Oscars highlight the power of social media

Picture via Financial Post

Last night's Academy Awards celebration was a true testament to the power of social media. According to the Los Angeles Times, Ellen DeGeneres' selfie tweet of herself and 11 other celebrities received over 2.7 million retweets and nearly 1.4 million favorites. This tweet supposedly "broke" Twitter and surpassed the previously most popular tweet of all time, President Barack Obama's tweet following his 2012 election win. The tweet was a win for both Ellen and sponsor, Samsung.

According to Deadline Hollywood, "Wolf of Wall Street" was the social media universe's Oscar favorite. I am personally not surprised by this due to the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio's face has been filling my Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook feeds. American Hustle came in second and was followed by Captain Phillips and 12 Years a Slave. I found this to be extremely interesting and wonder if one day the Oscars' will adopt a social media award winner.

Throughout the entire program, posts, comments, and creative media were consistently being created and discussed. As I was watching the Oscars with my housemates, we were all following along on our phones and sharing the funny posts we found with each other. I know that personally I enjoy Twitter during events like this because it allows me to feel like I am watching TV with everyone I know.