Twitter users are going manga kerrazy, replacing their avatars with those from FaceYourManga. If you've got a manga Twitter avatar you'd like to share, post a link to your Twitter account in the comments. Or, read on for further thoughts on this intriguing trend.
Twitter's Manga Invasion
The above graph was extracted from a viral marketer's wet dream. It shows the sudden, seemingly inexplicable rise of the terms "manga" (green line) and "faceyourmanga" (red line) on the social messaging service Twitter.
FaceYourManga, for those not familiar with this veritable Pet Rock of the Twittering classes, is a tool for creating your own manga avatar (my attempt sits atop this article, accompanied by a colorful array of carefully crafted toons).
The trip to social media domination was a short one: the buzz began on Thursday morning and peaked at 4pm Friday. But don't go thinking this twend has Tweeted out: we simply don't have today's data yet. Meanwhile, traffic rankings (dare I say Alexa?) indicate the buzz did indeed convert to heavy usage of the service.
It's about Distribution, Dumbass!
Of course, personalization is not a new addition to the viral marketer's toolbox: campaigns like OfficeMax's ElfYourself - which allows visitors to turn themselves into dancing elves - have taken the web by storm. And yet the addition of Twitter turns a snowball into an avalanche: instantaneous content sharing to groups numbering in the thousands. In short: not a new idea, simply a new channel.
Unwittingly tripping over this new paradigm, FaceYourManga hit the social media equivalent of a home run: hundreds of Twitter users switching their avatars en masse, then encouraging their friends to do the same.