Quiver & Quill

Most Myspace profile pictures are predictable. There’s your body shot variety: a picture of breasts, abs, butt, mouth, then there’s the classic yearbook picture. Next are profile pictures featuring couples, babies, and pets. Finally, icons, celebrities, and cartoons conclude the most common profiles pics. Occasionally, I’d say 1 in 500; you’ll come across a profile that makes you wonder the story behind the picture. I came across a few such profiles; here are their stories.

I am a botanist. Last year we went out to Death Valley because it was a year of record rainfall and the whole place was just covered in flowers. It was amazing. Near the edge of the road the flowers were mixing with broken glass. But where I was sitting, there was no glass.

I had recently gotten my heart broken by a soon 2 be doctor that is seeking a trophy wife and I felt the need to relieve some frustration. Instead of hitting the bars like I was advised, I hit the road. Nothing but me, a 12 pk of beer, my best friend, and a kick ass CD. We went back to eastern KY where I am originally from and had a therapeutic mudding experience that my ex referred to as “uncivilized!” Once again, I came to the realization that it is better to be hated/left for who are, than to be loved/kept for someone that you are NOT….

The picture is one I found on a website about queer culture in pre-war Berlin. It’s vaguely (and optionally) labeled as being two prostitutes looking for a job and/or of a lesbian couple dressed to the nines on their way to dance the night away. Which? Why? How? I was intrigued. I recently met and fell in love with a woman O N L I N E who meanly and very effectively woo’ed me for two months, said I was everything to her, and then, cruelly, abandoned it with little explanation. I actually met her on myspace. The picture is about where uncertainty and privacy cross–for me–and a little about self-promotion and self-protection at once. And, as you can see, I just created this profile as an outlet to focus on my writing and adopt a persona outside the memories that cling to the “self” under which I met her. I suppose this idea could be a little creepy–multiple selves–one seen, one generally under the radar, but it feels new and private in that creepy public way. I find that being a musician with whatever “following” puts me out there as a target for lonely girls.

The Strokin Saga started about 5 years ago in a bar called Bondy’s Tavern in Cresskill, NJ. My friends and I have been doing karaoke there for quite a few years. We started playing a game called Karaoke Roulette. Basically you put your name on one slip, and the most ridiculous song you can find on the other. Someone picks your name out of a hat, and you pick a song out of another. Well I got saddled with Strokin, by Clearance Carter and not to be outdone by the song went all out with it. By the time the song was half over I was there, shirt off 2 other friends joined in, tore there shirts off and started dancing around the stage. The crowd at the bar was going nuts, laughing, cheering some even stuffing singles down our pants! From then on we got requests to do that act every week for about two years straight, and Seth and the Strokers was born!

Share This

Mandy Lynn is Myspace A List. She has over 175,000 Myspace friends, 350 pages of comments on her profile and has been named Playboy’s cyber girl of the week. Her fans love her. One of her 70 year old fans say is it best, “Man i wish i was 50 years younger.”Quiver & Quill spoke with Mandy about Myspace, Playboy and her life online.

Q&Q: How many times a day do you check your Myspace page?

Mandy: 1-2 times

Q&Q: In your profile, you call yourself a deep dork? Can you give me an example?

Mandy: well when i say dork, it is just kind of another way of saying that i am silly. Hehe and deep, i say this because i think a lot, sometimes even on a level most do not understand.

Q&Q: Do you have a secret Myspace page just for friends?

Mandy: no i do not have a myspace just for personal friends, that is a good idea actually! maybe i should.

Q&Q: Would you consider yourself Myspace A list?

Mandy: So i am told, i am very well known and recognized from myspace.

People see me out in person and are like “omg you’re mandy lynn from myspace, can i take a picture with you!” It is very flattering! I will also be part of the playboy models of myspace feature due out this summer.

Q&Q: Your Myspace page is very professional. Did you build it or have someone create it for you?

Mandy: well thank u very much! yes i did, i built it 100% on my own, most people are shocked by that and some may not believe and that is a compliment! i’m like its THAT Good? damn go me then! haha it get asked all day long where people can find that layout and im like “you can’t it is my own!” hehe

Q&Q: How have you dealt with all the fake pages? Are the fake pages good publicity for you?

Mandy: The fakers, years ago i used to get really pissed off by it, but I just roll my eyes, I am pretty well known so most people know me from playboy, and know my real page and website and stuff, but some do get fooled still.I don’t see the fakers as good publicity, they are rarely advertising any of my stuff so they are no help, they are just annoying.

Q&Q: Are you a member of online communities aside from Myspace?

Mandy: a few, but i rarely go on them, myspace is THE place to be! Hehe

Q&Q: Do you think more people know you from Myspace or from Playboy?

Mandy: I am well known from both, but i’d say myspace more, the whole world is on it!

Q&Q: What do you think of the concerns from the older generation that Myspace is, basically, ‘evil?”

Mandy: Oh gosh don’t get me started, it is really a shame that parents blame myspace, they need to realize it is not myspace’s fault that sometimes bad things happen as a result of people meeting up, what they need to do is warn their kids of the weirdos on the entire internet and not single out myspace.

Share This

My girlfriend was in a car accident yesterday. When I arrived at the scene, I interviewed several witnesses. A gentleman holding a baby volunteered his information. I wrote down his name and number.

Do you have an e-mail, sometimes it’s easier than bothering you on the phone you know…”He looked at me and replied, “Don’t spam me.”

Are you kidding me? It’s no longer about ambulance chasing lawyers but spam producing marketers. I wanted to respond, “You know, as much as I love speaking with you and not consoling my crying girlfriend, I saw this great opportunity to get your email address and add it to my collection of people to spam.”

Common sense is uncommon.

.

Share This

When is advertising cool? Geico and the Budweiser frogs come to mind as recent examples. How many times have people told you, “They just saved a bunch of money on car insurance with Geico?” Perhaps you know a group of guys who imitate the Budweiser commercial’s ‘what’s up’ commercials. Cool commercials create inside jokes. So much so, that even saying the products name causes an entire group of drunken buddies to relive the commercial, or a Chicago improv troupe to parody it nightly. Time for some evidence to support my arm chair definitions: Take Burger King.

Burger King is like the cool professor invited to the college party. New media is the party; here are five examples of the coolness. Every unsolicited user comment and reposted Burger King Viral Video represents the invitation to the party. Let’s turn on some music and bring in the keg:

You Tube Video Sharing:

There are over 316 video results for the tag Burger King on You Tube. Just the top ten results alone equal more than 90,000 impressions. Not only are people watching Burger King commercials online, they love them. Consider three comments as evidence:

Share This

The New Media Musing’s blog brought this story to my attention. DV Guru compares the top ten video web sites. While I’m clearly a You Tube advocate, at least in their present pre-ad state, this article provides a good summary to start the conversation. And you may learn a site or two…

Share This

A mentor asked me to brainstorm all the things that new media is. I created a list of fifty. They didn’t all make sense to me, but that’s the way it is in brainstorms: You write it down first and judge later.

Here are the strangest things that appeared on my list. I don’t know why I thought this:

1. New media is clean.

2. New media plays nice.

3. New media isn’t infinite.

4. New media is democratic.

5. When we grow past new media, we’ll move onto something pure.

Here are the things I liked:

1. New media is a remote controller.

2. If new media were a president, it’d be Kennedy.

3. New media is a really bad phrase to describe what new media is.

4. A better phrase for new media is “our media.”

5. New media is a language.

Five pillars of new media:

1. Ross Mayfield
2. Tech Crunch
3. Mash Up Camp
4. Wikipedia
5. The Open API

Or is it?

1. Myspace / You Tube
2. Ipod
3. Text Messaging
4. Blogger
   
5. Web 2.0 (new media or no?)
   

This month, I’m going to explore the new media theme and ask some bloggers I respect for a hand. At the end of April, I’ll share my observations.

Share This

For the newest in Social Web, check out Rollyo. This site adds a social aspect to search. Here’s how it works. Create a list of web sites. Rollyo takes that list as the universe from which it searches.

Perhaps you like Starfish. Create a starfish search engine just for you and your starfish loving friends. Now invite people to search in your custom search box. It will only search the sites you’ve selected.

But wait, here’s the sexy part. You can find new web sites that web 2.0 rock stars have included in their search. Check out Steven Rubel or Seth Godin’s search box. This is a very del.iciou.us worthy site.

“Deep thoughts”
A. If search becomes socialized and about the individual lens, I wonder how long before individuals–who are creating these search lens–begin to accept payment for include web sites in their scope?

B. Another way to use this site is to discover cool web sites that web 2.0 hot shots have book marked.

Special thanks to Lorenz @ www.Sodaguru.com for sharing it.

Share This

Headlines worth reading…

1. Mark Cuban calls for reality commercials.
2. Paypal launches new text to buy service.
3. Wall Street Journal reports on the future of ad measurement.
4. Micro Persuasion on blog, podcasting and RSS advertising stats.
5. Washington Post reports the top 50 web sites.
6. Forrester Research reports 700k households listen to podcasts.
7. Social Radio is born…

Share This

New media is not synonymous with young media. New media consists of blogs, pod, text, videos and web site innovations combined with a shift in how media is consumed and generated. This shift includes behavioral trends such as social networking, consumer generated media and on demand programming. It involves technological shifts like web 2.0, interactive web pages and the creation of a decentralized web. While web sites like Myspace, You Tube, and Heavy.com are most renowned for these innovations, many other sites web sites and demographics use them.

For instance, CNN.com exemplifies how traditional media can integrate new media into its web site. CNN offers an RSS feed, podcasting and online videos to which readers can subscribe. The CNN web site’s simple column design and user friendly interface remind me of many web 2.0 sites. It’s just missing a tag cloud!

Here’s another example. The AARP has four RSS feeds to which their readership (a 50+ demographic) subscribes. They provide podcasts for their members, which they conveniently call ‘portable programs.” Even the elderly web site Seniors for American has an RSS feed and links to blogs online.

On a personal note, I conducted end-user research for an online software company. I spoke with users in their seventies and eighties who go online daily. I gained an important insight from this. Seniors (who understood technology) linked their internet ability to a general sense of autonomy.

New media innovations will only strengthen their ability. By providing simple ways to benefit from technology, new media holds as much promise for 55+ demographic as it does for the 18-34 demo.

Want a different perspective? Ask Jupiter Research.

Share This

V-blogs, video blogs, video diaries…

When you actually have to watch someone talk about their life on video, you see very quickly the difference between an interesting, well constructed narrative and say, me talking to myself as I shave. Perhaps in a post-modernist way, the latter has real value. But in our society, where we expect to be entertained, where we don’t have enough of an attention span to remember why we’re searching for meaning, I can’t imagine the mundane video blogs working. It’s like reality tv. with no editor. And unlike text blogs, it’s harder to scroll.

Generation Y? Ready…Ready…Go:

And for some added amusement: Here’s an example of a video blogger telling her audience that—collective gasp here–she will no longer publish her video blog.

BTW, I’m sure I’ll have a video blog in less than a year.

Share This

New! Dating is a search problem. Solve it with Google Romance

Share This