The online world is now a watercooler. Gone are the days when you would have to wait until the next day to talk about last night’s episode of the latest TV show to suck in audiences, or discuss that rubbish film you saw last week with friends and colleagues. Now, with hashtags wielded like weapons, every show or film marketing campaign lumbers out onto the prime-time battlefield eager to emerge victorious, not only in the ratings (which remain in the dark ages), but on the social whirligig.
While a trending topic is now a prize to be coveted, and often a cornerstone of a PR report, there’s more to it than that. Way to Blue have done some fine work recently dissecting the impact of certain events, announcements, and in this case – awards nominations, as evidenced by the social measures we enjoy every day.
Here then, is their breakdown of each of the Best Picture Oscar contenders and the positive social turbulence they encountered following the announcements. Sad to see Spike Jonze’s Her not getting a similar bump to the rest of the group, but the buzz around Philomena following the nod plays well to the notion that even a nomination is enough to drive more people to the cinemas. Which is always a good thing.
