#treyfollowmenext

I was browsing the top trends on Twitter as I do daily, and found that "#treyfollowmenext" sparked the most interest for me. My first question, of course, was Trey who? So I started reading some tweets, and the TT is directed at Trey Songz, who is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. Thousands of tweets are streaming in, begging the artist to follow them.

I felt the need to do a little more investigation, so I visited Trey's verified Twitter account. As I read through some of his tweets, I came upon one that said "I'm goin til 1,220." Trey currently follows 1,219 fans/friends. The artist seems to do an honorable job interacting with his fans, as he has many tweets wishing users a happy birthday, or retweeting something they say. But I found this particular tweet to be brilliant, and what I assumed to have sparked the TT of "#treyfollowmenext." All his followers who saw this tweet want to be that last person that he follows back. So they're all tweeting him, asking him to follow them. This puts his name out there like crazy! There is all this buzz about Trey Songz on Twitter, and it's all free! And since I'm sure the artist will be reading this post - Trey, I commend you for your genius tactic. 

StumbleUpon: Simplifying Procrastination

I'm already an excellent procrastinator. But thanks to StumbleUpon, the art of procrastination is now easier than ever! I can't recall how many hours of sleep, how many hours of studying I've lost because some voice in my head told me it would be a good idea to "stumble" just for a few minutes. Let me just warn you: once you start stumbling, it's not easy to stop.

Apparently, others share the same interest in the discovery and recommendation engine. StumbleUpon has now hit one billion stumbles per month. Users are clearly enjoying the millions of different sites you can stumble on based on your likes and interests. As an advertising major, I find the neatest thing about StumbleUpon is the subtlety of the advertising within the engine. Charlie White, Mashable blogger, explains that "it's hard to tell you're being advertised to, because StumbleUpon uses your same preferences to determine which paid sites to show you." This is potentially a great platform for businesses to use, as long as they can figure out how to use it effectively.

Twitter Takeover: Bronx Zoo's Cobra

On March 25, the Bronx Zoo released a statement saying a 20-inch Egyptian cobra had escaped. Zoo officials found the snake a few days later, but not before the poisonous snake had made a name for himself in the social media world. The cobra remained a top Twitter trend for at least two days, and a separate Twitter account was created for the snake. The account has generated over 230,000 followers and is still being updated, with tweets such as "It's one of those days where I could just eat an entire pint of Ben & Jerry's Mice Cream."

The cobra wasn't satisfied with just creating a Twitter account. Even after being found in the Reptile House in the zoo, he carried on with his tweets. But in addition, the snake hijacked the Twitter account of American Idol's host, Ryan Seacrest. Seacrest elaborately staged his account to appear that the cobra had taken over as an April Fool's joke, with the tweet:
I doubt the cobra's Twitter account can keep up its success for too much longer, but it made for a good laugh these past couple weeks.