A posting on UCSB’s Geography Facebook page that linked to an article which summarized how Oliver Chadwick teamed up with archaeologists to clarify factors that contributed to the demise of early Rapa Nui society on Easter Island went viral. The posting was made on January 28, 2015, at 1:50 p.m., and it had only reached 12 people an hour later. Then things went crazy.
At that point in time, the Geography Facebook page had accumulated 460 “likes” since its inception on January 24, 2014, and only a smattering of postings had been reached by more than 500 people (8, to be exact). And then along came the Facebook posting titled “Easter Island Mystery.” By 6:00 p.m. on the 28th, about 500 people had been reached by the posting; by 6:00 a.m. on the 29th, the figure was up to 2,500 or so; and by 9:00 a.m. that day, it was up to 3,540 – and Geography’s Facebook page had gained 18 new likes, for a total of 478. Go figure.
Is the Easter Island Facebook posting mystery due to Oliver’s huge fan base? Is it because the Easter Island statues are so intriguing? Who knows? As media cynics say, any publicity is good publicity.
The Geography Department’s venture into social media was finally precipitated by our 40th Anniversary activities and a need for a signup system in January of last year. We began by posting a notice about a Gaucho GeoHunt, and that first posting reached 3,559 people, our largest number reached to date – but give the posting about Oliver another few hours! Either way, check out the UCSB Geography Department on Facebook and don’t be shy about giving the our page lots of “likes”!
Editor’s note: 45 minutes after posting this article, the Facebook posting about Oliver had reached 3,764 people, it broke 4,000 by noon, and it was over 4,500 by 6:00 p.m. Stay tuned.
Article by Bill Norrington
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