Social media changes so much in a week that it can be hard to keep up. Check back every Friday for our roundup of stories we think you should know about in our Social Media Snap.
Happy Friday! I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling pretty great today. There’s so much to be happy about! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the weekend is almost here…. Apparently the social media world felt pretty warm and fuzzy this week as well. And thank goodness for that, it was starting to seem like a bit of a downer lately. Alright, enough chit chat. Enjoy this week’s Social Media Snap!
#Royalbabywatch has ended! Huzzah! The Brits welcomed HRH Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge into their hearts early this week. The royal family announced the birth on Twitter, a rather unconventional choice. The prince’s birth created quite the social media frenzy with “over 25,000 Tweets per minute and spurred the use of hashtags like #RoyalBabyBoy #RoyalBabyWatch and simply #RoyalBaby, which was used more than 900,000 times”. That is one popular baby.
If you were perusing the Internet for pictures of the royal baby like I was, you might have seen a few with some random guy plopped right in the middle. May I introduce In The Way Guy, the Internet’s newest viral meme. Born from an accidental photobomb (videobomb?) of a marriage proposal at Disney World, this poor fellow has been popping up in every notable photo all week.
There’s been a lot of talk lately that social media usage can lead to feelings of loneliness, isolation, envy and other not so fun things. A new social media app called Happier plans to change that. Happier only allows users to post positive things going on in their lives such as spending a great night with friends, the kind act of a stranger or how much you love your job. Unfortunately, it’s only available on the iPhone, not the Android. The conspiracy against Android users continues.
Here’s something that’s a lot less happy: Facebook is getting closer to creating a “Dislike” button. While we’re not quite there yet, Facebook announced that it is adding a feature that will allow users to complain about friends’ content, but only to Facebook. While I see why a Dislike button would make some people happy, I think opening that Pandora’s box will lead to a lot more trouble than it’s worth.
This should make Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg REALLY happy. This week Facebook shares skyrocketed thanks to the platform’s ability to adapt to mobile settings better and faster than its competitors. I wonder how Twitter feels about this….
Speaking of Twitter, Chipotle made a social media faux pas this week by faking its own Twitter hack. Apparently it was a publicity stunt to create buzz for the company’s 20th anniversary campaign. It’s bad enough to fake a hack, but they’re Tweets were completely nonsensical. It worked though because their Twitter account gained 4,000 new followers. Props, I guess?
Twitter is the next TV. Or at least that’s what some industry experts are saying. While I won’t be able to catch up on New Girl at 140 character intervals anytime soon, some are saying that Twitter will become less of a communication tool and more of a content delivery tool as people start to focus more on following celebrities, news outlets and companies instead of their friends.
Do you remember the scene in The Devil Wears Prada when Meryl Streep rips Anne Hathaway a new one over her snarky attitude and explains that all of her clothing choices are actually just the result of a trickle-down effect in the fashion world and therefore completely out of her control? First, I think I watch this movie too often. Second, you can now add Mark Zuckerberg to the list of people controlling our fashion choices. This week Forbes posted a really interesting article on social media’s direct impact on fashion. I guess we’re not as original as we’d like to think.
YouTube announced that is will host its first ever Geek Week starting August 4th and lasting through the 10th. It will be “a weeklong showcase of everything that stereotypically brands us as geeky. YouTube will launch the virtual event where fans can check out shows, future releases, lists, series premieres, and more.” Each day will have a different theme and will cater to the interests of geeks worldwide with content on sci-fi, fantasy, and popular shows, comic books and graphic novels (is there a difference?).
Happy weekend,
@Richellem09