The answer is because social media is now bringing issues to light.  There is far less space to hide anymore- and some argue that there is nowhere to hide!  It will be interesting to see if this sad revelation brings more issues in Hollywood to light.  And for Cosby and his accusers, this trial by Twitter seems to have just heated up.

Is GIRL POWER the fastest way to go VIRAL?

We've gotta talk about #AlexFromTarget. 

I mean, if nothing else, we have to just bring it up.  It's only been a week since this young man's picture was tweeted as a "cute" bagger from Target.  But the week has certainly been eventful.  With his handsome smile and boyish good-looks, Alex has - without doing a single thing other than unknowingly had his picture tweeted - gained half a million followers on Twitter, been featured on the Ellen show and CNN and become one of the fastest and most popular memes of all times.

But perhaps the most unique aspect of the #AlexFromTarget phenomenon is that it might have been set up.  Strangely, earlier this week a company called Breakr claimed that it was behind the rise to fame of #AlexFromTarget.  

Breakr's CEO, Dil-Domine Jacobe Leonares, claimed that his company's goal of helping small content creators spread their content was the force behind the viral sensation of #AlexFromTarget.  And the key to this viral nature, Leonares claims, is girls.

"If you rally the fan girls, you can translate that following into a career," Leonares claims.  Sure enough, "fan girls" are powerful.  A lady sees a cute boy and tells her friend who tells her friend who shares it with everyone she knows.  I mean, really, the Jonas Brothers and Justin Beiber are just modern day version of Beatles fandom!  And, with social media today, the fandom rise is just that much faster.  Or in the case of #AlexFromTarget, takes place in a week!  Heck, he is in LA now looking for an agent!

So, there is still a lot of mystery surrounding #AlexFromTarget, who tweeted this morning that he had dever heard of Breakr. Hmmmm.  Well one thing I can agree on is that fan girls are really the key to getting anything to go viral.  That's why our firm, Casey & Sayre, always strives to bring young celebrities that appeal to teen girls to our client events!  Their tweets and instagrams go a long way in attracting interest and building fans!

What do you think of the sudden fame of #AlexFromTarget?

Is this real life, or a plot for the latest RomCom?!

I’m sure you’ve heard of people using social media to help with their vacation planning before.  But a popular story this week takes that to a whole new level!

A Toronto-based man, Jordan Axani, has used the popular social media news site, Reddit, to post a once-in-a-lifetime offer: a free, round-the-world trip to one lucky female!  There’s only one catch.  Your name has to be Elizabeth Gallagher.

Strange as it sounds, it’s true.  Axani, a 28-year old adventurer, booked this dream trip earlier in the year for himself and his then-girlfriend named... you guessed it, Elizabeth Gallagher.  Well, since then, the couple has broken up, leaving heartbreak and some open tickets!  Due to restrictions around the plane tickets and cancellation policies, it is apparently a mega-headache to try to get anything for cancelling the tickets.  So, like a good millennial, Axani went to social media to try to salvage some good from the tickets.

His Reddit post, just published Monday, has been shared thousands of times and it looks like several Elizabeth Gallaghers (with Canadian passports, the other element needed) have come forward.  I’m not surprised, Axani’s post actually sounds pretty convincing, he sounds normal and realistic that he isn’t looking for anything in return, just doesn’t want the tickets to go to waste!  No “winner” has been selected yet, it seems.

Fingers crossed that he finds a great trip mate.  And, of course the romantic in me sees this as a great plot to a romantic comedy movie!  What if he and the woman who claims this fall in love and then have a great story to tell the grandkids!!

Seems too good to be true!  Possibly even worth changing your name for!? 

Renee Zellweger Edition

Plastic surgery and celebrities go together sort of like peanut butter and jelly these days.  It’s not a big shock anymore when someone gets a nose job or lip injections or a nip or tuck here or there.  Yawn, old news.

But not so much this week with Renee Zellweger.  Social media went CRAZY after Renee made a rare red carpet appearance on Monday at the Elle Women in Hollywood party, and debuted her new look. I don’t even want to speculate about what surgeries were used to get the new look (though I kinda just think it’s an eye lift!?),  but let’s just be honest, she definitely looks different.  

This change has led to quite a few conversations on Twitter, blogs and Facebook.  Of course, "do we like it or not", but those who don’t like the new look have been very vocal about their opinions, spurring Renee’s defenders to start hashtags like #StopBullying and accusing nay-sayers of cyber bullying.

What do you think of Renee’s new look?

10 Things NOT To Be This Halloween!

Ever experienced the social faux pas of wearing the same dress as another friend to a party?  Well, gentlemen probably not so much, it's a bigger deal for us ladies.  But let me promise you, it's never fun.  You awkwardly laugh and compliment each other's taste- but you know in the back of your head that everyone at the party is secretly doing a "Who Wore It Better" comparison!  

Well, my friend, let me save you from that- at least for your upcoming Halloween parties! Thanks to digital trend tracking, we can now determine ahead of time the most popular Halloween costumes of the year so you won't show up at a party with 20 people to be compared to!

An analysis of most trending Google searches for Halloween costumes resulted in this list of the most popular predicted trends for this year's costume parties.  The culprits are mostly from popular movies and television (Frozen characters are taking over!).  But even some social media viral videos are on the list! (Spider Dog, anyone!?)

So check out this infographic of Google's predictions for the most popular Halloween costumes!  And if you are looking to be truly unique this Hallows Eve, steer clear!

What The New iPhone Means For Your Jeans

It's normal today to see technology trends following fashion.  Anyone's who has ever seen a smartphone cover with a posh designer label on it could tell you that.

But we've gotten to the point now where technology trends are so influential that they are affecting fashion trends.  And better yet, doing so in very untraditional ways.

The new iPhone 6 Plus is following the trend of larger, phablet sized phones.  And as many are saying, this is beginning to look like the future of mobile technology. 

Some people don't like the larger phones, claiming they are hard to hold in their hands, or they bend in their pockets, or (gasp!) don't fit in their pockets!

That's where clothing designers come in!

No clothing brand wants to be out of the running for purchase because someone's new, state-of-the-art smartphone no longer has a home in their jean pocket!  

Mashable published yesterday several conversations from designers claiming they were creating new clothing with that exact problem in mind. 

J. Crew, for example, considers each aspect of the customers lives during their design process.  The head of women's design, Tom Mora, said "We think about all of these details- whether it's introducing new tech accessories for the iPhone 6 - or special interior pockets to carry the various generations of iPads or tablets."

It's pretty cool that the designers are making such a big deal about catering their products to our technology needs.  Though, I have to say, iPads in interior pockets of our pants!?  J. Crew needs to rethink that one!!  Most women don't even wear pants with enough fabric to cover an iPad let alone hide one inconspicuously!!

J. Crew isn't alone in planning their fashion around tech trends, though. Lee Jeans, L.L. Bean, Levi's, American Eagle and Japanese brand Uniqio all are also on board planning their designs for iPhones, Galaxy Tablets and phablets.  

What do you think?  Would you buy jeans if your smartphone didn't fit in the pocket?  

Can You Survive 'Death by Twitter'

We've seen many brands go down with Twitter errors.  Very few have given good examples of how to bounce back after a Twitter fail!

Well this week MAY be an example of bouncing back!  And what it takes is honesty, humility and a whole lot of apologies!!

So this story is a mishmash of a whole bunch of what's been happening on social media this week.  

It started with a leaked video of NFL star Ray Rice's vicious attack on his then-fiancee Janay Palmer.  Honestly, I haven't even watched the video because it makes my heart sick.  Rice was subsequently ousted from the NFL, with controversy surrounding the relationships and motives of Rice and Palmer.

This prompted a heavy trending hashtag of #WhyIStayed, initiated to launch a discussion about the complexities of domestic violence within relationships.

Well, cue a hasty social media manager at DiGiorno Pizza who saw this trending hashtag and used it before actually looking into its meaning.   Yeah, @DiGiornoPizza tweeted "#WhyIStayed You had a Pizza".  And in the serious and heartfelt conversation of people who survived abuse, this socially tone-deaf tweet fell on critical ears.  

Per usual with these kind of flubs, the Twittersphere reacted both immediately and venomously.  But not as usual was the brand's reply.

Yes, DiGiorno noticed, apologized and immediately deleted the tweet.

But then, the brand sent out personalized tweets to each and every Twitter handle that mentioned its offense.  Yes, personalized.  Guys, that takes TIME.  I mean a lot of time.  But it came across as very authentic and responsible.  Much more so than an automated response and apology.  

Check out some of the personalized tweet apologies below.  What do you think?  Is this a good way to make up for the insensitive tweet?

Brad & Angie Wed: But What About The Dress!?

I always laugh a little when I see people post complaints about their news feed.  Obviously they don't know you can block people!

Many gripe that their feed is full of "just weddings and babies".  

Well, if you want something in that genre but a little more exciting, how about a secret, surprise wedding of two of the most famous people on the planet!

That will get your news feed, Twitter feed or just about anything going!

And that's what we got this weekend when Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were married in Chateau Miraval, France.  

And while everyone is ringing the news, I have one prevailing question that I am sure every diva out there wants to know. 

What did Angie's dress look like!!!?

Trust me, friends, I have scoured every site and have not found a picture.  When I do I will post it but, sigh, it might never happen knowing these two and their secrecy!

E! News did report a little gossip on the topic from a "trusted insider" saying the gown was "very traditional, but very Angie, it was comfortable but plain white floor-length antique lace and silk."

Sounds lovely, but I guess we'll just have to use our imaginations for now!  Hey, at least Angie got in the white dress before Labor Day!!

What designer would you dress Angie in for her big day?

Emmy Awards Edition: Can you really PLAN a Social Media/TV Moment?

There are some live TV/ Social Media moments that are just pure gold.  Think of Ellen's famous selfie during the last Oscars that went viral, or the Oreo ad from the Superbowl power outage in 2013.  But last night's Emmy Awards makes me wonder if those moments just can't always be planned.  

This year's Emmys were advertised as being the "Most Social Media Friendly Event Ever", with brands from Twitter to Facebook to Pinterest getting in on the action.  Pinterest pages being updated in real time with fashion content.  Twitter debuted a zip-line camera feed.  Even video vignette mogul Vine joined the party with a "360-station" to record videos on the red carpet.

But.... looking back on the event.... what really STUCK?

You know the phrase, "If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority"?  I think of that about last night's Emmys social media presence.  There was just too many things all trying to happen.  No one event could capture enough attention to really make it monumental.

Sure there were many tweet-worthy moments.  The Robin Williams tribute was beautiful, Sofia Vergara's spotlight on the spinning pedestal, the audience "Q&A", but I'd be surprised if we were referencing any of these as social media "hits" a year from now.

What did you think of the Emmys?  Any awesome moments I'm just not seeing?

What's Up With All That Ice!?

I'm always up for a challenge.

And from the looks of my news feed, I'm not alone.

Yup, I'm talking about the Ice Bucket Challenge.  The viral video challenge that is leading people across the nation to, well, dump a bucket of ice over their heads!

If you haven't read into it, the concept is pretty simple.  Kinda like a big game of truth or dare, except the dare is always a bucket of ice and if you don't take it, you pay up.  For a good cause, though, $100 to ALS- commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.  

The challenge has helped spread awareness of ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) which is a neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.  There is no known cure for ALS, but creative efforts like this challenge help lead the charge for research.

I love this type of use for social media.  It reminds me of a large scale, modern version of a chain letter.  Remember the kind you had to send off to a certain number of people?  That's exactly what happens here - after finishing the chilly challenge yourself, you name three others who then have 24 hours to ice up or pay up!  And even those finishing the challenge find ways to give, often offering a dollar for every like or view their video receives.  This combines social impact, viral videos and social media! Amazing.

The challenge started and has spread from everyday Americans to celebrities and TV personalities.  Check out videos of Martha Stewart, Lance Bass, Matt Lauer, Elizabeth Banks, the list goes on and on! 

Even if you haven't yet been challenged, you can donate to ALS here.  Every donation counts!

With URLs, Shorter Doesn't Mean Safer!

Anyone who has used Twitter and knows the importance of each character in a 140-character limit knows about shortened URLs.  But, why would anyone ever want to make a url LONGER?

Well, I've come across this concept a bit during my exploration into increased internet security.  And not only am I going to share when you should make a URL longer, I'll give you an easy way to do it!

You've probably all been there.  You get an email from a friend, coworker or maybe someone you haven't talked to in awhile.  The message is short and a bit cryptic, of course, with a link.  The link is usually just as cryptic, likely shortened so it does not give away what it will link you to.  My gut in this situation is typically to STAY AWAY!  Clicking those links can invite malware or a virus to your computer or device. But we click on shortened links every day in Twitter, Facebook or on our favorite sites.  You may have even used one to get to THIS page!

Here's where the URL lengthener comes in!  LongURL.com is a web tool that gives you the original form of any shortened link.  So you will see that the shortened link for this page (bit.ly/1kpFtlM) is the Social Media Diva blog, (http://divaofsocialmedia.blogspot.com/2014/08/with-urls-shorter-doesnt-mean-safer.html).

Almost like a reverse phone number lookup, you will get the original link to any shortened link and can see that without putting your computer at harm!  

So if you can't resist the urge to stay away, check out longurl.com and stay safe!

http://

Facebook Launches "Save"

Scrolling through my Facebook feed, I always come across interesting sounding headlines.  But, when I'm just in the mood for some light internet-feed stalking, I don't want, or have time to, read huge long articles.

There are several apps to handle this type of situation.  Most notably, Pocket (with over 12 million users) and Instapaper.  These "read-it-later" apps let you tap to archive an article and come back to it when you have more time.

Well, now they have a bit more competition.  Facebook has launched "Save", a feature within the app that lets you add these articles to a folder for access at a later time.  Yes, just like Pocket, Instapaper AND the tested version of Save that Facebook tried back in 2012.  

Not sure what has taken Facebook so long to release this feature.  The company bought "Spool" (a startup that does this exact thing) two years ago, and it seems like a natural feature especially since there has been such a rise in articles posted on the news feed.

But, better late than never, I guess!  This is one feature that I will start using asap! Do you have a ton of articles you want to stockpile? What do you think of Facebook's newest feature release?

Google+, Say My (Nick)Name!

For the three years since its launch, Google+ has often been seen as the bronze metal of social media.  You've got Facebook and Twitter up there in Gold and Silver positions (which rank is dependent on who you ask!) and then, at the bottom of the totem pole is good old Google+.

Many have given rationale for this placement, and one very common thing that users complained about is the requirement to use their real names.  This complaint was heightened when Google+ started pushing comments through directly to YouTube, so real names were used there as well.  

Many don't want their legal name used in social media, for any number of safety of personal reasons.  On Facebook, you can list nicknames, maiden names or just choose not to have your last  name.  Twitter profiles don't need to represent your name at all!  But until yesterday, Google+ held strong to real names only.

Yep, I said until yesterday.  Google+ has finally raised the white flag of surrender and decided to allow users to go by any name they choose.  In an official statement on their own Google+ page, the company wrote: 

We know you’ve been calling for this change for a while. We know that our names policy has been unclear, and this has led to some unnecessarily difficult experiences for some of our users. For this we apologize, and we hope that today’s change is a step toward making Google+ the welcoming and inclusive place that we want it to be.

Well, Google+, apology accepted!  And from now on, you can just refer to me as DIVA!

Update: Turns out Google+ can't refer to me as just "Diva".  There are still some rules around the names!

- Must enter a first and a last name (though you could just put a period for one if you so choose)

- No names that violate their terms of service (mostly just naughty names).

- No pretending to be someone else (Though no word on how they will know.  But let's face it, Google knows everything!)

World Cup: Breaking Twitter Records Left and Right!

Well, the ink has barely dried on the last "Most Tweeted Sporting Event Ever" award, when the World Cup is at it again.

Tuesday's Brazil vs. Germany game has stolen the coveted "Most Tweeted Sporting Event" title from last week's Brazil vs. Chile game.

Tuesday's game was pretty crazy- with Germany beating Brazil 7-1 and several other scoring records being broken.   And as far as the Twitter record goes, it actually CRUSHED the previous record (much like Brazil got crushed in the game!!).  Last week I reported that the Brazil vs. Chile game had over 16 million tweets.  Well, Tuesday's match brought the number to 35.6 million tweets!!!  And with yet another record-breaker, Germany's fifth goal, scored by Sami Khedira, recorded over 580 tweets per minute (TPM), setting the record for the highest TPM for an event.  

So, what's the common denominator?  Think that tweets will go back down now that Brazil is out?  Will we break the record again during the World Cup?  Only time will tell, but I can't wait to see!

#MostTweetsEver

The World Cup is such an awesome time!  The fans are intense!! Very intense.  Maybe I am a fair-weather soccer fan... I don't really follow during a normal season.  HOWEVER, the excitement around the World Cup is electrifying and I think it's cool that even casual fans of soccer want to be a part of it!!

And, it is electrifying all over the globe.  A great way to see that take shape is over Twitter. Last week's Brazil vs. Chile game attracted - get this -  over 16.4 million tweets!! This makes the game the most tweeted game of the World Cup thus far, and possibly the most tweeted sports event EVER!!  Let's put this into perspective.  Sometimes we throw around numbers like "16.4 million tweets" and don't really comprehend how many that is!  There are about four million people living in Los Angeles.  So this would be like every single person in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago tweeting - and then some!!

Twitter Handles such as "TwitterData" take note of the trends on the site during crucial moments of the game.  For example, in the Brazil vs. Chile game, the most tweeted moment - raking up almost 389,000 tweets in a single minute - was the moment Chilean defender Gonzalo Jara missed a crucial penalty kick allowing Brazil the win.  

It's also amazing to see the impact of how global Twitter truly is!  USA may be out of the World Cup, but we can still cheer for the winner of most tweets!!

Girl Power Explodes on Social Media

Inspiring messages and videos are always fun to watch and pass around social media.

But this week there has been a trend in some of the most shared and most like videos... and I'm telling you, sister, it has girl power written all over it!

That's right, girl power!

And I mean thought-provoking, culture-changing girl power.  Brands have identified this socially impactful trend around empowering women through how we as a culture treat young girls.  Two of my favorite videos from this week focus on exactly that.  I have to share them with you.  Get ready to get chills!

P&G/Always: #LikeAGirl

Verizon: #PrettyBrilliantToo

If these inspire you, pass them on!  I've listed the most popular hashtag above for each of the video.  Have you seen any others we should add to this list?

Reddit Rewards Seattle's Hero

I really like stories of strangers banning together through social media to empower goodness in the world.  This story made the start of my week a little less gloomy.

Last week, the horrifying news of the shooting at Seattle Pacific University hit the air.  The shooting, which killed one and wounded two others, was stopped by 22-year old Jon Meis.  Meis tackled the shooter and used pepper spray to stop him, putting himself in danger but, as police say, heroically stopping the shooting and saving lives.  

He is definitely a hero, and thanks to the social media site, Reddit, he's getting a bit of a "thank you".  Meis was planning a wedding later this month and a post on Seattle's Reddit page prompted users to help him out with this message:

 "This is the wedding registry for the man who subdued the SPU gunman. You know what to do."

Within a few short hours, EVERYTHING on the registry was purchased and a separate campaign (for those who missed out on the gifts) was started virtually and raised $37,000 for a honeymoon for Meis and his bride!

It's awesome to see social media bring people together to celebrate heroes.  Still, as much as I love seeing these type of acts, I can't help but think of the innocent person who lost his life in this tragedy.  It is important to keep a balance between celebrating the fact that the shooting was stopped but also respecting the fact that an individual lost his life, and that person's family and friends are still grieving. 

But a little light in the bad times is always a nice thing.  What do you think?  Is this support positive or ignoring those hurt by the shooting?

The End of The @EveryWord Era?!

Who would believe that a Twitter handle could get almost 100k followers by posting one word tweets!

But that is exactly what @everyword did!  If you aren't one of its followers, I'll give you the low down on this historic Twitter handle.  

@Everyword was created by NYU professor Adam Parrish, who was actually mocking Twitter a bit when he created the account seven years ago.  The handle is a Twitter-bot and it tweets a word in the dictionary every 30 minutes since its conception on November 30, 2007.  That's it.  Just the word in alphabetical order!  

Somehow, this simple concept has fascinated people and @EveryWord has 98k followers.  And now that the end of the dictionary is coming near, people are scared, sad and curious what will come of @everyword when it gets through the Z's! 

They should have seen it coming, its a moment that has been seven years in the making!! But what is pretty interesting to me about this whole story is the shift in attitude that the @everyword founder has had since the beginning of this experiment.  He told The Guardian in a recent interview: 

"I was a Twitter skeptic.  The way I saw it, people were posting meaningless things, totally out of context.  I wanted to satirize the brevity of Twitter messages would be to make a bot that would post individual words.  But now I see Twitter differently.  It's kind of a magical writing experiment, and it's amazing that so many people participate."

I like that he's come around to appreciating the "magical writing experiment" that is Twitter!! But as for now, we only have a few short days (hours??) until the seven year saga of @everyword ends!!  We are already on "ZY" words!  Have you ever followed this handle?  What do you think it will tweet after the last word??

The 3 Most "Muteable" Tweeters

The newest Twitter feature might be long overdue, but allows us a little peace and quiet!  In our Twitter feed, that is! 

Yesterday Twitter announced the addition of a "mute" button, allowing anyone to hide the tweets and retweets of someone they follow while still allowing that person to comment, retweet or favorite their own tweets. Mute button will roll out to all users in the next few weeks. 

So, when will you need this?  Here's three of the most muteable moments, when the new feature will surely help you out!

1) The spoiler alert: If you aren't caught up on your fave reality show, by all means, mute your friends or the bloggers who follow who chat about the show!! That way you won't have spoilers waiting for you in your news feed, and you can catch up with the show's happenings at your own leisure!

2)  The respectful follow: Those you mute can't tell that you have muted them.  So you can follow that co-worker or business partner that you know wants you to follow them, but you really have no interest in reading their tweets.  After all, it's the nice thing to do!

3) The limited mute:  Maybe you don't want to mute someone forever, but you can mute and unmute as needed!  Let's say your bestie is going to a concert you aren't really excited about or your coworker is over tweeting their outlandish political opinions during election time. Just mute them for a few weeks until the time passes and unmute when you think it's safe!  No more clogging of your feed!

Now if we could only get a "mute" button for real life!!

Has your Twitter profile received the "mute" button rollout yet?  Have you muted anyone?

Death By Twitter: PayPal Edition

The editions of "Death By Twitter" never cease to amaze me. In this edition, we highlight Rakesh "Rocky" Agrawal, a Silicon Valley big-wig and (former) PayPal executive.

His issues played out over the weekend and Monday as he basically insulted half his co-workers over Twitter. It seems from his "slurred typing" that alcohol was involved in these tweets, not to mention that he was at Jazz Fest in New Orleans!

With the lines between our personal lives and our work lives becoming ever more blurred, it has almost become run-of-the-mill to see these Twitter Fails come back to bite workers out of their jobs!

But they do always have twists and turns! As usual, most of the offending tweets have been removed from Agrawal's Twitter page (@rakeshlobster), but he continues to mention the debacle and his tweets since then have played out like a weird cryptic play that just keeps going downhill. First, there is the issue that he claims he quit while PayPal claims they fired him. Here is the tweet describing that:

"Oh. I quit pay a tonight because of self at son and aortic and ah our and hill e a s th"

Yeah, those typos are not my doing! That is literally what the tweet says. Like I mentioned, the man was having some fun at Jazz Fest. But the minute that happens is when he should put away the phone!! Things have drawn out to some quite serious claims like:

"Friends are worrying about me committing suicide. My colleagues have deserted me. Friends are flying in from across country."

I hope he is okay. But I also hope that we can get past this junior-high mentality of venting to our Twitter feeds and keep the site for more value-adding information! Still, kudos to PayPal for their brief tweet, at least referencing the issue and the company's stance on it: Rakesh Agrawal is no longer with the company. Treat everyone with respect. No excuses. PayPal has zero tolerance.

This leads me to think about Twitter and if I've ever posted something I wish I hadn't. Nothing is coming to mind, but I bet it happens to many. Have you ever wanted to take back a tweet??

Do we really need #AmazonCart?

• Peanut Butter + Chocolate
• Wine + Cheese
• Coffee + Baileys

Usually when two of my favorite things come together, I love the output even more.

That's why I was a bit perplexed by my reaction to the news this morning that equates to "Amazon + Twitter".

Yes, there is a new feature on Twitter, after its latest partnership with Amazon.  This is called Amazon Cart, or in Twitter language, #AmazonCart. Basically, you can reply to any tweet with the hashtag and any item that the tweet was promoting will automatically be added to your Amazon cart.  

At first, I guess it sounds cool.  But watching the video teaser for the concept left me feeling confused.

Highlight line from the video: "No more switching apps, typing passwords or trying to remember items you saw on Twitter."

Okay, cutesy voiceover on the well edited pitch video.  Here's the thing.  None of those are real issues for me.  Is this partnership solving an actual problem?  I mean, I switch apps all day, every day.  All my passwords are saved in my phone already.  And, honestly, I never really see items for sale on Twitter.  Am I missing something?  Are people using Twitter to sell products a lot?  It seems like for most, Twitter is a way to share information.  Not the digital marketplace that this partnership would support.

A poll on Mashable is almost split down the middle as to whether people will use this or not, but the majority ends up leaning toward "No way".  

And I agree, at least for now.  Could this Amazon/Twitter partnership be foreshadowing the future of Twitter.  We know the company has been under pressure to find a profitable business model, so maybe monetization will come from this Amazon partnership?

Have you ever purchased something after seeing it on Twitter?  Will you use the new #AmazonCart feature?

Death By Twitter: #USAirways OMG!

It has been awhile, guys. We haven't had a "Death By Twitter" entry in a few months.

Well, we sure do today. And warning, the content of this, or googling it further, will be NSFW! (For those acronym illiterate that is NOT SAFE FOR WORK!!)

We're gonna keep it PG on this site, though- don't worry!

Okay, so if you haven't seen online, what I am alluding to is the recent US Airways tweet in which a customer service rep was responding to a customer complaint and instead of posting a link to a survey, posted a link to a lewd image. And I'm not talking any lewd image. I'm talking nudity, explicit and dealing with airplanes. I am gonna leave it at that.

This, my friends, is so over the top. It is worse than the average "Death By Twitter" in which someone makes a comment that is borderline offensive or just not well thought out. The image was posted next to the tweet for all to see. Obviously it was a mistake but not the kind of mistake that you can fix by "take an extra breath before you tweet!!"

WHY was this image even anywhere near this customer service reps' computer!? There are currently not even speculations about how this might have happened, and US Airways has launched an internal investigation to find out what the HECK happened.

Of course, they've removed the tweet and responded with a PC apology:

"We apologize for an inappropriate image recently shared as a link in one of our responses. We've removed the tweet and are investigating,"
I don't even know what else to say about this one, guys. Just that I think this is certainly the most graphic Death By Twitter that I've seen all year!  Maybe the one who posted was one of the 40% of people who hate the jobs? Or more likely one of the 10% or so who want to hurt the company they work for?  What do you think?

 

Google's Pokemon April Fools Day Challenge

Google has a history of playing fun pranks on April Fools Day and this year is no different, although maybe a bit more elaborate than most!

In years past, Google has announced a fake beta test of a smell-searching product called Google Nose, pranked Gmail users that the new version was going to be better by making the whole interface blue and announced it was shutting down YouTube for 10 years.  But this year, Google opted for a prank a bit more 3-Dimensional.

In a video released yesterday (in time for April Fools Day in Japan), Google announced a fake competition combining augmented reality and Pokemon characters.  The person who finds the most Pokemon characters in Google Maps supposedly would win a trip to Googleplex to compete for a job with Google titled "Pokemon Master". 

So, let's think about this prank.  I personally have never been THAT into Pokemon (sorry, I know people are very defensive if they love Pokemon!) but there is one main reason I can get behind this April Fool's Day Challenge.

Augmented Reality!

There is so much that can be done with augmented reality and I hope that this play by Google is a hint that they will soon be launching more augmented reality functionality within Google Maps!

Have you tried the Pokemon Challenge? What do you think of it?

Hollywood's Biggest Night Crashed Twitter!

The Academy Awards this year was a tipping point.  We have been toeing this line for quite awhile, blurring the lines between live television and social media.  But, Sunday, the lines were obliterated! 

Ellen DeGeneres hosted the #Oscars on Sunday and she went #Social #Media #Crazy!!!  And the great news is, it worked!  Not only was viewership up from last years (According to Nielsen data, viewership was up 6% to 42 million), but ENGAGEMENT (where we all know, holds the secret sauce) was also up.  How much?  So glad you asked!! According to Social Guide, during the telecast, 11.2 MILLION tweets were posted, which is a 72% increase from last year's activity! Now that is impressive!!

The MAIN reason for this just might be DeGeneres herself, and the genius "retweet" campaign she started for the selfie she took with Meryl Streep, Bradley Cooper, Julia Roberts and just about any other A-list celeb you can think of.  That tweet itself was retweeted over 2 million times.  In a matter of hours after Ellen suggested, on air, that viewers retweet it, it became the most retweeted image EVER.  It also crashed Twitter's site for a bit!!

There is a bit of controversy, though, over if this focus on social media and engagement actually made for better television.  Many (including the Hollywood Reporter and Times) claimed the show was boring or dragged on too long, many referencing the focus on social media taking away from the live telecast.

What do you think?  Did you tweet along with the show or change the channel out of boredom?

Social Media Guard from CocaCola!

What do you get when you combine social media, humor and a not to animals?  You get my favorite ad of the week!

A funny new "product" that takes cues from a dog's Elizabethan collar that would protect people from too much social media!!

You might be surprised at who put out the ad: CocaCola! 

Now we won't get too much into the fact that if you can't check your mobile device with this "Social Media Guard", you would definitely have a hard time drinking a can of coke!

 

But that aside, this type of faux-product advertising has done really well in the past.  And while the "Social Media Guard" is not currently a real product for sale, I wouldn't be surprised if they started to produce one, mostly as a joke, pretty soon!  This has happened with several other products that originated from publicity ads.  For example, Staples' "Easy Button" is now available for purchase.  As is this "Inflatable Lunch Decoy" from Applebees!

 

Do you know someone who might need a "Social Media Guard"?

Best Social Media Moments from the 2014 Grammys!

Did you watch The Grammy Awards last night? Did your favorite artist win? The Grammys is HUGE on social media- definitely one of the most-tweeted events of the year. To this point, last night there were over 15 MILLION Grammy related Tweets! And we shouldn't let that get to our HEADS. Okay, that is a terrible attempt at a pun but it is strange to me how many of the tweets have to do with heads, hair, helmets and hats!!

Here we go:

HAIR:  If you watched Taylor Swift's lovely performance of her song "All To Well", you might have taken a quick break to the mirror to practice your own hair flip! Taylor's wild head flails landed her with massive amounts of tweets (many hoping her neck isn't sore today!) and even several Vine videos like these ones!!

HELMETS: Daft Punk, notorious for not showing their faces due to helmets and robotic wear, managed to go through the entire night fully donned in helmets and not saying an entire word! Needless to say, after winning four Grammys including album of the year, the Twittersphere had enough to say for the both of them! ,

HATS:  This might have been the most talked about article of clothing on Twitter last night. That means a lot too because the "style" chatter about the dresses and shoes and jewels and costumes was, as usual, plentiful. Pharrell's lovely hat. And while most of the Twittersphere laughed at it, Pharrell did fine for himself, never once missing a beat with this hat and also taking home two Grammys for Record of the Year and Producer of the Year. AND this hat gave us one of the BEST brand tweets of the night. Actually, I am going to go out there and say this might be one of my favorite brand tweets of all time.  It is relevant, current and SO tied into the company's brand that it almost seems too good to be true. Thanks, Arby's, for restoring my faith in branded tweets!!

What was your favorite GRAMMYs moment??