Back in 1997, we posted a page of user-submitted Michael Jackson jokes on methodshop.com. Actually on this very page. Don’t get us wrong. We don’t hate Michael Jackson. One of MethodShop’s most popular pages is a tutorial on how to make a Michael Jackson Mii for the Nintendo Wii. But at the time, Michael Jackson was having some major problems and the joke page was a huge hit. During the next decade, we updated the page here and there, but in general, the page stayed dormant and barely got any page views.
Then in June 2010, Lulu Kordzadze from Tbilisi, Georgia sent us the following email: “I’ll be short but to the point. The content on the Michael Jackson Jokes page is beyond disrespect! Especially when it comes to a deceased person… There exists a veritable army of Michael Jackson advocates who refuse to accept further denigration of Michael Jackson’s character, legacy, and reputation. On behalf of all the concerned fans, I would like to ask the management to remove the “Michael Jackson Jokes” page. This may seem like a small thing, but it means a lot to all of us.”
“hi lulu, please post your comments at the bottom of the “Michael Jackson Jokes” page. if you gather enough support from other Michael Jackson fans we will remove it.”
Honestly, we didn’t think much of the matter after that. How many people would bother to comment or post on our Facebook page? Could Lulu really harness the power of social media and mobilize her fellow Michael Jackson fans?
Wow, we were in for a surprise. Within 24 hours, Lulu organized an army of Michael Jackson fans all over the world, and they flooded our Facebook page and Gmail inbox with comments like these:
Long story short, here we are listening to “Man In the Mirror” on iTunes and converting our old Michael Jackson Jokes page into a featured story about Lulu Kordzadze, a 26-year-old from Tbilisi, Georgia.
So how did Lulu do it? How did she organize such a big reaction so fast? She’s the President of MJSAHR (MJ-Supporters Against Hate and Racism), a movement that started to end hate material about Michael Jackson. “When I first saw MethodShop’s jokes page, I thought this one the worst thing I had ever seen in my life,” said Lulu via email. “So I immediately informed MJSAHR about it. We are a big group, we work hard and we work fast. I also contacted admins of some other Michael Jackson fan groups, they’ve been a great help too. And so in just a few hours, you could see the results on MethodShop.com.”
What do you think? The Michael Jackson jokes page is gone. Should we have held our ground and left it up? Are you a Michael Jackson fan? What do you think about Lulu and @methodshop?
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