Ah, 2012. A new year, a new batch of resolutions to break. Despite eating black-eyed peas for dinner on New Year’s Day (it brings luck, or so legend holds), it’s been a relatively rocky start to 2012…my beloved Badgers lost the Rose Bowl, the Bears are out of the playoffs, I’m battling a wicked cold and cough and my pants are fitting tighter than ever thanks to a week of holiday-related festivities in Chicago. Is this a sign of the year ahead? If so, bah, humbug! In other depressing news, consumer intelligence blog Frugal Dad recently released a new infographic, “You are what you Tweet: 2011 in Review.” The graphic illustrates our most heavily shared social media topics of the year. Here are a few of the highlights:
- The most important event of the year came courtesy of Beyonce’s pregnancy reveal at the MTV Movie Awards. That moment received more tweets per second than the raid on Osama bin Laden or the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
- Justin Bieber is the most important person of the year, averaging more than five million retweets. Compare that to President Obama, who only typically averages about 250,000 retweets.
- If Facebook were the news, Charlie Sheen would reign as most important person of the year. His “story” was more viral than Gabrielle Giffords surviving a shooting – he received two million “likes” on Facebook, while the congresswoman garnered 84,000.
- Rebecca Black’s notoriously awful music video “Friday” received 167 million views, which is nearly triple the amount of views Obama’s speech on bin Laden’s death received.
Yikes. So just what does that social media profile say about us? Why do we pay more attention to tween singers and #tigerblood than the Middle East uprising, the U.S. debt crisis and natural disasters? In defense of American social media habits, experts say that lighter, trivial topics provide relief from heavy news – and it’s apparent that social media has become another way to cope. Even though Twitter and Facebook don’t always provide news of the highest possible value, one thing has become increasingly clear: thanks to the continued growth of these types of social media outlets, news – both good and bad – spreads faster and reaches more people than ever. And from a professional standpoint, that’s pretty exciting. It elevates the role of the PR pros and communicators in charge of managing the conversation. This year, I predict social media will continue to define communications strategies and that PR professionals will discover exciting new ways to disseminate messages. In this ever-evolving digital age, people are watching and listening more than ever. The speed at which these messages move just means we will have to be creative and proactive in enhancing – and protecting – our clients’ reputations. I feel better already. Bring it on, 2012!
As design director at Cookerly, Tim serves as the creative lead in the development of branding campaigns, print collateral and digital media for clients across a broad range of industries, including consumer, professional services, healthcare and technology.
As a senior vice president at Cookerly, Mike Rieman is a strategic communications leader specializing in media relations and reputation management. With a proven track record of securing high-profile placements in top-tier outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN and USA Today, he excels at crafting compelling narratives that resonate across print, broadcast and digital platforms.
Mike Touhill is vice president at Cookerly Public Relations, where he helps lead traditional, social and digital media programs for B2B and B2C clients in packaging, telecommunications and technology, among other industries. As a communication leader, he develops and executes public relations strategy, provides proactive and reactive counsel to C-level executives and secures earned media coverage for client initiatives and product.
Andrew Agan is a vice president at Cookerly Public Relations, overseeing the agency’s internship program and leading media relations, content strategy and social media initiatives. He provides counsel and executes campaigns for clients across various sectors, including finance, healthcare, hospitality, technology, automotive and many others. Andrew excels at crafting compelling stories and building media relationships, resulting in clients being featured in notable outlets such as CNBC, Associated Press, Business Insider, Fox Business, HBO, Inc. Magazine, Sirius XM, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today, among others.
As vice president of Cookerly, Sheryl Sellaway uses her extensive corporate communications background to lead consumer PR efforts, deliver strategy for marketing programs and share expertise about community initiatives.
Sad on some respects but very true. I also think that more of that communication
Will be shifting to mobile platforms and devices than we saw in 2011. Interesting perspective…
Agree with your mobile platform assessment. It will be interesting to see where it goes next. Thanks for reading, Josh!