There were, however, a few things that stuck out to me about this episode, and they had nothing to do with the actual episode itself. Instead, I was struck by Fox's use of social media promotion surrounding the tribute.
As soon as the episode began with the beautiful rendition of Rent's "Seasons of Love," a #RememberingCory hashtag appeared on screen. It immediately felt like Fox was trying to capitalize on Monteith's death by attempting to get a trending hashtag. (And, not only did that hashtag trend, but I'd bet that someone at the network created an internal report measuring the Twitter activity). Please note, I'm not saying this is why they did it -- but this is how it came across.
If anything, Fox could have aired a promo that said, "Let's remember Cory together. Gather with other Glee fans on Twitter now to share your thoughts. #RememberingCory." That would have made it clear what their intention was for the hashtag. Instead, it came across as promotional and sleazy.
Maybe I'd have cut Fox some slack, but then I saw this on my Facebook feed: A sponsored post promoting the episode.
I know, I know. Without advertising, maybe fans wouldn't know the episode was airing, and this was a reminder. (Though I can't imagine any hardcore Glee fans not knowing about it.) That said, the combination of the Twitter hashtag and the sponsored Facebook post made me squirm.
On a semi-unrelated note, but while we're on the topic of Glee and social media... I recently followed Lea Michele on Twitter. And then I got this email:
Really, Twitter? You suggest I follow Cory Monteith? It's unbelievable to me that no one at Twitter removed Monteith from their algorithm after he died.
For me, this whole experience raises a whole lot of questions. So, what did you think of Fox's social media promotion of Glee?
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