Tuesday, October 6, 2009

The butterfly effect

There was a commercial here in the states three decades or so ago where they showed someone talking about a product and the actress turns to the camera and says and I told two friends and they told two friends and so on and so on and so on.

Until the tv screen was full of people talking about the product.

I'd like to try the same kind of ripple effect for something completely different and see if we can make the world's biggest game of pass it on by ourselves with just the help of electronic impulses sent racing through cyberspace.

What am I talking about?

[cue the dramatic music]

I'd like to take my friend Cat Connor viral.

Not actually Cat, but the videos for her books. She has two and it would be so much fun to see the hit counters go wild just because we tried this little experiment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lldJaJpWm2o killerbyte by Cat Connor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ex7bLjE8b8 terrorbyte by Cat Connor

Both of the videos are filled with blood, knives, head wounds, bodies and body parts in bags…. You know just the stuff you want to see on an empty stomach or while eating your breakfast.

So here's what I'm asking:

What I'd like you to do is click on the videos [watch them through your fingers if you must] and pick out your favorite parts and report back.

My personal favorite part is the smiling dead body in the bathtub in the killerbyte video.

And "Mac" is a standout in both the killerbyte and terrorbyte videos. In killerbyte he has a scene where he's trying to negotiate reading a roadmap, and in terrorbyte he has a scene where he's stumbling around after regaining consciousness on a riverbank.

In both scenes he could be reciting the phone book for all you'll care. [you'll see why]

So what's in it for you besides doing a good karmic deed and knowing that what goes around comes around?

Here comes the part where I throw down the gauntlet:

You guys keep touting the benefits of social networking.

Do you think that by using twitter, facebook, email, the phone, our blogs, a can with a string tied to another can with a string…..that we can take these two videos viral?

I'd like to see it in action.

And if we can get the videos up to say 500 hits each?

[brace yourself]

I'll get a twitter account.

I know [get the lady in the back some smelling salts, will ya?]

For anyone new to the blog this is why that would be a big freakin deal.

But it would be worth it to see if we can actually do this thing.

So warm up your typing fingers, send out mass tweets, email everybody in your address book, tell your postman, tell the lady at the grocery store in line next to you, call your long lost cousin, buttonhole your minister or rabbi [that just sounds wrong].

Lets get this thing done.

And the best part?

You don't even have to endorse the books [which are AWESOME by the way] just pass along the idea that this is a grass roots movement to take two unknown videos viral.

I'll post results here in a week.

And I'll keep a running tab on the # of hits in the comment thread.

I think that this will be such a cool thing to do…..and hey, I might check to see if there's a Guinness Book of World's records for speed of taking a video viral……

You never know…..

One of these days I might be able to say that I hold more than just the record for hanging the longest from the chin up bar in gym class.

And if it works you'll all get to see me tweet a random thought now and then…..but I'll still wear my tinfoil hat while I do it.
[don't want Vader to have FULL access]


 


 

For all you tweeters out there:

#takecatviral http://tiny.cc/qf6rJ killerbyte

#takecatviral http://tiny.cc/aMOLI terrorbyte

36 comments:

Cat Connor said...

I love you! I really do!!!!

Anonymous said...

I don't have the stomach right now to watch, but I tweeted them and I'll watch tomorrow after breakfast :) Just to be on the safe side :P

PS: If you'll end up on twitter and post a few random thoughts per day, and overall use it as "well" as I do with a couple of retweets and replies per month, you'll be safe I guess :)

PPS: tinfoil hat will still be needed :P

Karen from Mentor said...

Love you too baby.

This is going to be so much fun!

But I'm really going to HATE having a twitter account.....laughing....

Karen from Mentor said...

Wow Estrella,
That was like magic, you showed up AS I was commenting.... good trick....

hey...you weren't using the dark side of the force were you?????

Laura Eno said...

By the way, I follow Darth Vader on twitter - just thought you'd like to know that. Of course, you should have figured that out about me by now...

Cool concept!

Karen from Mentor said...

Laura, Send me the link to Darth's twitter home page....then when he tweets "meeting with the emperor" I can safely tweet whatever...cause he'll have to focus to keep his head from exploding.....and won't notice me..... [stealth tweeting...I think it'll catch on]

Karen from Mentor said...

For a starting count on # of hits:

killerbyte 166
terrobyte 54

At 4:08 pm on 10/06/09

um.....an hour later? Those numbers have already grown...you guys *really* want me to be in Vader's clutches.... :0)

Laura Eno said...

You can only stealth-follow him. He doesn't follow back so you can't stealth-tweet. If you use @darthvader he will get your tweet, but then you'll have exposed your nefarious plans to him.

Karen from Mentor said...

*sigh*

I knew there would be a catch....

Cat Connor said...

Right I gotta get dressed - have emailed, facebooked, twittered, myspaced, redroomed - oh god what have I forgotten??

Karen from Mentor said...

Sending Kane aka "Mac" out into the streets naked with a bullhorn?

OH MAN.... If you do that? I want video please.....

Chris Chartrand said...

Good looking trailers. I tweeted, re-tweeted and stumbled. Hope you reach your goal.
~chris

Cat Connor said...

Thanks Chris!

Lauren C said...

Tried to watch the trailers, but as always, the laptop did not approve. Still, I totally loved the creepy techno-organ track for killerbyte and the rockin' techno song for terrorbyte. I suddenly felt a need for glowsticks...

Also loved the cute kitty-cat mugs that are the unknowing accomplices of the killer in terrorbyte. Murder has never been so adorable!

Anonymous said...

Okay, I tweeted, but NOT to force you onto Twitter, Karen.

I think it's cool having book trailers. That probably only works for genre novels though.

Karen from Mentor said...

The #s are growing. You guys ROCK!

Thanks to all the folks tumbling, facebooking, tweeting, iming, emailing and sky writing....
this is really an amazing effort so far.

Keep the butterfly in the air.....

:0)

Karen from Mentor said...

Glow sticks Lauren! What a cool idea... and the mugs delighted the hell out of me too....

It WOULD probably be hard to make a book trailer for something like great expectations Linda....oh but wait...no.... I've got a great idea for a trailer for GE...let's see....first I'll need a wedding dress.....

Thanks for stopping in Chris, Cat has a lot of fun making the videos.... her neighbors are pretty much used to people climbing into the trunk of her car and having "blood" poured onto them....she hardly raises an eyebrow in her town..... oh hey! That gives me a great idea for a story....

there was this writer see, and she lulls everyone in her town into a false sense of security...then starts commiting murders for real.... THIS MIGHT JUST WORK......

Anonymous said...

Awww, you saw my skywriting from way over there? I'm amazed :)

Just watched the trailers, looove them!
THIS is how people should promote books in school (I remember in high school not wanting to read the books teachers told us to cause no one showed me such a great trailer of them).
Kids would definitely be more excited to read! :P

Great job Cat!

Karen from Mentor said...

I think it was the pink sparkles in the smoke that made the skywriting stand out more even here in the states Estrella. :0)

I'm impressed that you made it through the videos because there isn't a single kitty or puppy in either one...

I do think the sandwich making at the beginning of terrorbyte is amazingly skilled though, and the bread? That's some good looking bread I tell ya......

Cat Connor said...

Are you on twitter yet, Karen?

You should've seen the whole sandwich making scene... it was nice bread. :-)

Oh yeah and the smiling corpse in the bathtub - my darling husband. Apparently the blood was COLD , he couldn't stop laughing! It seems to be a common theme. We have to edit heavily to removing grinning and laughing. (Both him and Kane can't keep a straight face to save their lives!)

Right now back to sick child. Trying to decide if a 3rd doc visit will actually do anything positive. Breezy has had enough of coughing all night - 4 weeks is enough!

Karen from Mentor said...

I think grinning and laughing are a great way to make a book trailer. But when you're playing a dead body....maybe not QUITE so much grinning....but he sure was cute all swaddled up in that black garbage back...like a grisly bloody baby.....ewwwwwwww

Karen from Mentor said...

RESULTS AT THE 24 HOUR MARK:

Well Cat, I'm not on twitter yet, but we're making progress

killerbyte: 226
terrorbyte: 101

You guys ROCK!!!!! Keep on viewing and keep tweeting, emailing, tumbling, stumbling, redrooming, backspacing, myspacing, facebooking and shouting from your rooftops...

oh and if anybody's going to a sporting event?
Take a sign......

A B I G sign

Just hold it up and make everybody wonder what : *TAKE CAT CONNOR VIRAL* means right there in the middle of the stadium.....

:0)

Cat Connor said...

Hee hee that'd be fun!

Off to doc again with Breezy now. General opinion is we'll end up in hospital. *sigh* Have notebook and plenty of pens!

Wonder if the videos will hit 500 before I get back??? (no pressure - grins)

Karen from Mentor said...

*waves* at Breezy...poor little thing....

We'll hold the fort while you're gone...

hugs!

Cat Connor said...

This is interesting (hello we're back - now they think its whooping cough -so much for vaccines, huh?) that's not the interesting thing... last night I tried to twitter the #takecatviral links from Facebook - FACEBOOK is saying that my video's are abusive!!! I couldn't re-post the link in facebook.
What a croaking bunch of sparkly freaking frogs!!!!

Which means a sparkly-fried-frog has reported them as abusive.
Why do people do that? They're NOT abusive. This is worse then when MySpace threatened to pull my pictures of 'fake' blood on concrete cos it was VIOLENT? - yeah - some sparkly-fried-jerk complained. All I can say is why were they looking at MY pictures labelled 'fake blood' to start with?

grrrrrrrrr

Karen from Mentor said...

First off...laughing...THANK YOU for using pre approved swear words from Country Girl's Ten Questions Tuesday...laughing some more...

Don't be discouraged, just because there's one weenie at facebook, we can still take you viral by using all the other sites.....

and speaking of which....

there's still the hope of Kane naked with his megaphone.....

Cat Connor said...

The sparkly troll frog must still be asleep -or its fingers fell off - cos I managed to post the links this morning, ha! Take that sparkly-fried-troll-frog-killjoy! :-)
Okay got that out of my system...

I told Kane he should swing by your blog and read this stuff - don't think he has yet. :-) He'll have his own fan site by the time we're done with him!!!

Karen from Mentor said...

OH THAT'S WHAT THAT RED GLOW WAS...Kane blushing....
[trying not to think about "being done with" Kane]

At the 48 hour mark:
killerbyte 270
terrorbyte 123

Getting there......

p.s. I sent a plea to the Eagle's online forum to help out...cause they're billions strong...
so hopefully they swell the ranks...

OH HEY!!! Is anybody a member of the KISS ARMY?
Cause they might help....

Anonymous said...

Yay I finally found my way here, I'm a bit slow in gettin there but all good things take their time...lol Looking good everyone but you'll need to do better to see me naked running down the raod and besides I'd need to get a break from the kids before that happens...lmao Keep up the great work, I'll be watching...

Karen from Mentor said...

Kane!
You found the place.

All I heard was blah blah blah....I agree to run down the road naked if Cat gets me a babysitter....

Oh goodie...cause I really think that film like that would take the trailers viral in under an hour.....[I'd just keep clicking even if my fingers got sore.....]

[grins at you]

Cat Connor said...

No good trying to be anonymous Mr! Way way too late for that. :-)

I think you'll like it here...

Unknown said...

I wasn't deliberately trying to be anonymous, it was the only way I could post my comment as I didn't have anything else set up. I'm getting there thou...lol I still think the imagination is better than the real thing sometimes, so careful what you wish for cause I know you women have magnifcent imaginations and I wouldn't want to disappoint, thou I have been known to upon request ;) Lmao

Karen from Mentor said...

Not sure I understand the disappointing upon request must be a New Zealand thing....

but as far as women and imaginations...you have to up the ante... cause you're dealing with women with imaginations who WRITE.....

oooh lah lah....

:0)

Cat Connor said...

You guys are awesome - Kane probably heard me laughing when I read those comments. :-) (Can't imagine him ever disappointing...but then it's hard to disappoint friends -there's no expectation.)

Have been hiding in last minute edit land since braving the grocery store - we got their before the crypt keeper let the relics out, whew!

Now to tweet the links again... it's now expected of me.

Karen from Mentor said...

Ok we're at the 3 day mark....

killerbyte 292
terrorbyte 146

Getting there....but we've got a ways to go to reach 500 !!

Kane? you might have to do the running through the streets thing yet. :0)

Cat Connor said...

killerbyte just hit 300!

So cool!!

Right back to deadening my migraine with caffeine. :-)

Oh, Kane was moving fire wood earlier - I should've taken pics for ya Karen... *grins*