Starbucks hit social media gold


In the season of giving, Starbucks rolled up their tech sleeves along with (RED) to create a  global sing-along as a part of their continuing efforts to help fight AIDS in Africa. The project is Starbucks Love Project.



At 1:30 pm GMT on December 7th, people from 156 countries joined in the sing-along. You can see the video edited together on the Starbucks site, Starbucks Love Project, YouTube, even their Facebook fan page, which has a caption that reads 'One moment. One song. 156 countries.'

From accross oceans, tribes, languages, cultures, ages and more, people came together to sing one song of love for all to hear, 'Love is all you need.'

This is a project that wouldn't have been possible years ago, and with the assistance of social media, this has become an amazing tool to create AIDS awareness along with brand awareness for (RED) and Starbucks. I can't help but think of how this is such a phenomenal example of how technology can be used for extraordinary things. Starbucks and (RED) didn't just create a montage of clips of people singing. They gathered people from corners of the world, had them huddle around their webcams and sing together. It's a brilliant and unprecedented event, giving us one voice. Taking a Beatles hit 'All you need is love' and running with the event.

I think they not only excelled in the use of the new media, but busted through a roof. Starbucks and (RED) gave consumers what they wanted during the holiday season. This 4 minute video is something that can't help but bring a smile to faces in such an uncertain time. While places are facing political unrest, economic uncertainty and more, people are stopping and sining about love.

Is this really just a video?

Facebook, MySpace, Social Networking

Over the course of the past few years there has been a slew of social networking sites online that have given people the ability to have their own website where they can post personal information as well as have friends that can look at their profiles. In a world where people fight for privacy it seems odd that others are putting themselves out there. I am one of those people but I try to keep perspective on what I am posting as well as what information I give to the world.
With MySpace having over 90 million visitors every month there are people out there that use it for stalking tools.
So the question is:
How can we use these sites for positives? It seems that everyone in society around us is bashing and using them for personal gain only. The culture of the United States does reflect a selfish and materialistic society. Thus, the MySpace and Facebook pages possessing egotistic representations of people.
The World Wide Web has some wonderful advantages, you can express yourself freely and however you want to without restriction, unless of course it is slander, libel or talks about harming someone or a group of people. You can talk and discuss religion, your personal philosophies as well as aimless venting about technological advances and society.
Positives always outweigh negatives but everyone has a different perspective on what is positive and what is negative.
Should a sixteen year old be able to have pictures up online with them and their buddies in bathing suits? What about sexual predators? They have the ability to look, and have contact with all of these minors, that are 'legally' allowed to have a site.
The sixteen year old would probably say that it is all about freedom of speech and the pictures were just of them swimming at a pool party. The predator would have the argument that they are trying to be accepted again into society, thus they need socialization.
Child molesters and confused teenagers aside. MySpace and places like YouTube have given many bands and even want to-be actors the opportunity to display their work.
A band can play their music online and give fellow MySpacers the option to listen or host their songs on their site. Adding to promotions. Word of mouth is now being replaced with a click of a mouse. One person can have an artist’s song and have 10 friends visit their site that day. Five like the song and visit the band's site, maybe add the song, add the band as a 'friend' or even buy the CD.
Social networking- business or pleasure? Are you willing to put yourself out there as a product, because that is ultimately what we are doing now. Displaying what we have, are you single? Divorced? A vegan? Maybe you are a nondenominational 35 year-old night student that loves to go four wheeling on the weekends and loves life?
We are turning into a globalization turntable of products. If we do not like what we hear or see, the next one is just one mouse click away.