The Problem with Freedom and @2020fight

In January of this year a problem broke out with a misleading Twitter account. A twitter account posted a video that went viral. This video showed the political and religious tension happening in our country at an anti abortion rally. A Native American man named Nathan Phillips stepped into a group of Catholic boys wearing “MAGA” hats to pray over them. The boys were apparently disrespectful. The virality lead to the Catholic school the boys attend to look into expulsion. Many people ended up being hateful to them on social mediums. When you read one of the articles below, you can see that Phillips and the students actually both seemed to have “good intentions” and were not very upset with each other. Social media took off with this video and made it their own. Thousands of people had signed an online petition started by a graduate of the school to remove its principal!

The virality of this video is chilling. Yes, we love to share videos that turn us to “awe” but we also love to share controversial videos. Rob McDonagh is a social media analyzer who explains why this account is probably not the most honest. The handle @2020fight is the one who shared the video. This account has over 40,000 followers but was not verified. The account was also saturated in political posts, posting over 130 tweets daily. These sort of numbers, and the amount of shady followers says something about the accounts credibility. The account also has a fake profile picture of a Brazilian man. CNN pointed out this weird behavior of this account and Twitter suspended the account. Twitter took a while to take this down, MdDonaugh says that it is because this traffic and virality makes Twitter better and they are not looking out for the good of society.

There are a couple problems here.

1. There is not a lot of regulation on Twitter where things like this can be prevented. They only are addressed once the damage is done.

2. The freedom to share videos, comment with hate, or create accounts with ill intent – hurt our unity but somehow unify Twitter’s popularity and profits.

This being said, there is a disconnect here with the outcomes of virality. Some things are blown out of proportion, sometimes virality can bring justice to circumstances. Do we have too much freedom of speech, sharing, and creating?

https://www.npr.org/2019/01/23/687619696/suspended-twitter-account-plays-a-role-in-misleading-viral-video

Make it #relatable

Disruptive Advertising posted an article a couple months ago called “8 Viral Video Marketing Examples and What We Can Learn From Them”

I decided to piggy back off Abbey Lee’s prior blog post on assessing and expressing the benefits and advantages when marketing with video. Ana Gotter decided to show some examples of viral videos and analyze the strategies used for each in how it’s “viralness” was achieved.

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Here are a couple examples of what was included…

The first video she talks about is a “Dollar Shave Club” commercial which focused on humor and entertainment to grab attention. Dollar Shave actually gained 12,000 new orders within 48 hours from their video marketing. The second video is a Budweiser commercial sharing a “heartbreaking message about not drinking and driving” showing the perspective of a dog being left alone during the night after his owner decided to not drink and drive. This powerful message pulls on people’s ethos and compassion to not only be responsible with alcohol, but buy a responsible represented brand. The third video ranked is to advertise how GoPro’s incredible high quality fish eye software captured a fireman saving a kitten from a fire. This moving story turns heads and shows the power GoPro video has in durability, quality, and accessibility.

As I watched and read, all the videos use some sort of “connecting” emotion to bring traffic and exposure to whatever product their marketing. People listen when they seem known or when there is meaning. The top ranked viral videos all had some sort of relating factor. Whether compassion, justice, humor, or testimony – it’s universal. Which means universally, everyone can relate. And when you relate, you buy.

The article’s conclusion is that these videos all have something in common: none of the videos were controversial. None of the videos included were outrageous, they were relatable average emotions that make people feel familiar and comfortable.

Societal Perspectives

I decided to take a shot at explaining and analyzing one of my most favorite YouTube Channels called “Jubilee”. Jubilee is an incredible channel that takes hot topic issues and brings people together to talk about a spectrum of opinions. Really, their channel exists to create spaces for people to listen and learn. So many videos have been posted from “Vegans Vs. Meat Eaters, Trumps Wall Vs. No Wall, Abstinence Vs. Premarital, Black Lives Matter Vs. Blue Lives Matter, Marriage Vs. Open Relationships. I think in a society where individualization is the focus of all matters, this channel does a great job in not taking a stance, but hearing stances for the sake of compassion, respect, and being more open minded. They have no agenda and only curiosity. They take an objective third party approach to issues.

Jubilee’s most recent video is “Do All Women Think the Same?” where 6 women had to answer questions varying with answers from Completely Agree to Completely disagree. The questions had a-lot to do with values and beliefs of feminists and non feminists. But some questions had to do with abilities, like how to change a tire. This video is incredible for three reasons.

I think any video on a social platform that shows diversity in opinion is good for our generation.
Videos with visual aids allows stereotypes of all kinds of women to be broken down through a physical creative picture showing differences on a spectrum. Visual faces and names personified in values and beliefs also helps us become more compassionate towards people!

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3. When a social media platform chooses to only publish content that they agree with or are bias towards, we lose the goal our “culture” talks about – where every opinion matters, is seen, and respected.

This kind of video proves that people are different, stereotypes do exist and can be broken, and that we can celebrate spectrums. We forget to create the spaces to do so.

This video gave a voice to those who are overlooked in the feminist movement. In a time where women are looking to be freed from certain assumptions, we have then been enslaved to others to a new majority. I applaud Jubilee in expressing all the exceptions to rules! For minorities on the opinions on women, it probably made them feel less alone, seeing each women was on a certain line in each video.

SING SONG 2019 LIVE FEED: GOOD OR BAD?

Facebook is an incredible connecter and social medium that many older generations use. Abilene Christian University decided to take advantage of this medium for Sing Song this year by using facebook’s creative idea of a live stream.

Because of this live stream, as a competitor backstage, I got to watch the show! I could also be informed on where the show stood chronologically while waiting, but how each act did before I went on. This made waiting backstage way more exciting and the competition way more intense!

Currently, the live feed shows that 85,000 people have watched the feed, and 950 people watched during the actual live stream. There are 1,200 comments of current students and alumni along with 237 shares! This was an exciting idea for ACU to take part in that I think allowed those far away to tune in to a long standing tradition at ACU.

Some girls apart of the Oxford study abroad group in my club stayed up till 5am and got to be apart of the celebration in winning in the overall results Sunday night. Needless to say, the live feed connected people. But what does this mean for future shows?

The Optimist reported last year that the alumni and families who stay in Abilene for Sing Song weekend brought $400,000 of profit to the city (link included below). This means the actual attendance of an audience in Moody, and not online, matters. The power of connecting that facebook and many other social mediums have to offer gives opportunity for those who cannot be present to feel as if they are. We see this now even with the new commercial about Google Portal.

There is no denying that part of the fun for ACU alumni is coming back to be reunited with their friends. That will never go away. But I think there is a possibility that the streaming of the show may take away from attendance in the near future. It is easier, louder, more efficient, and available to you at any time. This means it can also take away from Abilene’s profit in the community – just by the possibility of a click of a button. There is power in connecting and there is power in sharing. But with technology today there is always a question of consequence too.

https://acuoptimist.com/2017/02/visitors-bureau-sing-song-brings-400k-profit-city/

The Power of YouTube

Sarah Perez wrote an article on a study that Google initiated which measured YouTube’s influence on what toys were being advertised and purchased.

It is no question that YouTube has a power of influence, a video archive that has become not only a major hub of entertainment but of income for many YouTube stars. YouTube stars are known for not only vlogging their lives, but opinions. Many “vloggers” upload clothing hauls, makeup tutorials, and lifestyle hacks. Another popular upload for vloggers right now is filming the opening of new toys. This is where google comes in.

Perez states, “According to the search giant, (Google) at least four of the top 10 most searched toys were among those heavily featured in YouTube unboxing videos — subsequently turning them into the most in-demand and best-selling toys of the holiday season.” YouTube is being seen now as a more powerful tool in advertising and the sharing of information than television. The medium of video, paired with comments, likes, and subscriptions – allows for a more interactive and accessible platform. Google’s search engine serves as a review finder – and instead of reading comments, viewers can now hop onto YouTube and see toys visually. The toy unboxing video of the most sold toy “L.O.L Surprise” is what made Google look into their numbers. The L.O.L Surprise toy made it onto Amazon’s “Top 10 List of Best Selling Toys” Not only is visually watching a toy be used and hear people’s opinions on its quality beneficial. The power of YouTube videos being accessible any time rather than on a certain channel at a certain time of day – makes for the perfect advertising tool.

Perez, Sarah, and Sarah Perez. “Google’s Search Data Shows YouTube’s Influence over This Season’s Hottest Toys.” TechCrunch. TechCrunch, December 10, 2018. https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/10/googles-search-data-shows-youtubes-influence-over-this-seasons-hottest-toys/.