28 May Social Media Tattoos
Social media sites, by their very definition, are ephemeral creatures. Their mercurial nature is part of what makes them so intriguing. What is here today can be gone, or even worse, obsolete tomorrow. Just ask Friendster.
Tattoos, on the other hand, are permanent. They are the indelible result of a momentary decision, which is why I found the fusion of these two seemingly diametrically opposed concepts to be worth exploring.
Twitter Ink
There have been a couple of interesting Twitter campaigns that have ended with someone getting inked. One that sparked quite a bit of buzz was done by MGH, Inc. for their client, the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association. There was a push to see if @baltimoremd could beat out @visitchicago and @travelportland to hit 3,000 followers in a matter of hours, so to sweeten up the deal, they offered up the flesh of their Strategy Director. He wound up with a Fail Whale, suspended by little Natty Boh birds, in a nod to the Bal’more way.
Meanwhile, a guy by the name of Drew Olanoff used a tattoo as an incentive to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He auctioned off a space on his skin to the highest bidder on Twitter. Then he took himself to the tattoo shop and got Melanie Mitchell’s Twitter username inked on his arm for life.
And while it doesn’t seem to be for any particular cause, Andy Milonakis is offering to get a tattoo of Oprah if he hits 100,000 Twitter followers by June 1st. He’s still got quite a ways to go at this point. Maybe he should specify which era of Oprah he’s planning on getting inked.
Blog Ink
Who knew that WordPress could mean so much to someone? It apparently did to Ed Morita, who got the logo inked on his forearm as a testament to the way that blogging has changed his life. True to social form, he Twittered and posted Twitpics of the tattoo process in action, and became the proud owner of the first reported instance of a WordPress tat.
Social Ink
Just for fun, here are some other social media related tats I scoped out on the web. Enjoy!
Read My Feed:
Via The Next Web
Xanga 4 Lyfe:
Via BizStone.com
MySpace Devotion:
Via Guzer.com
The Fail Whale Twhirl:
Via GeekyTattoos.com
Blackberry App World Tour
Via GeekyTattoos.com