People use social networking for all different purposes these days. Some use it simply for interacting with people; some use it for marketing, while others use it to raise awareness for a cause. (Think Stop Kony. No comment.) Some videos go ‘viral’, others don’t. It is sometimes hard to understand why a video of a kid waving a stick around can have over 25 million views on YouTube, while a clever blend of two classic films can have as little 1, 500. I’ve rounded up.

Then there is Twitter. The culture of Twitter users requesting ‘retweets’ from celebrities is quite baffling. I recently noticed that in amongst all the positive feedback for Ricky Gervais’ new pilot Derek, there was a scathing post from a guy in Johannesburg. I will not repeat the post. Partly because it isn’t suitable and partly because I couldn’t find it again. #Lazy.

The crazy thing is that Ricky Gervais replied to that tweet! It almost makes me want to turn on my hero and insult his work only to reply to his retort later with a “Just kidding. Love your work. Thanks for the mention (albeit a very nasty one).” I don't think I'll do that.

Another campaign that has sprung to my attention is the recent call for fans of the band Radiohead to visit a page on Facebook and ‘like’ it, giving the page’s creators a rough number of people that would be interested in seeing Radiohead perform in South Africa. I personally couldn’t think of anything better and it seems like a logical enough system so naturally I have done my part.

And speaking of music, South Africa and online campaigns, there is another one going around at the moment. That of singer/songwriter Janie Bay and her brother, The Beard. They are gathering interest and votes to help get them onto the bill to play this year’s Oppikoppie Festival. Every month they are releasing a video of themselves performing a song on top of a mountain or hill (hence op ‘n koppie for all of those that speak the Afrikaans) along with details on how to help them fulfill their goal. In fact, you can help right now by clicking here...
 

We caught up with Janie and The Beard in the 2oceansvibe Radio studio last week for a chat and a jam session and you can listen to it here. You can also check Janie’s website, follow her on Twitter or check out her videos on YouTube…

Thanks,

Dyl Streep.