If you tuned into Twitter as you watched the big #denverdebate, then you may have heard of the insta-famous (yet short-lived) account @firedbigbird.
I first noticed a tweet that read, “5 minutes ago, @firedbigbird had 32 followers. Now it has 1,700 and growing. Beautiful Internetz. #debates.” By the time I checked out the @firedbigbird profile (seconds later) it had already topped 2,000 followers. Every time I refreshed the page, @firedbigbird’s numbers were growing! As the debate continued, so did the popularity of the @firedbigbird account. And if you haven’t heard by now, the account was created because Mitt Romney was discussing spending cuts and was quoted saying “I love Big Bird!”
When the debate ended, I checked the account again. It had grown to 13,602 followers in less than an hour! I started to track it through the evening and my conclusion brings up two important lessons for social media.
Let’s take a look at the graph. The first 10,000 followers happened in a matter of approximately 30 minutes. Cha ching! The second 10,000 followers took only an hour and forty minutes, which is not bad. And then, twenty four hours later, it reached the next 10,000 followers milestone. I woke up in the morning to continue tracking, but when I arrived at work, I noticed the account had been suspended.
When working with social media, urgency is key. Had this account been created next week, nobody would have cared anymore. This account came forward in the moment. To even have this opportunity, you must be “in the know” of what’s going on. You should already be involved in social media, following the conversation. If you aren’t, you will miss opportunities. Do you think you can hope on a trend late or just ride someone else’s coattails? Check out @bigfiredbird (read carefully). This moocher tried…he really did. So hard, that he has 3 followers as of 7:27 AM GMT. His graph would look a lot less exciting.
Second of all, follow the rules. A rule was violated by the @firedbigbird’s account, causing the account to be suspended for hours. I’m assuming it has something to do with the fact that Big Bird is trademarked and owned by Jim Henson Productions, Inc, Muppets, Inc. Now that the account is back up and running, it’s lost the same momentum that is could has maintained had they followed the rules and not lost valuable time.
Urgency is key ladies and gentleman. Now go join the conversation and follow the rules!
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Beautiful graph! It really illustrates your point.
I’d be interested in learning more about what @FiredBigBird hopes to accomplish with the following s/he cleverly created. What will the account look like after the election?
If an organization sees such an opportunity and seizes it, what then should be their strategy?
I’ve wondered the same things as I kept following the account. Once the account was reinstated, it peaked at over 30K followers, but has started to lose since then. It’ll be interesting to see how much of a following firedbigbird can keep and if he can fix a strategy to not be forgotten.