Social media was a bit of a hodgepodge this week. It wasn’t good or bad, up or down. It just… was. There were definitely things going on, as there always are in the social media world. But there seemed to be no recurring theme in news, no major trend realized, no groundbreaking deals or changes, and no wacko restaurant couple going nuts on Facebook. This week social media chilled out and took a breather. Which is understandable, I’d say, since it’s been pretty busy over the last few weeks. But have no fear; we here at TBG will search the depths of Google for riveting social media news for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!
- I watch a lot of HBO, which features my current obsession Game of Thrones. I missed last Sunday’s episode, which turned out to be a huge mistake since it was one of the most talked about TV show episodes in history, especially on social media (SPOILER ALERT!). Following the episode’s airing, my Facebook newsfeed was overflowing with rather “explicit” reactions to the episode. Luckily, none of my friends posted any spoilers. Others weren’t so lucky. One comedian in particular outraged many fans by tweeting major plot moments. While social media does provide us with a platform to discuss common interests and thoughts with others, there is still a need for etiquette and consideration when posting sensitive information (a.k.a. don’t be that jerk that ruins the show for everyone).
- In other HBO news, season six of True Blood premiers June 16th! To promote the premier, HBO is hosting a live, 15 minute pre-show before the episode airs. This pre-show, called “#TrueBlood: Live from Set”, will feature the actors answering fans’ questions posted online as well as highlighting some of the show’s top social media followers.
- In more serious news, major protests have spread across Turkey this week and, according to the Turkish prime minister, social media is to blame. Social media has become a major communication tool for protestors, leading Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to call Twitter a “menace”. How could that cute little bird be a menace? Anyway, social media became such a problem that users throughout Turkey have actually been arrested for their posts.
- Speaking of government, it seems that Turkey’s not the only country paying attention to social media. Here are five weird ways the government is experimenting with social media. While I’m all for the earthquake alerts, I’m not so sure about the whole zombie apocalypse thing.
- Cheerios recently released a commercial featuring a mixed-race family. Sounds harmless, right? Not everyone thought so. The commercial was posted on YouTube where it received a barrage of hateful and racist comments, leading Cheerios to disable the comments section. Cheerios is standing by its commercial as an accurate portrayal of an average American family. Sadly, social media sometimes brings out dregs of society, making many of us question how far we’ve really come.
- As one of the younger members of our staff, I’ll admit that sometimes there seems to be a bit of a generation gap here in the office, especially when it comes to pop culture. This became apparent this week after some of us had seen the new Star Trek movie. In paying homage to fans of all ages, Audi released an ad featuring the two Spocks in a battle of old vs. new. This ad was one of the top 10 most shared ads on YouTube last month.
- I’ve mentioned before that I believer there is a conspiracy in the app world against Android users. Vine might have proved me wrong this week when they released their app for Androids. That’s great, but I’m still waiting on Tinder.
- Zynga, the social gaming company credited with the popular Farmville game on Facebook, made news this week when they announced that they were laying off 18% of their workforce and closing several offices. Though Zynga’s not dead (yet), their situation provides a number of important lessons that can be learned by future Silicon Valley companies banking on riding the social media train to success.
- One of my favorite aspects of social media is the ease of sharing. Whether it’s a life update, eye-grabbing headline, or YouTube video of a favorite song, our ability to share our thoughts and interests with others is seemingly infinite. With that being said, a friend shared this gem with me on my Facebook wall yesterday, so now I’m sharing it with you: a line-by-line breakdown of the Backstreet Boys’ hit song “I Want It That Way” that tries to answer the question eternally burning in the hearts of 90’s girls everywhere, “what way do they want it?”
Happy weekend,
@Richellem09