Like every communication medium, YouTube can be an incredibly powerful marketing tool, one that is still being explored by creators all over the world. And, just like every medium, it’s effectiveness invariably depends on how well it’s used.

Last year, I saw a ’5 Seeds Cider’campaign via Mumbrella – it’s about an interactive YouTube concept, using a facility that allows consumers to choose to go from one video link to another. Which means they are given options, and can decide which way to go next.

Back to the 5 Seeds Cider (a Tooheys brand), devised by BMF and digital agency Holler. I checked it out and, I’m sorry to say, I quickly became bored. It was beautifully shot, but I found it self-indulgent and pretty dull.

In contrast, the same YouTube video linking facility has also been used for a campaign by the Metropolitan Police in the UK. It focuses on the dangers of carrying a knife – ‘Choose a Different Ending’.

This was compulsive viewing for me. I couldn’t resist following all the links, including ‘Take The Knife’or ‘Don’t Take The Knife’. The interactive film allows the viewer to follow different story paths, and discover what might happen if you carry a knife (or choose not to).

It’s a beautiful execution of a strong idea and very thought providing. Plenty of UK viewers have debated whether the films are racist, and other suggest that the police appear to use the law to search anyone without good reason.

Regardless of the controversy, there’s no doubt that the campaign demonstrates how powerful this YouTube video switching concept can be. I can’t wait to see how it’s going to be used next.

Posted by Ian Minter

I recently added the ‘Twitter’application to my Facebook page. Within two hours, I realised the error of my ways and disabled it. In my opinion, the two don’t mix.

While some people might not agree with me (this may or may not include Linda Johannesson, my colleague, Facebook friend, Twitter friend and Social Media expert!) I realised that I like to live by the ‘Facebook for friends, Twitter for business’ethos. On Facebook, I’ve posted one update in the past 6 months. On Twitter, I attempt 2-6 posts a day (mostly weekdays). 

So, imagine the surprise that my Facebook friends must have had when, after linking Twitter, their normally dormant friend suddenly made three posts in the course of an hour! Even worse, my Twitter posts were totally irrelevant to anyone on Facebook (they must have thought I’d lost it).

Of course, some Facebook sites are set up for business and it would therefore make sense to link the two. But I use them differently, and I have different philosophies for both:

1. I actually know everyone on my Facebook page. They are actually ‘friends’. I’ve had requests from people I’ve never met and ignored them. 

2. Of my Twitter ‘friends’, I personally know 3 out of 100+. I may not know the majority of people I connect with, but I like their access to information and their willingness to share it with me.

3. I’m quiet on Facebook. I’m noisy on Twitter. It may be that I have a really boring life, or that I’m a bit shy, but I don’t want to recount every event of my day/week/life on the internet. (Fortunately, my Facebook friends don’t either, so it’s not a barage of trivia). With Twitter, I learn something, I want to share it. And I want to continue to learn from the people I am following  (some days there is so much new information, I feel like my head is going to explode).

4. I have a different ‘tone of voice’on both sites. Twitter-critics say they don’t want to know what someone has had for lunch or what they thought of the latest episode of  ’Idol’. Certainly, there are many people out there who use Twitter for inane chatter in 140 characters, but not one of the over 100 (and growing) people I follow do this. Twitter is a microcosm of the real world – if you don’t want to  hang around with kids, stay away from the schoolyard. Twitter is business (with the odd light-hearted post). Facebook is really about connecting with friends.

5. I’m hooked on Twitter (and rarely use Facebook). But it’s not because I’m addicted to ‘byte-size’pieces of information. I love the information sharing – most posts come with a link that usually goes into great detail – the insights and the instant notifications that Twitter provides.  I don’t follow any celebrity (OK, except for Stephen Fry). And while parody Twitter accounts can be very unfunny, I do follow a few – Fake Stephen Conroy (Australian Minister for the Internet) provides brilliant satire regarding a very serious issue (the real Stephen Conroy is looking at internet ‘censorship’, which irks me to no end), and Fake Penny Wong (Australian Minister for Climate Change) who can be extremely funny, especially when parodying Peter Garrett.

The lesson that I have learned from my Twitter on Facebook experiment is two-fold – stick to business on Twitter. And, I’ve been too quiet on Facebook – I need to get out more often.

Posted by Dana Minter

It was only a matter of time before politicians jumped on the Twitter bandwagon. Twitter proved to be an information portal during the campaign of Barack Obama, with both Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull beginning to ‘tweet’in late 2008.

Yet, not every pollie has signed up for a Twitter account, and those who have rarely use it to their advantage. Generally, the very best ‘Twitterers’have a good understanding of how to use the social network system – part supplier of information, part thought leadership, with the occasional dash of personal information thrown in, to allow followers an insight into their personality.

 I was surprised to find that politicians who I thought would ‘get it right’, didn’t, and vise versa. While Barack Obama may be the first Blackberry toting president, his Twitter posts were old-school. Mostly, they consisted of calls to rallies - “In Harrisonburg, VA. At a “Change We Need” rally. Watch this event live at…” was a typical tweet. But, disappointingly, his Twitter days ended around inauguration time. It’s fairly obvious that Obama himself wasn’t posting – you get no sense of personality.

John McCain, on the other hand, would appear to be the last person on earth to embrace new technology. Not so – he’s an avid tweeter. And, it’s clear that it’s McCain himself who’s ‘doing it’. And, whether or not you agree with his politics, he’s quite funny. With the US Stimulus bill, he’s taken to tweeting the daily “Top Ten Porkiest Projects” that are before congress. Tweets include: “#4. $2.1 million for the Center for Grape Genetics in New York – quick peel me a grape.” and, “$143,000 for Nevada Humanities to develop and expand an online encyclopedia – Anyone heard of Wikipedia?” .

He admits he has some help – “YEs!! I am twittering on my blackberry but not without a little help!” (the typo is real, making it even more credible that it was his genuine mistake). The point is, you feel you know more about Senator John McCain from his tweets, and his sense of humour comes out (his appearance on Saturday Night Live didn’t hurt, either). You actually WANT to follow his posts.

In Australia, Kevin Rudd uses his tweets mainly for awareness, and posts such as “Donate on line to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund” are no doubt important. Again, very little of his personality comes through (is that why he’s called the Ruddbot?). Of course, whether or not Kev is tweeting personally is another issue.

Malcolm Turnbull, on the other hand, seems to have the Twitter touch. He, too, announces speeches he is making and conferences he’s attending. But he also uses his Twitter account to interact with people, such as “getting ready for Question Time, feel free to send through any suggestions on possible questions.”. But Malcolm also tweets on personal time – “Watching Nick Cave now – he is on fire.” and announces he has a new post on his ‘dog blog (a  blog about his family dogs). What’s more, it’s obvious that Malcolm is really doing his own ‘tweeting’.

The most conflicting realisation for me when researching how politicians use Twitter was that ‘my side’of politics didn’t fare very well. It was quite a surprise that the ‘right’(read ‘old-fashioned’) are using new technology better than the ‘left’. One might argue that both Kevin Rudd and Barack Obama are a little busy right now, and might have better things to do – but it only takes a minute to post. That’s why it’s accessible.

I think that new technology and social media have a major role in not only electing officials, but with connecting with the people that they serve. Give us an opportunity to find out who you ‘really’are. Let us have a say. Keep me up to date with what I don’t get to read in the papers. 

But the last word to politicians who Twitter has to go to Pauline Hanson. The anti-immigration, anti-Muslim, anti-everything candidate hasn’t quite got the hand of interacting with voters. But she certainly has allowed us an insight to her personality with her single, two word tweet – “Elect me!”. (Bash over the head, anyone?)

Posted by Dana Minter