hip hop and social media

One would think that an industry as large and affluent as the hip-hop industry would be a strong force in social media.

The thing is--they are, just in ways you would not expect. Of course they are creating blogs about hip-hop, there are sites like streetcred.com where you can have discussions with other hip-hop lovers.

However, as those that follow hip hop and its performers know, the conversation is usually between two artists or groups of artists. Recently, the conversation is between the hip hop world and the government. If you've been paying attention to the news, you would have noticed that rapper, T.I., has been arrested.

The hip-hop community is torn about this. You can find a discussion about it here.

In addition to that, hip-hop listeners are also creating their own conversations, there are sites (very explicit sites), mostly based on the musical representations of their favorite rappers. So in essence, a conversation is taking place between hip hop and the world. The rappers start the conversation and the listeners continue the conversation.

Another form of social media that these artists are using is that they make themselves and their product more available to their audiences. They have music to download, videos you can watch and also some artists have personal blogs you can follow.

They are learning that by making themselves more accessible they are cementing their fan base and allowing room for more people to become fans.

Is T.V. going out of style?

After today's Peabody/Loyless State of Televison discussion, I think that social media tools, and the Internet in general, have all but destroyed the future of T.V. Well, that's not actually going to happen if the seven panelists from tonight can help it!

Click here to listen to a few ways the Internet has taken over the world of T.V.

They're finally catching on!

I have decided there is hope for the Generation X-ers and Baby Boomers when learning about social media.

This morning on Atlanta and Company, a woman came to talk about the new website, peachymoms.com. It is a social network created for moms in and around the Atlanta area.

Sounds cool, right? Exactly.

There are blogs, forums, tips and other articles written to cater to a mother's needs. In fact, there are even forums for moms with kids of different ages: preschool all the way to empty-nesters.

The site was just launched last Monday, and it already looks like it's been well received.

I actually looked at a post a middle school mom had made about her child creating a MySpace profile. She made her post, and four different moms replied to her question. I know that may not seem like a lot, but I'm sure they had no clue what they were doing. It's a new process for them, too.

The woman on the show said the two most popular topics discussed were posted by newcomers in the Atlanta area and moms who wanted to know about organic food. There is information on where to get it, how to afford it and why it's better. With the new people to the area, nine posts have been submitted, and most of them have received replies. That's a pretty good turn-out for a Web site that isn't even two weeks old.

The peachymoms Web site is also a social network. To join, I had to create a profile, and, for the first time, I had to click on pictures of birds as a security setting. Interesting, I know.

Each person's profile isn't as detailed as the ones facebook suggests, but let's face it. Moms don't care what your favorite movies or quotes are. Basic information, web page URLs and interests are asked for. You can also have a profile picture.

Three main blogs are linked to the home page. Valerie Hoff, an 11 Alive broadcaster, hosts a blog about the work-family balance. Robby Carroll has been a parenting coach in the area for years, and his blog is filled with informative tips and crisis avoiders. Cindy Simmons, a radio host, is the author of the 3rd blog. I'm not exactly sure what the purpose is, but I think it mainly focuses on her dealing with her crazy life. She says, "how peachy is my life today?"

There are two reasons why I feel encouraged by this creation:
1. As a student learning about the ins-and-outs of social media, I am excited it has finally moved to the before generation, and I am glad to know they're learning how to use it.
2. As a future mom, I am encouraged that there are networks and groups of people who are creative and innovative enough to realize a need and pick the right remedy to solve it.

I was so excited to hear about this awesome Web site this morning. What a cool idea!

Blog Action Day

This past Monday, October 15, 2007 was the first annual Blog Action Day.
Basically, this was an initiative to have as many people as possible all over the world blog about environmental and conservation issues to raise awareness of environmentalism.

It seems it was quite successful. On the wrap up site there are some incredible statistics.

Over 20,000 blogs registered and more than 23,000 blog posts turned up in a Google Blog Search of "Blog Action Day". 19 of Technorati's top 100 blogs posted about Blog Action Day on Monday, and "Blog Action Day" was Technorati's top tag AND search phrase for the day, hitting over 90 percent.

Blam!

I can almost feel the power of social media oozing out of my keyboard. I did my part to register and contribute. Check out my water conservation initiatives for the week on my blog.

I think Kevin Stirtz of the American Chronicle sums it up best when he wrote:

One reason I like Blog Action day is it demonstrates the viral power of an
idea. It shows how far and how fast something can spread via word of mouth,
using today's technologies. I also like it because it shows the vitality and
importance of New Media (of which blogging is a major player).

The brilliance of this idea lies in the fact that an incredibly huge impact was made on content in the blogosphere that stemmed from some emails and a few single bloggers. The cost was next to nothing and the reach was worldwide. Even traditional news sources like FOX and BBC found it compelling enough to jump in on the action.

So I am now even more of a believer in the power of social media, and I can't wait until next year to see how much farther this one idea can expand through people and technology.

The NYT is my Pimp.

So I have gotten into the habit of reading the NYT, and I have decided there are a lot of stupid people and a lot of smart people. For this post, I will focus on the smart people, or at least the smart people jumping on the social media bandwagon.

1. LinkedIn: ht to Alicin for already clueing us in on that. Bigger ht to Dan Nye, CEO of LinkedIn, for creating Facebook for old people.

2. Google googling: According to the NYT, Google has been less than successful in the social network world. Over the next year, Google is planning to use the information/connection it has about users to create something called the "social graph." Google wants to sell advertising for Facebook (Microsoft does that now) as it does currently for MySpace. All this kind of creeps me out. Have any of you realized that the advertising on the right hand side of your e-mails comes from words IN your e-mail. WHY? Why is Google trying to make my e-mail information available to the person sitting across from me? That person can glance over to my screen and see "Find A Date in Athens" and start thinking all kinds of nonsense.

Google is going to take over the world.

3. YAY for Avatars!!!!: They are several virtual worlds. You can have an Avatar in each world. Now some really smart people are creating an Avatar that can travel across different virtual worlds. Props to I.B.M and Linden Lab.

4. I can seee youuuuu!: Several companies are creating video chat services. Well two that I am going to talk about.

TokBox-With TokBox, you do not have to download any software you just record a video message and send a link. Fun!

MySpace and Skype: These two companies, owned by media giants, are teaming up to join the largest voice network with the largest video and social network. Now you can video, test and voice chat at the same time. Kewl!!!!

The Big Debate: TokBox vs. MySpace and Skype.
You decide.

social media spotlite #1 recap

On behalf of the entire class, I want to thank FutureWork's Brian Solis for taking the time today to be our first "Social Media Spotlite" victim - I mean visitor. Minus a few technical glitches, it went very well.

If you can live through the pixels eating away at Brian's face, here are excerpts from the Skype call.


Brian's social media success story


Should companies create their own wiki entries?



Should companies train existing employees or hire new ones to do social media?


Do you think political candidates should use social network sites?

LinkedIn to a Bright Future

We have all talked in class about the endless opportunities social media offers us in the business world today. Why not use a social media networking tool to find these stellar jobs?

LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking Web site allowing members to connect to people in the business world, enhance their career options and receive answers to those tough career questions.

Dan Nye, CEO of LinkedIn, recently answered questions of LinkedIn veterans in an interview with the New York Times. He described his vision of LinkedIn as:

" ... a young company that is pursuing a big dream and big idea. Our goal is to build a productivity tool to help professionals to be even better at what they do. We do this by helping people a) present themselves in a professional way on the internet, b) find people with unique skills, knowledge and experience, c) reach people who can help them accomplish their goals, d) get advice from their networks and LinkedIn at large, e) find opportunities, f) acquire new clients/deals."

Through a network of business professionals, members of LinkedIn are able to gain introductions to employment opportunities and advances through mutual contacts, also known as second-degree contacts and third-degree contacts. LinkedIn also supports employment search engines such as Monster, CareerBuilder and Craigslist , providing job opportunities in more than 150 industries in 400 economic regions.

LinkedIn is not all about finding a job, the newest feature is a question-and-answer forum, in which the LinkedIn community answers members' questions about jobs and career moves. It really creates a community among business professionals linked together through one Web site. Check out Guy Kawaski's Ten Ways of Using LinkedIn to learn more about the ways LinkedIn can help you.

It is free and easy to sign up and become a member to LinkedIn, and I believe it is totally worth it. Why not use social media to find a job in social media, it just makes sense.

social media spotlite #1: Brian Solis

Our very first social media spotlite live video conference with a social media industry leader will happen tomorrow at the beginning of class. We are lucky to have Brian Solis from FutureWorks talk to us:

Brian Solis is Principal of FutureWorks, an award-winning PR agency in Silicon Valley. Solis blogs at PR2.0, bub.blicio.us and regularly contributes PR and tech comments and articles to industry sites and publications. Solis is co-founder of the Social Media Club, is an original member of the Media 2.0 Workgroup and also is a contributor to the Social Media Collective and ConversationalMedia.org

Before class, please read Brian's social media manifesto & be ready to ask him a few questions about how he uses social media in his practice.

Connect conference blog

The UGA Connect social media conference is just DAYS AWAY! Our class will live blog the event, twitter our little hearts out, flickr til the cows come home & post podcast interviews.

You can check out the action all week long at http://ugaconnect.blogspot.com/, then be sure to look at us on Saturday for live coverage!