I spent $30 on 3 iStockphotos, put together the little picture above, and got
- 2100+ views on Twitpic
- 54 ReTweets on Twitter
- 1 first liner mention on a news article by Rebecca Mackinnon that appeared on around 10 news feeds. view this instead if you are under the GFW.
- 1 little interview feature on the Peter Mackler Award blog
- 0 hot dates (yet)
I think that makes me the Most Retweeted Singaporean Web Consultant in China for a single message.
A Simple 3-step lesson here:
Ok, so What about the Crab? and Bird?
Here’s the background:
The Bird - It’s the Twitter mascot.
The Crab - It’s actually a River Crab, though this one managed to climb atop the tree.
In China, whenever a website is been blocked, or comment/essay deleted, Chinese netizens comment that it has been “harmonized” (和谐 pronounced he xie). The River Crab’s literal Chinese translation, 河蟹 (he xie) bears the same pronunciation as 和谐 (harmonization). Hence the River Crabs are a non-sensitive alternative in online Chinese discourse.
I must also admit that I didn’t not draw the image by hand. I simply bought 3 images worth $30 on iStockphotos, then pieced them together on Photoshop. It was a little painful at first, to fork out $30 on these little illustrations. But from the response I got, I think it money well spent.
I consider this my first viral media success (although GZFreeze was also a minor success). Hope there’s more to come!
