Google and Bing released their top Internet searches of 2009 and it looks like a lot people wanted to find social sites like Twitter, Facebook, Hi5 and Hulu. Understandably, Michael Jackson was hugely searched as well.
As listed on ReadWriteWeb, here are the top search queries for 2009:
As a Twilight fan, I nod in understanding at the high number of searches on New Moon (have you visited Twilighters Anonymous yet?) The Lady Gaga searches gave me pause though. I didn’t think she was that popular. Guess I’ve been living under a rock or something.
The results really are a sign of the times though with high searches on celebrities and people who made news this year. You can bet that Tiger Woods would have made one of these lists if Google and Bing had waited just a wee bit longer to collect their findings.
Queries on “Swine Flu”, “Cash for clunkers” and the “stock market” also indicate what has been top of mind for many people this year.
That “paranormal activity” (or “activiy” as spelled above) made it to number 7 in fastest rising searches in the US makes me wonder if those Ghostbusters out there have seen an increase in business.
Last year when I worked for Ramius Corporation, one of my interns – Shannon Harvey – wrote a song promoting Ramius’ social networking site Sixent. The song is written to the melody of Don McLean’s classic ditty, American Pie, and provides all the details of why Sixent is a great tool for managing and sharing your online life the way you want.
I’m suffering from iPhone envy. It’s been going on for some time now but peaked to an intolerable level yesterday upon watching The Ellen Degeneres Show. (I’m on maternity leave and have been sucked into daytime talk shows in lieu of being able to participate in regular adult conversations during the day).
Yesterday on Ellen, T-Pain made a surprise appearance to announce his new iPhone app – I Am T-Pain. Basically the app allows you to change the pitch of your voice so you sound like T-Pain when he sings using the Auto-Tune microphone in many of his songs. The app also comes with a few T-Pain songs you can sing along to. You can record yourself singing and then share your hits with your friends on Facebook, etc.
Yes a bit of frivolity but talk about fun. And also great marketing by T-Pain. Not only does he make money from the app (it retails for $2.99 on iTunes), but this is an easy way for him to get his songs shared across the social web because it’s a fun way for people to share a personalized version of those songs. That’s social marketing at its finest.
Now…how to convince my husband to get me an iPhone for Christmas…
With the release of the movie Twilight coming in just seven days (or seven sleeps depending on how excited you are about it), I feel the need to write about the pre-buzz generated by its hugely loyal fan base.
If you don’t have a teenage girl in your family, you may not be aware of the phenomena behind this movie. Or it could be you are living under a rock.
The movie is based on the first book of the same name from the hugely successful “Twilight Series“. The series follows 17-year-old Bella Swan and her relationship with Edward Cullen, a 108-year-old vampire (undead at 17).
Written by Stephenie Meyer, the four-book series has sold 7 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 20 different languages. Yowsers.
The Twilight movie, being released on November 21 by Summit Entertainment, is directed by Catherine Hardwicke (she directed Thirteen and Lords of Dogtown.) The fan base – mostly teenage girls and their moms – are hugely loyal to the books and are driving the buzz around the movie’s premiere next Friday.
41% say they are online all the time, and another 34% say they are online several hours a day
4% have their own Twilight fan site or series-related blog
they are also social media-savvy, with 20% saying they “always check” MySpace and 23% “always check” Facebook
broad age span: 41% of interested ticket buyers are 25 years and older (yes you can count me in this category)
29% couldn’t think of another film that appealed to the whole family as they believe Twilight will
87% noted that they had seen the movie trailers online rather than on television
92% indicated that the trailers had made them want to buy a ticket to the movie online
Meet and greets with the movie’s cast, organized across North America these past few weeks, have brought teenage girls to their knees. The organizers of one such event on November 10 at a Hot Topic store in San Francisco were unprepared for the number of people who showed up to see Rob Pattinson (Edward Cullen) in person.
They ended up canceling the event because the crowd was three times the size they were expecting. The police and event people on hand couldn’t do the crowd-control necessary to keep people safe (one girl broke her nose and another fainted.)
The movie’s soundtrack is already number one on the Billboard 200. According to Yahoo Music, it’s the first soundtrack to hit number one in advance of a movie’s release since the soundtrack for 8 Mile six years ago.
Entertainment Weekly has a section of their website – Twilight Central – devoted to breaking news, video interviews and photos of the actors in the movie. MTV Movies Blog has done the same, marketing “Twilight Tuesdays” as their breaking news day.
Scene from the movie Twilight. With lead actors Kristen Stewart (Bella Swan) and Rob Pattinson (Edward Cullen).
The point is, there is a huge consumption right now of all things Twilight.
And it is the fans who have generated demand for breaking news stories, interviews with the movie’s cast and with the book series’ author.
There are online stores full of Twilight merchandise (CafePress to name just one.) I’m waiting for the Bella and Edward action figures (or at least bobbleheads.) Why has no one thought of these yet?
Fans are even organizing trips to Forks, WA where the story of Bella and Edward takes place. There have been Twilight-themed prom-nights at high schools and midnight pajama parties/book readings organized at bookstores (Stephenie Meyer has even participated in some).
MSN did a funny spoof of the Twilight script called “Twilight – The Lost Script” that mocks the obsession this franchise has generated.
And it is the fans who are creating this buzz. Their loyalty to the books and their anticipation for the movie’s release has many in Hollywood waiting to see how well the movie does during its opening weekend.
There is already talk about Summit Entertainment and Hardwicke collaborating on more movies for the Twilight franchise.
Now please excuse me. I need to return to my fourth (or is it fifth) reading of Eclipse. That’s the third book in the Twilight series…in case you’re wondering.
