“I don’t want you with me! I don’t need you! I don’t need anybody! With my strength — my power — the world is mine!” ~The Incredible Hulk

As a kid I loved all the super hero comics, and now, thanks to Hollywood, I can relive them through the movies. Yet, it is even more fun when cartoonist Caldwell Tanner from the College Humor fame turns Internet companies into these same heroes and villains.

Back in December, I wrote a post about how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (a.k.a. the Mormon Church or LDS Church) knows SEO. At the time, many influential SEO bloggers were showcasing the strength of the Church’s SEO efforts.

Yesterday, the LDS Church did a press release on their social media efforts. It seems that the Mormon Church is also quite proficient in social media. According to their press release, “…six of the Church’s official Facebook pages are ranked among the top 100 in the “Church/Religious Organization” category — including two in the top 25.”

These pages, according to AllFacebook.com, are:

If you want a good tutorial and an in progress case study on creating viral web videos, than check out today’s New York Times’ article on political YouTube Ads. The article is about Ladd Ehlinger’s work on creating successful (aka viral) YouTube political ads. It particularly follows Ehlinger’s creation of an ad for Republican candidate Sean Bielat of Massachusetts. After reading the article there were four take-aways I gained on how to have a video go viral. With the November elections around the corner we will have to see if having a viral YouTube video makes any difference in winning! ~Paul

1. Creating Buzz Around the Buzz
I think the major ingredient Ehlinger capitalizes on is the political hot-spots that are going on right now. It’s not necessary to completely create your own buzz. It seems the videos that do the best are those which focus on current interest (think Obama Girl in 2008).

2. Holding Hands with Traditional Media
One aspect the New York Times pointed out (in the video accompanying the article) was that Ehlinger’s major goal for his video was to get it on TV. Not as a commercial, but rather as part of the news. I don’t live in Massachusetts and won’t be voting for either candidates, but I am compelled to make a personal note to watch Mr. Bielat’s ad when it comes out. It looks like the New York Times helped Ehlinger’s achieve his goal by writing about his goal Ü.