What Panmedia Sees in Social Media

This month we launch The Panmedia Eye, a humble attempt to share our take on anything in social media. We hope we can truly spot trends, find insight in all creative efforts and alert you to both positive and negative possibilities. We will give praise where it is due and be critical when necessary. And we aim to keep you informed and entertained about all that is worth mentioning in these channels.

The Panmedia Eye… on Social Media in Jamaica

1. Memes are an online sharing sensation globally, and Jamaica is always ready to stay ‘pon tap a tings.’ The Jamaican styled memes are certainly hilariously funny. Many users and corporate pages share these.

2.We’re all getting older every day and reminiscing usually resonates with the social media crowd. One recent trend is the sharing of old Jamaican notes and coins. Oh how ‘rich’ Jamaica was…with a $0.50 cent paper note!

3. Global pages have been around awhile, but they remain a trend in Jamaica’s social networking landscape. According to Facebook, each brand's Global Pages structure will include local Pages for specific markets (single- or multi-country regions) and a Default Page for all other markets. Features include: One global brand identity so uers from around the globe will see the same Page name (translated into their local language), fan count, and People Talking About This, One URL and Global insights. Those who administer the main Page will see insights for all global users in one easy-to-view dashboard.

Local franchises joining the trend are KFC Jamaica, once at 167,086 fans and now on the brand’s main page with over 25 million fans, and Pepsi Jamaica, once with 105,207 fans and now part of their brand’s more than 32 million.

4. Stars are being born. If you’re a page administrator in Jamaica names like “Fruit Punch Formerlyknownas LemonAde” “Melesia Grant” “Pink-Candy Fudge” and “Ishamar Lindo” are familiar and even famous. These folks really know how to get their social media on! Of course, we must also mention Mr. Dutty Berry, whose popularity has risen with his hilariously funny shows and social media presence. Big Up Yuhself Dutty Berry!

5. Identity theft isn’t new in Jamaica, but this recent @MetServiceJa mystery is a new drama unfolding in Jamaica’s social media sphere. For those of us on Twitter, it seemed that the Met Service had announced that its Twitter account was closed…on their Twitter profile, and this was shared on news outlets. Then days later a tweet from said account spoke about being ‘imposter-ized” :-oh …and the drama continues.