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Random Things, Rants and Relationships: February 2, 2009 Week in Review

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This week’s WIR curator is Monica Hamburg. Monica struts her social media stuff at her blog, Me Like the Interweb.


Seen Around the Blogosphere

Rupert Neate’s perspective is that “Facebook is a Business Not a Charity” and he describes the logistics of just what the company is doing with users’ data. And Nick O’Neil of AllFacebook tells us just how to make use of the privacy settings on Facebook.

No more of 25 Random Things meme. Please no more… I love you, but if any of these 25 things are important enough for me to know, you can tell me in person, ‘kay. (I spend enough time online already, as we’ll discuss momentarily.) Claire Suddath amusingly lists 25 facts she wishes people hadn’t told her about themselves.

Lemon Zest introduced me to Evernote by professing: “Evernote is my new boyfriend“. Since my guy feels (understandably) that I spend too much time online, I am cautious of falling for web utilities, however useful they might prove to be. Of course, I have installed it and will be trying it out asap.

What’s up with the celebrities on Twitter? Moreover, how much of it is honest and how much is staged and/or exists to create buzz? And does the “hoax” element denigrate the purported honesty and transparency of social media? Or is it just fun? How much of it is (or will become) propaganda – so asks Mashable with “Has Hollywood Learned How to Game Social Media?” Discuss. Additionally, many fictional characters (especially from TV shows) are appearing on Twitter and other social networks… Fun? Lame? Time-sucking? Only you can decide.*

Seen on the Marketing Blogs

Heard on Twitter

The Twitter meme #nerdpickuplines is sooo wonderfully funny – and nerdy.


Interesting Bookmarks from the Backchannel

Other Tidbits

I think this “Babby” cartoon completely sums up Yahoo Answers – and is sheer brilliance. (Warning: it’s deranged – and addictive.) (Hat tip: @mindofchester’s post)

I’m running the “Decor Hell Photo Contest” and I would love you to enter your hideous household horror (nightmare chair, fugly furniture, lame lamp or cat-chewed couch) to win prizes. Of course, you don’t have any such horrors in your home, right? Oh, say, what’s that over your mantle… Bom, Bom: Decor Hell! (Disclaimer: the cool mortgage broker/contest sponsor is my boyfriend).

I’m also researching how Artists Use Social Media. I’ve had a great response and am very excited – and would love even more answers. So, if you’re an artist who makes connections, promotes etc. through social media, please fill out the survey (or pass the word on to a cool, empowered artist you know).

(Note: posting the request re: above questionnaire on HARO was great – I think I got over 60 responses to my request! Now, while I certainly received some amazingly off-topic emails and answers (some hilariously so) – most have really amazing and very informative. I’d definitely recommend posting a request to HARO if you need sources.)

Speaking of Social Media and Art, some great artistic projects are making use of Crowdsourcing including: Wikipedia Loves Art, a scavenger hunt and free content photography contest coordinated by several museums and the awesome Disposable Memory Project
where cameras have been left in several places around the world,
inviting finders to take a picture and pass the camera on. (Sort of
like an artsy Akoha!)

*Lastly, feel free to let me know your thoughts about Characters in Social Media (Do you use a character online to build buzz for a creative project (e.g. indie film, art installation piece, whatever) or to engage your audience with a project ? Also interested if you’ve noticed characters like that on Twitter (e.g. Television characters tweeting etc.) Facebook, Blogs and more.

This Week’s Video Meme

Mashable tracks the Christian Bale sh*tstorm that hit social media outlets this week: Perhaps the biggest “social media going mainstream” event since a plane landed in the Hudson River, the Bale incident has sparked an endless number of Tweets (it’s been the #1 or #2 trending topic since the story hit), blog posts, and
parodies.

Make sure you check out the article for incredible trending graphs on this incident.  Lesson for all of us involved in PR and social media!

Related: Best. Song. Ever: BaleOut – (Warning: NSFW – unless you work at a very progressive company or at home) Laced with profanities, DJ RevoLucian entertaining (and very danceable!) remix of Christian Bale’s rant is getting some good mileage on YouTube with over 1 million views so far.

3 Comments

  1. Anthony
    Anthony February 7, 2009

    Since the video meme of the week doesn’t really qualify as a video (since it’s only audio), I submit this video to you. It exploded this week, hitting over 4 million views in under a week. It was also featured on VH1’s Best Week Ever. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs – also, I can’t stop watching it.
    Thank you for the nod.

  2. Monica Hamburg
    Monica Hamburg February 7, 2009

    Ryan: Thanks – I hadn’t heard about HBC and that is BIG news!
    Anthony: Audio paired with photos – on YouTube – counts. Right, folks? C’mon back me up against a Zimp 😉 You’re right – the David after Dentist video is making the rounds – I just saw it on Evan’s blog (from NYC) the other day http://evanschiller.blogspot.com/2009/02/drugged-up-at-dentist.html

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