By Jordan Stepp
All it took was a single Twitter entry to fill up local venue Tasty World on Wednesday night.
At roughly 4 p.m., people began “tweeting” the news about a secret show at Tasty World featuring Athens band The Whigs. When the band took the stage only a few hours later, it played to a packed house. Word got around quickly to fans through a variety of social networking websites, but the first to break the news was Twitter.
“I follow Flagpole on Twitter, and I got this message on my phone saying that there was a secret show coming up,” said Kayla Bishop, a freshman at the University of Georgia. “I knew I had to tell my friends so I Facebooked it.”
Morgan Klaus, a recent UGA grad, found out about the show in a similar fashion. She had checked her Twitter account moments before, but it took three other people entering the same message before she saw it.
“After that, I just grabbed some of my co-workers, and then they started tweeting about it,” said Klaus.
The Whigs had leaked news of the show only to a few friends and local publications. When Flagpole messaged its followers, they messaged their friends. What used to be called “word of mouth” has given way to the technological era of instant messaging and texting.
The emergence of online social networking has allowed bands like The Whigs to reach out to their fan bases in many new ways. Bands are now using Web sites like Twitter and Facebook to offer fans extra ways to interact with the bands. Besides uploading videos, giving away tickets and creating online forums, today’s bands are reaching out to fans through sudden events only available to Facebook “friends” or Twitter followers.
“We just thought it would be cool to play some new stuff at the show,” said Whigs frontman Parker Gispert. “It was great to see so many people come out for a secret show.”
Fans were thrilled to hear new material.
“I’m really looking forward to their next album,” said Bishop. “It’s awesome that we get a taste of it tonight and for free!”
Edited by Lindsay Dobras
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Good story capturing a new phenomenon from two angles: how bands are using new media to stay in touch with fans, and how journalistic organizations are using digital tools to break news. Some insight from a professor who studies new media trends would add some breadth to the story.
ReplyDelete