Twitter as a media and entertainment experience
Chuck Fishman here and this is my first entry here on the DigMediaRev blog. Scott Brown in my group here at Cisco - the Cisco Media Solutions Group - kicked off the blog this week. I manage Cisco relationships with media and entertainment companies - this is my dream job and I hope to use this blog to share some of that passion with you. I’m like a kid in a candy store with my work. A part of each day is spent playing with the web sites of major media companies and studying the digital media industry. I love that, because that’s what I would be doing with my time anyways if I wasn’t on the company clock. I also spent years producing content for the Wall Street Journal and CNET - so I hope to also share with you content producers’ perspectives on digital media. And I’m talking to them directly quite a bit in my work - whether its a film production company, a broadcast network, or a record label. In my spare time, I also produce music and use the web to connect with audiences via social networks and other online platforms. Therefore, I told Scott I have plenty to share with you when it comes to how digital media is changing the entertainment experience. I’m really looking forward to it.
My friends and people in my extended network know I use Twitter quite a bit. I’m going to assume you’ve used or seen Twitter, if you haven’t check out a recent Wall Street Journal Guide to Twitter. I use Twitter not so much to tell my social network what I am up to or how I am feeling - though I do that about 4 or 5 times day. My biggest Twitter use… well I really use Twitter to connect, discover, and share entertainment content.
An interesting study on Twitter recently came out from HP Labs. The research looked quite at how many people the average person has in their Twitter network. But the study doesn’t really get into what exactly people are doing on Twitter, instead it points out most Twitter users communicate with a direct inner circle of friends. I have friends who are new to Twitter ask me, “what am I supposed to do with Twitter other than connect with friends and find out what they are up to?” Well, there’s a lot you can do with Twitter and entertainment for instance. In future posts, I’ll go over with some ways I use Twitter to discover and share entertainment content. I’ll start in this post with some ways Twitter can connect you with content.
There are many Twitter accounts I follow and do not communicate directly back with ... these are the Twitter accounts of news web sites, record labels, bands, TV shows, even the characters on some TV shows, and celebrity Twitter feeds. I thought I would list some of my favorite entertainment focused Twitter feeds so you can get an idea of how I use Twitter to stay up with my favorite media and entertainment content. Here my favorite media and entertainment Twitter feeds right now, in no particular order.
1) http://twitter.com/rcrdlbl
RCRDLBL.com is a web site that offers free music downloads from many great bands. The site is ad supported, and the music is officially licensed from the bands and record labels. This Twitter account from RCRDLBL.com lets me know when new songs post on their site.
2) http://twitter.com/scionav
Scion - yes it’s an automaker. But Scion sponsors all kinds of cool music releases, online radio, and events. I do notice they haven’t updated their twitter feed in a while. I hope they do soon because that will mean some new music or an event!
3) http://twitter.com/flavorpill
The twitter feed for Flavorpill - a great arts + culture site and email newsletter - the feed keeps you apprised of the scene in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, London, and Los Angeles. They’ve recently been ‘tweeting’ about the Art Basel show in Miami.
4) http://twitter.com/CNETNews +
http://twitter.com/alleyfeed +
http://twitter.com/hypebot +
http://twitter.com/themediaisdying
Here are a few news oriented Twitter accounts I follow. One from CNET and one from Alley Insider - both keep me up to date with the latest tech news. I like the Hypebot specifically for digital music news. If you have a favorite media source, likely they have a Twitter feed and they update it when new news rolls in, and point you to articles. I also follow a feed called the Media Is Dying - a glum title I know - but it helps me keep track of colleagues in the media industry who may be changing job roles.
5) http://twitter.com/BondGyrl
Well BondGyrl is actually a friend of mine, Theda Sandiford. She writes Twitter updates a lot about her exciting, but busy life as a marketing and strategic consultant. But she also reads so many entertainment news sites and posts links to the latest news and gossip - that if I don’t keep up with her feed I don’t have the latest. Following Theda’s feed is entertainment for me anyways, I consider Theda a media brand and she has a blog at http://misstheda.com.
Posted by Chuck Fishman at 04:56PM PST
Paul Dec 12, 2008
Chuck, one thing that I need to know about twitter….whats there revenue model look like? plans for the future? is this just a flash in the pan technology (tech for tech’s sake, if you will).