<p>Social Media Buzz by Brad Bobrowon February 20, 2013</p><p>The time has almost come! Everyone’s favorite little gold man will be coming back to make this year’s appearances in celebrating the year’s most decorated actors, actresses, and movies. On February 24, the 85th Academy Awards will present some of Hollywood’s most talented stars with the treasured Oscar statuette. While some may consider the Academy to be “old-fashioned,” this year’s Oscars are taking on new strategies in the world of social media. Given the massive success and buzz that recent Grammys and Super Bowls have generated through these outlets, it makes perfect sense for Oscar to join in on the fun. Oscar Road Trip Oscars celebration starts three weeks before the date of the Academy Awards themselves. Oscar himself will be taking a road trip stopping in major cities on the road to the award show including New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix. By using @OscarRoadTrip and #OscarRoadTrip fans engaging through Twitter will be able to find out where Oscar is, post their own pictures with Oscar, and request him to make stops in their location. By taking and posting photos to Oscar’s road trip, fans have the chance to win some “REALLY COOL prizes!” The account currently has 2,232 followers, and Oscar really seems to be enjoying himself! Guess which city Oscar is in! #oscarroadtrip twitter.com/OscarRoadTrip/… — Oscar ROADTRIP (@OscarRoadTrip) Oscars.Com This year, Oscars’ website is filled with tons of different activities that provide fans the ability to engage not only with the awards, but also with their friends through Facebook integration. The “MyPicks” section of their website allows users to make picks in 24 different categories, and by logging in with Facebook, users can keep track of their friends and their own progress throughout the show. The Oscar Buzz section of the website provides a live stream of tweets to @TheAcademy, #Oscars, and #OscarNoms allowing users to stay up to date with the current buzz. The Oscars have also strategically chosen their host for this year’s show. The Academy hopes that Seth McFarlane’s edgy humor and popularity from his movie “Ted” will help to generate buzz throughout the younger social media community, much like comedian Ricky Gervais did hosting the Golden Globes Awards. While it is certain that ABC and the Academy will give him some guidelines, the writer, who is also nominated for Best Original Song for his work with Ted, has taken to Twitter to express his excitement, as well as a few pre-show jokes: My promise for the Oscars: no cheap wiener jokes. Only expensive wiener jokes. — Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) Oscars.Twitter.Com Powered by social analytics website, Topsy, Twitter created their Oscar analytics called “The Twindex.” This Twitter tracker gauges the sentiments that users are expressing towards nominees for the Best Picture, Best Actor/Actress, Best Supporting Actor/Actress, and Best Director at any given time. This data visualization helps give visitors a display of what the current sentiments and buzz are surrounding a specific nominee. The Academy Awards are hoping to capitalize on the social media buzz that has helped increase ratings, popularity, and the overall viewer experience, and their strategies thus far seem to be working! Here you can subscribe to their YouTube Channel which already boasts more than 118,000 subscribers and provides users with content from past Oscars like funny moments and opening monologues, as well as some behind the scenes action leading up to the 85th edition. Be sure to also follow the Academy’s official Twitter account @TheAcademy, as well as its Facebook Page and Instagram account to stay up to date with all the news and media surrounding Hollywood’s most prestigious awards! It will also be interesting to see how the Academy handles real-time digital marketing during the actual ceremony Sunday night. http://activ8social.com/2013/02/20/oscars-back-all-about-this-years-academy- awards-social-media-buzz/</p>