Propaganda and rhetoric are an intrinsic aspect of warfare. Controlling information – images, news reports and multimedia – is a psy-ops tactic designed as an opiate for the masses and a crucial component in historical revisionism; and some may argue just as dangerous to the general population as depleted uranium and mortar rounds.

The Syrian Civil War has been raging throughout the Middle East since March of 2011, and with recent assertions by the Russian and United States’ governments to begin arming opposite sides of the conflict, it shows no signs of letting up. There have been numerous allegations of war-crimes committed by the Syrian government – mainly the use of chemical nerve gas on civilians – that has added an extra sinister facet to the situation, and has presented Syria with a unique problem: bad wartime PR.

In an attempt to provide their own version of the events taking place from Damascus to Aleppo, the Syrian regime is taking their war on information to the world of social media. In a report by The Independent this morning, President Bashar al-Assad has activated an Instagram account, and has utilized it to provide photographic fodder such as visiting the injured and infirm in hospitals and wiping the tears from children. I’m not making this up.

Propaganda is nothing new. Manipulating the truth has long since been a characteristic of conflict, as it allows for shielding society from actual events and preventing worldwide scrutiny. In the past, propaganda campaigns consisted of ominous radio broadcasts and foreboding artwork displayed publically, but as information is now instantaneous, it has become necessary to reach the intended audience in another medium: the Internet.

With their foray into Instagram, the Syrian government is attempting a 21^st century twist on reality distortion. The fact of the matter is their civil war has been a two-year exercise in brutality – from both sides – and the rosy images that al-Assad is propagating only serve to dilute perceptions and harm the public. It’s a devious tactic, to be sure, but controlling online-information is now a crucial cog in the war machine.

-Carter Breazeale

If there’s anything more innately terrifying than a massive F-5 tornado careening through a major city like a runaway band-saw, it’s a massive F-5 tornado careening through a major city like a runaway band-saw FILLED WITH SHARKS. In an ode to sheer American brilliance and ingenuity, this horrifying prospect was brought to life in the made-for-TV production Sharknado, and turned the social media stratosphere into a veritable bloodthirsty feeding frenzy.

#Sharknado absolutely dominated the Twitter conversation last Thursday, with over 440,000 mentions in 24 hours, and peaking at 5,000 tweets-per-minute during its broadcast. While viewer ratings did not reflect the online uproar, the Syfy network has a bona fide cult-classic on their hands, and word on the street is that a sequel is already in the works.

Sharknado 2?! Can Los Angeles at least get a moment to breathe without the threat of airborne man-eating beasts ravaging Sunset Boulevard?

The success of this absurd film cannot be measured in ratings, but in the social media chatter it generated. By causing such a commotion from celebrities such as Mia Farrow and Patton Oswalt, Sharknado all but secured itself a spot amongst other B-horror flick stalwarts in pop-culture lore (Snakes on a Plane, anyone?). In my estimation, Syfy will make boatloads on the backend with DVD sales and merchandising.

Some of the highlights of the Twitter explosion include Lost showrunner Damon Lindelof’s assertion that he would pen the sequel to Sharknado before the movie was complete, and the Red Cross in Oklahoma offering support to any residents affected by tornadic fish.

Films like Sharknado epitomize everything that’s great about Hollywood. Deep pockets and bizarre ideas? Produce a movie. Regardless of how seemingly miniscule your anticipated audience may be, with a ridiculous-yet-original premise, your viewership and visibility may exceed any expectations – and in the case of Sharknado, fans took it hook, line and sinker.

-Carter Breazeale

Innovative ideas don’t grow on trees, and as we’re all aware, neither does money. And while ingenuity sews the seeds that can blossom into veritable forests of cash, without a hefty initial capital investment, the mind’s creative landscape may as well be as barren as Death Valley.

And the Internet comes to the rescue.

Crowd-funding websites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo have provided an outlet for the little-guys to finance their projects – that would otherwise remain dead in the water – through monetary donations from their peers. The working model of crowd-funding platforms revolves around projects that have a definitive start and finish, which bars venture capitalists or individuals seeking the start-up money for a business or other long-term undertaking from participating.

Too many unique and profitable ideas are killed in their inception because of a lack of preliminary cash flow, and that’s what makes crowd-funding so important. Monetary growth is catalyzed by bright-ideas, so encouraging imaginative folks to pursue their visions only benefits the global-economy. As the classic tale of starting a Fortune 500 company with $200 in a garage-apartment has always been more of a ‘feel good’ cliché, crowd-funded campaigns provide subsidies to individuals with realistic, pioneering ideas.

It’s not all sunshine and roses, however.

A few celebrities and other financial-elites have recognized the advantages of crowdsourced projects and have begun testing the waters, ruffling the feathers of the crowd-funding faithful and their Hollywood contemporaries alike. Actor/director/writer extraordinaire Zach Braff drew widespread criticism for employing a Kickstarter campaign to fund his passion project, Wish I Was Here, a film that has been repeatedly shot-down by many traditional financiers.

The immediate argument is that deep-pocketed celebs have no business begging for change from the public, especially when bypassing conventional production channels means greater personal returns. Director Kevin Smith echoed this sentiment when discussing funding for Clerks III, citing the unfair advantage established directors have over the art-school indie-filmmaker struggling to get his project off the ground.

There’s no doubt that websites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo are terrific outlets for the brilliant-minded but financially shorthanded members of our society, and has the potential to fast-track projects that would otherwise remain unexplored. The primary challenge that the online crowd-funding model faces is ensuring that donations make their way to the appropriate individuals, and if this is achieved, this financing strategy will continue to flourish.

-Carter Breazeale

Anyone with an iota of social media knowledge can tell you there’s a vast chasm that exists between merely having an online presence and employing that presence effectively. Far too often, users implement stream of consciousness status-update tactics that amount to little more than virtual word-vomit. No, folks: social media marketing is not just mindless key-plucking and self-promotion, there is a science of sorts to generating and maintaining an audience, and it begins with a strategy focused on creative consistency.

Last week, the film production company Oscilloscope Laboratories demonstrated a superb example of creative social media utilization by releasing its new movie, It’s A Disaster, in six-second segments on Twitter’s fledgling video-app, Vine. That’s right: an entire film, in six-second increments. I’m sure many would rather construct a scale model of the Petronas Towers out of toothpicks than watch a ninety-minute movie chopped into 900 clips, but the stunt isn’t about efficiency: it’s about creativity, and that’s why it’s circulating in the news.

Crafting a unique blueprint for your online campaign that attracts and sustains followers is half the battle in fruitful social media marketing. This is where many novices often stumble: they often make the mistake of creating content that they find valuable, and not what their audiences deem follow-worthy. From the outset, you should be enacting a strategy that aligns with the message your audience expects from you, be it witty and humorous or informative and educational. But above all else, your posts should contain original, fresh content.

Some social media users have found their creative niche by applying themes to certain days of the week that they plan on posting. For instance, Fridays may be light-hearted and contain weekly ‘roundups,’ while Mondays involve content related to their specific field of expertise. Keep your updates confined to a set amount of days to build audience-anticipation, and maintain consistency across all your social media platforms in regards to your message and post-dates.

Creatively (and effectively) using your social media outlets to instill brand awareness and visibility is definitely a skill that requires practice to refine and perfect. The worst mistake you can make is leaving your sites to fall dormant, or worse, abandoning your messaging strategy after a few sips of schnapps and sporadically updating about nonsensical topics. Your online persona is more than just an extension of your identity: in the Internet Age, it is your identity.

-Carter Breazeale

If you’re like me, you find yourself getting sucked down the Internet rabbit hole from time to time. Sometimes it’s Wikipedia, where I begin reading about World War II to somehow ending up researching the impact Chernobyl’s radiation had on surrounding wildlife; and sometimes it’s YouTube, which this week led to flooding my brain with Harlem Shake videos. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last ten days, you’re familiar with the Harlem Shake – the video trend involving goofy outfits, a dub-step song and losing your mind in the form of dancing.

The trend began when a group of college students filmed the video below and uploaded it to YouTube, setting off a firestorm of others providing their own take on the Harlem Shake, and starting an Internet craze that rivals Gangnam Style in popularity.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=384IUU43bfQ[/youtube]

Since February 15^th, over 40,000 Harlem Shake videos have been uploaded to YouTube, Baauer’s Harlem Shake (the electronic artist who created the track) has reached #1 on iTunes, and countless universities, companies and sports teams have recorded their own versions. A Harlem Shake subreddit (a Reddit community dedicated to a particular topic) has already eclipsed one million page views. It’s official: everyone loves this ridiculous dance.

The logic behind a certain video going viral is not an exact science. While audio of Alec Baldwin losing his mind in a voicemail is guaranteed to circulate the Web, no one could predict four bored guys goofing off in their dorm room would spark a worldwide craze. In the case of the Harlem Shake, it revolves strictly around having a blast and encouraging others to offer their own interpretation in a battle to make it as over-the-top as possible.

Corporations, specifically online businesses, have found a comfortable niche with this particular trend. Companies like Buzzfeed, Facebook and Vimeo have all recorded their own in-office Harlem Shakes, and are enjoying the hits to their YouTube channels as a result. Participating in trends likes this shows two things: you’re aware of what’s relevant and you like to have fun. I mean – who wouldn’t want to frequent a business after they’ve seen their employees enjoying their jobs?

There is no concrete formula for going viral. Many times it’s just dumb-luck borne of a quirky idea that others found interesting enough to view or circulate. Continue engaging with your audience online, and you never know what may come of it.

Added Bonus: My Alma Mater doing the Harlem Shake. Go Knights.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVkr5Lm8IZs[/youtube]

-Carter Breazeale