Home / 2011 / February

Feb
28

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YouTube Collab? Content creation and mass collaboration by 12 year-olds

Category: Content strategy, Digital strategy, Social Media Tags: , , Leave a Comment

In a recent exchange with my 12 year old daughter, I learned about a simple, yet brilliant phenomenon going on via YouTube – the collab.

Summary of our conversation:

Daughter: Mom, I am SO excited because I just got accepted into a collab

Me: A WHAT?

Daughter: A collab on YouTube – you know, where different people submit videos to one channel each week around a specific topic for that week.

Me: OH! You mean collab as in collaboration? So what are the rules? Where can I read them?

Daughter: (Blank stare) What do you mean, read them? They are in a video, duh?

Me: Oh. Silly (old) me. So how did you get accepted?

Daughter: I had to audition with a video response on her YouTube channel.

Me: So you had to make a video in order to audition – that’s pretty neat. What is the topic?

Daughter: All about Guinea Pigs. It works like this. One week it will be how to build different cages, the next week it will be guinea pig nutrition, the following week it will be tips and tricks to make cage cleaning easy, etc. I have Wednesdays, so each Wednesday I have to submit my video on the topic of the week. This way, we can find out new ideas and ways to take care of our guinea pigs by having different people contribute different videos on the same topic. I also learn about different ways to make my own videos by watching these as well.

Me: (to myself) Sigh. I have so much to learn.

…

Is it just me or is this really brilliant?

YouTube collabs are not a new idea – but  through her eyes, I see all kinds of possibilities.

This is content creation and mass collaboration by 12 year-olds – they are creating a really valuable content-filled channel through collaborating with like-minded individuals, around common topics. Needless to say, the wheels are now turning in my head. Could this approach support any current strategic objectives in my organization? Could we use this to solve a problem in our community? Can schools/classrooms use it to learn about new ideas and concepts? Could it be an alternative way to report on news topics? Create music?

It seems that all that’s really needed is a clear topic/idea, along with some simple guidelines (deadlines, content, etc) as well as clarity around  approach (how do videos get accepted, etc) and a core community of interest to get started – unless I am missing anything?

I did some poking around and found YouTube’s “Life in a Day” project which is probably the most popular and successful example of something like this. Please share other examples if you find them – I am really interested to learn how people are using this concept and let me know what you think.

Feb
14

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5 examples of actionable Facebook pages

Category: Digital strategy, Site-seeing, Social Media Tags: , 1 Comment

Recently I spent some time investigating Facebook pages that went beyond just pretty pictures that link off to other websites. I was looking for functionality and apps that facilitate an action within the Facebook environment – without forcing you to leave the site. I like investigating these because they help inspire ideas in general.

My questions about these things in general – Is what they are offering valuable (or fun) enough for me to use? Is it so cool or so valuable that I will be ok with sharing my personal info via Facebook connection?

Here is what I came up with:

Target
Click print go – print your Facebook photos directly to a local store. If you store your photos on Facebook – Target is offering a seamless app where you can print your photos and pick them up at a local store – without ever leaving site. CVS does this too, I just happen to heart Target.

Starbucks
Manage your card balance or gift Starbucks to your Facebook friends. Starbucks allows you to gift Starbucks to others on Facebook and manage your gift card balance without even leaving the site. This is all done through a well-developed, self-contained Facebook App. In essence, they are making it really easy for folks to give them money without ever leaving Facebook.

Walt Disney World
Create a memory book online with your Facebook photos, get answers about your upcoming trip, make a Disney stick figure family to post and share with friends.
I am not a huge Disney fan, but their Facebook gadgets are pretty cool – and diverse. There are several different widgets built onto different sections. It’s worth spending some time there – I can see how Disney fans would love this.

American Red Cross
The American Red Cross Facebook page is pretty comprehensive, providing up-to-date info on the latest disasters and an app to help you locate your nearest chapter.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows movie page
I couldn’t wrap-up this post without mentioning something geeky, and being that I am a dedicated Harry Potter fan this seemed appropriate. They have provided a section where you can download wallpapers and icons, listen to the entire soundtrack, view the movie trailer and more. July 15th can’t come soon enough!

Feb
4

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3 Viral Video Campaigns You Gotta Love

Category: Social Media Tags: , , , , 2 Comments

Swagger Wagon – Toyota

No matter how hard I try to remain cool – driving a minivan just compromises my ability to do so. I know it – even though I call mine a “high performance minivan” I just can’t hide the fact that it is still a minivan. The fact that we take a lot of road trips and that I actually like driving it means nothing. I have just given in to the fact that by driving this vehicle, all coolness as left the building. When Toyota came out with the Sienna family in the “Swagger Wagon” video, I did begin to feel just a little better:

Now there is a whole series about Swagger Wagon families on their own YouTube video channel. Does this make minivans cool? Maybe not. But it does foster appreciation for Toyota and recognizes how much coolness we give up by driving them.

Mayhem – Allstate

Enter Mayhem. He he’s got personality and he’s trouble no matter where he goes. Mayhem is a tad creepy and entertaining at the same time. This memorable video series is on TV as well as on YouTube. My personal favorite – the outdated GPS (because it hits close to home):

Check out the entire Mayhem TV channel (there are several funny videos here).

Old Spice Guy (yes, I had to mention this too).

Not going to go into too much detail – between the random nature of this plus the male hotness involved – this sells a mens product to a female audience like no other. I never get tired of these. “The Oyster is Now Diamonds…”

Feb
2

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Communities of taste, social media and lame demographics

Category: Digital strategy, Social Media Tags: , , , Leave a Comment

I recently viewed a TED talk by Johanna Blakley “Social Media and the end of Gender” (available on TED) – highlighting how social media levels the playing field with traditional demographic groups such as gender, age or race and focuses more on “communities of taste” – groups with a common interest, passion or purpose. I love the notion that how old we are and where we come from becomes virtually irrelevant if we really focus on interests and purpose.

It may sound simple, but for me it will help to frame many social media presentations to come, particularly to those who are used to looking at demographics in a more traditional way.

Check it out.

Blakley is the deputy director at the Norman Lear Center, a nonpartisan research and public policy center that studies the political, social, cultural and economic impact of entertainment on the world, presented this speech at the TEDWomen conference in Washington, D.C.

Read the full article from The Atlantic Social media and the end of age, race and gender

Feb
1

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Super Simple Checklist for Ongoing Social Media Activity

Category: Content strategy, How to, Social Media 1 Comment

I drafted this up for folks within my own organization who were afraid to ‘jump in’ and get started with social media.  This list is VERY basic, but I find it helps for social media newbies.
Daily
  • Send out helpful, interesting Tweets anywhere from 3-6 times a day (using original content from your organization – or that you create yourself on a blog or via video). A good rule of thumb is 50% original content, 25% responses or re-tweets, 25% sharing links and other insightful content.
  • Respond to the feedback and/or questions left on your groups or other sites within 24 hours
  • Scan industry and professional blogs to learn new things and for ideas as well as  possible cross-posting/comments and to share on your social sites
Weekly
  • Create weekly social media content calendar – this outlines what kind of content and topics you will thread throughout your social sites each day.
  • Use this content to update Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and any other social sites.
  • Write 2 to 3 blog posts – if you have a blog
Monthly
  • Measure group/page analytics and track against previous month – pay attention to what works (and what doesn’t)
  • Make a list of important activities/milestones for the coming month – and add it to your weekly calendar where appropriate.
  • Comment on 3-5 external blog posts a month with relevant, insightful input, questions, remarks
As it happens
  • Upload photographs to Flickr and/or Videos to YouTube that are business-oriented and that help sell product or service, or that represent activities.
  • Share interesting content and ideas as you come across them throughout your social networks and sites

Like I said, super-simple. There is so much ‘noise’ out there, sometimes I just like to go back to basics.