2009 Year in Review: Best of YouTube

By Ben Haber

As 2009 comes to an end, it’s time to look back at some of the memorable social media moments during the year. This is the first in a series of three posts that will look back at a few of the most entertaining and groundbreaking occurrences on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter this year.

RaceTalk’s Best of YouTube in 2009

1.  The Wedding Dance Video: This was so popular that “The Office” did a spoof on it during their wedding episode when Jim and Pam got married.

2. United Breaks Guitars: After watching baggage people break his guitar while loading it onto the plane, this musician made a music video when United refused to play him for the damage.

3. Kayne West is a Jackass: First Kayne West decided to jump on stage and interrupt Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech, then President Obama called him a jackass. Both media clips made it to YouTube, where they were viewed by the masses.

4. Baby Dancing to Beyonce: This entertaining video was a hit on YouTube, quickly attracting more than 6 million views.

8 comments December 16th, 2009

Riddle Me This: McDonald’s to Offer Free Wi-Fi in All Locations

By Molly Galler

This morning while driving into work I was listening to the radio and the DJ announced in his morning news wrap up that McDonald’s will now be offering free Wi-Fi in all of its locations.

Normally when a popular destination announces a new, convenient service, I feel overjoyed. However, this announcement left me . . . puzzled.

If the typical McDonald’s customer is one who relishes in the low priced dollar menu, is this same customer likely to own and carry a laptop?

Doesn’t a significant amount of McDonald’s business come from the drive-through?

Aren’t most McDonald’s locations on the highway where people zip in and out with no desire to stop?

Would you ever consider conducting a business meeting at a McDonald’s?

This morning on Mashable.com, blogger Brenna Ehrlich explained, “So why the switch to free Wi-Fi? Well, McDonald’s is hoping to become a hang-out spot of the coffee shop variety — it also plans to start selling frappes and smoothies mid-2010. And given the fact that coffee chains like Starbucks charge customers to surf while they sip, the idea doesn’t seem all that pie-in-the-sky.”

While I applaud McDonald’s for joining the technological revolution and trying to bring further convenience to their customers, they seem to be offering a service to a demographic that is likely uninterested.

I don’t know about you, but free or not, I have zero intention of plugging in my laptop beneath the golden arches.

2 comments December 16th, 2009