So Many Tears, So Many Tweets

April 20, 2012 | Posted by Brooke Neal

There’s now a new standard to measure the success of a musician, even posthumously. Musicians have their street team and their fans, but now it’s even easier for a musician to be talked about and shared. What happens to the street team and the fans when the artist dies? They don’t die. How do I know this? Exhibit A: Tupac’s Hologram performance at this year’s Coachella became an instant internet meme. Even though Tupac died before the birth of Google, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, he was able to capture millions of hits within hours of his performance. That’s the power of social media. That’s the tremendous reach of a strong fan base. That’s the legacy of musical genius. Don’t believe me? Look at this timeline:

Timeline of Tupac events in comparison to the rise of new media.

Please feel free to share this timeline but we ask that you credit FSC Interactive for the image.

Then this happened (in 72 hours):

7,362,113+ YouTube Hits
33, 946+ Twitter Followers (Tupac follows no one)
@HologramTupac has only sent 153 Tweets, but has received 3,357+ @Mentions, essentially 2.0Pac produced 1% of original content in relation to the overall engagement with his Twitter handle.

As a New Orleanian, I’m really excited for next week’s New Orleans Jazz & Heritage festival and if it’s not too late I’d like to add my exclusive hologram artists to the line-up!

Have your own ideas for a Jazz Fest Hologram lineup? Agree/disagree with thisÂ phenomenonÂ on social media – “holler” at me in the comments section below!