Having demo’d our Tweet Labs at SXSW back in March, we decided to analyse the 1.2 million tweets which enabled it to be such a success. The most popular theme (after SXSW), obscurely, was Pee Wee Herman. No, our engines haven’t gotten confused in all the noise from the annual, Austin-based festival; Paul Reubens really did revive his lovable, childish character with his show Pee Wee Herman’s Broadway Show at the event.
The devastating tsunami which hit Japan whilst the conference was underway also received a high number of tweets, and the level of donations from SXSW attendees was incredible, raising over $120,000 to date. This was achieved through many philanthropic individuals, such as Hermione Way (founder of Newspepper.com and contributor to The Next Web) who aimed to raise donations through ‘Square’ credit card processing, which asked attendees to donate money in return for Hermione completing their challenges (such challenges included being thrown into a pool for $300 and being power pressed for $100).
Foursquare was also given a lot of buzz, this is easily accountable for by the 18 new badges they introduced specifically for SXSW, and the Foursquare / AmEx SXSW pilot which enabled attendees to gain discounts at over 50 local merchants. Gaming, another word with a lot of buzz was almost definitely highly tweeted as a direct impact of the SXSW ScreenBurn, which highlighted our digital mobile addiction and the future of the gaming industry (funny how the gaming industry was tweeted a lot on digital devices, emphasising the aforementioned addiction).
The iPad was also a big topic of discussion, which isn’t surprising considering there were hundreds queuing outside the make-shift Apple stand at the conference before it even opened! And what where people queuing for? The iPad2; faster, leaner, and smaller than its predecessor, the crowds simply couldn’t get enough! Some SXSW attendees queued for more than 9 hours to get their hands on the new tablet, but spirits were high regardless, as (in keeping with the SXSW spirit) the line resembled more of a festival scene.
Despite the excitement that SXSW generated in its attendees, the reason ‘urinals’ is shown is not because there were so many events and presentations scheduled that everyone was left not knowing whether to dash to the loos or watch the next presentation. No, the reason it appears in our tweet cloud is because of the events that occurred with Source Code, actor, Jake Gyllenhaal; whereby there was a spot of bother caused when a fan tried to snap pictures of him whilst he was merely trying to relieve himself. Understandably, Gyllenhaal was less than impressed with the personal intrusion, which sparked an argument between himself and the photographer.
All-in-all, it was an event that’ll never be forgotten, and we at Rummble Labs are absolutely returning for more madness next year!