Middle of the week got you down? Do you find yourself already counting the days (hours? minutes?) until the weekend? Well, as we continue to come down off the post-holiday-extended-weekend high, congratulating America on yet another year of ‘birth’, I say we pump the breaks a bit. Take it easy. And, let’s talk social media for a moment. After all, we are talking about Mashable’s Most Social City Contest winner for 2011— Cincinnati — and we did just conclude celebrations worldwide in honor of the second annual Social Media Day event just last week.
Though back to the point of who takes the much-desired cyber cake, one might ask, “Cincinnati, REALLY?!”. I mean, we haven’t exactly received international praise for our leadership in the online world. Nevertheless, the loyal Cincinnatian’s response to said question remains: “Chyeah… REALLY!”, “Boo-YAH!”, “IN YOUR FACE!”, oh, and “Take THAT!”. I digress…
Admittedly though, I too, was puzzled by the results here, especially when considering, 1.) the prevalence of new apps being developed each day (in other larger cities), 2.) of social-media based start-up companies developing (in other larger cities), and 3.) that the sheer volume of people inhabiting said cities are also using these same, perhaps even additional social media outlets (in other.. larger.. cities). It seems as though little old Cincy would be left with far too little a chance to take the title of a giant, right?
… Wrong!
Much to my (pleasant) surprise here, the clouds opened. Then, the digital technology and media news gurus— dare I say, gods? — at Mashable spoke and said, “Let there be a light,” *and a little less rain, please!* “for Cincinnati.”. The seemingly small, mighty queen city has since taken the title and shall wear it proudly. (Amen!)
Still, we are delighted, honored, and quite appreciative of the enthusiastic efforts from our great city’s leaders/ community members, as well as the staying power of Cincinnati’s social media users, without whom this award would not be possible. Let’s not forget, though, that it was the creative endeavor of one, Blair Ward (22 year-old NKU student), that caught the attention of and convinced our pals at Mashable that Cincinnati IS worth talking about and IS equally deserving of some social media pioneering recognition (see WHY here).
While this was quite the party-starter for Cincy’s Social Media Day shindig, taking place at the Pub in Rookwood — cities, states, and countries alike celebrated with their own idea of a good time, from bowling with 400 of their new potential Facebook friends (New York) to downing ice-sculpted shots with that cute little #smd logo as shown above (in Turkey). The goal here being: To celebrate (in an offline setting) the revolution of media becoming social and to acknowledge the advancements that enable people to connect with real-time information, communicate from miles apart, and have their voices heard.
SO, to all my patriotic friends still recovering from a weekend of debauchery (or relaxation)— who may have skipped out on the boat-loads of fun from Social Media Day June 30th, 2011 — let us not forget “the inventor of Facebook” (thank you, The Social Network) or your fave celebrities who constantly keep you up-to-date with the life you’ll (likely) never have. Here is what YOU missed.. err maybe what you caught wind of on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and more amidst your holiday haze:
- WHAT’S UP WORLD? Kicking off the day with Mashable CEO, Pete Cashmore on Social Media Day 2011, as he leaves us with some positive, unifying thoughts and warm wishes for some exciting celebrations to come! #nbd
- A deliciously awesome cake made for #SMDay in Cincinnati, the winners of the Most Social City contest. Photo by Christian Todd Photography.
- #SMDay 2011 takes the beautiful Paris with festivities organized by James Medd and sponsored by Emailvision, LeNewz and Pearltrees. See footage of the lavish event here.
- Social Media Day affairs and Meetups continue to take Sao Paulo, Brazil much to the excitement of this gentleman, including one led by Anderson Criativo (local entrepreneur) that had nearly 1,000 attendees. Remarkable!
- Spontaneous #smday planking flash mob strikes London’s Soho Square. Loving the creativity here.. very cool!
- Here, Adam Ostrow (Editor in Chief, Mashable) and Damon Berger (Executive Producer, What’s Trending) sent out a quick message to all those in and outside of the LA area. As they geared up to host an event at What’s Trending Studios in celebration of Social Media Day, they also sought to raise money for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation to help cure childhood cancer. One dollar was donated to the foundation for every tweet with the hashtag “SMDayLA” (#SMDayLA).
- A clever comic strip created by The CommCouch, pokes fun at the primitive form of email, while playful jabbing at the unique ability of Facebook (like other social media outlets) to connect people of all walks of life… and styles.
- Of course the day is not complete without a little post from Facebook. Indeed the shot-callers here stepped out from behind the infamous and almighty connector to tweet @mashSMday for some serious reflecting.
- Annnddd, in case you never caught it, oh a solid 10 months back when it released, this 2:41 long gem is what I like to call comedic gold. Upon promotion of the then upcoming film, “The Social Network”, Indy Mogul — a network dedicated to film fanatics and aspiring auteurs alike — released their own movie trailer, which served as more of a Twitter parody, if you will. The description on the network’s YouTube station reads,
“If Hollywood can make an overly dramatic film about the early years of Facebook, why can’t we make an overly dramatic movie about Twitter? Or at least the trailer to that movie! Check out the exclusive (parody) trailer for “The Twit Network” right here on Rated Awesome!”
This is truly hilarious (and mildly inappropriate), and while it does poke fun at our growing obsession (mine included and especially!) with various social media networks- it is simply a humorous way to look at the nature of social media.
On that note, keep up the ‘Likes’, ‘pokes’, ‘tweets’, and reposts dear readers (and don’t forget to comment here!). And, for my fellow Cincinnatians stand tall because we just got ourselves one BALLER global shout-out! Let’s hear it for the Queen City!
Oxford Physical Therapy is a Cincinnati-based physical therapy facility with 10 tristate locations. With their business quickly expanding, Oxford Physical Therapy knew they needed to update the look and feel of their website, giving their users a better online experience.
