Derek E. Baird :: Barking Robot

Weekly Wrap: Social Media, TV & Michael Jackson, Captain EO, Video Game Tips for Parents, Teens Leaving Facebook, Bruno & MySpace, Adam Lambert on Michael Jackson

Social Media, TV, Michael Jackson & Saying Goodbye to the 'King of Pop': Michael Jackson's  memorial service garnered huge numbers on TV, but it also did big numbers on the social web. Facebook and CNN teamed up again to provide a live stream of Jackson's memorial and allow viewer to simultaneously share their thoughts on Facebook. Also worth a read is John Morton's post on 'The Passing of Michael Jackson & Mass Media.'

Over on Ypulse.com, Ypulse Youth Advisory Board member Nina shares who 'Michael Jackson was to Today's Teens.' In other related news, Disney may re-release the 3D Jackson space fantasy multimedia experience/film 'Captain Eo' and American Idol alum Adam Lambert shares his thoughts on Michael Jackson. [TechCrunch] [eWeek] [SuperGeekery.com] [Ypulse.com] [Examiner] [YouTube] [Rolling Stone]

Declaration of Independence from Social Media (For One Day): "When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for people to dissolve the digital bands which have connected them with all of their friends they haven’t seen since preschool, and to assume a life away from the computer for one day, a respect for other Internet users requires that the person should declare the causes which cause them to separate from social media for that day." (Very clever and worth reading!) [Examiner]

Bing Now Bigger Than Digg, Twitter & CNN: According to Compete.com, Bing was able to amass 49.57 million unique visitors in its first month as Microsoft’s official search engine. Bing’s traffic trumps that of Digg 38.96 million) Twitter (23 million), and CNN (28.54 million). We want to note that this focuses on U.S. visitors, since Compete does not track international visits. [Mashable]

Tweet of the Week: "If Google bought Twitter, it wouldn't get a new feature for 3 years. If Apple bought it, tweets would be .99 but you'd get a 10 character preview." [@DanielFlorien]

Raising a Healthy Gamer: Parenting is always a tough job, and video games are a tricky subject in today's families. Ars offers a no-BS guide to dealing with gaming and your children, and their advice is simple: you know your children better than anyone else.

Also be sure to check out video game parenting tips from the folks over at Microsoft & XBox 360 along with safety tips from Yahoo!, Disney and AOL. Just keep in mind that your kid is probably smart enough to hack your parental controls. [ARS Technica] [Yahoo! Safely] [AOL Parental Controls]

How to connect to Today's Millenials: Shop-Eat-Surf has a recap of a presentation given by Michael Wood, the Senior VP of Syndicated Research at Teen Research Unlimited (TRU), at the SIMA Boot Camp on understanding today's millennials. Hat tip to Group Y Sports for the heads up! [Shop Eat Surf]

Kids, Video Games, Learning & Health: The Center on Media and Child Health (CMCH) has a good analysis of the Game Changer: Investing in digital play to advance children's learning and health report released by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. [CMCH]

One Last Thing: Check out this mashup of the Michael Jackson classic 'Billie Jean' by Soulwax (great, great stuff!), Julia Fallon offers advice for educators Lost in Web 2.0 Cyberspace (pdf), a must-read article with fantastic ideas for teaching kids about media literacy & body image (thanks @tandrusiak!), as grandpa & grandma join Facebook--teens begin to bail, according to new research from BabyCenter 39% of moms report that they make 'net time' their quiet time, Crain's New York Business wonders if Bruno can save MySpace, and finally...don't tell Al Gore, but the environment is not the number one social cause among college students (pdf). [YouTube] [Princial Leadership] [MyHighPlains.com] [Read Write Web] [Crain's New York Business] [SurveyU]

Study: TV Linked to Kids' Bullying

A new study shows that the more television children watch, the more likely they are to become bullies. Dr. Joseph Wright of the American Academy of Pediatrics explained on The Early Show.

Related Links

• Texas Lawmakers Crack Down on Cyberbullies
• The Power of Play: Cyberbullying Solution?
• Ypulse > Cyberbullying

Weekly Wrap: Mobile Phones & Toddlers, Under 30 CEOs, Teens & TV, Summer of Social Good, Social Branding, Facebook Filters

Iranian Youth, Mobiles & Social Media: Despite the government crack down, Revolution 2.0 continues to move along, thanks in large part to Iranian Millennial's and their savvy use of  mobile and social networking technologies. [Mobile Youth] [Mobile Youth Marketing Trends & Clips] [Barking Robot]

Mobile Toddlers: Despite bans by other European countries, a new mobile phone being targeted to toddlers is heading to the sticky hands of wee ones in both the UK and Ireland. A new UK study found that 50% of British children aged 5 to 9 own a mobile phone.

Mobile youth culture continues to flourish in Japan, with Disney Mobile going gangbusters after flopping in the USA. Check out this Barking Robot post on kids' use of mobile phones in other countries. [Guardian] [Times Online] [Tech Crunch]

Under 30 and Kicking Ass? Derek Johnson, the founder of popular group text messaging service Tatango has created a user-powered list of entrepreneurs/CEOs under the age of 30 to help connect young entrepreneurs to one another.

If you are a young entrepreneur under the age of 30, you can add yourself to the list here. Derek has also posted a video from his recent talk on personal branding. Good stuff. Watch it! [Big Ideas From a Young Mind] [Game Change Ventures]

New Bravo Show Will Let Viewers Interact via Tweet, Email, Phone, Video & Facebook: NBC Universal-owned cable channel, Bravo, on Monday announced plans to launch an interactive TV series, entitled “Watch What Happens: Live.” It's good to see that someone gets that there in TV-land understands that there is a huge media shift taking place and that holding on to the old media model with a death grip, just isn't going to work. [Interactive TV Today]

Tweet of the Week: "I could never be a rock star guy who trashes hotel rooms. All I think is "someone's mother has to clean it up." -- @ThisIsRobThomas [Twitter]

Nielsen Debunks Myths on Teens & TV: According to Nielsen, teenagers are far from abandoning TV for so-called new media. In fact, television viewing rates among U.S. teens have actually gone up 6% in the last five years.

If you've been a long time reader of Barking Robot, this research isn't really, uhm, news. More excellent analysis on the Nielsen study from Anastasia over at Ypulse. [Tech Crunch] [Ypulse] [Barking Robot]

Bad Apples? A High School Senior loses diploma over a kiss (FAIL!), a teacher gets suspended for posting gun pictures on Facebook, 60% of students at a Chicago school won't graduate and the finger pointing has already started, a Los Angeles student is barred delivering a graduation speech because she participated in a sit-in to protest teacher layoffs, and a new study finds that many teens use mobile phones to cheat in class. [Yahoo! Buzz] [AOL Switched] [CBS Chicago] [USA Today]

Social Media 4 Good: Lipton Tea has partned with National Geographic and the Rainforest Alliance to create a micro-site that tells about sustainable agriculture in general, including the origins of Lipton teas, as well as sustainability, social and economic aspects of the tea-growing and harvesting process.

Also this week, Google launched All for Good, a new service to help you find and share volunteer opportunities, and social media companies have joined forces and declared this the Summer of Social Good.

One Last Thing: Check out this good overview of social branding, MTV talks about digital strategy and youth, help for parents trying to figure out t/weens, how to filter out Facebook "Friends" without them knowing, teen 'prodigies' debate vital issues and stuff, learning about forgiveness from Monica Lewinsky and finally, did Michael Jackson 'Fail Whale' Twitter? Yep!  [justbrand.me] [PBS] [Connect With Teens] [AlleyInsider] [Hot Air] [Flickr] [New Media Strategies]

2009 Ypulse Mashup: Guy Kawasaki & Teen Entrepreneurs Panel

One of the highlights of the 2009 Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup was the panel discussion with 'Totally Wired Teen Entrepreneurs, moderated by Guy Kawasaki. The panel was comprised solely by teens who have started their own business.

The teen business tycoons who participated in the panel discussion were:

• Daniel Brusilovsky, CEO—Teens in Tech
• Jun Loayza, Founder—Future Delivery
• Jessica Mah, Founder—InternshipIN.com
• Ashley Qualls, CEO—WhateverLife
• Carly Wertheim, Co-president—Teens Turning Green

Related Links

• Ypulse
• 2009 Ypulse Mashup > Campus Marketing Case Study Slam
• 2009 Ypulse Mashup Recap

Weekly Wrap: Sociology of Twitter, Bing, Miracle Whip Woos Gen Y, Doogie Howser 2.0, Campus Marketing, Gen X Loves Twitter & Taylor Swift Goes Gangsta

Kraft Woos Gen Y with Miracle Whip: Kraft Foods is trying to reintroduce Miracle Whip to younger households, particularly those who grew up eating it but might not be using it today. The strategy includes print, a Facebook page and Twitter profile, other social media, consumer relationship marketing tactics, sampling, in-store support, and truck fleet billboards. [MediaPost]

Doogie Howser Lives!: For eight years, Jessica Terry suffered from stomach pain so horrible, it brought her to her knees. Her doctors, no matter how hard they tried, couldn't figure out the cause of Jessica's abdominal distress.Then one day in January, Terry, 18, figured it out on her own. [CNN]

Steps to Refresh your Campus Media Plan: Jason Bakker, author of the EngageGenY blog, lays out some good information that you can use when marketing to college age Gen Y's. You can also check out my Campus Marketing Recap from the 2009 Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup. [MediaPost] [Barking Robot]

Gen X, Gen Y & Twitter: At the 09 Ypulse Mashup there was lots of talk about how Gen Y/Millenials don't really dig "the Twitter." So who's driving the Twitter bus? Turns out it's Gen X who is love with Twitter. [Jessie X]

What Every 24-35 Year Old's Facebook Profile Really Says: Zombies. Facebook Apps. All that damn poking. What's the deal with Facebook? Holy Taco explains it all. [Holy Taco]

The Sociology of Twitter: Sociologist and ethnographer, Liz Pullen, spent a month tracking the top 500 Twitter users (as ranked by number of followers) as well as the much-contested suggested users list. In tracking these accounts, she also closely analyzed the behaviors of new adopters and their expectations of the service. [Read, Write, Web]

Search vs. Decision or Library vs. Librarian: A few days ago Microsoft launched Bing, it's new "decision engine", to mostly positive reviews. It even, according to some reports, kicked some Google and Yahoo! booty in the process. In this blog post, Robert Stinnett explains how Bing is his "librarian in a world full of books". [RobertStinnett.com]

Mobile Internet Booming: Mobile internet access increased by 36% in the US last year, but the number of Americans (18 million, ages 13+) who connect to the mobile web is still relatively low compared with the 100 million users who connect via mobile in China, according to a recent report from Netpop.

One Last Thing: Taylor Swift goes Gangsta, Vlingo research finds 94% of teens use their mobile phone to text, MTVU launches an incubator for aspiring college filmmakers, the best wedding invite in the history of the world, plus 10 ways to use mobiles and social media to connect with Gen Y.

2009 Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup | Campus Case Study Slam Recap

SurveyU: Five Facts About College Age Youth

• 20,450,833 U.S. College Students
• College students outnumber residents in every state except California, New York and Texas;
• 76% of students attend a public college, 24% attend private college
• 58% are female, 42% are male
• Annual amount spent on College Tuition/Room and Board: $333 Trillion
• Bonus: There are 20 million college age students, greater than any state's population except CA.

SurveyU: College Students & Technology

• 96% Own Mobile Phone
• 87% Own iPod or MP3 Player
• 86% Own Laptop
• 74% own Video Game Console

SurveyU: Media Consumption Habits of College Age Students

• 37 hours a week online
• 11 hours a week watching TV
•  4 hours a week reading print publications
•  4 hours a week listening to radio 

Things to Remember When Marketing to College Students

• This generation values authenticity and can smell marketing BS a mile away.
• Millennial's are citizens of the global village (multi-racial/cultural/lingual).
• This generation is jacked up on technology, especially mobile.
  
• Just go out there and try new things.
  
• Know that this media is not measurable in same way as traditional media.
• Gen Y are 'Neo-Frugalists': Frugal is the new hip (1 of 3 teens affected by economy)
• 90% of college students read their campus newspaper. Even though they are digital, campus paper is still widely read.
  
• Don't even bother marketing to Asian youth, just know Asian youth culture is trendsetting.
• 80% of teens have gone to "official company" website to get more information.
  
• LET GO a little bit. You (and your client) can't control everything.
• Only 30% of youth have "friended" a brand.
• 90% of teens disapprove of advertisers texting them.
  
• Have the audience talk to the audience by deputizing your core demo (college kids) to carry your marketing message to itself for your brand.

Related Resources

• 2009 Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup
• 10 Ways to Use Mobiles to Connect with Gen Y
• International Study on Children's Use of Mobile Phones
• 2009 Ypulse Youth Mashup: Josh Shipp, Disney URock, Teens & Twitter

Vlingo Research: 94% of Teens Use Mobile Phone to Text

The recently released Vlingo Consumer Mobile Messaging Habits Report finds that nearly 60% of mobile phone owners use their phones to text, with teens leading the way (94%), followed by 20-somethings (87%), 40-somethings (64%), and 50-somethings (46%).

Among all users, texting is also gaining on sending/receiving calls as the primary use of mobile phones, with 35% of all respondents using their phones for texting more than for phone calls.

Here are some other key findings among all those surveyed:

• In terms of texting, the 13 to 19 age group remains the most active, sending on average more than 500 texts per month;
• 73% do not use email on their mobile phones;
• 70% do not browse the Web;
• 41% do not text;
• 44% cite cost as a barrier to adopting text messaging;
• 59% cite cost as a barrier to web browsing;
• 53% cite cost as a reason for not adopting mobile email.

You can access the entire Vlingo study by clicking here.

Last week at the 2009 Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup, there was a break out session focused on youth and mobile phones. Here are five key things to remember about youth and mobile technology:

1. The median age for first mobile phone is around 11.5, next year projected to be 10;
2. SMS is unsexy, but it's persuasive technology. 80% in US have sent/received a text message;
3. According to according to Niels Aillaud from LG Mobile, carriers used to make money on voice plans however, in next few years data revenue will surpass voice and will go to 80-20 ratio. 2010 is the year of mobile;
4. Mobile phone is increasingly becoming the access point to the web outside the USA;
5. A Harris poll found that 59% of youth will to provide personal info to get targeted information in return, but be aware that teens have high expectations for privacy controls, user experience, want to be in full control of their info.

Related Resources

• mobileYouth
• Demographic Research on Texters: Young, Latino & Ready to Spend
• 10 Ways to Use Mobiles to Connect with Gen Y
• International Study on Children's Use of Mobile Phones
• Text Messaging Tips for Parents & Educators

Youth Tribes: It's About Talking to the We, Not the Me!

I ran across this brilliant post by youth branding and marketing guru Dan Pankraz (you are reading his blog and following him on Twitter aren't you?) last night and it really hit the nail on the head.

You really must read the whole post, but this paragraph in particular seemed like a good book end to what we heard from folks like Josh Shipp, Disney.com, mtvU and Don Tapscott at the 2009 Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup last week in San Francisco.

"The fundamental emotional need of youth is and always will be BELONGING. It’s hardwired from birth, a primal need to belong to a community, to a tribe. It’s a fundamental form of self expression that is at the core of the human psyche. The growth of social media has turbo charged young peoples ability to connect and be part of global tribes.

The best youth brands understand that youth are desperate to connect with each other, so youth marketing is not about pushing messages onto a target audience of disparate individuals, it’s about inspiring the TRIBE, so they connect with each other. It’s about talking to the WE, not necessarily the ME."

Spot on Dan, spot on!

Read the entire post >>>

Related Links

• China Youthology
• Premise Marketing
• Ypulse: Youth Marketing to Teens & Tweens
• MobileYouth

Weekly Wrap: Ypulse Youth Mashup, Hey Josh, Disney U Rock 2, Teens & Twitter, Dare & Mobile Teens

I just got back from the 2009 Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup in San Francisco and it was an incredible, informative and all around great two days to meet up with old friends, meet lots of new colleagues and to talk about what's happening in the youth media and marketing space.

I'm planning on doing some longer posts on the Mashup, but thought I'd  use the the Weekly Wrap to share some of the scoop from the 2009 Ypulse Mashup event.

Josh Ship Ypulse Mashup Opening Keynote: Youth guru Josh Shipp gave the opening keynote for the 2009 Ypulse Mashup.If you haven't heard about Josh and his pretty incredible story---you need to! Josh shocked the crowd, comprised of mostly marketing and media types, when he told them "teens don't give a crap about your brand."

Ouch!

His advice? Be authentic. Tell your story. Do you have a story that I would plug in on my Facebook status or Tweet to my friends? If you don't, your brand has a problem.

To be honest, the crowd response to Josh's keynote was a bit frosty. Classic case of shooting the messenger. Other nuggets 'o wisdom from Josh: Email is dead (it's all about mobile). Free stuff rules! Never underestimate the power of free cookies and girls. [Follow Josh Shipp on Twitter]

The guru's over at Premise Marketing have a great analysis on the Josh Shipp keynote over on their blog. [ Follow Premise Marketing on Twitter.]

Speaking of Teens & Twitter: One big theme of the conference was that teens & tweens don't use Twitter. Teens tend to be on Twitter as observers, not contributors (in educational psychology/instructional design speak this we call this Legitimate Peripheral Participation [LPP]).

Teens prefer updating their whereabouts or their status within the walled gardens of social networking services like Facebook or MyYearbook. Someone at the conference commented: "We used to call it ADD, now it's who we are." So, so true.

Mobile Teens: Five quick blurbs from the breakout session on youth and mobile phones:

1. The median age for first mobile phone is around 11.5, next year projected to be 10;
2. SMS is unsexy, but it's persuasive technology. 80% in US have sent/received a text message;
3. According to according to Niels Aillaud from LG Mobile, carriers used to make money on voice plans however, in next few years data revenue will surpass voice and will go to 80-20 ratio. 2010 is the year of mobile;
4. Mobile phone is increasingly becoming the access point to the web outside the USA;
5. A Harris poll found that 59% of youth will to provide personal info to get targeted information in return, but be aware that teens have high expectations for privacy controls, user experience, want to be in full control of their info.

Truth and Dare: At the Mashup, we had the opportunity to attend a private screening of the indie (teen) film "Dare." The movie chronicles the coming of age of four teens who attend a private school in the suburbs.

The film, which garnered rave reviews and kudos from the crowd at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, features cameo appearances by Alan Cumming and Sandra Bernhard. The young actors do an equally incredible job portraying the roller coaster ride of hormones, desire and trying to just figure it all out.

But this isn't a movie just for teens. Some of us who think we have figured it all out could learn a thing or two about being more daring and doing something we're afraid of...

Let's get one thing straight: The film will make parents squirm. But that shouldn't deter you from seeing it and using it as a jumping off point for meaningful dialogue between parents and teens. You can connect with Dare on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, or their website.

I loved this film.

Disney Launches U Rock 2: The Disney.com folks blew me away. No, I mean really. I didn't expect them to, but this is one "old media" organization that really, really gets it and is fully embracing the world of social media, online community and user generated content (UGC) as a way to connect with their viewers.

As part of it's UGC drive, Disney has launched the second edition of U Rock 2, a site where they provide the IP and allow kids to remix, mashup and create own music video. There are strict moderation policies in place and parents must approve all media before it's uploaded onto U Rock 2. Disney has created a "how to" video series, hosted by their music artist, that teach kids how to mashup and create their own music video. Brilliant!

Two other amazing factoids about the power of kid user generated content on Disney.com: 95% of video uploaded to Disney.com/urock had a comment or rating (wow!). 2/ A kid mashup of a JoBro single performed twice as well as the "official" Jonas Brothers content. Yeah, amazing.

And oh, who's waiting in the wings to follow in the footsteps of Miley and the JoBros? A young singer-songwriter named Mitchell Musso.

Ypulse Mashup Live Blog and Live Tweets: Ypulse had two volunteers who did a great job taking notes for the the official Live Blog. You can check out the Live Blog, which also includes Tweets from the other participants, over on the Ypulse Mashup website. You can also do a search on Twitter using the official conference hash tag #ypulse09.

2009 Ypulse Totally Wired Teacher Award

The 2009 YPulse Totally Wired Teacher Award (Sponsored by Dell) honors a public school teacher who is successfully using technology (internet/mobile/social media, video games) in the classroom.

The award is inspired by Ypulse founder Anastasia Goodstein’s book, Totally Wired: What Teens & Tweens Are Really Doing Online, and the challenges she observed around integrating technology into public school classrooms. The award is designed to recognize a teacher who has overcome these challenges and is inspiring both students and other educators.

As part of the committee choosing the winner and two finalists, we read over 200 nominations from every corner of the country and spent a lot of time trying to whittle our list down to just three teachers.

I'm happy to report that Mike Roberts--who hails from Big Fork, Montana-- is the 2009 Ypulse Totally Wired Teacher. Our two finalists are Kristine Bybee-Finley, a high school special ed teacher in Hurricane, WV and George Mayo, a middle school language arts teacher in Silver Springs, MD.

All of us on the YPulse Totally Wired Teacher Award Committee invite you to join your colleagues and fellow educators over at Edu4U (www.edu4u.com), an innovative new community for educators sponsored by Dell. Edu4U is dedicated to educators who are seeking to harness the power of technology to enhance teaching and learning for all students. Within this site, you will find information, resources and colleagues to help you achieve your teaching goals.

Congratulations to Mike, Kristine & George!

Related Links

• 2009 Ypulse Mashup
• Totally Wired Book Site
• Research on K-12 New Media Literacy
• Using Twitter to Engage Students in Learning

Weekly Wrap: End of Free, MTV & Martha Stewart Turn to Twitter & Facebook, Social Media ROI, TV 2.0 & 8 Key Trends

8 Key Trends for the Next 5 Years: Gerd Leonhard once again attempts to predict the future. While many people scoff at those who try and look ahead and light the paths for the rest of us, Gerd is actually quite good at it. Here is a glimpse into his mind and some trends he suggests for the rest of the decade. [Future of Music]

The End of the Age of Free: For a decade now, consumers have become accustomed to free access to music, films and information, via the internet. But with many of the media's big players - including Rupert Murdoch - thinking of charging for content, is the tide about to turn? Plus, Martha Stewart announces plans to test paid online video downloads & touts Twitter as powerful brand marketing tool. [Guardian UK] [SmartMoney] [MediaWeek]

MTV Turns To Twitter And Facebook To Power New Flagship Show: MTV plans to integrate even more social media into its television programs. You may remember that MTV has already integrated  multiplatform media consumption and social gaming into its popular show "The Hills." Be sure to check out Senior VP and GM of MTV Digital Dan Hart's 2008 Ypulse Mashup East presentation on some of MTV's latest digital strategies for bridging the gap between TV, online and mobile.[TechCrunch]

Generations at Work: McCrindle Research, based in Australia, has put together a slew of great research on Gen Y, Gen X and Boomers in the workplace. Very impressive stuff! [McCrindle]

Making Social Media Music: What do a middle school band concert and social media have in common? Ari Balder of Digital Pivot explains this and more in this excellent blog post.

Twitter and ABC Launch a Tweetable News Show: The lines continue to blur between "traditional" TV and the social web. ABC News is following in the steps of CNN and creating a show that allows for interaction between viewers and anchors. NBC is also looking to dive into social television with the launch of Outside.In--a "hyperlocal" news show. Looks like 2009 is the year that TV 2.0 might (finally!) take off! [Mashable] [BNET]

Bravo Virtual Season Finale Party a Big Hit with Viewers: If you need more evidence that viewers want to use social sites to connect with their favorite shows, take a look at these impressive metrics from the Bravo TV Season Finale of The Real Housewives of New York. Also take a look at eGuides TV Web Extensions project. Oh, you can follow @BravoTV on Twitter. [Mashable] [eGuides TV]

The iPhone as Teachers Pet: Although Apple has long been a fixture in the education sector, the University of Missouri's School of Journalism has taken things one step further -- it now requires journalism majors to have either an iPod touch or an iPhone. [TechNewsWorld]

People Are Talking About Your Brand: Talk may be cheap, but according to new research conducted at the Kellogg's School of Management,  listening to what people are saying about your brand can be a valuable method of improving corporate performance as well as help you fine tune your marketing message. [Kellogg Insight]

Social Media ROI. Measuring the Unmeasurable?: Fresh Networks has put together a great blog post and shared a SlideShare presentation created by Egg Co on how brands can measure the success of their social media strategy. Also, Social Media today explains how social media profiles help with Search Engine Optimization (SEO). [Fresh Networks]

Weekly Wrap: Twitter King Ashton, Oprah Backlash, Social TV, Music Pirates, EuroITV2009, Glee Buzz & iPhone EDU

Did Ashton Get Punk'd? Simon Dumenco from AdAge explains how the mainstream media -- and Kutcher himself -- got wrong about his "win."

High School Musical(s): An evangelical, anti-gay Kansas-based church plans to protest the staging of the musical "Rent" at a Newport Beach, California high school. Also, Ypulse reports that "Spring Awakening" is moving from Broadway to the Sliver Screen. And Fox's Glee hasn't aired yet, but it's already getting lots of buzz--both good and bad (ouch!).

Wonder if the RIAA Got This Memo? According to research, those who download 'free' music are also the industry's largest audience for digital sales and are actually 10 times more likely to purchase music.

Social TV & Multiplatform Media Consumption: New research from IMM finds that "watching TV" is no longer a one-way, passive experience--viewers are increasingly surfing the web while they watch TV and demanding more social networking features.

Conference on Social & Interactive TV: In June EuroITV2009, an international forum for media professionals from all over the world who are interested in, work with and do research on all aspects of interactive and mobile television, will hold their annual conference in Leuven, Belgium, from June 3-5, 2009. Also of interest is a workshop at the conference that will examine ways to integrate social game play into the TV viewing experience.

What's up with the anti-Oprah Twitter Backlash? A great Mashable post by Pete Cashmore on the strange Twitterverse backlash after Oprah introduced Twitter to the masses.

College Life, MTV Style: The interns over at Unigo.com, the uber cool college review site, share their thoughts on the new MTV reality series College Life. Oh, be sure to follow @Unigo on Twitter! Also, with the economy in shambles new college grads flocking to national service programs.

iPhoneEDU: Here's a great list of free or really cheap iPhone Apps for educators. Thanks to Ben Wilkoff, 2007 Ypulse Totally Wired Teacher, for sharing this link. Don't forget: Nominations for the 2009 Ypulse Totally Wired Teacher Award are due by May 15th!

Chirping about Twitter: More ways you can use Twitter in an educational setting. Features my pal Josie Fraser -- the brains behind lots of educational & social technology projects including Digizen. Follow @josiefraser on Twitter.

Another Yahoo! Bites the Dust: Yahoo! is closing its very cool video editing and hosting service Jumpcut. This is really sad. Jumpcut had a great following in the education community as a free alternative to iMovie. RIP Jumpcut, RIP.

The Soloist: Putting a Face on Homelessness

For about 7 years, in a previous career incarnation, I worked with the homeless. Our company placed homeless men and women in jobs and connected them with social services at the local food and shelter coalition.

At first, for this kid raised in the coastal suburbs of 'the OC', it was a bit overwhelming. I had never seen a homeless person, let alone talked to one. But as time passed, I gained their trust and they began to share their stories with me.

Take "Old Man" Brinker. Yes, that was his name. He was in his 70s, had a great sense of humor and was a really hard worker. He used to come to my office about once a week to shoot the breeze. He'd also give me the scoop on the goings on at the homeless shelter.

One afternoon I leaned across my desk and quietly asked him how he ended up in a homeless shelter. He thought about it for a few minutes, wiped a small tear out of his eye and told me the story.

A Nightmare Journey From the American Dream to a Homeless Shelter

Back in the late 1960s, Old Man Brinker was working in the natural gas fields in Sweetwater County, Wyoming. It was hard work, but he had steady work, a devoted wife and a baby girl. For the Brinker's, life was good. One day, after a particularly grueling and hot summer day in the gas fields, Old Man Brinker came home to an unusually quiet house.

He peeked in the kitchen and was surprised to find it empty. He went down the hall and found the baby's room empty too. As he walked into the master bedroom, he discovered the lifeless and bloody bodies of his wife and baby. His whole world instantly shattered around him.

Consumed with grief and overflowing with pain, he sought relief first with alcohol, moved on to cocaine, and then heroin. The next twenty years were a blur of arrests, drug busts and gaps in time. Finally, when he had hit rock bottom, he decided enough was enough. He entered a free drug rehab center, got back to work and has stayed clean.

He told me that he could, if he wanted, get an apartment and live like everyone else. But, he's afraid that if he did, if he took that jump back into the "real world", it could all come crashing down like it did so many years ago.

This time he couldn't, he wouldn't survive. For him, being homeless was the "safe" choice. As he put it, "When you have nothing, you have nothing to lose."

Everyone Has a Story

But Old Man Brinker was just one of a daily cast of characters that went in and out of my office. There was Beauford, who was always one step away from his three ex-wives and the wage garnishment for unpaid alimony. There was a woman who said her name was God. No last name, just God.

Most of the homeless folks were gentle, doing their best to keep their head above water, battle their respective demons, and make it to another day. That's not to say that there weren't some scary times.

One time there was a guy named Comanche, a really big guy, a guy who would make John Wayne look wimpy, who pulled a knife out of his boot when I told him that I didn't have any work for him and wouldn't give him any money. Truth be told, I was beyond scared.

I had to embrace my inner Don Corleone and shout him out of the building, locking the door and quickly dialing 911. Later that day I learned from the police that Comanche had been arrested by the FBI for murder.

So, yeah. Some scary moments. But for the most part I wouldn't change the experience for the world.

Close Your Eyes, Clear Your Heart

All in all the experience taught me that, despite what we think, we are all living on the razor's edge. A single event can turn our world upside down. Most importantly, it taught me to always look beyond what our eyes can see.

Under the ragged clothing, beyond the shopping cart or the seemingly incoherent babble could lurk a Harvard trained physicist, a man like Old Man Brinker trying to escape great personal tragedy, or in the case of The Soloist--a musical prodigy.

In the film, opening on Friday, which was based on a true story, Journalist Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) discovers Nathaniel Anthony Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a former classical music prodigy, playing his violin on the streets of L.A. As Lopez endeavors to help the homeless man find his way back, a unique friendship is formed, one that transforms both their lives.

I deeply believe in the power of film to engage, educate and enlighten people on issues around social justice. I really hope that this film will help change the way that our society view the homeless.

Moreover, I hope that people will see this movie as a call to action, that more people will be motivated to donate clothing, money or their time to their local homeless shelter. You might not think that your community has a homeless shelter or any homeless at all, but a quick Yahoo! Search is likely to prove otherwise.

A Call To Action: Help 1 Million Homeless Teens

In October at the 2008 Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup East, Ron Faris from Virgin Mobile USA gave a really fantastic presentation on the various Virgin Mobile Pro-Social Initiatives. Virgin Mobile, and the Virgin brand, have done some really innovative, creative and interesting work in the music, pro-social, marketing and branding space.

At the end of his presentation on the mobile and texting habits of Gen Y, he talked about the Virgin Mobile awareness campaign to shed a light on the issue of homeless teens.

Want to hear something shocking? According to research conducted by Virgin Mobile, there are approximately 1 million homeless teens in the United States of America. 

Yes....1 million.

These teens are homeless for a variety of reasons ranging from being kicked out by their parents due to sexual orientation, abusive parents or being abandoned. This figure just floored me.

I've spent a lot of time working with homeless adults, but I was woefully ignorant on the subject of homeless teens. To me this is unacceptable. Even in our current national economic situation, we still have the resources to get our kids off the streets. It's about priorities. It's about kids.

Virgin Mobile has compiled a list of resources and actions that you can take to help help homeless teens. But here's the thing. If you stop what you're doing and text "Karma" to "68405" Virgin Mobile and American Eagle will donate a hoodie sweatshirt to a homeless youth.

The power to help homeless teens is literally at your fingertips.

Related Resources

• Homelessness: Tips, Myths, & Facts
• detritus > Essentials
• TakePart > Social Action > Homelessness
• Twitter > TakeAction
• Participant Media

Weekly Wrap: Billabong Moves Beyond Surfing, Boston for Kids, Public Media 2.0, Youth Work Online, Oprah Joins Twitter

Billabong is a Media Company, Not Just a Surf Brand: Great post by youth guru Dan Pankraz. "Billabong really get it. They create content, not ads. 40hrs of it a week actually, distributed via Fuel TV, mobile phones and the web." Dan's blog focused on youth culture is a must read.

Cool Stuff for Kids in Beantown: This is a super site full of fun and educational activities for parents and kids in Boston.

Kids Motivated By TV to Visit Web: "According to MRI's 2008 American Kids Study, children ages 6-11 are increasingly using the Internet  to check out products they see in advertisements. 46.3% of kids visited a Web site that they saw or heard about in a commercial or advertisement." (AdAge)

Support the Brothers Flannery: The Flannery Brothers, a kid's band from Maine, are finalists in the prestigious John Lennon Songwriting Competition in the children’s music category.

How to Weather a Twitterstorm: "Motrin Moms. "Dove Onslaught(er)." Thanks to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, all sorts of new critics and activists are finding their voices amplified online. So what's a marketer to do when an online firestorm erupts?" (AdAge)

Bullied 11-year Old Commits Suicide: An 11-year-old Massachusetts boy, Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, hung himself Monday after being bullied at school despite his mother’s pleas to the school to address the problem. So, so sad. Check my blog post from earlier this week for tips and resources on bullying. (TakePart)

The Center for Social Media at American University has published a new white paper titled Public Media 2.0: Dynamic Engaged Publics. Wanna get a quick synopsis? Check out this five minute clip on YouTube or this powerpoint on Slideshare.

2009 Totally Wired Teacher Award: The Ypulse 2009 Totally Wired Teacher Award (sponsored by Dell) will honor a trailblazing teacher who has successfully pioneered the innovative and educational use of technology, mobile technology, social media (blogs, wikis, social networking, photo/video sharing) in the classroom.

Youth Work Online: This is an online community dedicated to exploring how youth work and informal education professionals can support young people in a digital world. The site was launched and continues to be moderated by the brilliant Tim Davies.

I'm Just Not That Into You Facebooking With My Kid: Author and parenting guru Sharon Cindrich blogs about Parental Faux Pas on Facebook – "written by a real parent (me) of a real teen (my 14 year old daughter) as I watch my real friends (without teens) send my child friend requests on Facebook (weird)." Hey Sharon--I agree. Weird.

Twitter Gets Mad Props: Oprah, yes *that* Oprah is joining the Tweetosphere. @oprah welcome!

Scholastic Launches Virtual World: Scholastic has partnered with SC Johnson to create a "green" virtual world for kids. The Virtual Forest Challenge is tied into the product launch of SC Johnson's new line of green cleaning supplies, Nature's Source. The site also includes some very lightweight "lesson plans" and other edutainment learning materials.

Ypulse 2009 Totally Wired Teacher Award

The Ypulse 2009 Totally Wired Teacher Award (sponsored by Dell) will honor a trailblazing teacher who has successfully pioneered the innovative and educational use of technology, mobile technology, social media (blogs, wikis, social networking, photo/video sharing) in the classroom.

The award is inspired by Ypulse founder Anastasia Goodstein’s book, Totally Wired: What Teens & Tweens Are Really Doing Online, and the challenges she observed around integrating technology into public school classrooms. We will recognize a teacher who has overcome these challenges and is inspiring both students and other educators.

The award-winner likely had to overcome challenges from parents and administrators in order to use the technology, but because they understand how students use social media outside of school, they persevered with their initiative and worked collaboratively with students, ultimately sharing their insight and knowledge with the larger teaching community.

Representatives from Ypulse and Dell will choose three finalists to interview by phone. The selected teacher will be honored in person at the Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup June 1-2 in San Francisco.

All three finalists will receive a IT solution from Dell to use in their respective schools. Teachers can nominate themselves. You can get all of the details about how to nominate a teacher (or if you're a teacher, how to nominate yourself!) over on Ypulse.

Related Links

• Dell > EDU4U
• Follow Dell Education on Twitter
• Totally Wired Teen Book
• Ypulse Interview: Josh Shipp, Advice Slinger, HeyJosh.com
• Video > Anastasia Goodstein on "Totally Wired" Teens
• Follow YPulse on Twitter