When #Sharknado2 Attacks: How To Use Trending Hashtags On Twitter

By Paul Konikowski, CTS-D

Last Wednesday, July 30, 2014, Sharknado 2: The Second One made its small-screen debut on the SyFy Channel. Don’t worry, no spoilers herel I have not seen the movie, but I have watched the hashtag #Sharknado2 as it trended up and down on Twitter (thank you hashtags.org)

I thought it was interesting how the #sharknado2 hashtag actually created a shark fin shape that swam through time; here is what it looked like the next afternoon…

Tonight, when I sat down to write this blog, I decided to check the hashtags.org statistics again, and sure, enough, another #sharknado2 trend had appeared, telling me that SyFy was airing the movie once again. #SHARKNADO ATTACK!! Notice, it looks like there are less sharks this time around this time; 20,000 tweets per hour versus 100,000 last week:

This series of short-term #sharknado2 attacks makes perfect sense, because Twitter users (aka Tweeters) LOVED the original Sharknado movie, and tweeted loudly that they wanted another. So each time that SyFy Channel airs the movie, you can expect a similar spike, and fall. Savvy marketers and bloggers can capitalize on these short-term Twitter trends by writing posts that combine the trending hashtag with other keywords and links. Even with a small social marketing budget of less than $100, you can target a specific audience over a few hours or days

This ensures that your post is not lost in the Sea Of Tweets, generating more traffic to your website:

Based on the success of #Sharknado and #Sharknado2, I fully expect we will see #sharknado3 and #sharknado4. Hopefully, you will be well prepared, when #sharkhappens.

Different Social Media Sites Handle Deceased Members, Differently

By Paul Konikowski, CTS-D

It happened again this week: someone died in my Facebook News Feed.

We have all been there, at least once before. You get on Facebook for some simple shallow status updates, and BAM, you get hit instead with a stream of R.I.P.s, photos, and favorite memories of the recently deceased. Suddenly, you post your own barrage of memories of your former classmate, coworker, neighbor, or friend. Tears start to well up in your eyes, and you feel compelled to tell everyone in the room that someone you once knew, is now dead. Ignoring their sympathy, you forget everything else you were going to do that day, and scroll down to search to see who else knows and all other things people are saying online.

Over the next few days, the Facebook funeral procession continues to pay their respects on the deceased Timeline (yes, its ironic). Special photo albums and/or Facebook events are created for the wake, funeral, and/or receptions. Sometimes, a widowed spouse, or a friend, or family member will actually log into Facebook as the deceased person and send messages to their contacts. This can be very helpful the first few days, but it soon feels creepy getting messages from a dead person.

So what are you supposed to do when someone dies on Facebook? I don’t think Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had thought that far ahead initially, but luckily Facebook has provided a Memorialization Request form where friends and family can basically tell Facebook that someone is dead. Of course, if you request a memorial page, you will need “proof of death” from an online obituary; that could take a few days.

When a Facebook profile is memorialized, the following changes take place:

The deceased friends are no longer notified of birthdays, and no longer see them in the “Suggestions”. (Your dead grandmother only has 9 friends, help her find friends?)
Only confirmed friends can see the profile or locate it in search.
Sensitive information such as contact information and status updates are removed.
No one is allowed to log into the account, but friends can still post memorial messages to the Timeline.

Linkedin handless the deceased profiles a bit differently: they simply close the account and remove the profile on your behalf. To have a deceased profile removed, you will need to fill out this form with the member’s name, the company they worked at most recently, your relationship to them, and a link to their profile. It’s also very helpful if you can provide the member’s email address.

I tried to figure out what happens with your Google+ profile when you die, but the only thing I found out is that no one cares about Google+.

Twitter is somewhat like LinkedIn: either you are on Twitter, or you are deactivated. But unlike Facebook and LinkedIn, they ask for an awful lot more information to be mailed or faxed to them:

Ironically, they insist on using email to write you back after insisting you mail or fax them. What happened to Tweets?

I am sure that most people’s Twitter profiles will live on a lot longer than they will. Even if you knew an online friend was dead, wouldn’t it feel wrong to “unfollow” them? Hmm, this gives me a sick and twisted idea….

With programs like Hootsuite and Tweetdeck, Twitter users can schedule tweets months in advance. If I was careful, I could easily continuing tweeting long after I am gone:

@PKaudiovisual: It’s getting kind of stuffy down here, can someone turn on a fan or something? #fmd

@PKaudiovisual: Hey YOU, yes, I am talking to YOU! How many times did I tell you not to do that!

@PKaudiovisual: Is someone feeding my fish? I can’t watch over all of you, all the time!

That would beat “he’s still living in our hearts” any day! If I were you, I would expect Tweets, status updates, and blog posts from me long after my death. But seriously, we will all live forever online, in digital photos, status updates, contact lists, and RSVPs to past events.

Now if you will excuse me, I need to go listen to my dead friend’s playlist on Spotify.

When #Sharknado2 Attacks: How To Use Trending Hashtags On Twitter

Different Social Media Sites Handle Deceased Members, Differently

How Men and Women Utilize Social Media