NEW VIDEO FEATURE: What's Up with Marcos?

Dear Social Media experts,

Forwards. They are the scams to eBay, the fattening part of chocolate, the weakening of bones by drinking diet soda. In the pros and cons of getting a cell phone, forwards are the cons. When I got my cell phone they were not as consistent. However, by last November, I had a friend who would constantly send me forwards, one a week at least. Then one Sunday in January, I got a record-breaking four in one day. So then I thought, what is the point of this?  Why do people do this? 

So one day I sent a forward message, which turned out to be an accidental experiment. I put my friend Brandon’s picture on a text and wrote:

“This is Brandon, he needs a heart transplant. T-Mobile will donate 2 cents to the surgery if you forward this message.”

Then I added a one-day special.

“Also if you forward it, you’ll have your wish come true and your love will ask you out! Wow!”

Although I only sent this to about eight people from my middle school, the next day I received comments from people who had received it from someone else and then forwarded it. I tallied it up at 45 people including the 8 I had originally sent it to, and people who had read it from others phones.

I tried it again the next day by sending it to 11 people, but the results proved to be less, because people were sick of my forwards. This time I got around 30 people who had received it and eight who forwarded it. (See the short video, right).

Advertisements, fliers and e-mail spam proved completely useless against my simple text message campaign. So if you’d like to advertise to a few more people, I know one way you could. Although this will spark future debate, it’s a breakthrough in reaching people instantly.

Signed,

Marcos Mena