Year in Review: Social Media
Top 10 social media hits and misses of 2010
Whether it was promoting body wash or mocking oil spill PR efforts, these are the biggest social media hits and misses of 2010.
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1. Old Spice Guy "Smell Like a Man, Man"
At the top of the list of social media hits is the Old Spice Guy, the handsome character who first graced our televisions in body wash commercials and then dominated our computer screens on YouTube. Thanks to actor Isaiah Mustafa's sexy swagger and the creative agency's sense of humour, according to Nielsen Old Spice body wash sales increased 107 per cent in one month dutring the peak of the campaign. Not only did Mustafa win over millions of fans, he also helped to inspired many clever parodies.
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2. Groupon group buying explodes
This year Forbes Magazine called Groupon the fastest growing computer company of all time. The service offers up daily local deals, and if enough people opt in, everyone gets deep discounts on products ranging from Thai food to teeth whitening. Although Google offered a reported $6-billion to snap up Groupon, the company is still dominating the group coupon world on its own.
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3. BP PR Twitter parody
Some might call this tongue-and-cheek Twitter account social activism at its best. While BP tried to use social media to manage information about the Gulf Coast oil spill this spring, @bpglobalpr is where curious surfers flocked to see how BP was "destroying the Gulf" one day at a time. More than 180,000 followers tuned in for tweets like this one on December 15th: "The bad news- we're being sued by the United States. The good news- they sue in dollars, not pounds. #1.5538"
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4. The Social Network movie
With more than 500 million users, it's not a huge surprise that a movie about Facebook drew fans to threatres. What is amazing is just how much buzz The Social Network is generating, with top movie critics choosing the film as one of the best of 2010. The movie features the story of Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his aggressive climb to push the site into the top social networking destination of all time, while pushing some of his friends to the side.
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5. It Gets Better Project
After a number of gay teens committed suicide this fall, popular columnist Dan Savage was determined to make a difference. He set up a YouTube channel and invited his peers to share stories about growing up gay or simply to show support for LGBT youth. The channel now has more than two million views, featuring videos from people, personalities, and companies around the world.
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1. Air Canada Wheelchair Fiasco
When a 10-year-old boy with a terminal illness travelled to New York City, when he landed his family got the terrible news that his wheelchair had been damaged in transit. After hours of phone tag and muddled communication, Tanner Bawn's aunt took to Twitter to put some pressure on the airline. Over the next 12 to 24 hours, Air Canada was relatively silent online about what was taking place. The Twitterverse, on the other hand, was not. This story tops the list of social media misses as the airline failed time and again to respond to online comments and criticisms. However, Air Canada has in the aftermath taken hold of its official account on Twitter and is doing a great job of interacting in a timely manner with customers (@aircanada). Thanks Tanner.
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2. Quit Facebook Day flop
With ongoing issues about privacy, one website asked Facebook users to join together on May 31st the quit the social networking site once and for all. They argued that Facebook doesn't respect users' rights and data. While the organizers did get some attention, the number of committed quitters didn't put a dent in Facebook's friend bank. Right now the tally sits at 38,213 people who left the site, hardly a success considering the service's half a billion users.
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3. Washington Post Twitter hoax
While it might be tempting to conduct a social media experiment on the job, a Washington Post sports reporter found out the hard way that it can easily backfire. His tweet involved spreading misinformation about an NFL player's suspension so he could test the accuracy of social media reporting. Mike Wise was suspended and sent out this message to his followers about his little experiment “...in the end, it proved two things: 1. I was right about nobody checking facts or sourcing and 2. I'm an idiot. Apologies to all involved.”
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4. Nestle's Facebook Backlash
Perhaps an unwritten social media rule for businesses is, “Don't insult your fans.” While this advice is a no-brainer, Nestle apparently didn't get the memo. Earlier this year the food company was facing criticism on its Facebook page for using palm oil in its products, which Greenpeace pressed came from thrashed rainforests that threatened the livelihood of endangered orangutans. “Fans” in turn altered Nestle's popular chocolate bar logo to replace Kit-Kat with killer, which prompted the company's rep to warn users that such images (even in profile pics) would be promptly deleted from Facebook. A Greenpeace YouTube video was also pulled. The rep was sarcastic with commenters, leaving responses like this one “Thanks for the lesson in manners. Consider yourself embraced. But it's our page, we set the rules, it was ever thus.” Nestle did eventually apologize and a couple of months after the initial backlash they announced a “zero deforestation” policy in regards to their palm oil purchasing practices.
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5. Google Wave falls flat
While Google products continue to shine, Wave was a definite flop for 2010. The service went public this past spring, but it failed to attract users. While there were promises to merge social networking and email, the end result was a messy experience that was confusing to end users. It tried to integrate a Twitter-like experience, live typing, and better instant messaging, but it did none of those things well enough to fit into the average person's life. Globe and Mail columnist Omar El Akkad describes Wave best, saying it was “like a weird third-cousin who shows up to every family reunion carrying an obviously forged invitation.” Dear Google, we expect more in 2011.
