Social Media Week

This past Social Media Week, we unveiled our Top 10 Social Media Events of 2011. And as the year closes, several new events have got our attention- events that fell in line with our listing of events that were defined and fundamentally shaped by the use of media.

Due to this, Social Media Week has reviewed our top 10 events and compiled our Year in Review of Top Social Media Events of 2011.

1. Arab Spring and the Middle Eastern uprisings
While the original uprising in the Arab Spring began in 2010, the latter part of 2011 saw great changes in these areas, from the stepping down of Mubarak and further unrest between the Egyptian military and civilians to Libyan dictator Qaddafi’s death to Yemen seeing Selah step down this November. Behind it all, was social media helping organize protesters and revolutionaries, enable citizen journalism, and garner public support.
Photo by Collin David Anderson


2. Japanese earthquake and tsunami
As one of the world’s worst earthquakes and tsunami’s ravaged a nation, the rest of the world watched as this terrible disaster played out in real-time, with tweets and videos being posted within minutes. Fortunately, the world did not just sit by and watch but also mobilized to provide assistance- from Crisis Commons to Google’s People Finder to online donations pouring in. Photo by Kordian




3. Occupy Wall Street
Inspired by success in other countries, a small group of protesters gathered in NYC’s Zuccotti Park in October- creating the US’s first major protest scene since the 70′s. Spanning over 1000 cities around the world, thousands have banded together to speak out against economic inequality and other mounting injustices. Technology and social media have been instrumental in organizing the protests, disseminating the movement’s global message, and documenting police responses, often culminating in several hundred thousands of views on their UStream and Livestreamed events. Photo by Light Cue 23

4. Death of Steve Jobs
The death of Steve Jobs, the epitome of tech innovation, created a wake in the tech and cultural world unrivaled since the death of Michael Jackson. Tweets, impromptu memorials, Facebook posts, montage videos- all flooded the web for the weeks following. And we could not soon forget this icon, with his autobiography being released just two weeks after his death.
Photo by Kyle Wagaman

5. Rebecca Black’s Friday and subsequent backlash
No other meme shined brighter- and longer- than Rebecca Black’s Friday. And the public mocking and backlash raised important questions about digital abuse and how our cultures treat fame. While we still debate how society should respond, the music industry is learning that traditional business models aren’t as effective without utilizing the vast advances in technology.

6. High-Speed Access Being Seen as a Right
Many nations are now making vast improvements to access to high-speed, broadband wireless access. With the EU demanding that all nations allocate 800MHz band available for wireless and US President Obama making access a priority, technology is now longer just a way to achieve equality- it is becoming a right in and of itself.

7. UK Riots
While not as long-standing as the revolutions- nor as politically effective- three long nights of rioting in London were being blamed on text and instant messaging on mobile devices. British police broke into smart phones to thwart planned attacks on local establishments, and even considered blocking access to social networking sites altogether. Followed shortly by US city San Francisco’s transit’s banning of cell service, many citizens around the globe began to wonder if their governments might also start restricting or investigating access further.

8. Hurricane Irene
While nowhere nearly as devastating as the Japanese disaster, Hurricane Irene was an online storm in it’s own right. Storm chasers didn’t need to leave their home to follow the path of Hurricane Irene, as it made its way up the East Coast in August, conjuring tweets on par with the traffic after the Japan earthquake.

9. Anthony Weiner Twitter scandal
Few can forget US politician Anthony Weiner’s plight, the world’s first true 21st century political scandal. Born through the use of and then broken, spread and developed by social media, Weiner’s misuse of DM’s caused his political demise and highlighted on the way social media tools are impacting the way politicians communicate with their constituents and the broader public for years to come. Photo by Marc Faletti

10. Social Media IPO’s
We’ve seen vast changes in the funding of social media companies. With successful startups like Pandora, Facebook, and LinkedIn going public and a growing list of other companies that will follow suit. And we can’t forget start-ups like Diaspora and other Kickstarter grantees- forcing us to re-evaluate how companies can be funded and who the main investors just might be.