How to Get Popular Fast on Twitter

Very smartly crafted and well-planned, this Twitter strategy guarantees a great amount of followers instantly. Curious? Take a look:

Now, the first thing that came to my mind was 'what a great way to get followers'; but wait, why the hell would Selena Gomez do such a great favor for that account? ...and how can a brand get that kind of exposure? (*jealous* - as if I had a chance!)

I did the only logical thing to do. I visited the page of my new so called 'marketing prodigy' @funnyLaugh. What I found was even more interesting than the above mentioned tweet! He got endorsements from other popular celebrities too. Impressive? Not quite. 

Now, you really would have to be dumb to believe there was not some trick in all of that, right? Yet, the tweets were individual retweets from the celebrity accounts and not a self-written tweet by @FunnyLaugh. 

 It only made sense that the accounts were fake; and they indeed were. They didn't even claim to be the official twitter accounts of the said celebrities. They just needed to appear as though they were when they were retweeted, to reach more people faster and to gain the marketing prodigy his needed follower-base. 

Yet, since Twitter is such a fast-streaming network no one really bothered to authenticate the accounts. Even more intriguing is that those celebrities did not follow anyone at all! Thus, they did not keep their share of the tweeted deal.

In any case, this remains a very smart strategy; although not quite an ethical one. What do you think? Would you go that far to get a good amount of Twitter followers?

#uniteLB for a #unitedLB

Trending on Twitter lately, are hashtags with many MENA countries, all "leading" their own revolutions/ reforms, or should I say "supporting"? Given the mayhem in the dictatorships and monarchies around, Lebanon, a democracy, was left out. For once, appearing serene and free from turmoil, for once, Lebanon was the safest in the region.  

...and then suddenly we were starting to identify opinion leaders in the region. Suddenly, we saw the power of the Twitter platform. Suddenly other media were quoting Twitter activity... and consequently people were interested in Twitter.

Well, we have seen @Ghonim among others tweet for Egypt... What about Lebanon? who can lead a revolution here? Lebanon might be "quiet" lately, but this does not mean that it has gotten rid of its problems... and we all know, Lebanese like to take part in the action; so #uniteLB for a better Lebanon.

Well, it seems like we have our own thought leader in Lebanon, one, as famous as it gets to the online community, even if not as a tweep, @habibh simply being the founder of http://www.yamli.com gives him enough authority. 

...So why the hashtag? No, we are not stupid enough to think that a tag can change the world. Yet media has its role to play, if it does not break systems, at least it builds hope and motivates people. What more does the media do anyway? ...and yet we refer to it as the "fourth branch of government".

Why Twitter Users Are Better Marketeers

Aside from being a great social media tool to gain up-to-date information in your industry, Twitter has many undisclosed utilities to marketing experts.

• You can study the impact of a message, copywriters, this one is for you! Look at the twitter replies and traffic generated to links, study the top tweets - you can get a good idea on what triggers the public's interest; a good lesson on how to formulate your slogans. 

• You know the reach of every user, you can study his impact as well. Use tools like klout. Who is a thought leader, and why? If you can identify them online, it would be easier to identify them in the real world.

• You can measure the frequency of every tweet, and how long it takes to generate an action... and this to me, is the most important point. We all get dragged by following trending hashtags and discussions, we all end up clicking that link that keeps getting retweeted. The question is, what frequency does it take?

I would say all three factors play a role. It takes a credible source (tweep), an intriguing tweet, and a certain frequency to incite people for action. 

All eyes on Twitter, watch and learn!

The Viral Marketing Revolution - Leads a Real Revolution #Egypt #Jan25

Jan 25, 2011 Egyptain Revolution:

Trigger

It all started with a protest on a Facebook page for Khaled Said, said to be killed by the Egyptian police (denied by the government). Organized on Facebook, and spread through viral marketing; the Egyptian revolution is the first of its size that takes full advantage of social networks.

Leaders

When we talk about a revolution, we talk about Leaders; and real leaders have followers. ..So what better place than Twitter for an online revolution?

Following the Egyptian revolution on Twitter is all the more touching - with the hashtags #tahrir,  #Egypt and #jan25. My personal favorites were the Lebanese @bloggerseif and @sarahkaram1 *ok, I am biased*. Here are some exerpt tweets:

 Action

This time around, it is not only the journalists that the government fears. No.  This time around, the torch of freedom is held by bloggers, twitter users and social media community leaders such as  @Sandmonkey and Google Marketing Manager Wael Ghoneim. 

Reaction

No wonder the internet got disrupted in Egypt following the #Jan25 revolution. This comes only to attest on the great role the techsavvy youth is playing in this upheaval. 

Twitter- Lebanese Online Community Shines

Beirut, Lebanon - As Lebanon faced some security issues on its Southern borders with Israel, I happily noted a strong pro-Lebanese presence online. Israel might have been the first to spot the importance of internet marketing in this evolving world. However, August 3rd, 2010 witnessed a change in the scope of the digital world. It seems that Lebanon, with its dedicated individuals, need not an online army to counter the Israeli propaganda.

While the words "Lebanese" and "Israel" were trending on Twitter, (with an increased effort by the Lebanese tweeps to make "Lebanese" rank higher), I was surprised to see that the absolute majority of tweets were pro-Lebanon, but the best surprise was yet to come.

The top tweet for both words was by one of our own, shining with wit @sdarine, an awesome Lebanese marketeer, tweeted: " Israel should publish a guidebook “How to start a war and blame others 101″ #lebanese " and ended up with more than 100 retweets. (Check out her post on her top tweet )

Lebanese countered online Israeli spam with patriotic creativity.... and all I have to say is this: I am proud to be Lebanese.

..and finally to prove my point, I get tweeted at by a certain @idiplomats : "Israel Web Diplomats @idiplomats @BTRIsrael @carmelxp @mackrad @youmny Let's get the party started! http://bit.ly/idiplomats"

Talk about spamming and organized crime!

Twitter: What If God Was One of Us?

Dearest tweeps (twitter people, yes, I am learning), thanks to Twitter, now everyone has "Followers".