@iancgrady, @stephscher, @herronclothier, and @lagasa pay rapt attention as they prepare to offer a red carpet critique.

Nipples, "Jaws," wildly inappropriate jokes, and lots of tweets

Well, I didn't actually attend. Much to the chagrin of The Academy. However, I did spend my evening with a group of friends (see photo above) parked in front of the TV watching as the rest Hollywood's finest gathered without me for the 85th Academy Awards. 

It should go without saying that I had Twitter & Facebook loaded on my phone——because let's be honest, the social media aspect of the Oscars is equally as fun as the event itself. In the case of this years' show, which was just awful, my social media activities were actually the highlight of my evening. After my real-life Oscar viewing companions, of course.

Like any other huge, nationally televised event (the Super Bowl, the Olympic Games, etc.), the hordes took to social media to post their opinions on everything from the stars' red carpet attire, to host Seth MacFarlane's snarky, and sometimes inappropriate jokes, to the new "Jaws" music treatment that silenced long-winded acceptance speeches.

Over the course of the evening there were 8.9 million tweets about the awards show. Adele was the most popular on social media, with 82,300 tweets per minute during her performance of "Skyfall." Her performance was also the top Oscar moment on Facebook.

While Seth MacFarlane led the show and much of the social media chatter, unfortunately a lot of it wasn't positive. Unlike Jennifer Hudson and Jennifer Lawrence, who both received heaps of social media praise.

Just to add to the digital excitement, this year The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences encouraged the glitterati to tweet during the show. The Academy expanded its social media presence for the awards show with new technology that allowed stars to capture photos of themselves backstage and post them online in real time.

You can read more about Twitter's "Magic Mirror," and a new video-on-demand/instant replay feature also introduced last night, from the Associated Press here.

What I found most amazing, from a social media standpoint, was the consensus on Twitter in the days preceding the Oscars accurately predicted five out of the six top award winners. You can read those predictions on Mashable here. You can also find a full listing of the Oscar winners here

As I've mentioned, all and all I found the whole show to be pretty painful. Way too long and filled with bad jokes and forced behind-the-scenes "conversations." The most redeeming quality of last night's Academy Awards? No Beyonce.

Now, let's wrap this up with some of the funniest tweets of the evening.

John Roy @johnroycomic

It's time these films that earned millions, were shown in every country on Earth, and heaped with critical praise, were awarded somehow. #oscars

Piers Morgan @piersmorgan

The "Jaws" music cut-off for long-winded acceptance speeches is the greatest addition to awards ceremonies ever. I'd add real sharks. #oscars

Sarah Silverman @sarahksilverman

Is Kristen Stewart fundamentally against brushes? #oscars

Billy Eichner @billyeichner

Quvenzhane Wallis's puppy purse is the new Taylor Swift. #oscars

Joel McHale @joelmchale

They should throw @tomhanks into the "In Memoriam" montage, just to see everybody freak out. #OscarsWithJoel

AnneHathawayNipples @hathawaynipple

We'd just like to point out that we won Best Supporting Actress without *any* support. #Oscars

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Social media has changed the way that many of us learn, purchase, interact and explore the world around us. And, things are just getting started. Social, Social is a place to discuss social media with people from all walks of life. No experts allowed.

About the Author

Rob works as a digital marketing & public relations consultant to agencies, brands, and individuals. He has 20 years of marketing experience. He also currently serves in a volunteer capacity as director of pr/communications for TEDxDirigo. From 2005-2011, Rob served as director of social media & agency communications at The VIA Agency (Portland). Prior to VIA, Rob worked with several PR & advertising agencies in London & Boston. He is a graduate of The University of Vermont (UVM) and a Maine transplant (2002).

Follow Rob on Twitter at @bobbbyg

His real-life interests include art, travel, writing, design, psychology, the beach, & exercise (grudgingly at times).

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