The below page was shared on my wall by a friend...
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2545702681966&set=a.2545702521962.2154719.1235752135&type=3&theater
A while back, at the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and beautiful woman. The caption was "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"
The story goes, a woman (of clothing size unknown) answered the following way:
"Dear people, whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, seals, curious humans), they are sexually active and raise their children with great tenderness.
They entertain like crazy with dolphins and eat lots of prawns. They swim all day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia.
They sing incredibly well and sometimes even are on cds. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defend and admires.
Mermaids do not exist.
But if they existed, they would line up to see a psychologist because of a problem of split personality: woman or fish?
They would have no sex life and could not bear children.
Yes, they would be lovely, but lonely and sad.
And, who wants a girl that smells like fish by his side?
Without a doubt, I'd rather be a whale.
At a time when the media tells us that only thin is beautiful, I prefer to eat ice cream with my kids, to have dinner with my husband, to eat and drink and have fun with my friends.
We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn't enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies.
We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated.
Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: "How amazing am I ?! "
(The girl on the picture is model Tara Lynn) Feel free to tag yourselves :)
In just under a week this post has attracted:
- 255,507 likes
- 166,921 shares
- 82,229 comments
And it all started from the thoughts one woman: Delphine Fieberg
The thing I find most interesting about this post is that Delphine is not a renowned blogger or infamous in the SM world... well I guess until now.
She shared a single thought and as a result over 5,000 people have subscribed to her Facebook page.
Yes her posts since this one have been a little more 'relevant' to the world, but until this one, she was just an average word.
To me this example shows the true power of the SM world - how it can all of a sudden make a single persons opinion count. But I believe it really brings up some bigger issues... how does one interesting thought make you an opinion leader in the online realm?
Maybe I havent really thought of any solutions to this question but I guess I'm asking, do you think one 'popular' post makes a person's opinion count?
Yes her posts since this one have been a little more 'relevant' to the world, but until this one, she was just an average word.
To me this example shows the true power of the SM world - how it can all of a sudden make a single persons opinion count. But I believe it really brings up some bigger issues... how does one interesting thought make you an opinion leader in the online realm?
Maybe I havent really thought of any solutions to this question but I guess I'm asking, do you think one 'popular' post makes a person's opinion count?
Those stats are pretty amazing. Delphine's honesty and passion about the subject shines through in her comments and this is probably what so many people have connected with.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has the right to an opinion and social media is allowing the spread of these opinions to occur at a rapid rate. Its an interesting notion though...part of the reason I no longer use twitter is that I can't handle reading so many opinions from people about topics they have very little understanding of..it's just irritating.
This is awesome, couldn't believe the stats I just saw on the FB site. Mover over lil Wayne!
ReplyDeleteIt sure does show the power, but I still ask the question, can marketers have this effect. This person is not trying to sell anything, she is purely addressing a real life problem with the way in which woman are viewed. This is an emotional topic that touches people, not pushing a sale or getting another fan so you can tick some marketing box at head office. If however marketers are able to reach the wider audience on such an emotional level, wow, they certainly have an amazing tool at hand!
Ross
I guess the thing I find most interesting about this example is that it actually does promote a 'brand' without you even realising it. Tara Flynn (the model in the picture) has received an amazing amount of press from this post and people have started taking notice of her.... her website and Facebook page have received a lot of notice and I'm sure should would have gotten some work out of this.
ReplyDeleteSo I guess Ross you could see this post as promoting a persons brand rather than a companies, and it totally had impact.
I agree Nat, I think its the fact that she is so ernest in her comment that has brought her attention. She talks about a hard issue and does it well.
Maybe we need to do less marketing and more issue-is-ing to get this kind of notice?
Nothing like a picture of a nude woman to create interest :) Particularly when that pic makes women feel better about themselves and men feel better about their women. I personally, other than Darryl Hannah, have always felt that mermaids were a bit overrated, especially after this breath freshener mint ad
ReplyDelete