“Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.” Henry David Thoreau
This week, Facebook celebrates 10 years with Look Back, a personalized video that shares your top Facebook posts and a new mobile app, called Paper. I’m still playing around with Paper and will be back with more info in another post.
Have you shared your movie or tried the app?
Take a Look Back at Your Life on Facebook
Facebook turns 10 on February 4 and is celebrating by giving its audience of 1.23 billion a way to relive their digital history on the network with a special release called Look Back.
“It’s been an incredible journey so far, and I’m so grateful to be a part of it. It’s been amazing to see how people have used Facebook to build a real community and help each other in so many ways,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement shared with CNET. “In the next decade, we have the opportunity and responsibility to connect everyone and to keep serving the community as best we can.” Source: Facebook Celebrates 10 Years with Look Back via CNET
On July 18, 2007 I joined Facebook purely for research reasons. Back then, Facebook was only four years old and still mostly populated by high school and college students like this one who wrote a post on my wall on December 13, 2007:
Mmmk, few things here. First off, it says “Who watches TV?” in your favorite shows box, but I KNOW you have favorite shows!! Second, you have both your phone numbers and e-mail addresses up! Jeez! Also, there’s a The Hush Sound concert on December 28th, and Fall Out Boy is probably playing, so I was wondering if I could go?
Yes, all three of my kids asked me to be their Facebook friends. It took me awhile to accept their invitations.
When did you join Facebook?
Little did I know that I would attend my first tweet up in February 2008 and would be a founding member of Social Media Club Chicago in October 2008. At the end of 2007, I had a small number of Facebook friends, 28, and about 3 updates. And that kid who left the update? Yeah, she’s the cute blonde baby in the collage who’s now rocking a PR career at a music label working on projects like promoting Grammy nominated albums. 🙂
Why Facebook’s Look Back is a Brilliant PR Move
As people questioned the value of Facebook going in to 2014, mostly marketers, the truth is Facebook is where our families meet, friends gather and life gets shared. Even the most savvy social media types find other platforms awkward in comparison. Yes, Twitter is really popular, LinkedIn fuels business, and Instagram is the fastest growing social network, but for most of us, Facebook is where life happens.
To counteract the negativity and reposition its place, Facebook needed a move that would pull us back in and get us to share our Facebook life. Look Back does it. You can watch my Facebook Look Back video here. Please share the link to your video in the comments section.
It’s always interesting to see how your life gets curated when a computer program is looking for memories and highlights. This picture of Jeff Willinger – president of Social Media Club Chicago – and me at Facebook’s Chicago office made it in. We couldn’t talk about our visit or take pictures, but it was fun to see the offices and the people were so nice. Do you think Facebook picked up on the Facebook mention?
In the most liked category, Facebook picked this one of me and my husband at Rocky Mountain National Park. How accurate were the images Facebook selected for you?
Your Turn
How do you think Look Back affected Facebook’s branding?
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