Social media news and TV – Current.com Blog – Your guide to Current

I’ve been reading through some of the #fiestamovement tweets and blog posts from the agents, and @karakay’s recent post, “End of Fiesta, Back to the Music” struck a chord (pardon the pun).

Many people supported my doing this contest, but many others weren’t so excited about it. A few comments came my way stating, “this car promotion was distracting me from my music & a waste of time.” While I understand how it could be seen that way I must say I think I gained quite a bit of knowledge in other areas of social media marketing that are going to help me as an independent artist. Things I had not much experience in, now I do. (Such as video editing.)

It’s been a fun 6 months. Lots of inspiring events happened over the road that will be resulting in some new songs by this spring I did get to travel to a couple festivals and performed some shows this summer.

Six months is a long time to spend with a car while documenting the various adventures one might find themselves getting into. So I wonder, what else did these 100 agents learn while on the road? If you are an agent, send me a tweet @current, or leave a comment below. I’m curious to hear your perspective.

For those of you interested, take a look at some of the Fiesta Agents’ profiles and vote for your favorite agent. The awards ceremony is on 12/1, so help your favorite agent get ahead of the pack.

Hey Fiesta Agents, do you want to be on TV?

Max and Jason will be covering the Fiesta Event at the LA Auto Show live on 12/1 (for info check out this post), and they’ll be looking to capture the scene from the perspective of the agents in attendance. So agents, be on the lookout for our cameras, and tweet @current, @maxandjason, or using #current while you’re at the Fiesta Event. Who knows, you might find yourself on TV!

As a part of their Fiesta Movement we’re partnering with Ford to have Max and Jason bring you the Fiesta Movement Celebration on December 2nd at 11:30/10:30c on Current TV. Before we dive into the details, here’s some background information to give you a little context.

To kickoff the Fiesta Movement, Ford challenged bloggers, technologists, and any other social media enthusiasts to spend six months participating in a campaign called the Fiesta Movement. They received over 4,000 applicants, but only 100 were chosen to be “Agents of the Fiesta Movement.” These agents spent the next six months behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta while traveling around the country completing 600 monthly themed missions ranging from Travel, Adventure, Social Activism, Technology, Style & Design, and Entertainment.

Each of these missions were documented using social media sites like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, 12seconds, and just about any other social media site out there. If your interested check out some of the missions, or if you’re interested in what some of the agents are doing as their six month stint winds down take a look at the #fiestamovement hashtag on Twitter.

So, what are Max and Jason up to?

Here’s the full rundown of what you can expect. On 12/1, the guys will be filming live at the Ford Fiesta Movement Celebration at the Palladium in LA between 11pm-2am E / 8pm-11pm P. They’ll be spending the evening soaking up the event, and using Current cameras to get the unique perspective of the Fiesta Agents in attendance. Portions of their coverage will be streamed on the Max and Jason: Still Up page on Current.com, and live updates will also air on Current TV throughout the night.

Then on 12/2 Max and Jason will return to the Current airwaves to host the Fiesta Movement Celebration at 11:30/10:30c.

Yesterday we introduced a new experiment on Current.com called Developing Stories. As expected, there has been some confusion around the concept, but we’re working to clear things up as we go, after all it’s an experiment. Ed. Note — If you’ve already read our intro post, please re-read it as it’s been updated with information about pitching stories for consideration as Developing Stories. Thanks!

Our first ever Developing Story came from current89 titled, “House Dems set for health care vote: AARP to endorse bill.”

This morning, we have our first scoop. WakeUpPeople posted a story titled, “Bachmann calls on protestors to use scare tactics against Congress.” This was considered a scoop because it’s a new development in the health care reform bill story, so current89’s story has been removed from featuring on the Current.com homepage, removed from the Current Developing Stories group, and placed in the Developing Stories Archives. Also note, both of these stories have been connected via links in their comments.

It will be interesting to see how this develops going forward. Kudos to both current89 and WakeUpPeople for getting Developing Stories off and running!

Got a scoop? Want to suggest a story for development? Here’s how!

If you want to get your story on our radar for consideration, please tag it with “Current Developing Stories” when you submit to Current.com. PLEASE NOTE: Tagging is not the same as adding to a group. The “Current Developing Stories” is a CLOSED group managed by the editors, so you will not be able to add stories there. Tagging, however, will allow you to be seen by our editors we will monitor that tag for potential stories to develop.

Remember our Make Common’s Day callout? Well Shana just announced Common’s pick on the Current Music Blog, take a look:

From the many amazing videos, Common hand-picked his favorite, ‘Common’s Make My Day Music Video: Clip Art’, by Josh Milowe, Elizabeth Casal and Mike Potter, collectively known as Wealthy Pictures.

Check out the video above, and look for its on-air premiere Wednesday, November 4 at 11/10c during Embedded featuring Common:

This is awesome news, and a hearty congratulations is due to all who submitted to this. Thanks!

This might feel a little like a Mashable round-up, but even still it’s an interesting subject. There’s no question that social media is on the rise. Consider the recent research from database firm Drake Direct which shows Facebook now accounts for 25% of all US page views. Period.

The rapid growth of Twitter is also evidence in this, and the recent deals the company has made with both Bing and Google insures that those who search for content on the web are bound to run into more tweets in the not too distant future. Social search is quickly becoming a reality.

Let’s face it folks, the bubble is expanding.

President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and their daughters, Sasha and Malia, sit for a family portrait in the Green Room of the White House, Sept. 1, 2009. (Official White House Photo)

And then you have President Barack Obama. His use of social networks and social media were unprecedented during his campaign. We now live in a world where an Annie Leibovitz family photo shoot results in an update to the White House photostream on Flickr. It’s the same world where University journalism students at Australia’s Griffith University are now required to take a Twitter class.

Social data has never been more widely available, publicly. Facebook has every update you post, what you eat, what you like based on polling apps, and more importantly who you are connected to. The connections gap is narrowing as well. Sure, celebrities on Twitter are one example — with one click you can follow you’re favorite celebrity. But consider that by following the White House photostream I can get updates on our president. The degree of access is multiplying. It’s certainly not the most profound form of transparency, but it’s a trend. And the trend is going to continue.

What do you think, should the government be more open? Should Twitter be required reading for the future of journalism? Is social media the key to unlocking this, or just more noise from the Internet?

Today, the Commonwealth Club hosted a talk by FBI director Robert Mueller on cyber crime, terrorism, and national security. It’s a pretty timely topic, considering the recent news about password leaks from several major email providers, I was lucky enough to be able to attend.

It was a pretty interesting talk. Much of the advice Mueller offered was basic–watch out for phishing scams, make sure  you user firewalls and install virus protection, and use strong passwords. He also emphasized the importance of reporting phishing attempts, which you can do through the Internet Crime Complaint Center, and mentioned the recent successful take down of a phishing scam operating out of the US and Egypt. (I give it bonus points for having the code name “Phish Phry”. Hee!)

Some of the most interesting points came up during the Q&A session, and I wish that there had been more time to delve into those topics.

One of the points made was that, of course, criminals and terrorists have access to the same collaborative technologies we do. Things like Google Earth can be used for good…but can also be put to use by people with negative attentions. At the same time, Mueller noted that the FBI and other law enforcement agencies are struggling with the fact that they traditionally investigate things in a very compartmenetalized manner, and ways to integrate the same types of collaborative software and tech into their work.

The other interesting thing that came up was the undisciplined nature of the internet. Under the veil of anonymity, people feel free to say a lot of things, some of them very hateful. But how do you tell who is going to move from hateful rhetoric to action? Mueller referenced a few recent attack by lone wolf type assailants–the shooting of a Holocaust Museum guard in Washington DC, and the shooting of two soldiers at a recruiting station–and raised that question. How do you know who is going to move past that? Can you tell?

All in all, it was pretty interesting to think about. What are your thoughts?

Steph

The Kanye-VMA-a-thon doth continue. Earlier today I opined the potential for social media chatter on Twitter to translate into the perfect storm for TV ratings, and Josh Heller tracked the lightning speed with which a meme was born in the brave new Twitter world over on the Current Comedy blog.

Well, it would appear that Obama fired back at Kanye this afternoon, but his comment was not exactly ready for prime time. The Huffington Post reports:

During a CNBC interview on Monday, President Obama called hip-hop artist Kanye West a “jackass” over his behavior at the MTV Video Music Awards.

But, the plot thickens. Obama’s comment was made during an off-air portion of an interview with CNBC. ABC reporter Terry Moran jumped all over that bad boy quip, quickly tweeting it out to his 1,063,505 followers before deleting his post and issuing a retraction/apology for the gaffe.

Their retraction reads:

In the process of reporting on remarks by President Obama that were made during a CNBC interview, ABC News employees prematurely tweeted a portion of those remarks that turned out to be from an off-the-record portion of the interview. This was done before our editorial process had been completed. That was wrong. We apologize to the White House and CNBC and are taking steps to ensure that it will not happen again.

So, here’s a lesson to keep in mind regardless of the immediacy social media provides: the Internets are forever.

Period.

Related post:

• Shana of Current Music ponders the pop-culturization of performance art in Lady Gaga’s VMA stage show

I completely tuned out of the VMA broadcast on MTV last night (a friend noted on Facebook that life is too short to watch the VMAs, and personally I couldn’t agree more.). I did take some time to check out a little bit of the pre-show Twitter push and Stamen/Radian6’s visualization. Overall, the implementation didn’t feel like it broke any new ground, but there are a few things that came out of the experience that are definitely worth noting.

Specifically, people were tweeting while they watched the show. It was practically unavoidable. Kanye’s little stunt obviously spurred a considerable amount of chatter in the form of re-tweets and @replies from the usual suspects. But here’s where it gets interesting. News of Kanye’s onstage antics traveled so fast that mash-ups and parodies began cropping up BEFORE THE SHOW FINISHED AIRING. This one in particular is really well done: Kanye interrupts Obama.

[Side note: Current Comedy's Josh Heller discusses how the viral turnaround for memes appears to be speeding up -- pandemic anyone?]

MTV is no stranger to the social media impact on this sort of thing. Remember the Eminem vs. Brüno onslaught/stunt that made its way into people’s social media streams and RSS readers the week following the MTV Movie Awards?

Buzz going into the Brüno opening weekend was white hot — infoMania’s Bryan Safi (and the world over) questioned whether Brüno would be blight or boon for the gay movement, and people flocked to the cinemas to see for themselves on opening day. But the social media wave that carried people into the theaters also seemed to play a role in the films undoing once those early viewers weighed in on Facebook and Twitter. So, if Twitter can single handedly make AND break box office, imagine what it can do across the coasts thanks to time delays? Hello, anyone smell ratings?

I’m also hearing word that MTV chopped up a “Kanye-lite” version of the show for the West Coast (still looking for confirmation on this). Either way, the online turnaround on MTV’s side seems to suggest this as well. While the West Coast feed was still airing, the MTV VMA homepage had already flipped to highlight clips of Lady Gaga, Kanye, and the MJ recap.

But this time around, we weren’t just seeing the usual Twitterati weigh in, music artists tweeted reactions as well. Kelly Clarkson rarely blogs, and hasn’t tweeted since the “Jeff Goldblum is dead” rumors, but she posted a letter to Kanye on her personal blog that subsequently made the rounds on Twitter:

I was actually nominated in the same category that Taylor won and I was excited for her…so why can’t you be?? I’m not even mad at you for being an asshole…I just pity you because you’re a sad human being.

Pink, on the other hand, made her opinion clear in well under 140 characters:

Kanye West is the biggest piece of shit on earth. Quote me.

So here we are, it’s Monday morning, and we’re collectively discussing the Kanye West and Taylor Swift dust-up that occurred last night at the VMAs. (if it’s any compensation, I’m listening to The Decemberists while tapping this out).

John Lichman pointed out over on the @current_movies Twitter feed, “And don’t forget he’s on the Jay Leno premiere tomorrow night. Not at all a coincidence.” So what say you, dear Current readers? Was this just simply “Kanye being Kanye”? Or, is Twitter poised to be the new ratings booster for TV?

Last week we launched Facebook Connect integration on Current.com, and since the launch we’ve had a number of community members ask for more details around this feature. So, here is a deep dive into how Facebook integration works on Current.com.

One Facebook related question frequently sent our way asks, “Why would I want to connect my Facebook account to my Current account?” There are very good reasons, which I’ll get to in a moment, but first let me share a seemingly-unrelated-yet-equally-frequently-asked-question with you, “How do I get my group featured [in fastest growing groups]?”

Believe it or not, these two questions are interconnected. Fastest growing groups are determined by growth of membership. You grow your group in two significant steps: 1) curate creative content, and 2) get your group and it’s content in front of more people.

Facebook Connect gives you the means to accomplish the second step relatively easy. When you link your Facebook account to your Current account, you’re given an easy way to share your Current submissions and comments with your Facebook connections. Truth be told, Current.com is much smaller than Facebook. So chances are, a good number of your Facebook friends may have never even heard of Current, but might share common interests with you which could result in more members joining your group.

“But isn’t that just spamming your Facebook account with Current content?”

Like anything in life, moderation is key. You won’t likely want to share every single comment you make on one Current.com thread, so we’ve put the option to “post to Facebook” in place when submitting or commenting on Current.com. This way you can easily check, or uncheck, if you feel like you’ve sent too much (or too little) to your Facebook account.

If you take a close look at how items get posted to your Facebook feed, you’ll see that items in groups that you own/moderate will actually promote your group as well (take a look at the way my post from an item in the LOST group appears in my Facebook feed).

“OK, but I don’t care about groups. Don’t own one, don’t want one.”

No worries. We find that many of our community members use Current.com to try and create awareness around a cause, or to tell a story that is otherwise being ignored via other informational outlets. If you find yourself in this category, then Facebook Connect still has something to offer. Connecting your accounts will still give you the opportunity to share stories with a larger group of people connected to you on Facebook.

“OK, sounds good. How do I do it?”

Connecting your accounts is easy, and there are several ways to do it. You can click login and select “Connect with Facebook.” If you choose this route, you’ll be asked to log into Facebook, and then you’ll be given the opportunity to connect to an existing Current.com account.

If you’re already logged in, just edit your profile and click on the “external accounts” tab, then click on “Connect with Facebook.”

You’ll be asked to login to your Facebook account, and afterwards you’ll be taken back to “external accounts” and the tab will now offer some customizable settings.

If you check the box to “Publish my activity on Current.com to my Facebook Stream” the “Publish to Facebook” button (found in the comment and item submission workflows) will be checked by default. When you post comments or items on Current you can always uncheck this box to prevent over-posting to Facebook.

If you check the box next to “Current can send me email through Facebook” you will be able to receive Current activity notifications in your Facebook inbox.

Both of these options will prompt an additional Facebook verifications box.

Once you’ve connected your accounts, you will be free to login to Current via your Facebook login, and you’ll be able to publish your Current.com activity on Facebook.

Try it out, and as always send us feedback!

Featured_groups

Hello everybody, It’s time for featured groups!

Hackers

The Hackers group was recently created by hunzedog and covers A LOT of ground when it comes to ‘hacking.’  Hackers deals with cyber-security, cyber-pranks and hacking the gibson – content ranges from totally hilarious and cute to downright ultra-scary.

The Future

Cue technology beeps and droning sounds.  The Future group is awesome – newfangled techno-whatsits and far-out space doo-hickeys are littered all over the place.  The Future group also covers problems of today and how they may effect us tomorrow.

Tuff E Nuff

Pretty straightforward – this is all about being tough, kicking ass and taking names.  Tuff E Nuff honors those among us who have overcome challenges and beaten the odds. Thanks for the awesome group eldamon!

That about wraps it up for this weeks featured groups – as always – if you have a group that you’d like to see featured please drop me a line at bdorries@current.com !

Thanks,

-Ben