R.I.P. Flappy Bird

On February 8, 2014 Dong Nguyen, the creator of the newly popular app “Flappy Bird,” announced over Twitter that he would be taking the game down for good. Nguyen had been on social media throughout the day explaining his decision and what would be happening in the next 24 hours. His reasoning was bizarre but respectable. He explained, “I can call ‘Flappy Bird’ is a success of mine. But it also ruins my simple life. So now I hate it.” 

There was immediate outrage and support for Nguyen, seen through the 45,000 followers he gained following his tweet about the shutdown; however, many people, including myself, are still reeling from this quick decision.

I downloaded this game a couple of weeks ago when it began gaining fame. Since then I have experienced my fair share of the addictive aspects of the game. My roommates and I have been in a constant battle to see who can navigate the warped pipe maze to achieve the highest possible score before nose-diving to failure.

I can empathize with Nguyen who became addicted to his own game, losing sleep and socialization. But contrary to this negative, it is estimated that he was making over $50,000 a day. It takes a lot of guts to shut down a moneymaker like that, but he did it.

For those of you who have downloaded the game, keep on flapping. For the many who may never experience it, you are the lucky ones… Or are you?

Flappy Bird, you lived a good life. You may have brought disappointments, but you also brought triumphs. Thank you for the distractions from work and school and also for bringing us together and giving us goals, as worthless as they may be.

We will never forget you.

5/24/13 – 2/9/14

Olympic Fan/Athlete Interaction

The olympics are more interactive now than they ever have been. In the past the only way fans could interact was through viewing it on TV or sending fan letters. Of course if you were lucky enough to go and view it in person then there were a plethora of other options. With the advances in digital media, and most importantly social media, fans are able to interact with their favorite athletes from anywhere in the world. Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook allow all fans the opportunity to message their favorite athletes and with them luck in their events, congratulate them on a win, or just show their overall country pride. 

I myself can say that I try and keep up with how the USA is doing in medal count each day and watch the highlights of as many events as I can. Twitter has made it easier for me to keep up with these highlights now that I can wake up and see what happened the night before. I wake up each day and check the USA medal count (which is slightly lacking at the moment) and then try and figure out which of our athletes won gold medals the night before. Even on days when I don't have time to watch any events on TV I can always keep up with the twitter updates on my phone and stay current on the latest news.

One of the coolest new things I have seen through twitter is the Olympics Athletes' Hub. It basically compiles all Olympic news and allows you to select the different athletes, teams, and sports you want to follow. It tells you what is trending and gives you the leader boards each day. It basically is the place I now go to get all of my Olympic news on the days events. In fact I am on it currently and just saw a spoiler for an event that will be on TV tonight. I won't give it away, but USA wins :) GO USA!

Here's a link to the Olympic Athletes' Hub

http://hub.olympic.org/desktop

Super Bowl Ad: #EsuranceSave30

In case you were not aware the Super Bowl happened last night, and it was quite a thriller! Or maybe not... It was a blow out by the end of the first half. As the game grew more and more boring most people began paying more attention to the the commercials during stoppages in the game. However, the commercial that created the most social media buzz came directly after the game. Esurance grabbed the first commercial slot after the Super Bowl and apparently saved a lot of money in doing so. The average commercial during the game costed $4 million. In Esurance's commercial the actor is sitting with a pile of cash and says that they saved $1.5 million by taking the commercial spot right after the game was over, as opposed to having one during the game. He says that Esurance will be giving away the $1.5 million to a lucky winner. All you have to do is use the tweet using the hashtag #EsuranceSave30 by 1:00 AM on February 4th and you will be entered to win the $1.5 million they saved. According to Adweek there has already been more than 3 million tweets using the hashtag and I am sure many more are to come before the deadline tonight. This commercial clearly stole the attention of most every one watching and I am sure annoyed many of the advertising directors of the other commercials who paid top dollar during the game. When you offer $1.5 million up for grabs you are likely going to steal the show. I myself see it as a cheap ploy that may boost current social activity for Esurance, but in the end will not create loyal customers for their service. If their goal was to boost immediate conversation and buzz they sure did accomplish that. I would be curious to see whether or not it helps them out in total sales in the long run. My guess would be no...





Heres a link to the commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCPzdDVCN8Y