With every political campaign, it seems as though social media plays a bigger and bigger role in shaping public opinion and even the outcome of the polls. Of course, this isn’t the only place where social media has an impact – Reddit is making good on their “front page of the internet” slogan by expanding their platform with a new “live threads” feature. And the World Cup is set to break some social media records by outperforming even the Super Bowl in terms of fan engagement. But not everyone’s interested in participating in these collective moments online – when it comes to teens, individual social media dominance through hashtags and selfies is the name of the game.
Ontario Election Reactions
Urging friends to vote, announcing that you just voted, commenting on the poll results. If you’re in Ontario there’s little doubt your social media feeds were overrun with friends and fans commenting on the campaign. Should you share who you voted for? Are photos even allowed at the polling stations? Although social media etiquette in politics is still evolving, there’s little doubt that social will continue to be a major part of campaigning for many elections to come.
[CTV News]
Reddit Live Threads
Fanatical Redditors already know how powerful the site can be for breaking news and compiling ongoing investigations. Their new “live thread” system is poised to elevate this movement even further with a more powerful approach to real-time news – with better moderation abilities to hopefully curtail unsubstantiated witch hunts.
[Mashable]
World Cup Social Media
So far the World Cup 2014 ads have attracted 6.9 million shares – 31.4% more than we saw for Super Bowl 2014. All this before the matches really even begin, which could indicate greater world-wide interest in soccer or – as marketing technology company Unruly surmised – that this year’s Super Bowl brands didn’t effectively engage audiences online.
[Hollywood Reporter]
Teens on Instagram
Caroline Moss wanted to understand how teenagers are using Instagram – so she upped her hashtag game…and almost lost her real friends in the process. Her analysis of the way teens are using the app offers an interesting perspective that is noteworthy for brands who want to succeed on Instagram.
[BusinessInsider]