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Last summer, a news report appeared on local tv in Huntsville Alabama that was so over the top, someone thought to put it up on YouTube.  Someone thought they could autotune it and turn it into a song.  a few weeks later, Antoine Dodson had the #3 song on the iTunes R&B chart.  There are dozens of covers of the song, which the Gregory Brothers (the autotuners) encourage at the end of the video.  How has social media changed what we think about fame? Antoine, like Rebecca Black, ended up doing national TV appearances, and eventually made enough money from selling his song to buy his family a house.  

Has anyone read this book? I started it a few days ago. Noticed that reviews, like the one I linked to, were skeptical. Basically, Carr, who is a journalist, not a scientist, cites studies on brain plasticity and research that the brain changes in response to actions to conclude that the way we read and synthesize information online has changed the way we think (for the worse). I like how the NYT review puts new technology in a historical perspective.

Well, if I had to take a guess, I think she did it since one of her main points is that media isn't an external force outside of our control -- we can shape it, caring about it enough to respond and filter it. With a graphic novel, the images draw you in because they're abstract; the reader plays an active role by seeing themselves in the images and connecting all the images/words together to make it make sense. It engages so many of our senses at once. I love what Scott McCloud has to say about this, and the following talk that he gave actually relates more to how comics have been impacted by technology: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXYckRgsdjI

The idea that media has the potential to shape how we reason reminds me of Neil Postman and Marshall McLuhan. As an undergrad, I was basically obsessed with Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death" and the idea that some forms of media -Postman was especially thinking about TV- are inherently shallower than other forms and that the predominant medium tends to set the standard of what makes a good argument. Anyway, I wanted to find a YouTube video of Postman but instead found a really good video of Mike Wesch talking about Postman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09gR6VPVrpw&feature=related

"For years the top record label executives have been claiming that it's impossible to compete with free, but YouTube is proving them wrong. With billions of views every month the major record labels are making millions by sharing their music for free."

This was an interesting video that was introduced to me last semester in Digital Libraries. The creators of Monty Python came up with a very clever way to turn the tables of having so many of their videos "ripped off." Instead of the public posting bad poor quality versions of their videos, they provide a collection of their videos themselves, along with links to purchasing them!

I am a big pop music/culture nut. Always have been...probably always will be. So, when I really started thinking about social media and all its uses, I began to wonder...who out there uses social media to it's fullest potential. The answer was obvious. Lady Gaga! When I did a quick search on Lady Gaga and social media, I got a lot of hits. But I wasn't surprised. She is the master when it comes to sites like Facebook and Twitter. Yes, she is out there wearing meat dresses and making fun songs, but it's her presence on social networking sites that I feel has really catapulted her to super stardom. What do you all think?

hmm. is it gaga or her p/r team creating the image? Is her voice really hers? How do we know?

I am sure it is more her "team" then her herself. But, still...it's rather impressive.

Always fun to watch even if you've seen it before. The first time I saw this was at a SLA event on social media last fall - even though it wasn't that long ago, it's surprising to me that in that time social media has pervaded our lives even more. The speaker at that event was making the case for social media, whereas now, I'd think the expectation from SLA participants would be, how can we make the most of social media.

 Rebecca Black's song Friday is popular for all the wrong reasons.  Filmed for the sole purpose of having someone see it and having her earn actual fame for her talent (a la Bieber), it was shared via social media so much for how bad it was that it blew up.  Her internet famo turned into television appearances and actual fame.  But is this an actual trend? I'm going to post another link in a second...

I actually thought this was just the next iteration of Rickrolling. I guess people actually like the song?

Interesting thing about Rebecca Black. Her Mom actually put up the money ($2,000 or so) for her to record the song and video to dissuade her daughter from seeking a career in the music industry. Funny how things work sometimes.

I swear I just posted this to the group but it didn't show up, so apologies for a potential duplicate. This blogger observes the fact that a traditional mass media (think Nightly News with Walter Cronkite) doesn't really exist anymore, thanks to social news sites, YouTube, and the explosion of TV channels.

i always wonder about this...if the nightly news will ever "die out." i think about how older people (like my parents and grandparents) still turn the tv on to watch the news every single night, no matter what. personally i hope the nightly news sticks around. i find myself overwhelmed by online content. the news program gives me a summary of some issues...and if i want to do addition research on my own online, i can (don't have to trust them as the only 'authority'). maybe it's lazy that i want them to choose for me. but i like watching regular news programs...especially because i know those stories will come up on the daily show/colbert report :)

I took a class called "Internet and Democracy" at the UT school of journalism last year. It was fascinating to see how the journalism folks are getting used to social media. A lot of the same questions as LIS, but really working from a different model.

This is a few years old, but still makes me chuckle. Just an FYI: It's sorta NSFW...lewd words and such.

Another product of social media - insta-internet star! BTW, Rebecca's Black's video is now up to over 159 million views and the song was covered on Glee!

Now I see how people on youtube make money...I didn't know they paid per view...makes sense.

I think that this is one of the great benefits of social media. People have a chance to make something of themselves without spending millions of dollars in advertisements. It's not just about celebrity status, but more importantly, people can create businesses or help causes using these cheaper tools.

Building an online community and culture around words, phrases, and tropes -> looks at twitter hashtags, 

Hey, sorry I didn't see this comment sooner! I'm on a few google groups about memes so I get a lot of articles through them, as well as following twitter accounts of academics studying the lulz. This one, I think I just found it on google scholar while looking for sources for my final project.

Jay Smooth nails the "no homo" meme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7nCB8aiXD4)....and explains that as fun as it is to "play the game," just don't do it.