Eurovision unites Europe: Twitter reacts

I watched the Eurovision last night. Accidentally. I’d never planned on doing it. I was at a friend’s place, celebrating his birthday with some fellow Germans (yes, there was much potato salad, see point 24 for why that is) and some Aussies and suddenly the telly was tuned to BBC1.

It is the epitome of car-crash-television and we all had great fun in poking fun at the songs, get-ups and, of course, buxom ladies from Poland seductively churning butter and doing the laundry.

Much like in our living room, on Twitter it was a competition of who could produce the wittiest comment about the contest. I’ve got to say that it made the event far more enjoyable to see some of the hilarious Tweets coming through on the #Eurovision hashtag.

Peaking at over 3 million mentions and a reach too massive for Sysomos to calculate. Not seen that before!

Some of my favourite Tweets

Austrian newspaper Kurier tweeted this make your own Conchita mask before the contest began.

Confirmation then of a fact that Twitter has known for a while: event TV and that extra layer of social commentary go together like a beard and a gold sequin dress. “TV and Twitter have a special connection” it reads in a post from 2011 and this has only reaffirmed itself over and over again. So much so that The Guardian reckons Twitter actually saved event TV.

McDonald’s Quality Scouts

One of my favourite breakfasts of all time is a double sausage and egg McMuffin, hash brown and a coffee. It sets me up for anything and the added benefit of curing any hangover instantly.

I was happy to learn then that the McMuffin was put under microscope of McDonald’s Golden Hedgehog Grand Prix winning ‘Quality Scouts‘ campaign. 

In the summer of 2013, over 1,700 Brits answered McDonald’s call to become a Quality Scout and go behind the scenes of how some of the most popular products were made. Besides the glorious McMuffin, 4-5 Scouts accompanied England rugby legend Phil Vickery on visits to see what goes into making the Big Mac, Hamburger and French Fries.

I think it’s incredibly brave of McDonald’s to open up their supply to customers and employees with the goal to build trust in their food, processes and show where some of their best known products come from (big thanks to @AbFab40 for letting me know about the campaign and the info).

And even though it’s not mentioned in the film, I’m pretty sure the seasoning of the sausage in the McMuffin includes fairy dust.

Digital PR 101

I came across an article this week about how the comms team in the White House monitor key journos on Twitter and respond to them if they deem it appropriate. To correct a fact. To challenge a specific angle. To provide more info. To have an off the record chat.

The headline – When the White House hates your tweet – and the sheer length of the article bugged me. An article about an administration that for the past two elections has pwned the digital space in terms of fundraising and focusing grassroots support for Obama – and what Yahoo picks up on is essentially business as usual practice for any modern PR team? I suppose ‘White House PR team uses well established technology to do its job’ is a less catchy headline.

Anyway. I did the only thing I could. I tweeted my frustration.

Which eventually led to @lee_martyn making this very valid observation.

https://twitter.com/lee_martyn/status/463284031225069568

So, I step off my high horse, doff my cap to Martyn, and suggest that if you’d like to know how PRs use digital tools such as Twitter to try and manage key journos you should read the piece.

Why follow brands on Twitter?

Nifty info graphic from Twitter based on a Nielsen survey on why people follow brands on Twitter. Interesting to note that interacting with a brand only comes in at no. 10 and there’s no mention of customer service at all.

Bits and bytes

• I keep posting stuff by @GaryVee. Yes, he’s very loud, very crass, very American and he tends to generalise. But he does this to make a point. And they tend to be sensible points. Like this four-minute, expletive filled talk about why ‘no immediate ROI’ isn’t the same thing as ‘not worth your time’
• A fantastic and in-depth report  about LinkedIn and how its power as a business tool and recruiting resource continues to grow, in addition to its strength as a social media platform. If you use LinkedIn to recruit people or find work, you need to read this
• If you have both Uber and Google Maps apps installed, you can now book a car provided by the ride-share startup directly through Maps’ transportation options
• Once exclusively celebrated by nerds all across the galaxy, Star Wars Day on May the fourth has now been taken over by brands. Mashable have pulled together a long list of the best efforts (fun fact: the phrase ‘May the fourth be with you was first used by the Tories in 1979 the day Thatcher took office)

Videos of the week

Marvellous clip by Paddy Power featuring Arsenal players reacting to #BallofShame tweets. Two Germans and a Spaniard = British Humour.

A film lamenting the effects of social media and technology goes viral, racking up 34 million Tweets in 2 weeks. Ironic. It’s been lauded and criticised online with some finding it inspirational and other saying it’s just sentimental rubbish.

To me, it strikes me that digital dualism, the idea that your ‘digital self’ is somehow removed from your ‘real self’ and that therefore the real world is more real than the virtual, is alive and well.

The chap behind the film, @Gary_Turk, spoke to #BBCTrending about the film, making the point that it’s not meant to be anti-tech, but that it’s supposed to encourage people to stay in the moment. To not default to looking to their phone when they don’t have to.

And finally

2048 (Warning. This is incredibly addictive)