Reddit.com has become one of the World Wide Web’s most striking examples of democracy in action. Reddit fashions itself a platform for “social news,” where the readers themselves control the front page by voting stories up above and down below the fold. Alexis is a world-renowned speaker and as spoken at many high-level conferences including a recent appearance at TED. On July 13th, 2010, at Connect SF, Alexis will be sharing his vast expertise about social networking and online marketing.
I started a website with some friends in 2007 after graduating from UVA
It’s a social news website, which means our half mil visitors a daysubmit and vote on interestiing links, which determines the front page
new internet memes born here everyday, I get to watch, but this isn’t bout reddit
It all started with greenpeace
Who wanted to stop the japanese humpback whaling expeditions
To personify the movement, they hosted an online poll where visitors could vote on the name of this whale that would symbolize their struggle as they tagged and tracked it on its migration
The persian word for immortal
There were about a dozen very cultured, thoughtful names. Divine power of the ocean in a polynesian language
And then there was this. Mister splashy pants
And then there was this. Mister splashy pants
And then there was this. Mister splashy pants
Someone on reddit found this poll and submitted it to our website, suggesting that everyone vote for what was obviously the best name.
The 5 of us working on reddit were campaigning pretty heavily for the new name, so we took our logo
And changed it to show our unanimous support for mister splashy pants
This quickly spread around the web, sites like Fark and
This quickly spread around the web, sites like Fark and
99%!
The voting ended. How did Mister Spalshy Pants do?
99%!
They ran the extended the voting -This only inspired the Internet,
remember how we changed out logO?
We changed it again. This time it was Fightin’ Splashy.
Fans created facebook applications and groups
People could watch mister splashy pants dance on their screens!
99%!
The lesson here?
but there’s more!
Greenpeace turned this into a big marketing effort, but making merchandise and even e-cards
People could watch mister splashy pants dance on their screens!
The japanese govt called off the wahling expedition that year
The whales were saved.
And happy about it
Not because they’re full of whale lovers, they just got behind this meme because it was genuinely community driven
But because they had participated in something as a community, and this is a generation of creators, who all want a hand in doing something, even if it’s just upvoting a silly headline
And this is the lesson, not just for nonprofits looking to make a splash, but for anyone looking to succeed with a viral campaign online
The connectivity of the internet means you can reach more people for less with your message than ever before. You don’t need a big budget! Splashy cost Greenpeace nothing!
The cost of production is so cheap, you can just continue to try until something hits.
but one thing should guide your decision making
Create something for users to connect with and get out of the way
The final message
The final message
You’ve created google & backtype news alerts for your brand
You’ve created google & backtype news alerts for your brand
Weebly for your own website
This is still the driving force behind every successful ad campaign that ‘goes viral’. It’s still the thing that makes or breaks a business – it’s just a new medium
The final message
The final message
The final message
The final message
The final message
The final message
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The final message
The final message
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The final message
Now, what happens when a reasonable person sees this comment? Here’s a reasonable fellow.
Captain picard here would see this comment in his daily surfing and he’d ponder it for only a moment before dismissing it.
The final message
There’s no yelp for real estate agents (that I know of), so I asked friends who’d recently been in my position for a recommendation
The final message
I grew up around a dinner table hear stories from my dad as he watched the internet transform the travel industry. There’s no shortage of sites expanding the resources for consumers.
Movity.com helps home buyers discover geo-data like noise, crime, parking, local reviews, and pricing. Bringing transparency to data that home buyers may not have otherwise found
New york city! Real estate listings aggregated
Want to rent or have a place to rent?
Padmapper simply will help make apt hunting suck less