10. @BurlCoatFactory, we hardly knew ye
Twitter
It was almost too good to be true. But for an unspecified period of time, Burlington Coat Factory actually
linked to the wrong Twitter account from its official website. And what a Twitter account it was. @BurlCoatFactory took a page out of
weird Twitter’s
book with a mostly nonsensical stream that was entertaining, irreverent
and rarely about outerwear—that is, unless they were slapping #coats on
the end of a tweet.
9. Putting your money where your mouth is
We’ve all used social media as an outlet for our outrage. But Hasan
Syed took his complaining to the next level when he spent more than
$1,000
to call out British Airways on Twitter. The Chicago-based business
owner bought a promoted tweet after the airline lost his father’s
luggage, forcing him to cancel a planned trip to
Germany.
And it worked: press about his gambit guaranteed Syed hundreds of
thousands of eyeballs beyond the 50,000 he paid to target with his
initial advertisement. The incident also ushered in a new era of
complainvertising,
in which customers use social media to amplify their own disgruntled
voices. As for Syed? His father’s luggage was returned, along with an
apology.
8. Fashionably late to the party
At this point, it’s hardly news when someone famous decides to join Twitter. But the
folksy
octogenarian investor made headlines with a tweet that was equal parts
charming and “he said what?!” Buffett may not have tweeted many times
since, but his introductory tweet will remain the stuff of legend.
7. Making it so
Patrick Stewart isn’t just the latest celebrity to perfect the art of
using Twitter to get closer to his fans. By sharing photos of himself
wearing an amazing
Halloween costume or enjoying his first-ever New York City
slice, the
Star Trek star is subtly
tweaking his public reputation
as an actor known mostly for serious roles. But the best example, with
nearly 1000 RTs and counting, is simply a photo of the actor playfully
referencing his most famous part.
6. Livetweeting history
Adam Kitzenberg isn’t the first person to
livetweet
a major news event that made headlines the next day. But this startup
founder’s tweets about the shootout between the alleged Boston bombers
and the police gave the nation a
real-time look at a news story that horrified—and captivated—the nation.
5. Oreo turns the lights back on
Whether you thought it was brilliant or just plain silly, you have to admit that Oreo’s “Power Out?” tweet was a
stroke
of advertising genius. The timely tweet was the result of a quick
collaboration between ad agency 360i and Oreo executives during the
game’s 34-minute partial blackout. The massive social media hit ushered
in a new era of real-time social advertising, proving big brand
commercials doesn’t always have to cost millions.
4. Millions stood with Wendy
Major TV networks didn’t initially cover Texas State Senator Wendy
Davis’ successful filibuster of an anti-abortion bill, but the Internet
was definitely paying attention. Viral hashtag #StandWithWendy and a
YouTube livestream
helped raise awareness as the famously pink-sneakered politician
passionately made her case for 11 hours straight. More than 125,000
#StandWithWendy tweets were sent per hour during the campaign’s peak.
The hashtag was more popular than #StandWithRand, which supporters used
when tweeting about Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s 13-hour filibuster in
March.
3. The year in surprising tweets
Many were surprised when Iranian President Hassan Rouhani took to
Twitter to wish Iranian Jews a happy Rosh Hashanah. The message was
bolstered after Foreign Minister Javad Zarif—who had his own
Twitter moment
announcing the recent P5+1 nuclear deal—replied to Christine Pelosi,
daughter of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, with a similar message
of acceptance. Some dismissed the event as a publicity stunt, but others
declared a new era of Twitter diplomacy.
2. How to write the perfect tweet
Mia Farrow dropped the mother of all “You are not the father” bombs when she implied in a recent
Vanity Fair interview
that Frank Sinatra, not Woody Allen, might be the father of her
biological son Ronan. The MSNBC host didn’t confirm if his blue eyes are
actually from Ol’ Blue Eyes, instead, he just left us with this gem of a
tweet.
1. Tweeting your way to an IPO
Twitter announced its eagerly anticipated IPO filing via—what
else?—Twitter. It was the perfect way for the social network to get the
news trending.