The Internet has successfully ravaged my attention span. In fact, in the construction of that intro sentence alone I somehow managed to:
• Update my Facebook status
• Check my horoscope on The Onion
• Totally derail my train of thought
Me plus millions of others, apparently. BuzzFeed understands the nature of the beast and, utilizing a legion of similarly afflicted visitors and staffers supernaturally adept at stumbling upon cool items, capitalizes on the fickle nature of Web trending on a daily basis. In their own words:
“We are a viral tracking Web site with 4 million monthly visitors, a viral network with over 50 million monthly impressions, and a viral media platform with awesome technology for launching and optimizing content. In short, we’re the best place to find out what’s going viral online, and the first place to start if you want to make something go viral.”
In addition to its own trend-sniffing staffers, who no doubt each own heavily eroded iPhones, the site allows users to submit trends deemed worthwhile — usually in the form of embedded videos, pictures or links. The BuzzFeed editorial staff promotes items of worth, visitors in turn share the content via their own means and a trend is born. Every day.
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There are plenty of reasons to blog. Almost as many reasons, in fact, as there are not to blog. Like, maybe time isn’t on your side. After all, you’re the type of person who refuses to sacrifice quality for the sake of an update, right? R..Right?
Luckily, falling somewhere between blogging and buzzword-become-practical-obsession Twitter lies Tumblr. Think of Tumblr as baby steps into the world of blogging. Except, unlike actual baby steps, Tumblr has the built-in potential to be witnessed and shared by thousands upon thousands of users. And unlike actual baby steps, the follow-up action doesn’t involve scotchguarding the house. I’m going to drop the baby analogy now.
Tumblr gives users the best of both worlds. You can provide original content (ala blogging). And you can customize your Tumblr (albeit to a limited extent). But that’s really not necessary. Yet Tumblr’s unique interface allows it to be instantly shared by a multitude of users (ala Twitter). That’s important because with Tumblr, sharing is the name of the game. And share the users do — things like videos, photos, music and buzz-worthy items.
Here are a few of my favorite Tumblrs as examples:
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My introduction into the world of BBR Creative started with a bang. Or, more accurately, with a bash. It all began in 2007, back when I worked as a feature writer (though I called myself the features editor) for a local newspaper and entertainment magazine. There, nestled all snugly in the print media’s nurturing arms, I wrote a weekly humor column that resonated strongly with:
1. 20-something slackers and…
2. Moms who usually recognized me at the grocery store
One sleepy afternoon in the newsroom, I figured it might be in my best interest to check my mailbox. Good thing I did, because packed amidst low-fi band demos and event listings for The XXth Annual X Festival, I received a curious invitation to something called the BBR Beer Bash. The invite’s contents included one admittance pass along with a poster designed especially for this particular event. (That poster, for the record, instantly became my most prized cubicle decoration — right next to a lonely plastic Spider-Man figurine usually set up in a compromising pose.)
“You have got to go to this thing,” said my then-editor, one Mrs. Jan Risher. “I know the BBR partners and … just trust me on this one.”
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Facebook has officially floored me. Not by becoming a social networking giant that has officially amassed more active users than Spain has citizens. And not because Columbia Pictures has given the green light to a movie based on the inception of the thing. But because Facebook has lured my father away from … whatever it is my father does in his free time.
No amount of statistical data or cultural etchings could have prepared me for this. This is huge. This is Dad. Embracing technology. The same Dad who once phoned to tell me he “broke the Google.” Dad, who still struggles with the concept of text messaging. Whom I, therefore, occasionally text, “LOW BATTERY.”
So how did I know that my dad was on Facebook? Did he poke me? Did he leave an embarrassing-though-admittedly-endearing salutary message on my wall? Nope. He waited until I paid a visit to his and my mother’s home to tell me in person. Well, kinda. The conversation went something like this:
Me: Do you guys have any sodas?
Dad: So, you’re going see Neko Case on Nov. 21?
Me: Uh huh…
Dad: That should be fun. I checked her out; she has a great voice.
Me: Uh huh.
Dad: And who’s this “Stephanie” girl?
Me: You’re on Facebook, aren’t you?
Which is fine. Facebook has a lot to offer — particularly to concerned fathers and mothers. It often fills the void left by sporadic telephonic updates on the part of the creative underclass. That’s a fancy way of saying, “Twenty-somethings like me don’t call our folks enough.” And no amount of, “I see you forgot to bring a sweater” comments on my photo albums can change how I feel about that. At least not yet. (more…)
I was assaulted during a recent trip to New York City. Not in the traditional “rode the G train after dusk” sense, but in the same way millions of Manhattanites, Brooklynites (and Queensites?) are during their daily commute to … anywhere.
The culprit was outdoor advertising ubiquitously plastered across metro station walls, Taxis, subway cars and outdoor monitors that dwarf most government buildings from my hometown.
Based on an informal survey I conducted (with approximately 0.00006% of the population), there’s a bit of a love-hate relationship with the stuff. Vandals make statements by defacing subway pieces while hilarious New York-based bloggers keep me giggling with their witty rants. The friends I happened to be staying with — Brooklyn residents — admitted they appreciate a good campaign and that it really gets the city talking.
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Inspiration has a tendency to sprout from the strangest of places. For example, I once devised an entire ad campaign while in the shower. Except by “an entire ad campaign,” I actually mean “a single billboard.” And by “a single billboard,” I actually mean “the title of this blog.”
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