Catch Up Lady

Snowcial Media: Tales from Snowmageddon 2010

 Snowmageddon.  Snowpocolypse. Kaiser Snowze.  The 2009/2010 winter season in DC has gone by a lot of names.  One of the most notable side stories in my (social media crazed) mind is the role that social media (or should I say snowcial media?) has played in everything from storm tracking, to commiserating, to clean up efforts.  Particularly noteworthy is the way "traditional" players got in on the action.

The Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang

A blog at its core, the Weather Gang blog became my go-to for all things weather related.  They give insightful, accurate forecasts with a personality, and take advantage of the rest of the social Web (Twitter, Facebook) to promote the site, its content, and its conversations.  What's great is that this is run by the Washington Post - it's great to see such integrated use of social media across a traditional media site.

Washington, DC Department of Transportation

Despite apparently having like three plows to service the entire city, DDOT DC has taken a proactive role in communicating its snow removal plans to the community.  A Twitter handle DDOTDC is collecting reports of unplowed streets and sending them to the Snow Command Center (which is probably in Cheney's secret bunker...) - so while huge swaths of the city remain unserviced, there is a sense that someone is out there listening.  Notably, DDOTDC is even going one step further that listening and has launched Snow Map DC which allows you to type in your address/crossstreet/block and see what service its received and what the current road conditions are. 

(Personal side note - all those dots don't necessarily translate to clear streets, as they would commonly be defined.  Here is Wisconsin Ave between M and K Street last night - doth those green flags lie??)

Of course Twitter and Facebook also played pivotal roles in keeping the DC community together.  Twitter did what it does best and became a real time focal point for discussion -  hashtags, twit pics, and live updates dominated  in the days leading up and during the storm.  Facebook played to its community organizing strengths - The Official Dupont Circle Snowball Fight group has over 6,000 fans - 2,000+ of whom showed up for the actual event last weekend.

I've written this post in the past tense - which is ironic, seeing as how we're about to get another 10 - 16" tonight and tomorrow... snowcial media may have more gas left in the tank.  Stay tuned!

I'm Just Not That Into You (Virtually)

Recently I've been getting an influx of "friend" invites from people that I don't actually know on Facebook.  Some of these people are industry folks who are connected to one or more of my colleagues.  Others are individuals that, I imagine, found me through Twitter or read this blog.  However, I've decided to draw a line in the sands of social media and not be friends with anyone on Facebook that I don't know in real life. 

As a college student in the Boston area in the early 2000's I had access to Facebook early, and have been a member since 2004 (if my memory serves me correctly.)  As such, I've never used Facebook as a "promotional" platform for my career or my blog.  I've used it strictly as a way to keep up with friends, and as such it contains information and photos about me that are intended for that audience.  That's not to say we need to have been besties since 1996 for you to get an add - but it does mean that I need to have met, and liked you, in real life for us to be Facebook friends.  I love this blog and my readers, but there is a limit to how much of myself I want to share with the public at large.

To be my virtual friend, you have to be my real friend first.  Do you agree with this approach?  Disagree?  Does this turn you off as a Catch Up Lady reader?  I'm not above making exceptions to this rule, and am curious what you all think.

The Unbearable Lightness of Scrabulous

Prior to about two weeks ago I was a reluctant and infrequent Facebooker. Even when all my friends migrated over from Friendster(!) and MySpace I still really only logged on to accept friend requests (I'm kind of a big deal.)

That was until I installed the Scrabulous application at the behest of my friend Anthony who promised it would "change my life". Oh. My. God. In about 24 hours I went from a once a week Facebooker to logging in 3 - 5 times a day (because in a genius move Scrabulous doesn't ping you when it's your play - causing you to casually stalk your own games.)

Now, in my memory I was a decent Srabble player, but I quickly found myself getting annihilated by people who call themselves my friends, but are in fact undercover Scrabulous Grand Masters. While I'm looking for an opening to lay down long words like CRUCIBLE (which gets you like 7 points it turns out), they are going all ninja on me with high value plays like ZIEN (a protien of the prolamin group) and QUIRE (a quantity of paper) and OVA (that would be the plural of ovum...something to do with mature eggs that none of us want to know about.) I'm gradually improving - which of course requires more hours of actual game play.

With 500,000+ daily users, over 2 million applications installed and nearly 4,000 fans, Scrabulous stands out in the field of totally ridiculous and superfluous Facebook apps. The reason it works is that first and foremost it's a utility. People like it because it actually DOES something for them. Corporate America could take a page out of Scrabulous' book - skip the silly branded games and lame gifts and design apps and widgets that provide value, lead to engagement and facilitate community.

The Unintentional Comedy of Facebook

Amazing, even if it's fake. Via Valleywag.

If You Don't Enter Will Ferrell's Shark Contest "You're A Fucking Idiot"

When you think Facebook applications, you don't think Will Ferrell.  Or at least you didn't.

Yesterday, comedian Will Ferrell, co-founder of the online video site Funny or Die uploaded a video announcing a Facebook application contest.  (That's right, an online video, announcing a contest, about an application, on a social networking site - it's like a social media orgy!)

What does this promotion entail you might wonder?  Will Ferrell is challenging students at schools around the country to upload Funny or Die's new Facebook application.  The school with the most uploads wins.... a visit from the Funny or Die Comedy Tour and, a giant hammerhead shark.  But that's not all!  The shark "might be" be signed by Ferrell and "possibly"the cast of the Golden Girls.  You read that right - watch it here - from Ferrell's lips to God's ears.

Facebook: Stalking You or Creating Unique User Experiences?

Despite the fact that I work in the social media industry, I'm not a huge Facebook user. It's kind of like a gynecologist who doesn't want to come home and have sex - by the end of a day reading about Facebook, developing Facebook strategies, using Facebook for clients, etc. last thing I want to do is come home and do more Facebook.

Today I gave my profile a much needed overhaul. I added some pics, selected some new apps, commented on some friends walls, and generally made it look like I log on to do more than accept friend requests. However, in the course of all this I was reminded once again that this ain't your grandaddy's Facebook.

Because of all the hazarah over Facebook Beacon, and the crescendo of debate over who "owns" your social networking information and relationships, I found that I was constantly being asked to opt-in to sharing my information when adding apps, writing on people's "Super Walls" and more. Suddenly my attempts to further develop my online social network were taking on an Orwellian tone -- more often that not clicking "do not share my information with X" led to the message "You must share your information with this application, if you do not want to share your information - do not install this app." Rrrreeehh? Thanks for the choice there friends.

At the end of the day I really don't care that much if Facebook knows about my undying love of CSI, my enthusiasm for napping, my ability to take advantage of open bars, or my mad euchre skillz. But, knowing entirely too much about the privacy debate, the future of advertising in social networking and the ways in which this data is being sliced and diced by everyone and their mother - it definitely made me think twice about what I was doing on Facebook.

Based on the Facebook stats Jeremiah has shared (60 million users, 250k new registrations a day, 6th most trafficked site in US, etc.) the Big Brother thing is not deterring anyone. Would love everyones opinion on the great social networking privacy debate...

WOMMA Summit Highlight Reel - Making Halo 3 The Best and Biggest Entertainment Launch...Ev-or

Here is a run down of one of the coolest sessions from Day 1 of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association Summit, which I have been attending in Las Vegas.

Halo 3 - The Biggest Launch In Entertainment History (Like, ever!)
Jeff Bell, Corporate VP of Global Marketing and Interactive Entertainment at Microsoft wooed us with stories of how they launched Halo 3.   Their launch goal was to target 1) Halo purchasers, 2) the next crop of XBox purchasers and 3) a broader gaming audience - and make the Halo 3 the best selling game in history.  (Sounds easy!)  Microsoft created a strategy built around the "together experience" of gaming - having fun, leveraging your identity, gaining a sense of achievement and self-esteem, building community, and escaping.

Here are a few of the ways that Microsoft tied WOM and social media to their promotional efforts - capturing the base, and carrying the buzz to other audiences leading up to the Halo 3 launch:

• Television and Social Media: A 60 second spot ran ONCE, alluding to a game back story that fan boys had been calling for, and offering little easter eggs for the die hards.  The  commercial was then posted to YouTube, where it has acquired over 27 million views.  Later ads that ran for the game didn't actually SHOW the game in order to keep non-gamers tuned in - they appealed to hard core enthusiasts, but kept other interested through the Halo 3 branding on the last frame.  (If you have a second, follow those links to the videos, I'm not a gamer, but they are sweet - so mission accomplished on that front.)
• Beta Test and Social Media: 1 million people participated in a one level beta test of the game.  The beta crowd was gleaned from known enthusiasts and sweepstakes winners.  The resulting buzz on social media platforms helped carry the "best of the three games" and "don't need to have played the first two to play this one" messages that Microsoft was hoping to position. 
• Alternate Reality Game and Social Media: A five "episode" ARG was developed to hype the launch to the existing fan base.  All in all, over 1 million people participated.
  
  • One episode involved a posting on Craig's List about flood control (which is a tie-in to the game).  Users called the phone number in the ad and received a code that unlocked the server and gave them a clue. 
  • Another episode involved a website featuring a famous poem with two lines rewritten.  The clue lead to a fake book on Amazon.com, which lead to research on the "author" who had a blog.  Fans found the "author" on MSN Messanger and IMed him get you another code to unlock a clue. 
  • A third revolved around a ringtone fans could downlaod.  A clue on Entertainment Tonight - Canada lead fans to learn that if you played the ringtone into your computer it would unlock the server.

We all know the end of this story - the launch was a huuuge, gigantic, stupendous success.  There were $170 million in sales on the first day, and $300 million in one week.  1.6 million gamers played the game in the first week, equaling over 40 million hours of gaming.  In total, Microsoft spent 55% of their ad budget on non-traditional marketing and social media extensions.

Febreze takes aim at college life (aka the smell of pot)

This week I read an article in AdAge about how Febreze is veering away from its traditional target of soccer moms, and branching out to college co-eds. Because let's face it - college life smells like crap. It really does. The campaign's anchor site WhatStinks.com is hosted within Facebook and features a photo contest, a news feed of "smelly" stories, an online game called Dank, links to the Campus Comedy tour, etc. etc. etc.

So far, the page has 921 friends which is nothing to scoff at - and I find it hilarious that many of the 10 most recent comments are about how Febreze is great to cover up the smell of pot (which has probably been the #1 smell you want to eradicate quickly in college since 1960). As one kid from Tennessee writes on The Wall, "Thank you, Febreze, for making it possible to get high in dorm rooms." Probably not the discussion that Febreze was hoping for, but it gives a page that could be seen as relatively cheesy an authentic ring - kudos to Febreze for not freaking out and deleting those posts. (In other news, I'll bet a "Pot Smokers for Febreze" group would really have some viral legs!)

In closing I would like to say that I think Febreze has a lot of virtues - however, my own most memorable experience with the product revolves around something it does NOT do - which is eliminate mold. Back when I lived in the North End of Boston, we had just about the shadiest landlady every known to man. After weeks of complaining about water damage to our roof, it just gave in one day and we had a full on flood down our walls at 1am on a December night. In the days that followed she patched up the roof, but unfortunately my roommate Alicia's closet took a direct hit and she was having serious mold issues. Being allergic to mold she alerted our landlady to the fact that we needed to have her carpet steam cleaned. Alicia came home one afternoon a few days later in the middle of the day to find some DUDE in SWEATPANTS Febrezing our apartment. When asked what the FUCK he was doing he replied, "Joanne thold me yuz guyz were having prablems wih some smell, so I've bheen fabreezin every day." Alicia was NOT pleased. Our carpet was steam cleaned the next day.

How I Met Your Mother - new season, new social media promos

Yes, it's a brand new fall television season, which means you can look forward to many posts espousing the greatness of How I Met Your Mother (aka, the best show on tv).  I love the show because it's so funny I can't eat while I'm watching for fear of choking - and also because it's still trying to rally a regular audience (despite critical success), so CBS is pulling all sorts of great social media tricks to generate word of mouth about the show.   

It started with the MySpace page, which gained traction after the famed Slap Bet/Robin Sparkles episode last season.  Then, they launched Barney's Blog (which is actually hilarious) and started offering extended scenes from various episodes - making the page a must-see for die hard fans looking for a little more.  The series premier continued the trend - not only was unseen "hot tub scene" footage up on MySpace, but Marshall's hysterical threat to Barney about www.slapbetcountdown.com of course turned out to be a real website.  The countdown currently stands at roughly 52 days -  I would be shocked if it didn't evolve as the date draws closer.

If you've heard about the show, and want to get caught up - check out the MySpace page right now, they have a great 2-minute rundown video of the first two seasons.  (But, keep in mind this is a 30-minute comedy folks, you can watch it whenever you want without much background and enjoy it...unless you're stupid). 

MySpace pimps out pols as "Cool New People"

A few days ago I went to log onto MySpace and got a good chuckle because one of the "Cool New People" highlighted on the home page was Dennis Kucinich.  We know that Dennis is one lucky dude (check out his wife for Christ's sake), so I just figured this luck extended to randomly ending up in the Cool New People slot. 

You can imagine my surprise yesterday when I went to log on to MySpace and Mitt Romney was featured in the Cool New People section.  (Where he has remained for the last 24 hours at least).   Something tells me it was more than Mitt's sweet yellow anorak that earned him that spot for days on end.

At first I assumed the pols were dishing out cash money to get their mugs on the MySpace home page.  However, when you click on ole' Mitt, you don't get taken directly to his official MySpace profile, but rather to the MySpace Impact Channel landing page.  Guess a little dose of self promotion never hurt anyone...