Thoughtpick: A unique perspective of the Web and social media...
A unique perspective of the Web and social media...

February 8, 2010

Why Are All My Friends Suddenly Hot? Doppelgänger Week

Viral mass actions are apparently the newest trend on Facebook.

Last month, it was posting bra colors. This month, it’s Doppelgänger Week. Who knows what it will be next month? Hitting on the first person who sends you a message?

I guess that remains to be seen, for now, Facebook’s Doppelgänger Week, where you change your profile picture to someone famous (actor, musician, athlete, etc). If you don’t look like anyone in particular, you can use the Facebook application “Face Double” that will scavenge its system for your long-lost celebrity double. Otherwise you can ask the Doppelgänger Week Fanpage for twin suggestions. Hmmm…

Use the Chance to Place Yourself in Trends

As these “mass actions” are becoming more popular on Facebook, application developers and relevant corporations should be keeping their eyes open.

If they find the right “mass action” at the right time, rewards could be generous. For example, MyHeritage made good use of Doppelgänger Week and created a page that helps people find their Doppelgänger celeb. Thousands have used it, which means that MyHeritage has not only provided a useful tool that people are actually looking for, they also placed themselves in the center of a very popular trend.

Jumping on the Bandwagon

Although my Facebook feed is littered with hotties and celebrities, it did not really occur to me to participate in Doppelgänger Week, mostly because it’s not often that I’m told I look like a particular celebrity.

For research purposes though, I decided to give the tools a shot to see why this trend became so popular. MyHeritage’s Celebrity Look-alike Tool is what I used for this experiment.

My doppelganger: Chester Bennington

My doppelganger: Chester Bennington

I guess I’m not participating in the week, because I’m a little pissed off that this Chester Bennington person kept popping up, with several picture attempts. I don’t think I look like a guy. Or maybe he looks like a girl. Or maybe it’s just the glasses.

By the way, another mass action taking place is month is Urban Dictionary Week, where you look up your name on Urban Dictionary and then shove the meaning into your status.

Did you participate in Facebook Doppelganger week? If you did, who’s your celebrity lookalike? :)

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Roba: Pixels are Roba's best friend. She long ago made the decision to embark into the internet space on a mission to spend the rest of her life crafting pixels into imagery and words. A designer by day and a cyber junkie by night, Roba has also spent a good portion of her last five years writing about digital culture, citizen journalism, and social media.
  • missyolivera
    Go to http://celebritydoppelganger.blogspot(DOT)com To which celeb you look like.
    This is by far the best and fastest generator I've come across. <3
  • I'm not sure its a marketing stunt, it's more like the evolution of chain mail. YIKES !
    as for your celebrity look-alike ... didn't i already do that like a couple of years ago? I think you were Lisa Loeb
  • Who is she? :) When did you do that? I don't remember. Chain mail is a good way to think of it, except that you can tune it out if you want. It's not very intrusive.
  • This is why I am subscribed to thoughtpick! Because you post about things that are happening NOW, not last month or last year.
    Thank you, interesting post, and with every new post I am slowly coming up with different ideas that may one day help me to create an awesome app or fb marketing campaign which will boost my traffic and sales in the stratosphere! :) Well, I can always dream:)
    I too don't usually participate in these mass action things although my partner did with the Doppelgänger week, and had some fun with it. She was Hillary Duff which was sort of close.
  • Thanks Richie! :)
    You're right... a part of producing great tools is being always up to date with the latest trends. Send us an email when you have an app and we can review it for you. Good luck :)
  • I love the idea, though I did not, and will not, participate!

    I think it's a great marketing stunt :)
  • I wonder who you look like :P
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