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

[UPDATE: Please note that when posting a story you should leave source links in your description text if you intend to include them or pull media from those links for your story. It does not matter where in the description they appear, just note that the link closest to the top of the description text will be your primary source, and you can pull media from up to five other sources. Thanks!]

While news of our new Fall episodes has been at the forefront these days, that doesn’t mean that our dev team has been twiddling their thumbs. To the contrary, we’re happy to announce that there is a new release hitting Current.com today, and we can’t wait to hear what you think of it.

Let’s face it, contributing to Current.com has never been the easiest thing to do — a refresh of this workflow has been long overdue. With this new release, clicking the “Post a Story” button (located in the green navigation bar) will now produce a submission tool overlaid on whichever page you’re on.

We’ve streamlined the process, here’s a walkthrough:

(more…)

Our Current Music team has been working overtime to bring you our brand new six part music special, Embedded. Everything is set to go for our Wednesday night premiere (October 14, 11/10c), but we need your help getting the word out.

Help us Internets, you’re our only hope.

But seriously, if you have a website, blog, Tumblr, MySpace, or [insert other social network profile] account that takes video embeds, now is your time.

I’ll let Shana’s words do the talking:

Embed Embedded is a viral game in which users get a unique embed code for a sneak peek video from our new six part music special. The user who generates the highest number of video views during a one-week period gets a limited edition poster for the show designed by legendary music artist Justin Hampton. Each week we’ll put up a new video and you have a new chance to be our mastermind of viral videos.

Log in on Current.com (Don’t have an account? No worries, we support Facebook Connect!) and visit Embed Embedded. We’ll post a new Embedded clip for you to embed each week. The artists featured on Embedded include Mos Def, Silversun Pickups, Ben Harper, Common, Thievery Corporation, and The Decemberists to name a few. To name a few more, you’ll also catch glimpses of K’Naan, Arcade Fire, Lykke Li, Bloc Party, Amanda Palmer, Delta Spirit, Passion Pit, and Bon Iver to boot. So, expect to see embed Embedded clips from some of those folks.

And here’s the cool thing — each embed code on the Embed Embedded page is unique to you. The person with the most views on their embedded Embedded video will become the top embed user for the week, and will be showered with praise in the Current Music blog. So start embedding your unique embed code, help us spread the word, and get the opportunity to score some exclusive Embedded swag.

I’ll even help you out. My bet for video views would be to embed your unique embed code on your blog, then submit the link to your blog post to Digg, Reddit, Tumblr, StumbleUpon, Yahoo! Buzz, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.

So what do you say, could you lend us a helping hand?

Hello Currenteers,

It’s time for another feature release on current.com! Thanks to our crafty dev team, this time around we have something that has been in the works for some time: a brand new embeddable video player!! Here are some notable new features:

• Killer new design and slick new layout
• New tools for share and embed — we’re going to add some functionality to the share tool in an upcoming release
• Controls disappear during playback, but reappear when you mouseover
• Info tab gives you the scoop on the video, a brief description, including who uploaded, and how many responses it’s received
• A brand new end slate featuring other current videos

But enough with the talky-talky. Take it for a test drive and let us know what you think:

La Blogotheque Show Episode 2: featuring The Dodos, The Grand Archives, and an interview with Beirut frontman Zach Condon

Current News reports on the Perez Hilton and Miss California gay marraige question

CarrotMob organizes flashmobs to frequent business as a reward for eco-friendly behavior

Take our new player for a test spin, and shoot us any feedback, questions, or suggestions on our Get Satisfaction page.

– mario