I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I have to admit, I found the whole concept of internet language and how technology is adopted amusing. The Duff was absolutely full of social media use at the extreme. The movie shone a light on how teens, particularly teen girls are using social media and technology to get at one another in the same way they did on Mean Girls. From a promotional perspective, the movie was set-up for a new level of social integration that had the main target market, young teens between 13-18, talking about the movie on social media to their friends. As an outsider watching its rise on social media, it seemed to have the same effect that other movies such as Harry Potter had had in the past. The people behind Harry Potter famously used 43 teens with large social media followings to promote the then-upcoming film. Bob Pearson from W20 Group said that engagement for the Harry Potter campaign gained an additional 9% to 9.5% click-through rate using influencers. However, what was more interesting was that the social media networks they used in the movie were already 9-12months old. Even the way the teens in the movie were using social media has slightly changed since then. Most likely because when it was written to seen at cinemas there is a time gap. It highlights the rapid ascension of social media, its adoption rate and rate of change.
The movie also showed that our identity is so entwined with what we post and who we connect with online. A sense that we are not fully complete without our profiles being complete. It makes me wonder how many of the current teens realise how much information they are freely giving away and whether they are mindful of what they say and to whom. Mark Cuban, in his video 'The Big Mistake You Don't Know You're Making on Social Media', talks about the need to be vigilant about what we do online as data is being collected and used by companies as a psychological profile about us. I think this is not too far off in the future. Amazon, Google and Facebook are already using data to show us what we 'should' like based on our previous interactions. These interactions are mostly with products and content we with which we engage. I see social media as the next evolution of this. As an advertiser, the data is ever so valuable. On the other hand, it does put digital into perspective and as an individual, our privacy is being eroded it doesn't hurt to think before posting!