COM0014: Blog #4 – Come on, everyone. Let’s movie!

It seems a little out of place that a television channel dedicated to the past is so adept at using technology to engage with their audience. But Turner Classic Movies – or TCM, for people in the know – has done an incredibly effective job of using social media to create and connect a community of classic movie buffs.

#LetsMovie

On their main Twitter account, @TCM uses this hashtag as a rallying cry to its followers – who are also the viewing audience. People come together to tweet their excitement about that night’s primetime showing or an ongoing event (Audrey Hepburn Mondays in May, anyone?).

Thanks for the memories…I mean retweet

The @TCM account is also very active in liking and retweeting posts from their followers and other accounts using their hashtags. By making their audience feel valued and appreciated, TCM is ensuring that they will keep tuning in to their channel…instead of just turning on Netflix.

Grab the popcorn and let the live-tweeting begin!

Overall TCM has done a great job of engaging a younger, more youthful audience than you might except the channel to attract. Often it’s young, on-air hosts will live-tweet a movie so that it feels like you’re watching the classic with a group of your friends. As someone who’s friends don’t understand the appeal of black-and-white films, I definitely appreciate the feeling of community this provides.

I love classic movies and have loved them for more than a decade. But to be able to share that love and talk about it with a group of people has not always been easy. TCM uses its social media channels to create spaces on their various platforms where this is possible. Because the best thing after watching a great classic movie is being able to gush with someone about why it was so great.

But just a heads up: you always have to supply your own popcorn.

 

COM0011 Blog #5 – What’s in a #hashtag?

Hashtags have now become synonomos with social media, but how were they created, what were there purpose? That question is becoming more and more difficult to answer and understand as people use 6, 7 + hashtags on their social media posts. There is a lot of conversation around hashtags and their use in the mainstream media, as their use becomes more and more popular. 

Twitter suggests users use hashtags in their tweets to categorize keywords or conversations. There is also information and help centres for hashtags and their use on Instagram and Facebook. Hashtags help people to follow a certain topic or a conversation on a topic, and certainly help people and businesses monitor a conversation. When you hashtag a post, anyone can click on the link and see who else, and what else is being said about the topic.

Businesses (or individuals) can also sponsor a hashtag and pay money to promote it so that way the most amount of people can see the hashtag. Hashtags can really help a business promote a campaign or allow people to discuss a product or service that the company can easily monitor.

Hashtags are a very important tool on social media, but if they are not used correctly then they no longer become valuable. While I think it is obvious to most people the value of hashtags in social media, just how valuable can a post be if it has a bunch of hashtags? What conversation or topic is even being followed? Is the problem that people are not classifying their posts correctly?

Should there be a limit to the amount of hashtags being used? What are your thoughts on #socialmediaetiquette? 

Blog Post #5 – Social Media: Hash Tag – COM0011

If your big on Facebook and Twitter then you know about the infamous HASH TAG or #, this symbol is an important way that celebs, businesses, and regular people can go viral in moments. Today as i was browsing through Facebook i saw a friend of mine post a photo of a girl named Reyhaneh Jabbari. It was a post advocating the #SaveReyhanehJabbari campaign that’s going on in the virtual world. That story isn’t necessarily my focus, but i’m all for how bold she is in defending herself.

My point in this post is to discuss the “hash tag”  movement and both it’s pros and cons. I’ve seen terrible things (lies) being hash tagged, such as multiple celebrity deaths which prove untrue, or nude photos that have been photo shopped. I’ve also seen really awesome campaigns that hash tag things like #PrayforTalia when a young cancer patient was near death or #weloveyouLeaMichele when the actresses boyfriend died suddenly. I like that the virtual world offers support to it’s members and that through such a simple form of participation we can help save a life, encourage a heart, or uplift a spirit.

Is there ever a point where these internet campaigns seems intrusive or unnecessary? Does our say even make a difference when the “big guy” has to make a decision? Is social media salvation actually doing anything to fix the problems that we face each day? If we come at this from a more shallow point of view we see that yes, our opinions and support do make a difference. For example #VoteforJustin is why Justin Bieber always wins big at all the music awards he attends. Social media has found a way to take virtual community to an even more intimate level, not only can you advertise yourself online and talk to friends, but now you can join groups and campaigns.