Sharing the Funnies

Thanks to Facebook's obsession with what its users are doing at all times, I saw that one of my friends had updated her Facebook status to a YouTube link. Naturally curious, I clicked on the link and it brought me to the SNL opening skit from this past weekend. Tina Fey appeared as Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler as Hilary Clinton. The setting was a conference in which Palin and Clinton attacked sexism in politics. 

I revisited Youtube today in hopes of viewing the clip again and it was no longer there. Instead there was a pink bar across the top of the screen stating "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by NBC Universal." What? What's up with that? My next thought, "Google it." I chose to read the article NBC Zaps YouTube Uploads of SNL Skit on Sarah Palin, from Wired.com to get the scoop. Author of the article, Sarah Lai Stirland, explained that NBC demanded YouTube to take down the clip for the exact reason stated in the pink bar on the YouTube website, copyright infringement. The article mentioned that NBC had posted the clip on its' own website. That was my next destination.

Right there in the center of the page was the beyond hilarious clip. To brighten my day with some "funnies" I clicked on the video, watched the advertisement before (those advertisers, always looking for ways to trap us in) and got my good laughs in. What I saw below the clip was what brought me to blog about SNL's grandiose opener from this past weekend and the NBC Universal's response to the clip's popularity. The share tab brought up a screen that gave me numerous options. First, to email the link to a friend. Second, to Post to a Social Network. Third, to copy and paste to an email or IM. Lastly, to send the link to my NBCgroup/contact (something I do not have). It was the Second option that blew my socks off. I was amazed at the availability to post the video on every Social Network I have ever heard of. I just thought "this is so cool." 

Within the three weeks of being in my Internet and Social Media for Public Relations course, my eyes have been opened to the world of connectivity. There are so many options with how we use the internet, so many inner-workings. I feel as though I was blind to the wonderment of the Internet and it's powers. Until this course I was never interested in blogging, I had never heard of Web 2.0, I had no idea that RSS even existed. Now, I am so eager to explore the world that rests behind the keys of my keyboard and the screen of my laptop.