THON, Penn State’s IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon is the largest
student-run philanthropy in the world and was the talk of campus from February
17-19. Not only was this the topic on conversation here in Happy Valley, but,
with the help of Twitter, it was talked about around the world.
During this year’s dance marathon, tweets related to the
event were hashtaged with #THON12.
Khloe Kardashian (@KhloeKardashian) tweeted about the
event, encouraging her followers of over 6 million to donate to the cause.
Other celebrities to tweet #THON12 were Gulianna Rancic (@GuliannaRancic),
Jim Gardner (@Jim_Gardner), and Wiz Khalifa (@RealWizKhalifa).
Other local “celebrities” were tweeting as well like Jay Paterno
(@JayPaterno), who spoke and his brother Scott (@ScottPaterno). Jay Paterno
said: Family Hour @THON
is moving, powerful & inspirational. Thanks to the families for sharing
their stories. #THON12 #FTK
Of course the THON twitter (@THON) was tweeting and
retweeting all weekend long. There were keeping all their followers up to date
on all the performances and happening they were missing at the Bryce Jordan
Center. They would tweet at the performers, like Go Go Gadget (@GoGoGadgetBand)
and YouTube Sensation Kait Weston (@KaitWeston) so followers can be linked to
their twitter accounts if they liked what thye heard. When the total was
revealed, @THON tweeted it immediately for the ones following from their phones
or computers so they could know what a success this year has been for all the
students involved and also the amount of impact this cause can bring in. That
tweet was retweeted and favorite over 50 times!
#THON12 brought so much attention to such an amazing cause.
It may not have been trending around the world, but here in State College, Pa.
it was lighting up Twitter timelines everywhere.
You really touched upon some great social media moments for THON. The PR captains in charge of the THON account really did a great job reaching out to students, PSU alum, and even celebrities. I was an amazing year for THON and such a huge year to grow our social media presence. This year THON was even nominated for the Shorty Award in the philanthropy category, which is a social media award for best use of Twitter for a philanthropy.
ReplyDeleteIt was actually embarassing how disappointed I was that #THON12 was not trending on Twitter. I was suprised that despite the celebrity exposure and Penn State's huge student and alumni base didn't get trending by the end of the weekend. But, as always, the fact that THON was not trending is nothing compared to what an amazing event it is. I did see a lot of people nominating it for the Shorty Award on Twitter, which I also think is awesome. Maybe next year we can all get #THON13 trending!
ReplyDeleteI was a Public Relations Captain for THON the past two years and I danced this year. During THON 2010 and THON 2011 the PR Captains were constantly staying updated on who was Tweeting about THON and what they were saying. I wish as a dancer I had been able to keep better track of this. It would've been a huge morale boost and adrenaline rush to hear about all the things people across the country and around the world were saying about THON.
ReplyDelete