My friend's band covered Justin Bieber's Somebody to Love and in an attempt to help their video go viral, I designed the email newsletter below. The newsletter was distributed to the fanlist and each section linked to a different form of social media: the band's blog, twitter, facebook group, myspace, email, etc.

The image is currently linked to the video, in case anyone is interested I know they'd love more fans.

Until recently this was the most experience I'd had with social media, although graphic design is a big part of what I do. Ulitimately, I love it if I could spend most of my time designing and finding a away to tie in social media.

Validation

This is my favourite video that I've found on YouTube. It's a little corny in places but I think that it touches on something.

What have I done....?

I'm not sure what I've gotten myself into with these courses - I have a feeling it's going to be all too much.


Never have a taken a course which is entirely online, yet this term I decided to sign up for three?!?!?! Not only am I taking three online courses but they are all entirely focused on social media and creating an all-consuming online presence. Blogs, twitters, discussion boards, endless and endless commenting. Web 2.0 is the brain-child of people who are forever wanting to have their two cents counted without ever really talking to anyone while continually amassing more and more "friends".


I can totally see the benefit of social media for businesses or organizations and through the assigned readings/lessons I'm seeing specifically how it could be of use for the organization I work for. But the course requirement to maintain an online presence via the Algonquin Social Media site is excruciating. I would much rather spend my time, especially my weekends, disconnected from the computer I sit facing Monday through Friday than constantly updating cyberspace on my day-to-day.


I know there is something to be said for the practice of doing but there is also something to be said for living life. To being disconnected from the laptop, blackberry, iphone. To going silent on twitter, facebook, skype,  myspace and the blogsphere. More and more society is consumed with the number of cyber "friends" and "followers" rather than actual friends and family. For a time, I was constantly blogging and I had "friends" all over North America whom I'd never actually spoken to but spending all that time on the computer took me away from the people who were actually in my life.

But, for the sake of these courses I'll be part of the social experiment.....uhh experience and write a blog, update my twitter, share videos on youtube, leave my two cents in discussion forums and keep all of cyberspace aware of my daily play by play. Although I am certain I will fall short when it comes to the sheer volume of these updates compared to other classmates.

Onward though I charge.

The journey begins...

Welcome to Exploits in Social Media.

The purpose of this blog is for me to chronicle my exploration of the social media maze. Where this exploration will take me: I haven't a clue but, oddly, I'm willing to make the trip. Presently, I'm enrolled in a triad of social media encyclopedic courses, ultimately to help me decode the world of social media.

Over the past decade I have ever-so-slowly explored social media (SM). Slowly dipping in a toe to test the waters. I created a virtual "ME" on:

• Facebook
• YouTube
• MySpace
• Friendster
• 43things
• Blogger (obviously)
• Brinkster
• LinkedIn
• ICQ
• Picasa
• Flickr
• MSN Messenger
• ....and way too many more.

But as with all things, some died out and some simply began to mimic others and were cast aside. However, recently, my work has decided that my SM level of comfort just isn't enough for where we are headed. And now I feel as though I'm perched precariously on the carnival bench waiting for someone to through the ball that will drop me into the freezing water below. Luckily, I know that water is only so deep and if I throw myself into it, in the end I'll come out on top.

So with my cypher of SM terms and a topographic map of sites tucked under my arm, I cross my fingers and canon ball in.