The Power of a Tweet

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A whole new way of thinking about the media

Recently over at b-roll.net, one of my favorite sites, there was a discussion about whether Twitter was worth anything or just a flash in the internet pan.

I put in an application for Knight News Challenge Grant to support an idea I have had for some time – marrying a flipcam massing event to a great video wall – acquisition and projection reflecting each other in content and construct.

I laid it out here.

And here.  

The Knight Grant is a very competitive award.  I applied a few years ago and made it to the finals, but did not win.

The grant is housed on its own website.  

And intrinsic to the website are two parameters by which they categorize the nominees: highest rated and most viewed.

I came to the party late.  Some people had posted since September 1, and the competition closes at the end of this week.

To drive traffic to my proposal, I tweeted and in tweeting also married it to my Facebook account. With more than 1,000 friends and 500+ followers on Twitter, I was instantly in front of a pretty big audience. So I asked people to visit the site, and if they liked my proposal to vote for it (5 stars would be good).

Yesterday, my proposal, 1,000 Flipcams in Newark: Art meets Journalism moved to First Place both in terms of ratings (4.3) and views (760 at last count).

Pretty impressive.

The proposal, I think, is good.

But marrying it to Twitter and Facebook is even better.

Which makes me realize that if I should be so fortunate as to get the grant, I am going to marry the content from the flipcam experience to both as well.

Michael Rosenblum

For more than 35 years, Michael Rosenblum has been on the cutting edge of the digital video journalism revolution. During this time, he has lead a drive for video literacy, and the complete rethinking of how television is made and controlled. His work has included: The complete transitioning of The BBC's national network (UK) to a VJ-driven model, starting in 2002. The complete conversion of The Voice of America, the United State's Government's broadcasting agency, (and the largest broadcaster in the world), from short wave radio to television broadcasting and webcasting using the VJ paradigm (1998-present). The construction of NYT Television, a New York Times Company, and the largest producer of non-fiction television in the US. Rosenblum was both the founder and President of NYT TV, (all based on this paradigm (1996-1998). The President and Founder of Video News International, a global VJ-driven newsgathering company, with more than 100 journalists around the world. (1993-1996). Other clients include Spectrum News, Verizon and CBS News.

1 Comment
  • Nino October 01, 2009

    Leave it up to you to twist things around for your convenience. It was my thread and nowhere there I said (and nobody else did for that matter) that any of these social networks are a “flash in the internet pan” like you call it.

    My question was, as a professional what advantage would it be for me to participate. I couldn’t find any and that’s why I asked the group that maybe I was missing something. From the many answers it was confirmed that joining these groups would be a waste of valuable time; that’s all that was, nobody was trying to make any statement.

    Many of the answers actually talk positive about these social networks for those with the needs to communicate.

    Good ole Michael, still the same.