by Jessica Northey
When I was an On-Air Traffic Reporter we used to refer to the people who slowed down to look at automobile accidents as “Gawker Blockers.” I am not gonna lie, I admit to rubber necking at a few collisions and for the past week have been watching this downward/upward spiral that is this Charlie Sheen Saga. Like him or not, there has not been this kind of online hype since, well, never. He broke a record on Twitter by getting over 2 million followers in 48 hours, over 78,000 people applied to be his intern, the words “winning” and “TigerBlood” have become pop culture and a new advertising buzz words.
When I was an On-Air Traffic Reporter we used to refer to the people who slowed down to look at automobile accidents as “Gawker Blockers.” I am not gonna lie, I admit to rubber necking at a few collisions and for the past week have been watching this downward/upward spiral that is this Charlie Sheen Saga. Like him or not, there has not been this kind of online hype since, well, never. He broke a record on Twitter by getting over 2 million followers in 48 hours, over 78,000 people applied to be his intern, the words “winning” and “TigerBlood” have become pop culture and a new advertising buzz words.
Another fascinating aspect of this "Charlie-Bender" is watching radio stations and on-air personalities take ownership of a current event through Social Media.
A great example of ingenuity was “107.9 the End” in Sacramento where they generated a ton of exposure by sending him a formal offer to come work with their Morning show. They teased it on-air,online and social web ALL week and weekend long, saying tune in Monday for the big announcement, however, Sheen declined.
But my favorite so far comes from Texas Country Music Radio Personality Adam Drake where took a Country Music angle for the story:
Now that’using Social Media as a Digital Daypart! What did your stations
do?
