Superbowl XLVII Proves Need for Social Media Speed!!

 

We always say the world of social media is fast paced.  Long standing rules of marketing, public relations and consumer engagement have been flipped on their heads by the real-time quickness of today's digital world.  And this was seen on a national level during last night's Superbowl!  While Twitter quips and Facebook posts filled up the night, my top two performers for speed and agility are Oreo and @SuperbowlLights!

 

Twitter handle @SuperBowlLights is a classic look at timing in the social media space.  The handle was created as a joking nod toward- what else- the power outage!! Get this, within ONE HOUR of the moment the lights went out in New Orleans stadium, the handle was created, gained 25,000 followers and was being regulated and having tweets removed by the NFL.  ONE HOUR, people!  It has taken me long than that to get my hair done!

While the story of @SuperBowlLights is quick and impressive, I think @OREO outdoes them.  Mere minutes after the power outage, @Oreo tweeted this "You Can Still Dunk In The Dark" ad.  Wow.  The reason I find this more impressive is that Oreo is a large brand name.  It is owned by Nabisco, which is owned by Kraft--- you get the point? We are talking layers upon layers of approval in a typical decision making process.  But apparently, they are lean and mean enough to be quick and relevant when needed!  Kudos to Oreo!

Is Facebook's New 'Graph Search' Built For Users or Marketers?

It sounds exciting.  Truth be told, I AM excited.  Facebook announced its new feature today, Graph Search, that will make searching the site much more intuitive.  

With Graph Search, instead of just typing in a friend's name and getting their profile, you'll be able to type in things like "Who do I know in New York", or "Friends in LA who like tennis".

Cool, right?  This will be super helpful and I can already think of a bunch of applications for it.  But the idea has been getting quite a bit of skeptical feedback.  

Is this feature made for us, the end users, or to help Facebook sell more targeted advertising?

And if I let my eagerness to try it out calm down a bit (which I will have to do anyway, because right now you have to get on a waiting list to even try the beta test) then I can see the skeptic's point. 

Does this really just make Facebook a better search engine of our likes, hobbies and statistics so that marketers can better reach us with their paid advertising?

Only time, and getting to use the new tool, will tell how well it works and how useful it is.  For now I will remain the ever-hopeful optimist.  Bring it on Graph Search!

What do you think about Facebook's announcement?  Are you Team Graph Search or Team Skeptic??

Your Twitter Birthday

A baby's first steps, a teen's first kiss, a student's first day of college; life is filled with commemorative 'firsts'.  And the New Year is the perfect time to celebrate firsts! But my first day on Twitter is not one of the occurrences I had thought a lot about. 

Until now.

WhenDidYouJoinTwitter.com

It's actually quite fun to look back at your Twitter-life and see how long you've been tweeting.  It made me remember signing up for Twitter, just to explore what all the hullabaloo was about.  Who knew it would become such a phenomenon and useful tool in social media and communication - especially for first reports on disasters or other events?  

This site is also useful for something other than just a trip down memory lane.  You can check out when other users' first day on Twitter was as well.

Has your company been Twitter savvy longer than your competitor?  Is the Twitter handle requesting to follow you a twitter-bot that was just created today?  Which of your friends is the real Twitter veteran?

My first Twitter birthday is June 3, 2008.  When's yours!?

#WillYouMarryMe

I guess I should have seen this coming.  With all the engagement proposals around Christmas time, dozens of commercials for diamond rings and other fancy things, it was inevitable.  Proposals over Twitter.

Last weekend, Kat Von D, the tattoo artist and TV personality who was the 'other woman' in Sandra Bullock and Jesse James's divorce, was proposed to by electronic music star DJ Deadmau5.  

And it happened on Twitter.  Check this out: 

How romantic.... I suppose.

So, apparently this is not a new thing.  I was aghast last September after reading about the Turkish couple exchanging vows over Twitter.  But there have also been other Twitter proposals!  Here is a sampling dating as far back as 2008.

Is this the new "writing your name across the sky"?  Has Twitter replaced skywriting or proposals under the 

mistletoe?  It seems so impersonal to me, not even face-to-face and condensing your love to the 140-character limit.  Maybe its good for shy, rambling types who have a limited romantic vocabulary anyway.

What do you think about Twitter proposals?  Would you ever partake, or say yes to someone over Twitter?

#PrayersForNewtown

I am just speechless and heartbroken for the families in Newtown, Connecticut.
Today, I urge you to get offline.  Go visit your mom.  Go hug your brother. Call a long-distance relative to tell them how much they mean to you.
And say a prayer for those involved in today's senseless shootings.  My thoughts, prayers and love go out to the community.

Rumor Has It: Filter Fight 2012

If you can't beat them, join them.  
According to rumors, Twitter is taking this advice as a next step in its war against Instagram!  
Twitter hasn't confirmed this yet, but here's the latest gab... 
Before the end of the year (that's not too much longer!), Twitter is rumored to be releasing photo filters of its own to use right within the app.  This is a logical next step to competing Instagram out of Twitter’s market.
I'm pretty excited.  Instagram's filters were one of the things I was most thankful for this year, remember!?  And we all know about my love for Twitter.  So I am falling right into Twitter's plan for market domination, huh?  Thus far, Instagram has actually made it quite easy to use both apps together, but Twitter is now putting a stop to that (like I mentioned last week). 
Geez, this rivalry is making me want to pick a side!  But I just love both, so it’s hard!  Maybe Twitter's rumored filters will push me over the edge onto Team Twitter!? More updates on this as they come!   

Are you Team Twitter or Team Instagram??  
And, more food for thought, if you could have Twitter improve something about photo filters, what would it be?

Instagram "Defriends" Twitter!

The way I see it, Facebook and Twitter were like the odd couple of social media. They are similar, but different enough that people used both.  And everyone seemed happy.  That is, until this September when Facebook's affair with Instagram began!  Sure enough, Facebook bought Instagram and now no one is happy.

The latest feud here is over pictures.  Instagram previously used Twitter as a way to get traction for its images.  But now that it's owned by Facebook, that game plan is changing.  This week, Instagram's CEO announced the company wants to keep users and their images solely on the Instagram site.  Now, Instagram pictures are not displaying correctly on Twitter!  Twitter updated its site this week claiming that Instagram has disabled its integration with Twitter cards (which are used to display images on the site).

Oh. My. Gosh.

This sounds like a bunch of bickering fifth graders to me.

What happened to customer service? What happened to caring about user experience?  Yes, the sites should want users on their site but NOT at the cost of hindering our overall social media experience.

This seems like it is going to be a long and drawn out war.  I've tested images through Instagram and they seem like they are showing up fine on Twitter.  So is this just being blown out of proportion?  Or are we headed into social media throwdown?  Only time will tell.

Are you having compatibility problems between Instagram and Twitter?  Do you think Instagram is right to disable their pictures within tweets?