The Theft of Social Media

Imagine walking out of your house to go to work, car keys in one hand, coffee in the other, ready to step into your car – but wait… there’s no car! What would your first action be? First, call the police; second, call insurance; third, log onto craigslist.org?

This might not be your first train of thought, but when my brother’s car was stolen recently that was exactly what he did. Following the calls to the police and his insurance company, he placed an ad on craigslist.org and a few local “Toyota 4Runner enthusiast” sites. The ads were complete with photos and all the details from the theft the night before. Within minutes, people were e-mailing him with their plans to help find the car. About 9 p.m. the day after the car was stolen, I received a call from my brother.

“Can you drive me to my car? Someone found it behind their house,” he said.

After a 20-minute drive and a few suspicious questions from the police officer, we stumbled upon the car. Not only was it the right car, it was still in the same condition. The police were slightly baffled that one, it wasn’t stripped for parts; two, it was cleaner that he had left it (another story); and three, it was found through a few ads on social media sites.
This may not be the typical way to use social media, but it is just one more benefit. The community of social media becomes the eyes and ears of the users. Since the community is so spread out, yet connected with similar interests, it becomes its own search team.

Just this weekend, I received an invitation on Facebook to a group called “Lost Dog!!!” It was a cry for help from a high school classmate whose dog ran away in Denver. He used Facebook to post photos and details of the dog to help track him down. The dog was found and returned home without any major problems.

With these two success stories, and millions more out there, it demonstrates the dynamic uses of social media. What once was just a means of posting photos and connecting with friends has become even more powerful – a crucial communication tool.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 10/26 at 11:00 AM

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

What a great example of search retargeting. These people used established sites for completely new purposes and achieved great results. Why? Mainly because they caught the attention of the user base and mobilized a powerful resource. This is an awesome use of new technologies.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  08/05  at  02:17 PM

Page 1 of 1 pages

Name:

Email:

Location:

URL:

Smileys

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

Submit the word you see below:

What is 2 + 3?

Next entry: Sorry to Invoke Cinderella at a Time Like This

Previous entry: Calm, Cool and Comedic