I first heard about the Harlem Shake phenomenon last week from my university-attending son, who was home for what we used to call “reading week.”
In a few short February weeks this “dance” has taken on a life of its own – as these things do in today’s world of social media and instant communication.
Several students at various universities in southern Ontario have posted their Harlem Shake masterpieces on YouTube. Production of Brock University’s rendition, making the headlines of the St. Catharines Standard Feb. 16 edition, involved 2,000 people and caused about $5,000 in damage to the student centre. The University was apparently tweeting about it and receiving congratulatory tweets as well.
This is an interesting example of some of the challenges we face in the realm of social media everyday.
1. It demonstrates the power of social media – the event was organized via Facebook and Twitter within hours. The Brock student who came up with the idea because he thought it would generate school spirit was surprised by how many people actually showed up on a Sunday night to take part.
2. The university seemed to be walking a fine line between observing the shenanigans and adopting a “silence is agreement” approach and then asking for reimbursement for damages once the event had happened and been shared on Twitter.
3. In addition to students being involved in their schools’ versions, several have posted their own personal 30-second clips, filmed with roommates. Many involve nudity, various rude gestures and can only be characterized as tasteless in the extreme.
It’s surprising in an age when we consider twentysomethings to be smart “digital natives” who are savvy users of social media and technology that they don’t appreciate the speed at which news travels. And some don’t recognize that potential employers routinely check the online presence of potential employees. Be prepared to kiss that internship goodbye if you can be identified in a tawdry clip found in a Google search.
This type of situation also underlies the importance for all institutions, public and private, to have good social media policies in place and to always be vigilant about what is being said online.
What more do you think we can do to educate our young people and our employers about effectively using social media and avoiding personal and PR disasters?
saysshelly 
Sigh. I have so many opinions about this Harlem Shake business. I love the intentions of building school spirit, but does it really? What does banding together and flopping around have to do with your school? There are so many better ways to show your spirit.
Have you seen the reaction video that filmmaker Chris McGuire created? He went to Harlem and showed the videos to some residents – their spirits definitely weren’t raised by the craze: http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/02/harlem_residents_react_to_harlem_shake_videos.html
I know. This really highlights a lack of historical context for lots of people, young and old. I guess one of the questions for them is whether or not they care to dig a little deeper to find the story behind these “artifacts.”
My young teenage son also film his version with his friends. While it may be fun, I think the dance itself is pretty lame.
I understand the allure of surprise etc. but I’m amazed that some of these folks don’t realize their email addresses etc. are attached to the posts and that employers really do check this stuff out. I guess our work as parents is never done!
It’s easy to forget how it doesn’t take much to get caught up in the moment, especially as a kid, and if alcohol is involved…
But things are different today – somebody is always watching or recording.
Living life in the spotlight. Not sure I will ever want that or get used to it. I hope I can convey to my kids the importance of being vigilant. Your comment about today being different is so true. We often had the opportunity to do stupid things and make mistakes but we also had relative privacy to do that in.