kanye west vs. taylor swift snafu: could twitter equal ratings?
Specifically, people were tweeting while they watched the show. It was practically unavoidable. Kanye's little stunt obviously spurred a considerable amount of chatter in the form of re-tweets and @replies from the usual suspects. But here's where it gets interesting. News of Kanye's onstage antics traveled so fast that mash-ups and parodies began cropping up BEFORE THE SHOW FINISHED AIRING. This one in particular is really well done: Kanye interrupts Obama.
[Side note: Current Comedy's Josh Heller discusses how the viral turnaround for memes appears to be speeding up -- pandemic anyone?]
MTV is no stranger to the social media impact on this sort of thing. Remember the Eminem vs. Brüno onslaught/stunt that made its way into people's social media streams and RSS readers the week following the MTV Movie Awards?
Buzz going into the Brüno opening weekend was white hot -- infoMania's Bryan Safi (and the world over) questioned whether Brüno would be blight or boon for the gay movement, and people flocked to the cinemas to see for themselves on opening day. But the social media wave that carried people into the theaters also seemed to play a role in the films undoing once those early viewers weighed in on Facebook and Twitter. So, if Twitter can single handedly make AND break box office, imagine what it can do across the coasts thanks to time delays? Hello, anyone smell ratings?
I'm also hearing word that MTV chopped up a "Kanye-lite" version of the show for the West Coast (still looking for confirmation on this). Either way, the online turnaround on MTV's side seems to suggest this as well. While the West Coast feed was still airing, the MTV VMA homepage had already flipped to highlight clips of Lady Gaga, Kanye, and the MJ recap.
But this time around, we weren't just seeing the usual Twitterati weigh in, music artists tweeted reactions as well. Kelly Clarkson rarely blogs, and hasn't tweeted since the "Jeff Goldblum is dead" rumors, but she posted a letter to Kanye on her personal blog that subsequently made the rounds on Twitter:
I was actually nominated in the same category that Taylor won and I was excited for her…so why can’t you be?? I’m not even mad at you for being an asshole…I just pity you because you’re a sad human being.
Pink, on the other hand, made her opinion clear in well under 140 characters:
Kanye West is the biggest piece of shit on earth. Quote me.
So here we are, it's Monday morning, and we're collectively discussing the Kanye West and Taylor Swift dust-up that occurred last night at the VMAs. (if it's any compensation, I'm listening to The Decemberists while tapping this out).
John Lichman pointed out over on the @current_movies Twitter feed, "And don't forget he's on the Jay Leno premiere tomorrow night. Not at all a coincidence." So what say you, dear Current readers? Was this just simply "Kanye being Kanye"? Or, is Twitter poised to be the new ratings booster for TV?
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