Reflection on Social Media Case 1: McDStories
I found this case incredibly
interesting, it displayed just how much power social media possesses. McDonalds
thought they had this brilliant idea and if it had gone the way they had
intended I’m sure it would have been great. What this case displays however is
just how quickly things can spiral out of control when the internet gets ahold
of them. Lee Odden went into detail about just how careful businesses need to
be when it comes to hashtags in his article 10 Brutal Trend & Campaign
Hashtag Fails by Big Brands. http://keyhole.co/blog/10-trend-campaign-hashtag-fails-by-big-brands-lessons/.
In regards to the #McDstories he expressed the lesson to be learned was to
avoid open ended calls to action. While some people may love a product the
world of social media is harsh and unforgiving. Businesses should never rely on
the loyalty of customers in a setting like this one. I’m sure a lot of the
people tweeting derogatory things with their #Mcdstories frequented the establishment
often. However the hashtag turned into such a joke, everyone wanted to get in
on it, in order to poke fun.
It
amazes me at how fast the internet can take hold of something and turn it into
something completely different than what it started out as. You see this in
different videos that went viral or photographs that were turned into memes.
Companies and individuals for that matter need to be that much more cautious
when it comes to posting content on social media.
What
stood out to me the most with this case study was the permanence of it all.
After McDonalds retracted its statement and severed all ties with the hashtag,
it in no way eliminate the negative effects of where the internet had taken the
hashtag. People didn’t simply stop sharing or using it. Even though McDonalds
had created it, they in no sense of the word had ownership over it. Once it was
released into the internet it had a mind of its own, and the public had the
capacity to take it in any direction they desired. Rabbi David Wolpe discussed
this topic of social media permanence in his article “Drunk Mistakes Posted on Facebook
are There Forever.” http://time.com/3838345/drunk-social-media-permanence/
Wolpe explains how once we press post we can never go back. I’m sure McDonalds wanted
to take back the post more times than they ever would have expected, but social
media took ahold of it and still has no intentions of giving it back!
Great job Molly! I completely agree with your comment that while some people may love a product, social media is harsh. I think that this is because it is easy for people to sit behind a computer screen and complain about thing that they might not like very much. It's great that we have the ability to share with the world how we feel about certain topics and products, but sometimes it is depressing when most of the comments are negative. I have noticed that my social media feed has been full of a lot of negativity lately, and it can really affect your perspective.
ReplyDeleteNice job, Molly. I thought your reflection was great! I like that you brought up how the internet can grab a topic, idea, or story and completely change it within a matter of hours. Although it isn't related to hashtags, it remind of when the video taken of the passenger being dragged off of a United Airlines plane went viral. While I am not taking sides on the issue, everyone automatically assumed the airline was in the wrong because of the perspective of the video taker. It raises the question that if we had viewed the entire scene, would we have felt differently about the situation on the United Airlines plane?
ReplyDeleteI like how you mentioned the lasting effects of the campaign. Although McDonald's took down the campaign, that did not stop how many people viewed the mishap. Dr. Parker mentioned in class that whatever we post on the internet is on there permanently, and I really think that applies to this case study.
Your idea about permanence is one I had not considered. Just like Taylor, I thought about what Dr. Parker said about assuming everything you post will be on social media forever, because it is. It's also interesting how we never really know what will go viral. It's strange how instant and rapid sharing can be through social media. Great thoughts though!
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