Commentary
Is Charlie Sheen smarter than your business?
- by justin , March 3, 2011
Charlie Sheen is IT right now. That is undeniable. Whether you like him or not, you can’t deny that he is the biggest name on TV right now.
Personally, I think all the news about him is very entertaining but by no means do I agree with his decisions or the accusations that are associated with him. Of course, I have a sense of humor but I also don’t think Sheen is a role model.
I’d like to tie that into social media. If you didn’t know, yesterday (Wednesday) Sheen activated his Twitter account. In less than 24 hours, he hit the one million follower mark! That is one million people who care about what he has to say, who went to their computer and chose to follow him (all in less than a day). That is just absolutely impressive to me.
At this rate, it will only take him a week to surpass the amount of followers our freaking PRESIDENT has. Lord, please do not let Charlie Sheen be temporarily more important than our President… I beg of you.
The point I’m trying to make is totally unrelated to Charlie Sheen, I just wanted to talk about him like the rest of the world. My point is that the power of social media, specifically Twitter, has once again wowed me! I wrote an article about the power of social media a while back but back then I had no idea how powerful it is compared to what I know now.
In a day, Sheen has millions of people quoting him, interviewing him, creating skits for him and just flat out people jumping on his bandwagon.
Imagine what your business could do with the use of social media sites. If it was any question before, its not anymore. People really do pay attention to their social media sites.
Okay, so Charlie Sheen is definitely a bigger name than a lot of companies but it’s the concept that matters. People who follow you on Twitter genuinely care about what you have to say. So, say it!
Twitter is becoming a GREAT way to advertise. Do not be the stubborn ones who fail to utilize this great website.
If Charlie Sheen can revive his career with the help of Twitter, I'm pretty sure there is a way to fit Twitter into your marketing
plan.
It's this kind of 'connecting two totally unrelated dots' thinking that confuses people. Sure Charlie Sheen is using Twitter for recognition but he is (or is just acting) crazy. That's why people are talking because he is a train wreck. Tons of people don't pass things around unless they are funny or sad (or both like this one).
Businesses can't act crazy just to get attention and people don't pass around information that is 'normal' like they do with an idiot like Sheen.
That's not to say that Twitter isn't right for business. Twitter can be great for the right business but expectations need to be appropriate and equating Charlie Sheen's 'success' in social media with a 'you can do it too!' message is just not right.
@Frank - agree - also how many companies have had a long running prime time tv show leading up to them registerting a twitter account?
If Emilio Estevez went out to register a Twitter account tomorrow how many people do you think would be following by the end of the week?
People were paying attention to Sheen because he's a horrifying train wreck of a man. Twitter isn't saving his career. Every outlet he's accessed -- from talk shows to social media -- has only served to downgrade his career. He's gone from movie star, to tv sit-com star to reality-tv freak show in just a few weeks. See how quickly he is being forgotten? Until I read this post today, the situation in Japan had completely wiped him from my thoughts. Honestly, I don't think we've heard the last from him, but I don't think we'll be talking about him much anymore.
I appreciate your input, guys. Like I mentioned in the post, the article is trying to prove a point that is absolutely unrelated to Sheen. I just wanted to show that Twitter is a great way to communicate to your followers (fans of your business). Maybe Sheen was a bad example because of all the negativity right now. That was dumb.
Another story I thought about using was when rapper 50 Cent tweeted to his followers to go to Penny Stocks' website and invest in some no-name company. The followers listened, of course, and he made 8.7 million dollars off that in 24 hours. Reports say that the company stock went up 290 percent after he tweeted that. Amazing.
Maybe I should just leave the celebs out? I just thought it would be a nice testimonial to have. But they do hold a higher level of support than most people.
Bottom line: I think Twitter for businesses is great and I hate when I speak with business owners who haven't bought into the idea of Tweeting. And that happens more often than you'd think...
My mom was JUST commenting on the Charlie Sheen situation the other day. Twitter is a crazy, crazy place. @Justin I have encountered the same issue with a lot of local businesses who haven't done anything online yet, let alone set up a Twitter account. They are truly missing out.