The Day The Music Died..... #OneDirection

Today's biggest social media story has a sad, sad tune.

It broke online earlier today, with a post on Facebook from mega-star band One Direction, announcing that member Zayn Malik was leaving the group.

Immediately, the hearts of a million girls worldwide tore apart, and social media went crazy.

Usually, if a story is SUPER popular it will take up one spot on Twitter's "Trending Topics".  It is a big deal to be a Twitter trending topic, as there are only 10 at any given moment.  Well, right now, Zayn's departure is the story on 4  trending topics in Los Angeles, and 2 of them WORLDWIDE.   The most popular sentiments include #AlwaysInOurHeartsZaynMalik and #ZaynWillAlwaysBeAPartOf1D.

These cries are reaching far beyond Twitter, though.  Of course, the original post on Facebook is blowing up, with over a half a MILLION likes and comments.  But it goes even deeper than that.  YouTube has been flooded with videos of fans crying and in hysterics, begging Zayn not to leave.  

He's still alive, people!! Zayn claimed that he wants to be able to "relax and have some private time out of the spotlight." Right, just like any other normal 22-year old guy.  Except with a hoard of devastated fans in his wake.  

Think Zayn's dreams of normalcy will ever happen?  What are your thoughts on Zayn's departure?

What you can learn from the Harlem Shake!

It's catchy.  It's funny.  It might already be overplayed.  It's the latest meme craze: The Harlem Shake.

 

The Harlem Shake originated less than two weeks ago and has spawned over 40,000 versions uploaded to YouTube, totaling more than 200 million views. If you haven't seen it yet, just go on YouTube and watch one.  It is much easier seen than described.  Basically, someone starts dancing in a room of otherwise normal activity and then the scene switches to everyone dancing/ going crazy.  So what turns such a simple and silly concept into an Internet sensation? Let's take a look at three things companies that are looking to engage customers through social media can learn from Harlem Shake!

 

Harlem Shake Characteristic: Length

The videos average about 30 seconds in length.  This makes viewing them, and possibly viewing multiple in one sitting, very easy for the average YouTube visitor.  They can also be viewed in the entirety as part of a conversation or showing one to a friend on a mobile device.

Lesson: Keep it short: You have to capture attention quickly! No one is going to read through pages of material or watch a half hour long video. 

 

Harlem Shake Characteristic: Easy to Create

It is easy to see how there have been so many versions created and posted as the videos are technically quite simple to set up, create and edit.  They typically are one static camera angle and just require one cut from that camera angle.  This simplicity implies that just about anyone can make a version without much planning or effort.

Lesson: Keep it simple: If you want engagement, keep it simple for the customer!

 

Harlem Shake Characteristic: Open to interpretation

The theme is so loose that it is easy for viewers to imagine their own "creative spin" on the Harlem Shake.  Think of the armed forces version, the Swimming Team version, or the senior citizen version.  This lets viewers feel part of the craze and inject their own creativity into the concept.

Lesson: Keep it creative: Give your customers space to make the interaction unique and personal to them! 

 

 

 

Take away any other lessons from the Harlem Shake?  Let us know below!

Top 10 Things to be Thankful For: Social Media Style

30 Days of Thanksgiving has taken over my Facebook feed.  Every other person seems to have taken the oath to write one thing per day for each day of November that they are thankful for.  I love it.  It is so important in our daily lives to take a moment to remember our blessings.

With that said, what if some of the things I am actually thankful for don't seem to fit with the status updates?  Most people are saying lovely, beautiful, heartfelt appreciations every single day.  Example:  For the love my husband bestows on me every day.  For the children who light up my life with their laughter.  For the family that has stayed by my side through my biggest struggles.

Yes, these are all wonderful things to recognize.  But for me, a social-media-lover, it makes some of my potential posts wither away from lack of significance.
BUT NO MORE!  I post proudly to the world, the Top 10 Things I am Thankful for in Social Media!

10. Thankful for Twitter for being there to tell me the facts when I THINK I feel an earthquake, but am not positive.
9. Thankful to Instagram for making me look like a much more creative photographer than I actually am.

8. Thankful for Pinterest for motivating me to clean areas of my house that I didn't even know were dirty!

7. Thankful for Skype, that I can virtually be with the ones I love even if we are far apart for the holidays.

6. Thankful for Goodreads, my digital book cataloger-of-choice, for suggesting amazing books and steering me away from less than stellar ones.
5. Thankful for streaming Netflix on my iPad, for those nights when I can't fall asleep but don't want to go all the way to the couch to turn on the TV.
4. Thankful for YouTube and its instructional videos that instantly teach me everything from "Best way to tie a long scarf" to "How to fix a cracked iPhone Screen".
3. Thankful for status updates that help me stay, at least somewhat, in the loop on the lives of friends and family that I would not be able to otherwise.  
2. Thankful for Facebook Birthday Reminders, you know you need these too!!
1. Thankful for my SocialMediaDiva family and readers for their love and support!

Of course there are so many more social media tools and tricks that make our lives just a little better every day.  Let us know the ones you are most thankful for.  And Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  

Happy Social Media Day!

You know you've hit it big when you have a day of the year dedicated to you.  I'm still waiting for Social Media Diva Day.  It has a nice ring to it, don't you think!

In the meantime, Social Media Day is here!  This Saturday, June 30th is Mashable's 3rd annual Social Media Day!  Started in 2010 by Mashable, the worldwide event is a celebration of "the digital revolution happening right before our eyes"!

Here's my challenge for you for Social Media Day 2012. Learn something new.

Yup, that's it.  Seems simple, huh?  And guess what!?  It IS simple! 

There are so many amazing sites that can simplify, deepen or enhance your life and your learning.  I've listed several of them below.  I want you to sign up for one of these, create a username and spend an hour digging around on the site.  Get involved in the conversation and the community.  And let me know what you learn.  I can't wait to hear about it.

http://www.facebook.com/ (really?  If you aren't on Facebook yet, we need to talk!)                  
http://www.tumblr.com/
 http://www.pinterest.com/
http://www.instagram.com/ http://www.meetup.com/                                                                                                                   http://www.twitter.com/
 http://www.digg.com/                                                                                                                       http://www.flickr.com/
 http://www.youtube.com/                                                                                                                 http://www.blogger.com/
 http://www.klout.com/                                                                                                                      http://www.reddit.com/
 https://plus.google.com/                                                                                                           http://www.stumbleupon.com/

 Bonus points:  Logon to to http://mashable.com/smday/ to see if there is a Meetup scheduled in your hometown.  You are sure to meet a ton of people and learn.   Strange enough, here in LA, our Meetup currently has no details!  But social media lovers are biting at the opportunity.   If deets aren't up soon, this is going to be a crowd sourced event!!!

Kony 2012

Have you been on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube in the past 24 hours?  If so, you’ve seen at least a glimpse of one of the most pervasive social media campaigns in recent history.   Going beyond the typical ‘Trending Topic” or Fan Page status, the Kony 2012 campaign has completely taken social media sites by storm.  

• YouTube video posted Monday night now has 7 MILLION views. (update: by the time I posted this, its up to 10 million views)
• Trending worldwide on twitter and making up over of half of current Twitter US trending topics.
• About every third post on my Facebook newsfeed right now.

This campaign has made its voice known with a viral video produced by filmmaker Jason Russell.  Russell’s mini documentary brings light to Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony, and his brutal practices of abducting young children and forcing them into his army.

Before I get into the video’s content, I want to touch on one specific fascinating piece to me.  The video is 27 minutes long!  If social media minutes had some alternate timing, like 1 dog year = 7 human years, it would be something like 27 social media minutes = forever.  In the world of 30 second pitches and 140 character updates, 27 minutes is a long time to ask someone to focus.  For me, that makes this campaign’s success even more staggering.  

But - as the documentary states - “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”  And with that, the video calls for action from the world to continue to put pressure on the US government to keep aid in Central Africa to help them find and capture Joseph Kony.  The plan to achieve this is to “Make Kony Famous”.  Hence, the Kony 2012 campaign.  

Its better to watch the video for yourself than to read about it in an article.  Links to the postings are below.  No matter if you are counting with regular time or ‘social media time’-  its worth your 27 minutes to watch.

http://www.kony2012.com/

http://www.kony2012.com/