Teenagers and Twitter: The Power of the Internet Gone Wild #projectm
This was a GAME CHANGER for this Harrison High school kid.
It was a social media phenomenon — originating right in our neighborhood in Michigan.
My teenager told me about it when she got home from school. She saw it happen.
One tweet from one high school student – went viral, trending worldwide on Twitter.
He went from 400 Twitter followers to 7,000 in a day! He made the 5, 6 and 11 pm news on every TV station and was the buzz on major radio stations too.
Why? He sent out a simple tweet Friday morning saying that he was planing to host a house party called Project M. Oh, and he asked people to “please RT” (meaning retweet).
And they did! The party was to be for about 20 to 30 people – and it ended up about 15,000 RSVP’d – from all over the country! People were said to be flying in from as far as Los Angeles! OMG! WTH!
Now, this is a good lesson for any teenager to really see the power of the internet at work – how to use it to promote something. But, this was just a party that was a spinoff idea from the movie “Project X: The Party You’ve Only Dreamed About,” which just came out.
Classic case of life imitating art.
The movie, Project X, is about three high school seniors who attempt to make a name for themselves by throwing an unforgettable house party. As word spread, the party takes on a life of its own and before the night is over, dreams are ruined, records are blemished and legends are born.
So, the Farmington Hills teen, Mikey, was planning his own Project M party (inspired by Project X). I guess he was trying to make a “name” for himself. He did. But not the way he thought.
The Project M party never took place. It was over before it got started. His dad shut it down when he found out about it – and the police went on patrol at the house turning away hundreds of teens from all over.
Lessons Learned:
1. Ask permission to have a party. If they agree, don’t use the interet for a local, small, personal party
2. Know the power of the media and imagery. If in 140 characters, you mention Project and a party – know that you are advertising an expectation in people’s minds.
3. The media is fast, furious and can be dangerous. Do not Tweet anything that you don’t want to told to a million people. Because you never know what will go viral – and can get you in trouble.
Now, this was a big lesson of Mikey of Farmington Hills - but something good came out of it. He got a job offer. Yes, he got an summer internship to do social media marketing for an automotive blog. How about that? SMH!
So, what do you think about this? Has YOUR teenager used social media and created some havoc? Have you?
Pam Perry, a social media marketing maven, is co-founder of Perry + Williamson, you can follower her on Twitter (as she promises not to Tweet anything rated R or X).
Pam
YOUR Public Relations Coach and Social Media Strategist. CEO of Ministry Marketing Solutions and Founder of Social Media PR Solutions, LLC.
Follow Me:
So glad I don’t have teenagers! Still it seems there’s a valuable lesson here for all age groups. There’s got to be a way to generate this kind of power for good.
Although the results could have been tragic, I always get a little excited when unsuspecting people create a stir through social media. It’s power is great! Like all things, when put in the wrong hands it can cause havoc. I can’t wait to share this with my Mass Communication students tomorrow!
Can my boy stay a tween forever?
Astonishing… and an internship to boot.
Pam you are doing your thing! I learned about this Blog post via friendfeed.
Thanks Troy, LaTonya, Denise and Alicia. This was crazy. Twitter gone wild! LOL. Back in the day – we would not even have access to all the stuff these teens have. Unreal!