Social media snobs were revoked the ability to scoff at those incorporating hashtags in their Facebook statuses late last week. Not long after Facebook introduced Verified Profiles and Pages (à la Twitter), hashtags have made their debut.

The hashtag has been utilized to provide contextual relevance (in such few characters), to filter and share content, and to ignite conversations since Twitter’s early days – and has since been adopted by everyone from Instagram to Tumblr. It has become an integral part of the way consumers digest information: from news to sports events, to award shows. Hashtags are seen as a means to describe an emotion, a thought, or a theme of a shared photo, and have quickly caught on with the masses – even the late adopters – as a means to share culturally relevant trends and to get more “likes” (#instadaily, #iphonepicsonly, etc.)

Shortly after the one-year anniversary of their Instagram acquisition, Facebook has incorporated the hashtag. The billion-strong network has been answering to the increase of interest in niche networks by integrating the services, and has brought in the hashtag in the same fashion. Content shared from external services (like Instagram) will be functional, allowing users to pull up the feed and search results of friends, pages they follow and public profiles. Users are then able to post updates directly, paving the way for a more real-time experience and giving Facebook a head start on populated content.

What does this mean for marketers? In terms of ad products, it has yet to be determined. In terms of content, it will help us reach the consumers we’ve lost in the constant tweaking of the Facebook algorithm. We can become relevant again, and capitalize on the once-promising EdgeRank optimization of a “Merry Christmas” post! It is important that we consciously avoid abusing the tool, and instead incorporate it in an organic way, mirroring consumers’ social activity instead of alienating them. It is a chance for us to interact with the massive fan bases built over the years.

What do you think about hashtags on Facebook?

Facebook is about to launch Facebook Home. The elevator pitch is essentially this: people don’t talk to apps, they talk to people, so instead of seeing a screen of apps on your phone, you see all the friends you interact with, instead. At first blush, it seems like a cool concept – bringing the phone back to what it was invented to do — connect people. Whether we are seeing a shift in how mobile devices are used or simply another way to waste time, remains to be seen. But I digress, the point of this article isn’t about how cool Facebook Home may or may not be. It’s about the “cool” way Facebook chose to advertise it: with television. Over the weekend, Facebook ran a television commercial, created by Wieden and Kennedy touting the new offering. Just to recap: Facebook used television to sell a social media product. Traditional advertising, used to sell what many are calling the demise of television and/or branding. A “share” or “pull” medium sold by “push” media. I won’t comment; I’ll just lay the irony out there. Another point of interest is the commercial itself. It makes no sense, and really gives no clues as to what Facebook Home is or does. Apparently I’m not alone, as the many “comments” reflect the same sentiment. The spot depicts your typical scruffy-faced, gen-something-gadgeter on a plane playing with his phone, as a bunch of weird stuff starts to happen around him – people in overhead compartments pop out, cats run around the cabin, etc, end on logo. And that’s pretty much it. If I hadn’t come across the online video while searching for the spot, it’s likely I would never have been able to understand what the spot was saying. The real idea is in the video, albeit not as “creative”. What’s even more interesting is once I knew what the spot was trying to say, I couldn’t help but think of the “original” version of the spot, done by Cliff Freeman and Partners for Prodigy, back in 1995. That’s like a century ago in internet years. But the spot (and the rest of the campaign) was brilliant. One spot showed a woman smashing a banjo on the side of a deserted dusty road, screaming that she couldn’t learn to play it. Up rolls Barry White (yes, The Prince of Pillow Talk, himself) in an old green bus, with a route sign that reads: MUSIC. The doors open and Barry rumbles, “Havin’ problems baby…beatin’ up your banjo?” The woman gets on the bus and all manner of musical chaos breaks out; banjo players, gospel singers, disco fever. The spot ends with a replication of Prodigy’s graphical user interface – one of the first to use one – showing all the different user groups available. A voiceover explains, “Music… just one of the many user groups on the new Prodigy”. Now keep in mind, this was when the internet was in its infancy, and you actually had to PHONE for a subscription to Prodigy, who was attempting to group interests together on one platform to make sense of the this new medium. As a consumer you got it: your computer is the bus, pulling up to all the stops that interest you along the information highway (Yes, that’s not just a joke phrase in meetings, unfortunately that is what we used to call the internet). Similar to the Facebook Home spot, except far clearer in its explanation for something not understood, or even known about for that matter.

Social Media may be the new marketing darling, but as we often stress within our walls, it has to be grounded in the basics of advertising. What are you selling, who are you selling it to, and what is the simplest and most compelling way to tell them. As Mr. Freeman said in referencing his spots, “We’re talking in a language that everyone can understand.”

The original by Prodigy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTJ6IhY9lzo

The video :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lep_DSmSRwE

Hi, my name is Janet Ha and I’m a Social Media Intern at Grip Limited.

Before you start deliberating on how my role is probably another run-of-the-mill internship that doesn’t go beyond community management (including but not limited to drafting out Tweets for accounts I’m not allowed to touch with a ten-foot-pole and creating Facebook ads of questionable quality), let me be the first to say:

I’m not your regular intern. This is my fourth* social media internship and the second agency position I’ve held since starting at Humber College’s Bachelor of Creative Advertising program. I’m what you may consider an “internship pro” when it comes to the social space.

So what makes Grip different when it comes to social?

Working as a Social Media Intern at Grip has been a re-education in social media. Grip uses social media in such a way that doesn’t exploit followers and yet leverages brand pillars to spark engagement between brands and their online communities. That being said, the Social Content Team at Grip is not your average community management department. First off: they’re not Community Managers, they’re Social Content Strategists. To paraphrase Shakespeare: What’s in a title?

Jobs in social media are often assailed with questions on their validity in the industry and whether or not those holding the positions are full of it. For example, you cannot append “guru” to the end of your title without being scoffed at as some kind of ignorant poseur. So what difference do the words “content strategist” make? Yes, we do perform expected community management duties like answering questions and comments on client social media platforms, including the creation of crisis management strategies for situations that would make any PR rep tremble with fear from the looming media onslaught.

We partner with Accounts and Creative teams to create content and digital strategy decks, monitor industry trends, exchange memes internally and basically have a work hard, play hard mindset that translates into compelling content, outstanding metrics and an optimistic future for social media in advertising as a whole.

Social Media Intern is the official job title on the contract I signed with HR in December, yet I have worn many hats in this role and have accumulated invaluable agency experience. My internship contract with Grip ends this week. It was a fantastic experience and I will use these lessons in advertising for good. How do I know? That’s because by the time this blog is posted, I will be Grip’s latest Social Content Strategist.

Thank you Grip, for the best internship I have ever had.

*I hear you ask: “Why so many internships?” I much prefer working to gain experience in the industry I’m passionate about than folding clothes and slinging coffee (that’s another thing you don’t do in an internship with Grip!).