studionashvegas | design and social media

Note:
I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with any of the things I talk about –
this is just me putting information out there to think about, and you
can make your own decisions about it.  You’re not sheep – I won’t treat
you as such.

Isn’t it ironic that we have a bit of a double-sided coin going on the Internet at the moment.  There’s a huge debate going on between Apple and Google, Flash and HTML5, over proprietary software.  People are clamoring for Apple to open up their platforms to allow all types of programming (Flash, specifically) instead of closing their boxes.  So, what do people do?  They tweet about it.

On the flip side, those tweets you’re sending out can now be used (and monetized) by twitter for any purpose whatsoever.  What’s more, is that if you post a tweet on your site, and it causes you to get ad revenue, Twitter is legally entitled to a share of that, because you are re-purposing their content:

In cases where Twitter content is the basis (in whole or in part) of the
advertising sale, we require you to compensate us (recoupable against
any fees payable to Twitter for data licensing).

Scary stuff, eh? Your tweets, open to the free world, can now be used by Twitter for anything, including making money.  Makes you want to read those TOS clauses more closely.

So, I want to know what you think.  Where do you stand on either front?  Sure, Apple makes more money locking it’s hardware down… or does it?  Or, should Twitter really have as much power as it seems to with it’s latest Terms of Use update?

No, don’t worry, this isn’t one of those esoteric posts to be shared by those who have lived through an event such as 9/11 or whatnot.  This is more like a literal posed question to people who I think deserve to give us an answer. ~Mitch

During and after the flood that hit Nashville in 2010, I stayed glued to WKRN (and the WKRN twitter account) to see what was going on with friends and constituents who were trapped or lost stuff in the flood.

Our local news stations (WKRN, WSMV, and NewsChannel5) did a bang up job keeping everyone informed, up to date, and out of harms way as best as possible.  I mean, when flood waters get into a 500-year flood plain (where floods MIGHT happen once every 500 years) then there’s really only so much planning can do.  But they were vigilant, their news anchors showing signs of fatigue as the night went on.

The twitter stream was on in full force too.  Citizen journalists and news team twitter accounts relayed and received information at supersonic speed.  @tndotcom, @nashvillest, @wkrn and their network of followers spread the news of what was going on to their followers (sometimes) faster than the news stations were.

So… local news stations? A+.  Local Twitter account users? A+.

National Media… White House… Where were you?

It’s 2:15pm CST on May 3rd.  We have only a little coverage on FoxNews and (for most of the morning) neither CNN nor anyone else really was having much to say about it.  Sure, right now there’s concern of the giant gulf oil spill.  I’ll give em that one. But when a bomb almost explodes in New York, a whole day ago, you report on it and go on to something that has a little more meaning.  We had record level flooding, people getting forced out of their homes, and even buildings being swept down major interstates.

Where were you?

We sent a request into the Federal government on Saturday, knowing full well we’d need it after all of the heavy downpours (and we will need help with the rebuilding efforts).

Where were you?

We’ve been watching as friends and family are displaced, sent to shelters, or even lost their lives and livelihoods as the Cumberland river swept over Nashville to levels no one has seen in nearly 80 years.

And what did we get?  2nd billing under a “Happy Birthday Singing Dog” and no word from the Commander-in-Chief.

Where were you?

I guess it’s been enough time to where I can change my question up a bit:

Where are you?

Is it because we’re a red state?  Is it because we aren’t a New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, or other major city?  Is it because we fly under the scandal radar (for the most part) and keep quiet as our citizens prosper and our startups continually do great things?

I do want to go back on a statement I keep hearing: Traditional media is dead – social media is where things are going.  I want to change it a bit:

National media is dead.  Local media, and social media, are the blend of information services we need to survive, and as long as there are television sets we will still rely on our local news teams.

Why? For the same reasons mom-and-pop businesses thrive when chain stores suffer: community.  No one knows our community like we do, and no one knows what we need to hear like the people in it.  Our local news anchors are the community – they live here, they work here, and they have stake in what goes on because its happening to them too.  Some dude sitting at a news desk 1000 miles away – He hasn’t got a clue.

So, hats off to everyone who got us through this mess – i forgot a lot of people, but you know who you are.  And for those of you outside of Nashville that don’t care: yes, we’re still here.  We’re drying out our socks and shoes (and boots) and getting ready to step up and continue to do our thing.

With you, or without you.

Because, the question still bears asking:

Where are you?

A lot of people don’t know this about me, but I grew up in a small town in Kentucky.  I mean really, really small. Here’s a hint: I share a hometown with the latest “America’s Got Talent” winner.  I’ll let you do the math on that one. Anyway , the whole town had about 10,000 people in it, zero Starbucks (heck, no coffee-shops of any kind), and didn’t even have high speed internet until right around the turn of the century (how I got from there to here is a completely different story entirely). But, if you ask around in town, especially to the “old-timers”, and mention my last name, chances are the question about my grandfather or parents will come up.

My grand-dad works at the local funeral home as an usher.  He put in his years at the Goodyear tire plant in Union City, TN until he retired, but (being the ever active person he is) he decided to keep working doing something he loves – interacting with people.  He’s the song-leader at a small Baptist church, and also helps out with a friend of his who’s an auctioneer on the weekends.

But, doing all this, I swear he knows every single person in town.

Why is he so well known?  Does he have money?  Not a lot.  I mean he has enough to get by, but what he does have he’s always willing to share with a friend (or in some cases, a complete stranger).  He’s always working, as you can tell, but he’s never too busy to help out someone who needs to borrow a truck or tractor.  And at the funeral home, I guarantee that if you wanted anyone telling you that things were going to be OK, it would be my grand-dad.  People still tell me that he was one of the people that helped them get through their grieving loss.

Thing is, my grand-dad gives, and gives, and gives, without a single thought of how or even if others will pay him back.  He doesn’t expect a reward out of it – he does it simply for the thought of seeing how it can help anyone and everyone around him. 

And when he does help out people, word gets around.  People talk about the kind gentleman who handed them a tissue at the funeral home and told them everything would be OK.  They talk about the guy who brought a plate of food to their house when they were sick or bedridden.  They mention my grand-dad, who loaned them a tractor – a huge, metal farm machine – when theirs broke down, without even a mention of cost or payment.

Little by little he changes their lives, even if in a small way.  And, in doing so, I’m sure his own life is changed as well – and that keeps him doing the great things he does for people.

Those of us who truly “get” the power of social media have a power on our hands that no one has really come to realize yet.  Sure, that sounds totally cliché, but think about the people that you meet on a daily basis.  Sure, you may not have 10,000 followers (or maybe you do!) but chances are the network of reach you have on your friends list equals out to a small city, or even a small subdivision or neighborhood (around 300 people). 

Did you get that? You have the potential to impact an entire neighborhood of people.

You have the ability and means to take someone’s life, make it a small bit better, and then watch them pay the favor out to their neighborhood of influence.  The effect is truly viral in nature.

Go out and do something nice for someone else today.  In a world that reeks of bad vibes, rudeness (more and more as of late than ever), and self-serving people, a good deed is one that hardly goes unnoticed.

And once you’ve done it, don’t talk about it.  That’s the hard part, but the biggest sacrifice that we as social media users can do is not bragging about how awesome we are online.  Do your deed, step away, and know that you’ve changed someone’s life… even if it’s only one small thing, you’re making a world of difference to someone else.