Burger King Twitter Account Hacked

I still don't get Twitter. I  have yet to find someone/something I am intereseted enough in to follow on Twitter, and when I read stories like this one on Slate.com I am even more puzzled. I did find the following comment on the article most amusing:

Lawrence Godsey

PRO: 30% more Burger King Twitter followers!

CON: They are the kind of damaged people who would subscribe to a fast food Twitter account....more

 

Two local businesses using social media: A contrast

We were in Worcester a couple weeks ago, and decided that we would try to have dinner before heading home. We decided to try a restaurant we had been to before, so we found a parking spot, put a dollar or so in the meter, and walked down the block to the restaurant. At first I thought I was on the wrong street, but no, the place was closed. Closed closed. Tried another place in the neighborhood, but didn't want to wait an hour for a table. I did, however, notice an interesting business across the street from the restaurant, and made a mental note to check it out on the internet when I got home.

 First, to resolve the mystery of what happened to our restaurant.

• The web site was still up, and had no indication of closure.
• Yelp, as well, had no notice that they had closed.
• I did find their Facebook page, that indicated they were temporarily closed for retooling of their concept. This appeared to be not proactive, but simply in response to some "What happened" posts.
• They do have new web site/facebook pages, but no links from old to new.

If not for my investigative curiousity, I would have simply assumed they were out of business.

 

The new (to me) business is the Crompton Collective, a business of multiple vendors/craftspeople housed in an old mill building in Worcester's Canal District. Just a look at their Facebook page (with links to the individual Facebook pages of members), and see how consistently they are out in front of their audience. They are very adept at social media marketing, and in addition to crafts classes, offer a seminar on social media marketing for small businesses!

Now the reason I contrast these two is that it is not the stereotype "old fogies versus the digital generation". Both of these businesses have a vibe that definitely skews to a younger demographic - they just don't have the same level of skill with social media.

(Or perhaps I am just crabby about relinquishing my title of "Clark University's Oldest Living Student".)

Hello, Gorgeous!

The younger readers out there may not really know of Barbra Streisand's career before her recent series of comedy films, but she was (is) a phenomenal singing talent, and at a very young age (for those days) became one of the most famous personalities in the music business.

If by chance you are interested in how publicity was managed in the pre-internet area, this is an interesting read. Notwithstanding her talent, it was essential that word get out about her, and she fashioned an image that would help in her self-promotion, particularly her "kooky" image. When the development of a musical about Fanny Brice was underway, the campaign to win her the lead focused on making sure that she became associated with the persona of Fanny Brice, including getting an organization to award her the "First Annual Fanny Brice Award" (needless to say, there were no subsequent Annual Fanny Brice Awards). Even if you have no particular interest in Barbra Streisand, reading the mechanics of promoting a show business personality in those days is fascinating.

(I wish I was back in Dr. Frechette's media relations class, as this would have been a great topic for one of the assignments.)

More on the unfortunate trend of "guerilla reviews"

A while back, I watched a documentary about Michael Jackson preparing for the "tour that never happened" . Though I was never a big fan, and never actually owned any of his recordings, I was struck by the thought that those of us of a certain age never really knew a time in our adult lives when he wasn't a star, and when there wasn't one of his songs playing on the radio (that thing we listened to before music downloads).

So when I saw this book at the library, I thought I would brush up on the Michael Jackson story.

As I began reading, I found the book slow going, and as is common nowadays, went to look at some reviews to see if others felt this way. When I went to the Amazon reviews, I did notice many negative ones, but as I read them, I wasn't sure how much credence to put in them (I don't consider having a Michael Jackson tattoo or referring to him as "my man, Michael" on the part of the user as providing any special gravitas). So, I proceeded on, and finally finished the book.

So, I both was, and wasn't surprised to read that there was a concerted effort to once again hijack Amazon's review system, in a post on the Consumerist web site. The post was based on a story in the New York Times.


I had written about this phenomenon in an earlier post, when an activist group hijacked the reviews of a book (that they apparently hadn't really even read).

Is there an answer to this? Perhaps restrict reviews to those who have actually purchased the book through Amazon? A system of "certified" reviews?