Category Archives: Sweden
Watching Eurovision 2012? Your Instagram could be in a music video
On the eve of Eurovision 2012, Swedish hope (and bookie favorite) Loreen is turning to her fans for support. Not only for votes, but for their artistic help in making the video for her Eurovision song “Euphoria”.
On her Facebook page, Loreen asks fans to take Instagram photos that illustrate some part of the lyrics to “Euphoria”. If they upload their photos to Instagram with the tag #Loreen12p, the photo enters the contest to be used in the official music video for the song.
Screenshot from Loreen’s Facebook page.
An innovative take on using Instagram for cultivating fans and collaborating with them. Go Loreen – best of luck in Eurovision. Here’s the current video, posted on YouTube by Warner Music in Sweden:
Thanks to my Swedish pal @Kullin, who first blogged about Loreen’s contest.
Record Twitter use in the Nordics
Recent statistics reveal near-explosive growth for Twitter in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. The social network might just get too big to ignore anymore.
Twitter has long been described as “small, but elite” – a networking tool for the chattering classes consisting mainly of journalists, politicians, and business professionals. Not so anymore:
- More than half of Sweden’s near 300.000 Twitter accounts have been created during the past year, according to the Swedish Twitter census released by Intellecta Corporate today. The number of accounts has tripled since the last census a year ago, and more than half of the accounts have tweeted in the last month.
- Twitter in Norway has doubled in size over the past two years, and now counts 11 percent of the population among the users. 410.000 Norwegians logged on weekly in the first quarter of 2012, according to stats from analytics agency TNS Gallup released last week.
- In Denmark, the number of Twitter accounts is almost doubled from late 2010 to the end of 2011, according to this beautiful infographic by Atcore and Overskrift.dk.
Swedish Twitter acounts over time. Graphics by Intellecta Corporate.
Kids lead the way
The statistics say little about possible reasons for Twitter’s growth over the past year. I can really only speak for the Norwegian Twitterverse, but my impression is that Twitter has gone mainstream. Younger users (under 30 y.o.) account for the majority of new users.
One contributing factor may be local celebrities’ use of the social network. National broadcasters NRK and TV2 have also embraced Twitter, particularly in their sports coverage. And national and international media have brought stories of Twitter as the arena for following international stars from various arenas – music, movies, sports, or politics.
Watch out!
Whatever the reasons for the recent growth spurt, Twitter is obviously a network worth keeping an eye on in the Nordics. I’ll keep my eye out for new data from Finland and Iceland as well.
In the meantime, enjoy this really interesting and fun graph from the Swedish Twitter census, where you can search for different Twitter users and see their place in the national Twitter hierarchy. Enjoy!
(Thanks to the wonderful Hanne Klintøe for sending me the Danish infographic!)
First picture of Sweden’s new princess first published on Facebook
Congratulations are in order! Sweden’s crown princess Victoria gave birth to a tiny princess this morning. The newborn princess is second in line to the Swedish throne.
Unsurprisingly, social media in Sweden – and the rest of the Nordics – have been abuzz with royal news all day. But perhaps more surprisingly, the picture everyone has been waiting for was first released on Facebook, not to the press.
Screenshot from the Swedish court's Facebook page.
The Swedish court posted a low-key picture of the small family on their Facebook page just before the princess Victoria, prince Daniel and their daughter (whose name has not been announced yet) left the hospital and returned to their home at Haga castle.
By nightfall, the post has received more than 5,000 comments, 23,000 likes and has been shared 3500 times.
Congratulations to the Swedish people, whose princess has certainly been born into a social media savvy royal family!
Swedish newspaper in the forefront of citizen journalism
Swedish regional newspaper Norran may be celebrating its 100th anniversary, but it’s no old goner of a newspaper. Au contraire, it’s right up there in the forefront of social newsmaking.
Opened the news process
Last summer, the Norran editorial staff opened up their newsmaking process by blogging and tweeting about the stories they were working on for the next edition and inviting readers to bring their insights and contributions to their journalism.
This has been a success, and Norran was one of the major inspirations for news giant The Guardian’s opening their newslists to the public this fall. (More on that project here.)
Citizen journalism goes one step further
And now, Norran are taking integrated newsmaking one step further. This month, they will be inviting readers to contribute in a whole new online news environment called Norran Media Lab.
The new project will allow readers to publish their own material – text, pictures, games, or videos – on the Norran website, allowing them to showcase their work to the newspaper’s large online readership.
Targets young readers
This “make your own news” initiative is modeled on Citizenside.com and is aimed specifically at young readers. “This can also be a means for your class to develop further projects from school,” Norran writes in its call for test contributors. And while all material will be moderated by Norran staff before publishing, the newspaper promises that just about anyone can become a Norran reporter in the new media lab.
- We wanted to do something that both strengthens our brand and engages a group of the population many publishing houses, ourselves included, want to reach, Oscar Broström, the Media Lab project manager, said to Dagens Media.
The new site is now in alfa, and the beta version is expected next week, according to Dagens Media.
(Thanks to the ever observant Peter Einarsson for sharing the news!)
Angry SAAB fans flood General Motors on Facebook
Fans of Swedish car brand SAAB are turning to Facebook to vent their frustrations after the company was declared bankrupt by a Swedish court on Monday.
The SAAB fans are angry. They are resentful. And they are making themselves heard on former SAAB owner General Motors’ Facebook page.
Screeshot from the GM Facebook page
The spontaneous displays of nonaffection started yesterday, and have gotten increasingly bad. There has even been published a photo of GM chairman Daniel Akerson as Hitler. A hate group on Facebook is currently recruiting members to a boycott of General Motors.
So far, there has been little or no reaction from GM, neither on Facebook nor elsewhere. To stay updated on the emerging crisis, I suggest following Hans Kullin’s blog which seems to be pretty up-to-date on the developments (as usual).
Screenshot from the GM Facebook page
(Another hat tip to Peter Einarsson for cuing me into the situation!)
@Sweden now controlled by the Swedish people
The people of Sweden have officially taken over the @Sweden Twitter account, according to Mashable. This is not the result of a digital coup, but applauded by the Swedish government.
The Swedish people - here represented by cheering soccer fans - now control their own Twitter destiny. (Photo: andregustavo on Flickr/CC-BY-2.0)
The @Sweden handle has been controlled by the national tourist agency, VisitSweden, since 2009. But through the project Curators of Sweden, the Twitterverse presence of Sweden is now handed over to the people. A string of different contributors will portray the national character online.
- No one owns the brand of Sweden more than its people. With this initiative we let them show their Sweden to the world, VisitSweden CEO Thomas Brühl said to Mashable.
The curators have been chosen because they represent Sweden’s values and skills, such as gay rights, fashion, design and innovation. Among the chosen are an ad agency founder who owns a farm, a suburban writer, a priest, a teacher and a coffee-drinking lesbian trucker.
I look forward to following the @Sweden account and will be sure to add it to my Twitter stream!
UPDATE: Swedish PR blogger Hans Kullin has made an exellent study of some of the recent content on @Sweden. Highly recommended reading – some of it is almost shocking, other items highly amusing.
Bloggers influence fashion purchases, Swedish study suggests
A segment in the Marketing Monday series at Socialmedianordic.com
While blogging in Scandinavia has been studied mostly quantitatively (how many bloggers, readers etc.), not too much is said about bloggers’ importance in defining taste, influencing purchases etc.
I came across this essay from the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås (in Swedish), published in 2010. Students Zandra Eriksson and Louise Persson conducted a survey among young women in Borås (aged 15-20 and 21-25), fashion bloggers, and retailers.
While the sample size is nowhere near significant, the essay may still serve as an indication of bloggers’ importance in fashion retail in Sweden.
Young girls trust less
Conclusion? Yes, bloggers matter. But the younger girls are less influenced than their older peers.
Do you trust bloggers? Yes/No.
I will summarize some of the conclusions briefly:
- 68% of women surveyed (very small sample) read fashion blogs – 31% in the 15-20 age bracket and 47% in the 21-25 age group do so every day.
- Young girls are not easily convinced. Older girls place greater trust in fashion bloggers than younger girls; 58% in the 21-25 age group vs. 35% in the 15-19 age group
- Both consumers and retailers see an increase in demand for certain items after bloggers have mentioned them
- Few actually say they buy items after reading about them on blogs
- Getting PR on blogs by sending items to bloggers in hopes they will write about them, is concidered more effectful than advertising on the same blogs
If you see any other studies on the actual impact of blogging on marketing and sales in the Nordics, please let me know by leaving a note in the comments section. Thanks!
Crowdfunding enters Scandinavian cultural scene
Crowdfunding, having the public chip in to finance great ideas and projects, is hardly a new phenomenon. We’ve seen it done successfully in fundraising for years, for instance through Kiva.org and Kickstarter.
Photo: Aslakr ond Flickr/CC-BY-2.0
The arts and culture have embraced this financing model. Starting in 1992, Finnish sci-fi project Star Wreck has been an online cult phenomenon, attracting production help, downloads, and purchases from all around the world. Though not strictly a crowdfunding project, it’s definately a forerunner of the trend.
The first Scandinavian truly crowdfunded cultural project I’m aware of, was Norwegian rock group Kaizer’s Orchestra‘s collecting money from fans toward the recording of a new album in 2010. But since then, crowdfunding is rapidly becoming mainstream activity for lots of cultural innovators.
Does crowdfunding work?
The big question, of course: Does it work? Are projects getting funded? The answer is a definate maybe, so far. While there is no lack of fundraising efforts, the Scandinavian public are somewhat reluctant in opening their wallets – yet. But it’s early days, stil, and a little too soon to prophesy doom to the Scandinavian crowdfunding projects. Instead, let’s have a quick look at the status quo.
(I do not in any way believe that this is a complete list of Scandinavian cultural crowdfunding projects. If you know of any I have missed, please leave a note in the comments section!)
Sweden racing ahead
Sweden is taking the lead. Since 2010 the public have paid up for culture through the website Funded By Me. Several projects have been realized due to collective efforts online.
People in Sweden’s capital Stockholm also have the opportunity to contribute through Crowdculture.se, where they can vote for their favorite projects and help fund their development. Crowdculture.se is particularly interesting since it is in part initiated by local authorities in Stockholm. To my knowledge, this is the first example of crowdfunding efforts by the public sector in Scandinavia.
Norwegians getting started
This summer saw crowdfunding in general entering the Norwegian cultural scene as well, since Funded By Me launched a Norwegian sister-site to their Swedish operation. A local theatre group in Oslo is among the first candidates for crowdfunding. The response to the Norwegian site seems to be so-so so far, but I look forward to following their progress.
New Danish site
The Danish cultural scene has recently been expanded by the launch of Boomerang, a new crowdfunding site for arts and culture. Not many projects seem to have caught the eye of financers as of yet – but again, it’s early days and too soon to deem any crowdfunding efforts a success or a failure.
Less culture, more crowd: Iceland and Finland
Though not a cultural project per se, the Finnish crowdfunding efforts of Hub Helsinki pave the way for new crowdfunding projects in Finland.The cooperative of people trying to change the world are attempting to raise €50,000 towards the refurbishing of their new premises in Helsinki. The Aalto Social Impact initiative has taken a serious interest in crowdfunding in Finland.
I have not been able to find examples of crowdfunded cultural projects on Iceland. This is probably due to my abysmal comprehension of Icelandic – the country which crowdsourced its new constitution must surely have some interesting projects to show for. If you know of any, please leave a note in the comments section!
If you are interested in crowdsourcing as a phenomenon, check out this extensive list of crowdfunding sites. Among the inspirations for this post are the blogs of Danish Mikael Mejlvang, a.k.a. “Municipality Man” (blogs in Danish), and Arts and Business Norway (in Norwegian). Thanks!
