"Daily Deals" Sites Dish Out Social Media Buzz

Shoppers are arming themselves this season with coupons to tackle the sales. However, these are not your typical coupons. Sites like Groupon and Screamin Daily Deals offer their users amazing deals. 50-90 percent off is not uncommon! However, there's a catch. For most of these deals you have to act within 24 hours before the deal is done. People are hooked on hunting for the next good deal and then deciding whether to take advantage of it, as the clock ticks away. According to an article published by the Los Angeles Times , this trend is catching on and giving local merchants an immediate injection of cash. Groupon has more than half a million followers in the Los Angeles Area alone. And these sites are active in cities all over the country.


Here's how it works:

These daily deal websites generally partner with a local business. The local business offers one of its products or services at a deep discount. Consumers can buy the deal for themselves or as a gift for someone else. After a deal is bought, consumers print out their e-mailed vouchers and present them to the merchant when they want to redeem; some companies allow buyers to show the purchase on their smart phones. Merchants are responsible for tracking which coupons are redeemed to prevent duplication.

A recent Groupon offer — $50 for a 50-minute massage or facial with aromatherapy, half the usual $100 price — netted 1,618 purchases for Dtox Day Spa in Los Angeles, CA.

Major retail chains are jumping in too: Apparel giant Gap recently sold $50 gift certificates for $25 on Groupon — shoppers nationwide snapped up 445,000 of them in just 24 hours. Monday's Groupon was a $20 deal for $40 worth of merchandise at the Body Shop.

This could tilt holiday season shopping on its head!

-Alyssa Murfey

Treading through viral campaigns: The OK GO story

It all started with a set treadmills, killer dance moves, serious coordination and a video camera in 2006.

For the pop-rock band OK GO, creating instantly viral videos apparently comes natural to them. Ever since “Here It Goes Again” (which has over 52 million views on YouTube, to date), every music video OK GO released – whether it be with wallpaper, marching bands, stop-motion, real life dominos – has become an internet sensation.

Recently, the band uploaded a new video for their single “White Knuckles," off their album Of the Blue Colour of the Sky. With a little help from several four-legged friends, the band not only created a creative and perfectly choreographed video, but gained awareness for the ASPCA, all while remaining true to their single shot music video style. Released September 19th, the video already acquired over 6 million views. The video also gained the attention of Ellen Degeneres, who featured it on her show.

In a recent interview with CNN, lead singer Damian Kulash was asked to describe how their videos have become so successful, in which he responded:

“Well… mostly because we're awesome.” Kidding, of course.

With all joking aside, he explains:

“There's no amount of savvy or like gaming the system that is going to make people like things that are not likable. We just think they're fun. We didn't really think of our online videos as videos at first. They were just sort of these weird gifts to our fans that we knew we were connected to online.”

And a word of advice from Kulash for all those YouTubers that wish their videos can go viral:

“Make them embeddable – duh.”

OK GO goes to show that you don't need huge budgets in order to be successful. It only takes a little ingenuity and some fun.

The band plans to have a new video uploaded to their YouTube channel November 9th – which begs the question what will this innovative band come up with next?

- Kimmie Nahm

OK GO - “White Knuckles”

Chelsea King: More than just a Facebook page

Facebook is used for many different reasons depending on who you talk to, from games to gossip to networking. Some people use it to spread information about an important topic, such as the case involving Chelsea King, who was abducted while running in the afternoon. Sadly, she was found days later dead not too far away from where she was abducted. This tragic event was what prompted Chelsea King’s parents to create Chelsea’s Law in the state of California. With enormous support from the surrounding communities, a Facebook page was made to keep people informed with things. Such as event to remember Chelsea life or updates on getting the law passed and the next step. Chelsea’s Law was passed in the state of California and the parents’ of Chelsea King do give credit the people on Facebook who “liked” the page and helped support the law. Facebook was a huge contributor to informing people about the law and making it known how to help the cause.

“The central principle of Chelsea’s Law is that violent sexual predators who attack children cannot be rehabilitated and therefore should not be given a second chance to harm another child. This is the portion of Chelsea’s Law known as the one-strike penalty (life in prison without the possibility of parole) for the most violent sex offenders who prey on children.”

Here is the link that is set up on Facebook to remember Chelsea King.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1374202936#!/pages/In-Loving-Memory-of-Chelsea-King-3/339992187887

Here is the link that gives information about Chelsea’s Law and what you can do to help.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1374202936#!/chelseaslight?v=wall


Chelsea Hubbell