I used this image, "With a Turned Thumb" by Gérôme in the Social Media Monitoring Nutshell (Nutshells are our regular learning sessions here at MediaVest, we take in turns to present to the wider team and any clients who want to come). It also inspired Ridley Scott to make Gladiator. I found it when searching for examples where the wrong meaning had been ascribed to common language/communication.
Did you know that the thumb down/hidden by the other hand meant 'Live' and the thumb horizontal/pointing up meant 'Kill'? I didn't, but perpetuated by Hollywood, the wrong gesture seems to be used the world over. 'Thumbs up' mimics the upward sword-thrust under the ribs to the heart.
The Colosseum setting is a bit like social media because everyone is shouting out, but the gladiator needs to find out if it's 'Live' or 'Die' – and he'll probably go to the most influential people (the rich seats/the Emperor) if in doubt, especially if he can't hear a clear winner.
Also because now if something is 'the sh*t' or indeed 'sick' that probably means it's good and so marketers and automated sentiment counters (they analyse tweets etc for positive or negative sentiment) need to bear in mind that language and meaning can change.
We also covered a few free tools with searches for that wedding thing at the end of the week – you can try them below.
- Twitter – twitterfall, tweetfeel
- Blogs – blogpulse
- Forums – board reader
- Facebook – facepinch, social bakers
- Social mention
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