Who hasn’t heard of it? Trijntje Oosterhuis’ Facebook and Twitter campaign for giro 555. For every new follower, Trijntje would donate 1 euro to aid the Philippines. Some people think it was a nice gesture, others think it was naive. In any case, it got out of hand. After a few hours, the status update with which Trijntje announced her campaign via Facebook was removed. Eventually, the message followed that she would not pay the more than 200,000 euros that had been collected in terms of ‘likes’. overseas data What went wrong and what are the lessons for companies and celebrities who are tempted to do something similar?
Wildfire of good intentions and digital vandalism
Soon after Oosterhuis had posted her message online, the likes started to flow in. A viral effect arose because more and more people sent status updates and tweets about the action. What struck me about those messages was that in addition to many well-intentioned appeals, there were also legions with the message: ‘let’s make Trijntje bankrupt’. The mix of well-intentioned Dutch people and, for lack of another word, ‘hooligans’, led to 200,000 new likes within a few hours. Oops!
The status update disappeared from Oosterhuis’ Facebook page, but further explanation followed a day on financial and credit mechanisms and property management later. Trijntje will not pay the 2 tons, but donates generously to giro 555. Result: a new wave of angry reactions, scorn and ridicule. Incidentally, also a lot of expressions of support. Many people realize that there is a misjudgment and that 200,000 is a lot of money. Even if you are a well-known Dutch person and can south africa numbers probably get by well.
Previous Facebook Riots
It is somewhat reminiscent of the birthday party of a teenager from Haren that ended in riots. In all innocence, he posted a birthday invitation on Facebook. The public update was shared en masse and thousands of people indicated that they would come to ‘Project X’ in Haren. The media provided extra attention and even more potential rioters.