Blue Helm

“It’s that time again!” It’s time for another installment of “YouTube Gems.” To see other installments click here.

Earlier this week my sister reminded me of the genius show Animaniacs. When I was growing up this was one of my favorite cartoons to watch. I still crack up watching these hilarious clips.

I hope you enjoys these, have a great weekend!

I’ve posted several hilarious videos in my previous “YouTube Gems” editions (click here and here if you have extra time to watch them), but a YouTube Gem doesn’t have to be funny. Funny is great, but I think a viral video can also be smart, emotional, scary, intense, or just plain cool.

Maybe this edition will expose my nerdy side a little too much, but I just love how far technology has evolved. Check out these cool/remarkable robot videos:

This robot is amazing. One of the biggest challenges engineers have in making a truly mobile robot is balance. When you balance you’re using hundreds of muscles just to stay upright. When someone pushes you or when you walk on ice or any type of uneven or abnormal terrain, you use another set of muscles and brain functions just so you don’t fall over. With that in mind take a look at this incredible robot:

The fluid and quick motions of these robots is pretty amazing:

This is just cool. Look out Wall-E:

No post dedicated to robots is complete with out seeing some classic robot fighting:

What are some cool videos you like?

Cozy up to social media more often.

Using social media all of the time can get a little tedious. When you’re using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blog, or other forms of social media, it’s easy to get bogged down. You get wrapped up in making sure you post to your blog, that you tweet or that you check your Facebook News Feed. These online activities are all important (particularly for your business), but you need to make sure you’re having fun with it!

Take a few minutes today to rekindle your love for one of your social networks. Get on your blog and write about something different and exciting. Go on YouTube and watch some videos that make you laugh (click here and here to see a few of my favorites). Get on Twitter and try to connect with someone in your industry. Don’t just follow them, connect with them. Log onto Facebook and really get in touch with an old friend. Actually message them and start a genuine conversation. If you’re only seeing their updates from time to time, then you haven’t really re-connected with them.

Have fun, do something meaningful, renew your love!

What do you do to keep your social love affair going?

“I love getting Latino pop sensation RickyMartin’s tweets! Oh wait…or is it Ricky_Martin?  This Twitter thing is just so confusing!” Okay, here’s a quick Twitter IQ test. Look at both of these Twitter pages and try to guess which one is the real Ricky Martin:

Here’s username RickyMartin

Here’s username Ricky_Martin

If you guessed that RickyMartin is the real superstar, you should go hang your head in Twitter shame.

It just so happens that I am friends with the owner of the RickyMartin username. And no, my friend is not actually Ricky Martin. My good friend Michelle Burnett, who is quite the jokester, signed up for Twitter about nine months ago and made her user name RickyMartin. Why? Because she’s hilarious. When the real Ricky Martin decided to get on Twitter he tried to get the name from her, but ended up using Ricky_Martin instead. Michelle has never tried to pretend that she is the real Ricky Martin, her name says she is Michelle Burnett, her profile picture is of herself, and her tweets are definitely her own. Here are a few samples:

“Loved your work on Hannah Montana @donnyosmond!”

“Got my hair did. I feel totally fab.”

“short hair is sad hair.”

“I’m pretty sure you’ve had a nose job.”

“After sitting in the library for about 30 minutes, I noticed that someone in the area smelled a lot like breath. And not the good kind.”

If you took even a moment to look at her profile, it is very obvious she is not Ricky Martin. Yet somehow, hundreds of Ricky Martin fans are following her, and actually believe she is Ricky Martin. In the past week alone, over 28 people have mentioned @rickymartin in their tweets, most of which are re-tweets from the real Ricky Martin. Multiple people have sent messages to Michelle in Spanish hoping to connect with the real Ricky Martin. Someone even nominated Michelle for “Mr. Twitter Puerto Rico” and she subsequently received hundreds of supporting votes.

So what does all of this mean? It means there are still a lot of people out there who are confused about how Twitter works. Or they just don’t care enough to look carefully at the people they follow or re-tweet. I can’t count how many people I’ve talked to who have signed up for Twitter and just give up because they can’t figure it out or see no value in tweeting. The average person isn’t going to search Mashable or other blogs for ‘How-To Twitter’ instructions, not to mention researching why Twitter is valuable.

I’ve always thought Twitter could do a much better job at introducing people to their product. When a new user signs up for Twitter, there should be helpful videos and instructions available on how-to use it. They should have links to articles that explain how to use Twitter for a business, individual, professional, music lover, etc. Don’t make the customer search for this stuff. Give it to them when they sign up.

What do you think? Why are there so many people who don’t know how to use Twitter? Why are there so many people who sign up for Twitter, but stop using it? And why do Ricky Martin fans have a hard time distinguishing a male pop icon in Puerto Rico from a female college student in Utah?

Mr. T is hilarious, and so is his Snickers ad campaign from last year. If you missed it then you’re in luck! We’re not being paid to show these clips and are not endorsing Snickers in any way other than giving props for making an awesome ad campaign. Enjoy the clips and have a great weekend!

Here’s a little bonus Mr. T for those who just can’t get enough: