Twitter: William Shakespeare

This is a cool Twitter page, devoted to Talk like Shakespeare day.  Apparently Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel declared April 23, 2012 as Shakespeare day.  There is a website devoted to Talk like Shakespeare.  I honestly couldn't tell what this twitter page fully had to do with Shakespeare, other than trying to get others to talk like him.  The twitter handle, would post everything from comments as Shakespeare would say them, to even youtube videos and articles.  They posted a youtube video that was meant as an advertisement to get people to talk like Shakespeare on April 23.  Here it is:  Video.  It just again, seems that this is a page trying to get the word out about Shakespeare.  Whether it is shows going on in the Chicago area, or events that have to do with Shaekspeare, this account will make sure people find out about it, and are notified.  People who want to be involved with Shakespeare in their community will jump on board with this site, and be avid followers and use this to get information on what they want to attend.

Facebook: Macbeth

This is a Facebook page created by Wikipedia about Macbeth.  Something that Wikipedia has been doing a lot of lately, is jumping on the social media bandwagon, and getting information onto Facebook.  If you type anything of historical value it seems into the search bar, Wikipedia will have a page dedicated to teaching people about that topic.  This is a page devoted to a few paragraphs telling the reader about Macbeth.  If one clicks on the picture, you are sent to the Wikipedia page.  Others are noticing how many people now fully search in the Facebook bar, and are getting in touch with that side.  People realize that Facebook is unlimited with how many people use it.  Just these few paragraphs about Macbeth have over 300,000 likes.  All this means is that those people saw this page, and read about it.  Their friends also see it once someone likes the page.  It is a never ending on going circle of people viewing the page.
     There are also many other pages devoted to anything Shakespeare created by wikipedia.  Just type in whatever play you are looking for, and a page from Wikipedia should pop open and allow you to learn about the show.

Youtube: Twelfth Night Speed Drawing

This Youtube video shows a person's drawing an anime style cartoon of a girl, with her male counterpart. There is no description as to whether it is a bother, or just the girl dressed up.  It is interesting enough to see that the illustrator related his or her drawing to the Twelfth Night.  This makes the viewer think that the person in front is the girl in back dressed up like a boy, just like in the play.  I really like this because it has someone show off their drawing and artistic skills, and they share it with others to see.  The video only had just over 200 views, but that is 200 people that would never have seen the video if the poster did not put it online.  Choosing twelfth night is an odd idea to turn into anime.  Most people who are into anime, wouldn't really be into the Shakespeare idea.  Or that would be the stereotype.  I would understand if it were a true painting, but this is an anime style.  You never know when someone will want to see this person's portfolio of work, and this will be great to show a future employer, as it goes through all of the steps.   It is also possible that the person who made this used a different idea as the title, but then realized it was twelfth night.  I personally just have a hard time believing that something anime would have been specifically created with The Twelfth night in mind.

Here is a link to the video:  Speed Drawing- Twelfth Night

Twitter: Romeo and Juliet

We were shown this Romeo and Juliet page earlier in class.  This is a Twitter page called, Such Tweet Sorrow, in which the Mudlark and royal Shakespeare company performed Romeo and Juliet on Twitter over a five week period.  They created twitter profiles for each of the different characters in the play, and combined actual text with more modern day text to tell the story with each character updating their twitter, and even responding to each others.
  According to the twitter page about the Romeo and Juliet performance via Twitter, The Tweets, "This may be as ordinary as telling us what they had for breakfast or as remarkable as announcing a deep, deep love."
     Again, I think that this is a really creative idea.  It is a new take on an older idea, adding in modern themes such as social media.  There is even a youtube channel with a video from Juliet made to her mother.  The actors did a great job in all of this, and were creative. 
    I really like this because of how creative it is. There really is nothing else like it around the web.  Each character had a few thousand followers and they all stayed true to how the character in the play would act were they talking about their lives.  The mixture of the modern day, and actual prose was a nice combination.
     Here is a news article written about the twitter page: Romeo and Juliet Now Killing it on Twitter.

Youtube: Epic Rap Battles... Dr. Seuss vs. Shakespeare

The Epic Rap Battle: Dr. Seuss vs. Shakespeare is a true classic.  A gentleman by the name of Nice Peter came up with these, and it consists of Shakespeare rapping off against Dr. Seuss.  This is a really funny video, along with the other Epic rap battles, but inside it, he brings up many lines about Shakespeare that have to to with Iambic Pentameter, and even referring to the amount of words Shakespeare used.  It did take a lot of smarts to come up with this.  This video have received over thirty million views.
     This is an example of someone using their creative side along with history, whether he did research, or just what he learned in school, to create a song basically.  There really isn't a targeted audience of Shakespeare fans, but rather people who know about Shakespeare and would get all of the jokes.  There definitely has to be some sort of level of understanding who Shakespeare is in order to get this rap.

Facebook: Hamlet

Who would have thought that there would be a full page devoted to Hamlet?  It is devoted to everything Hamlet.  The Facebook page Hamlet, was created in 2009, and currently is up to over 8,000 followers.  This page consists of upcoming shows, pictures, quotes from the play, and news articles about anything that has to do with hamlet.
     I think this is really interesting because there is no straight point.  I understnad websites that are devoted to certain theatres, to get people to attend their shows, but a full page devoted to EVERYTHING Hamlet seems to just be a long blog created by an avid fan for avid fans.
     If you like Hamlet, then this is a website that would be of great interest.  The person who created it obvously does a lot of research on the topic to find out all the information possible, and allows others to post their own information.  This definitely garners a lot of interest in the play, and other Shakespeare plays.  People who don't care much for Hamlet won't get much from this Facebook page.
      On this blog, what I really enjoy is the amount of questions and posts to try and get outsider involvement.  Questions are asked, "if I were to put on a Gothic version of William Shakespeare'sHamlet who would I cast who will be eager play the Character's and show such and who wanted which part," all in part to get peoples reactions.  There also are many pictures to keep people scrolling down, and different news articles.  The blogger (what I will call him for lack of a better term) also posts videos from other performances on stage of Hamlet.  This is a great way to gather a group of people around a common interest, and get people involved with the arts.

Twitter: The Improvised Shakespeare Company

Now, I know that this is not an original twitter page, and that is more or less what I am shooting for with this assignment.  I am looking for pages that are original to Facebook, Youtube and Twitter, but I thought that this was a REALLY cool idea and very creative and inventive.  When I typed in Shakespeare to the search bar inside Twitter, their twitter page showed up.
     I love this idea.  It is a very modern twist on old fashioned Shakespeare plays.  I would never have thought to take Shakespeare and make it improv.  They group keeps the style of Shakespeare, but does full plays completely in improv.  This must take a ton of talent.  The improvised Shakespeare Company is based out of chicago, but they also do traveling shows.
     The ISC uses their Twitter page to advertise their brand and have close to 2000 followers.  This is a great and easy way to reach fans.  On their Twitter account, they post pictures from their shows, links to videos, and even their schedule.  By doing this on Twitter, they communicate with fans, giving them the information rather than waiting for people to come to them.

Youtube: Sassy Gay Friend

In youtube, Sassy Gay Friend is a video that we have talked about quite a bit.  I personally love these videos and think the character is quite hilarious.  Some of the ideas that he discusses is making fun of Shakespeare's plays and how melodramatic they truly are.  When in context, Romeo and Juliet seems sad, but when the story line is discussed, it seems quite ridiculous.  Brian Gallivan does a great job pointing out the ridiculous side of Shakespeare in his different videos.  For example, in his Romeo and Juliet video, he goes on a rant about how she is underage and in love with another guy who is way underage.  Everyone talks about how this is one of the ultimate love stories, but in reality, Gallivan points out, it is about two children who say they love each other.  These started off on television, but grew huge through social media and youtube.  He also would use Shakespeare because each of the plays that are discussed have a central and strong female character which many of Shakespeare's plays were about.

Here are a list of all the Sassy Gay Friend videos:
Othello
Romeo and Juliet
Hamlet
Macbeth
Henry VIII

Gallivan got so big, he now has his own network on youtube through the second city channel.  He has almost 13,000 followers and even has a deal with a water company which he hawks in every one of his newer videos.

Facebook: Shakespeare Quote of the Day

This is probably one of my favorite Shakespeare pages that I found.  It is called: Shakespeare Quote Of The Day.  Basically, it is a very self explaining title.  They find a different quote from Shakespeare from all of his different plays and sonnets, and post it on their wall each day.

     I actually found this page through my girlfriend.  She followed them and I decided to take a look.  It is nice and easy to follow and will just show up inside a person's news feed when they log onto facebook.  This page was created in 2010, and is still alive and running strongly.  Only 181 people follow this page, but to have it running daily for close to two years is very impressive.
     I really don't think that this page is meant for people who aren't interested in Shakespeare. It is one of those pieces that people need to know what they are looking for, and enjoy Shakespeare.  Many of the lines are love lines, and good for guys to read and use when they are trying to pick up girls.  

About the blog

Living in today's society, everyone is involved with an aspect of social media in one way or another.  One would have to think that Shakespeare would be involved in this growing internet craze.  I decided to make this blog, using every piece of social media (youtube, twitter, blogs, facebook, etc.) and relate different pieces back to Shakespeare.  There are many youtube video's, blogs, and even facebook pages dedicated to him.  I am going to try and upload some new form of social Shakespeare per day, and comment about it.  I hope you enjoy.

Jacob Bash