#BostonStrong

The way information is being communicated has completely changed with the introduction of social media. Boston proved that this week. Personally, I did not find out about Boston through the TV news or news website. It was through Twitter. When I wanted updates, I did not go to CNN.com, FoxNews.com, ABC.com etc. I went through Twitter. We were constantly updated on what was going on in Boston on the day of the shooting and the night and day that the two suspects were chased through Boston. Twitter proved to be the perfect way to keep the public updated on what was going on in and around Boston.

However, it also proved to detrimental at some points. Boston PD had to tweet out several times for people not to tweet pictures or post them to Facebook. These pictures which were being retweeted or reposted by major news channels were giving away many of the tactics that the police were using. Also, you had people live tweeting police scanners giving away what the police were saying. The suspects could have easily seen these pictures or tweets and have acted in a way to avoid or cause harm to the police.

But in the end, they got them. And Boston can sleep easy tonight. The best part is every news outlet and every person in the world learned the outcome from this:

It's amazing how news travels and how easy it was to keep up with what was occurring in Boston. I still believe that what I was reading on Twitter was far more beneficial then anything that I saw on the TV or news websites. 

But most of all, I am so glad that they caught this man and he will see justice. God Bless Boston. And God Bless the USA.  

#CollegeSlam

Though it's April, March Madness is still in full swing. And, as my social media professor put it, there is nothing more social then March Madness. For one, you have the brackets. Before the tournament even starts, everyone is on various blogs talking about who will be the upsets, who will win the whole thing, and who will choke. Then, everyone fills out their brackets and watch them soar to victory or (like mine) crumble terribly (thanks Kansas...). However, it's not just the brackets that are social. Whenever you see an LED with anything actually advertising the tournament, it says #MarchMadness. They want to make sure the buzz in running on twitter. I know I was personally tweeted about my bracket and the games on the first day. And even if you weren't watching the games, you knew if there was an upset because it was all over twitter and Facebook.

However, the the hashtag for March Madness wasn't even my favorite part. I was flipping through channels tonight and came across the Slam Dunk and 3-point competition that accompanies the Final Four. The whole entire show is social interactive. ESPN has teamed up with twitter for this show. Though they have judges their scoring the dunks, they allow the viewers at home to vote for their favorite dunks. Using the #CollegeSlam and the hashtag of the players name, you can submit for score out of 10 for the dunks. It really is social genius. And trust me it's working. On twitter right now, #CollegeSlam is the number two trending topic and beneath that are all the players names. This is great for ESPN because that could cause people to tune in that may not have already been watching. And this is definitely going to make the sponsors happy too. Every where you look in that stadium there is some kind of sponsors logo. More tweets means higher trends which means more viewers and for sponsors, more exposure. Everyone's happy.

April Fools!

Normally, I hate April Fools. Mostly, because I'm the gullible sucker who falls for every single prank and trust me I did fall for a few pranks. However, in terms of social media, April Fools is a great way to interact with all of your followers. April Fools day generates a lot of buzz for brands. One because people think the joke is hilarious. Two because people actually believe it's real and are sharing it. The best April Fools jokes are the ones that are most believable and have the most potential. One of my favorites from last year was Chick-fil-A's. They said they were replacing the Chick-fil-A cows with pigs. At first, I definitely believed it and I was mad. Took me a bit to realize it was April Fools. For that reason, I was really excited to see what kind of April Fools joke they would pull this year. This is what I saw...

I mean...I guess it's funny, but definitely not my favorite. However, one of my favorites was Netflix. They decided to use April Fools day to bring some "interesting" new categories to their home page. For example:

Now, I think this is funny! I honestly would not expect Netflix to play an April Fools joke and would probably just think this new category is strange. However, it works for them not only because it probably generated buzz, but also because it brings new shows that they want to feature to the front page. April Fools day is great way to not only engage your fans, but to have fun with them as well. It's the only day where you have a legitimate excuse to pull a practical joke and as a company why would you not utilize that?