The social world plays its own games

This past week has been “Doppelganger Week.” What – you’ve missed it? You obviously weren’t on Facebook. People replaced their profile pictures with photos of celebrities they supposedly look like. It has worked to varying degrees – some people are dead ringers, others are wildly optimistic – but it has been a fun little game that could only happen online. Late last year, we had the Star Wars Thanksgiving contest on Twitter. I use “contest” in the loosest term – there was no prize, and no real winners. But there were some great entries.

• May the fork be with you (@adventurehan)
• If you only knew the power of the Dark Meat! (@ObiWanKenoclue)
• I find your lack of pie disturbing. (@welshmnky)

The contest was so popular, it caught the attention of the folks at StarWars.com. Note that this didn’t happen the other way. StarWars.com didn’t say “hey – let’s have a Thanksgiving contest!” Fans simply bubbled up the idea.

The Twitter silliness continues this week with #90sTweet. It’s exactly as it sounds – you post a Tweet you might have put up in the ’90s. The results haven’t been as clever, but the hive mind gets what the hive mind wants.

Sometimes serious memes will come along. Last summer, people tinted their profile pics green to show support for Iranian protestors. Does this actually do anything? Well, it’s not like the Iranian government decided to reverse the election because “dennis_d1968 now looks a little like a lime.” But it does encourage me because it means people are talking about more than just their favorite award winners or cat food.

How do these memes pop up? Who knows? It’s nearly untraceable. Someone makes a suggestion, and sometimes it catches on. Most of the time it doesn’t. I’ve tried starting a few memes on Twitter, and let me tell you: it’s impossible. You can’t go viral on purpose.

If you work at a local, I only have one suggestion – know your memes. Participate in them. It will give you some cred, and it’s fun. You may be able to start a local Twitter meme (good luck) but the participation is its own reward.