The Mouse That Chased the Cat??

Did you have the pleasure of viewing a viral video this week about the guy in his bathroom with his cat, chasing a rat that was so big that it scared the guy and his cat out of the bathroom?  Believe me, it is one of the funniest social media videos that I’ve seen in a long time.  What’s important about it and our class this week is the way the video grew in popularity this week.  The video had doubled in viewership in two days from 20 million viewers to over 40 million. A week later the video has had over 50 million viewers. The video is incredibly funny so I understand why it has been so popular.  Everybody appreciates a good laugh.  In the world of business, when it comes to putting your message out there, we can’t always count on humor.  Corporate success is a serious business.  Another crowdsourcing lesson I’ve witnessed this week includes a small business’s approach to growing while helping others in need. Topics this week in Strategic Communications 6630 have been very informative and entertaining as we look at the world of crowdsourcing, politics and the global impact of emerging media. 

In our literature this week several communications professionals predicted how the business would change.  Clay Shirky, a popular social media theorist who authored the book “Here Comes Everybody,” in a 2008 YouTube video talked about the possibilities of success through sharing, conversation, collaboration and collective action through the Internet in years to come.  Back then Shirky expressed that the first three processes were easier than the last, collective action.  He said that he expected an increase in the years to come in collective action.  Paul Lewis, a journalist in the TED Talks video “How Mobile Phones Helped Solve Two Murders” in 2011 noted how far investigative journalism had grown from around five years earlier and he predicted that social media would define entertainment in the future.  David Winston, author of the 1998 article, “Digital Democracy and the New Age of Reason” predicted that people were turning from traditional media to get political news and that political news would become more individualized thanks to digital media.  Here in 2017, all of these predictions are true and I’m sure these professionals are excited to the extent to which communication has grown and transformed due to the Internet and digital media.   

Living in Alabama during an election year, I have to agree with Winston about the media and politics.  Personally, I am so tired of political advertisements interrupting my entertainment evening on television.  I have individualized my watching habits.  Now I record most of my programs and I am able to fast forward through political advertisements.  Oh, but they got me.  The videos such as the one I mentioned above about the cat and the rat are now being saturated with advertising.  Communication professionals are taking advantage of viral videos and a few months ago I noticed that some of the viral ones will allow you to watch half and then interrupt with an advertisement. It is up to you whether or not to continue.  Chances are that the video is so informative or entertaining that you will sit through the ad in order to see the conclusion.  I was knocked off my feet when I thought I was free of Alabama political ads when a couple of weeks ago, a viral video that I was enjoying was interrupted by an ad that I was trying my best to avoid on traditional television.  Even though I have done my best to individualize my political exposure, the market has a way of finding you. So Winston was right.  In order to avoid political agendas that I oppose, I am working constantly to be exposed more to information that I desire and less information that I detest.  

I witnessed Shirky’s prediction that collective action would increase this week in a CNN feature about a small company that was crowdsourcing in order to help people rebuild after Hurricane Harvey hit Texas.  A small clothing company from Illinois sold its apparel with some proceeds going to hurricane victims and sought volunteers and donations through its website.  This, of course, gave them exposure with their good deeds, increased profits, and also attracted enough people who volunteered and donated that they were able to help areas in Texas.  They not only raised enough for supplies; they also had enough money and volunteers to help rebuild a town center.  Through a Facebook post and their website, the company was able to raise a quarter of a million dollars and enough volunteers to get all of this done.  I’m sure the exposure will help the company to prosper in the future, so good job. And at the same time they were able to make a difference in many lives hurt by the storm. Collective action is a lot easier these days, especially for a worthy cause.  Through the Internet many devastated areas around the world are benefitting through the growth in sharing, conversation, collaboration and collective action.

The last example of crowdsourcing points back to what Lewis said about social media one day defining entertainment. I think back to the cat and mouse video that made me laugh until I cried.  This is a big deal because I laugh at a lot on social media but seldom do I laugh until I cry.  I noticed that as the video went viral, more and more people commented that it was one of the funniest videos that they had ever seen.  Entertainment is prevalent on social media in so many forms. When I saw another version of the video, I noticed that the guy in the video was speaking a foreign language.  I don’t know why I assumed he was American.  I bring this up to note that I am glad that I learned this because I appreciate the fact that someone with a diverse background had brought laughter to so many people around the world.  Today’s political climate is volatile.  Storms, earthquakes and other natural disasters are wreaking havoc.  Crowdsourcing is bringing together people of all backgrounds and knowledge in order to make a difference in the world in the wake of such negativity and destruction.  Hopefully the amazing possibilities of the Internet and digital media and the way it can bring us together will continue to be a positive force in a world that needs a laugh and a helping hand in so many instances.