Despite the mood from Etta’s death, we had a great deal of fun during this past week’s Twitter event. #ShowNoMercy trended before the airing of An Origin Story, and during almost the entire duration of the show. Not too bad, considering the Hurricane relief telethons that aired on several networks that night. (Please see the message at the end of this post regarding the hurricane.)

The hashtag was also very accurate, as we saw the shocking manner in which Peter dealt with the Observer captive.

This week we’ll see the consequences of Peter’s quick decision to implant the Observer tech into his body. The quest to fulfill Walter’s plan also continues in Through the Looking Glass and What Walter Found There. This title is obviously influenced by Lewis Carol’s book, “Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, ” a favorite of Fringe producer J.J. Abrams. Plus, this was the easter egg in An Origin Story.

“Go Ask Alice” is a line from the drug-influenced song  “White Rabbit,” by Jefferson Airplane. The song has been played in the show. The rabbit is thought to be a symbol of people chasing their curiosity.

The book has themes of reality perception, existence versus non-existence, and nonsense. Looks like we’re in for a strange episode this season after all, if the promos and this picture are any indication.

This photo, by Liane Hentscher, illustrates FRINGE’s skewed perspective on reality. instagram.com/p/RftO5JmLx1 #fringe #FOXgallery

— FOX Broadcasting (@FOXBroadcasting) November 5, 2012

 

“Why it’s simply impassible!
Alice: Why, don’t you mean impossible?
Door: No, I do mean impassible. Nothing’s impossible!”

As we know, in Fringe:

#NothingIsImpossible

 

TWITTER PROTOCOL

Be sure to make your first tweet of the night a thank you to @FoxBroadcasting and @WarnerBrosEnt for making season five possible.

1) Don’t use #NothingIsImpossible before the designated time: 1 HOUR before Fringe airs.

The event will take place 1 hour before Fringe airs – 8pm EST — November 9. Gently remind others that use the tag before the event to wait until the right time, and tell them that using the tag too much beforehand will lessen trending impact. This happened when Fringe fans tried to trend #WhereIsPeterBishop for the season four premiere. The # had been used all summer long, was not anything new on the Twitter radar, so it did not trend. Trending happens with terms that are relatively new, and many people tweet about them at the same time. Terms break out onto the scene, but trending becomes more difficult the more they are used. Be nice! We want everyone to feel welcome.

2) One # term per Tweet. Use only #NothingIsImpossible (What Are Hashtags?)

3) Lots of people tweeting matters more than the number of tweets.

Tell everyone Fringie about the event. There is strength in numbers – remember that the more unique tweeters we have, the more likely we are to trend, and for a longer duration of time. Send your tweets out steadily – remember to pace yourself. You want to avoid “Twitter Jail.” Sustained tweeting over time matters.

Trending can be a distraction, but we need you to keep those wonderful tweets coming. You may have also noticed that the # will drop off the charts after a while, only to trend again when Fringe airs. This is due to other viewers joining in by tweeting the hashtag on the bottom of the screen.

4) Those with lots of followers help out a lot!

Alternate accounts with few followers do not have as much “influence” towards trending. But tweets from accounts like @JWFringe, @FringeOnFox, @VancityJax and @johnnob58004412 make a big impact. Let’s try to build our Fringe fan follower networks. One easy way is to follow people on fan Twitter lists. Here is my Cortexifan list. Follow some Fringies! Another way is to follow some folks on Twitter “Follow Fridays.” You may have seen tweets that are tagged #FF – followed by a bunch of twitter names. This is because they are recommended people to follow.

5) We want to pique the interest of non-Fringe fans.

This is the key to our trending duration success. It gives a chance to get our message about Fringe out to another audience. Try to construct a list of thoughtful and informative tweets before the event. These can be copied and pasted for easy tweets. Use some witty Fringe sayings – link some of the official promo videos – speculate about what happened to September.

Think of all of the cool, “impossible” things that have been seen on Fringe . Cool tweets are more likely to earn re-tweets, and this immensely helps trending.

6) We can discuss aspects of the show in our tweets.

TRY to include the word FRINGE (with no #) in your tweet if possible. Talk about the characters and the actors.

7) Private accounts must have their locked status removed, as the tweets from locked accounts do not count toward the trend tally.

8) Retweets are the easiest way to help out the trending effort.

Just search for the hashtag, and retweet the ones that are interesting to you. If you know how to use a Twitter application suite like TweetDeck or HootSuite, this is made even easier.

9) Remember to check in at GetGlue for cool stickers and so that Fringe will trend there as well.

If you are in the U.S. and have an iPhone or Android phone, give Viggle a try. Their check-ins are included in the data of several prominent social television analysis companies.

A Special FRINGE Event Message

I’m taking a moment to ask fellow Cortexifans to consider donating to Hurricane relief efforts. This disaster is Fringe event in scope, and has affected many people. I personally know a number of victims. Our own graphic artist @Cheribot lives in Long Island, and has seen the damage firsthand. Staten Island was nearly wiped out, many homes in Queens burned, and there is significant damage to the public mass transit system. New Jersey is still reeling.  Many are without power, and bitter cold weather will be arriving soon. Gas is in short supply, and rationed.

Here’s how you can help:

American Red Cross

• TEXT: Text “Redcross”  to 90999 to give a $10 donation to the Red Cross.

• ONLINE:  Go to https://www.redcross.org to make a donation of any amount.

• BY PHONE:  Call 1-800-HELP-NOW. This number will bypass all the other menu options and direct your call to Hurricane Sandy relief.

Blood supplies are low, so making a donation is extremely helpful.

The Salvation Army Provides hot meals via mobile canteens in disaster areas. I  have seen these in action, and they make a huge difference in people’s health and morale.

https://donate.salvationarmyusa.org/disaster

Thanks for anything you might do to help.