Maggie, vlogging and pork

The UK was rocked this week with the news of the death of former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. The passing of the first and only (to-date) female British Prime Minister caused polarised reactions and as always the race to react on social media was well fought. The Wall created this great little infographic to show how the news spread on social media. There is still a raft of tweets, both pro and anti-Thatcher, flying around, but to date Barack Obama’s tweet on what an example to women the ‘Iron Lady’ was, has been retweeted more than 12,000 times.

This week online travel review giant, TripAdvisor, bought out private and retail sales service Jetsetter. The brand, well known for its aspirational image led social media presence (check out their Pinterest page) will continue to operate from NYC. Jetsetter combines flash sales with traditional hotel sales and will become part of TripAdvisor’s Smarter Travel Media group. TripAdvisor CEO and Co-founder, Steve Kaufer, says "we are excited by the opportunities this provides to continually help drive amazing value for our travellers staying at some of the world’s most highly-rated hotels". This acquisition is one that can only strengthen the dominant online travel force that is TripAdvisor.

You can’t have a social media round up without a bit of Facebook news. This week is no different. The world’s largest social network has announced that it is to begin charging British users up to £10 to contact celebrities, public figures or new people they meet. The website is testing a new ‘sliding scale’ which will calculate the costs of messages based on number of followers and how many other people are paying to contact them. Facebook suggests that these charges are designed to cut out spam messaging. So if you’re looking to contact a certain Mr Justin Bieber or Olympic hero Tom Daley, you may just have to open your wallet and stump up the cash!

This week Qantas is reeling after an attack across social media erupted when the airline made a decision to ditch food containing alcohol or pork on its European flights through Dubai. The airline has faced a barrage of negative comments, including some inappropriate racist remarks. The airline responded by saying "our inflight catering reflects the cultural and regional influences of the international destinations that we fly to". The decision was made out of respect for Islamic beliefs and follows a new partnership between Qantas and Emirates. Despite the uproar on social media a spokesperson said that there had been some positive responses from passengers who fly the route and that "the feedback from customers on-board has been fantastic"…

It seems that 2013 really is the ‘year of video’. This week The Guardian highlighted a number of influential "vloggers" – a generation of digital gurus who are taking on the big guns in the TV world, and winning. With witty, funny, sharp, well produced and engaging content, these young guns are attracting millions of viewers on a weekly basis. So, with the rise of YouTube sensations such as these, just how long will it be before online video takes over traditional TV? Here at Siren Communications we don’t think it’s far off…