Black Web 2.0

If so HelloTxt.com may just make your life easier. HelloTxt allows you to post to a variety of Microblogs at the same time. The services they support are Twitter of course, Jaiku, Yappd, Pownce, Tumblr, Meemi, Beemood, and GoZub. With HelloTxt a single message can reach all of these services at the same time without having to duplicate the same message across services. All you need is your user name and password for each service and your in business. Of course there is also the option of creating and account with HelloTxt. Hellotxt also does a pretty good job on their site of stating why you would want to use their service. Not sure if I would use it, I am still getting a handle on this blogging thing and Twitter is enough for me at this point but if I were to microblog it would probably come in handy. Consolidating services is one of the reasons why I use Meebo and this is a similar concept.

Not sure how many of you have heard of or use Tangler, if you haven’t heard of Tangler it is basically a discussion network. You can have multiple discussion forums in one place, given that you create your group forum on Tangler. To my knowledge forums cannot be imported.

Anyway one of the best ways to use Tangler is to get invites from web apps in private Beta by joining their Beta Testers Group. If you are like me and just like trying out different web apps then you may find this site useful and fun. I have found sites such as Yumondo.com, CoZero.net, and Orgoo.com on there and it is also a great way to give feedback on apps.

One of our great contributing writers, Maurice Cherry, recently posted an article titled “Where are all the Black Web Professionals.” It is a great read, please check it out. Anyway, what leads me to bring up this post is all the discussion it has generated. It is definitely a touchy subject that hits home for many Blacks working in the web industry and really for ANYONE working in the web industry. We can see that over at 1938 Media (you know, the video blogger who did “Where are all the Black Tech Bloggers“) where Loren Feldman and his readers discuss Maurice’s post. After reading the comments I almost didn’t even write this post, summing the whole issue up to not being able to enlighten people who are as close minded as that. It is really sad how some really believe there is no difference other then presentation between “Where are all the Black Tech Bloggers” video and “Where are all the Black Web Professionals” post. Oh, don’t mind the statistical data (although it may be skewed a bit) from the survey ALA did on about 32k web professionals. That in addition to simple observations from our readers is 1000% more accurate then any video mocking what a stereotypical “Black Tech Blogger” would look like and represent. So, that is the difference. It has nothing to do with the color of the skin of who is blogging on the matter or “Who asked the question first” or who will be seen on Techmeme. Seriously Loren, Grow up. I think what most of us are learning about this whole issue is that it needs to be discussed, intelligently.

BTW Loren thanks for the traffic.

Outlook + Twitter = OutTwit
This might help some of you Twitter users.

The Black Digital Elite: African American Leaders of the Information Revolution
Good Read.

AIGA Diversity Initiative
If you are a designer or a member of AIGA they have a Diversity Initiative. You may have to verify they have one in your local chapter, they are supposed to have someone on each local board to run the local aspects of this. I know it is in full effect in ATL, not so much in Charlotte.

I’ve been talking about this Soulja Boy Web phenomenon every moment I get — on my own blog, in blog comments, in face-to-face conversations. So of course it was funny today, when perusing my Google Reader for coverage of Pop!Tech and Web 2.0 Summit (mainly because I missed not actually having been there), that I ran across this bit of information on the Popular Science Blog about a Soulja Boy discussion at Web 2.0.

Apparently, Hitwise charted the Soulja Boy boom by tracking the amount of traffic streaming from social networking sites to search engines to his official Web site, and predicted back in May that the rapper (who was virtually unknown at the time) would become a major mainstream success.

And just in case you don’t know what Hitwise does, peep this:

The Hitwise online competitive intelligence service provides daily insights on how 25 million people interact with over 1 million websites in 160+ industries. Our unique, global network of Internet usage data is integrated into our user friendly service, helping you better plan, implement and report on your online branding, search marketing, content strategies and online partnerships.

Now we’re not saying this is the best of hip-hop, but we’re definitely saying, well at least I am, it’s the best example I’ve seen of an artist utilizing the power of the Web to break his career. Sure, Cassie broke on YouTube, but how many records did she sell? The truth is, all the work on YouTube, MySpace, et. al. paid off for this cat. I’m sure the fact that he created dance lesson videos didn’t hurt either. We know that a lot of these dirty south dance songs end up being one-hit wonders for a lot of artists, but this Web community built up around this artist is outrageous. You won’t see me cranking anything anytime soon, but I can respect Web gansterism when I see it.

If you’re in the music industry, please study this Soulja Boy site now. Then click over to the Soulja Boy Myspace profile page. Then peep that Soulja Boy YouTube channel.

Now read this:

Thanks largely to YouTube, “Crank That,” the song and dance, have been ubiquitous for the past three months. Since it was posted in August, the instructional clip featuring Soulja Boy doing the moves has been viewed on YouTube more than 11 million times. Video variations of the song, including manipulated Winnie the Pooh and Dora the Explorer cartoons, have also become Internet hits.

And this:

That may be true because the rapper established his song and dance on the Internet before securing a major-label deal. But “Crank That” - built on a rudimentary arrangement featuring little more than finger snaps and a bouncy keyboard riff - is hardly groundbreaking. Like the “Macarena,” the song and dance are hot for the moment.

From baltimoresun.com

They don’t have classes in school on this stuff you know. There’s no handbook. This is the closest you’re going to get to a case study right now. This is Hip-Hop 2.0.

Young and middle-aged white men are designing the modern Web.

It’s a rather obvious claim which can be supported by the results from the 2007 Web Design Survey results from A List Apart (ALA). According to ALA, “the results represent the first data ever collected on the business of web design and development as practiced in the U.S. and worldwide. Actually, Sitepoint beat them to it with their web development survey back in 2006, with results given from a more technical development standpoint. ALA actually breaks down their report data by race, age and gender, and lends itself to a couple of findings:

• Out of the 32,831 respondents, 1.2% (about 394 people) are Black…or rather, 1.2% identified themselves as Black. 1% of respondents (328 people) did not answer the question of race, and 3.2% of respondents (1,050 people) replied as “Other”.
• 302 of the 32,831 respondents are identified as Black males; 96 of the 32,831 respondents are identified as Black females. (Two responded as being Black without identifying their gender.)

What’s interesting mostly about the ALA study are the questions on perceived bias (by geography, age, gender and ethnicity), salary (by organization size, gender and age), job satisfaction (by organization type, gender, ethnicity, salary, age and job title). However, the results overall downplay both gender and ethnicity. No huge shock there considering the majority of the respondents were white males, but I hope next year’s survey delves into these areas because they are truly important. The survey does point out some other non-shocking findings (emphasis in bold is mine):

• All non-White respondents are less satisfied and more unsatisfied in their jobs than white respondents, with black respondents having the greatest disparity (30.8% are less satisfied; 51.2% are more unsatisfied).
• More non-white than white respondents perceive an ethnic bias that has slowed their careers. Approximately 8% of Asian and Hispanic respondents and 20% of Black respondents perceive this bias, compared to 1.7% of White respondents.
  
• Perceptions are similar in the US, Europe and the rest of the world. But in Europe and the rest of the world, greater percentages of all ethnic categories(including White respondents) perceive an ethnic bias that has slowed their careers than do their US counterparts.
• Similar patterns emerge when we examine the relationship between income and the perception of ethnic bias. Of respondents who work full time, Asian, Hispanic and White respondents who perceive ethnic bias appear to earn less than those who don’t. However, Black respondents who work full time and perceive ethnic bias earn more than those who don’t perceive ethnic bias.
  

Mo’ money, less problems? You decide.

The results of the survey are currently making their way around the Web, already showing up on Slashdot, Metafilter and Digg, as well as comments on ALA. They range from “why did you make this a PDF” to questions about fonts used in the document. There is a lot of talk about the huge gender gap in the web design field, but very little about race.

One thing I noticed from the raw data was a huge opportunity ALA missed, perhaps in the wake of the whole “where are the black tech bloggers” kerfuffle started by Loren Feldman — prevalence of blogging was not factored in by race, even though the raw data available from ALA shows 75% of Black respondents do have a website or blog. Blogging and web design fit together like hand in glove, particularly in this new Web 2.0 atmosphere; I don’t see why they would even include the question without fully exploring all the data related to it for the results.

Now you may think “what does all of this this really have to do with Web 2.0?” Well if there’s one thing which signifies the whole Web 2.0 movement, it’s the design. There are several trends in design which are just as recognized as the ideas, development procedures and programming which they represent. Gradients, reflective surfaces, and a move towards more minimalist, grid-based designs are just a couple of the many factors of Web 2.0 design.

Personally, as a Black web designer/developer/webmaster/writer/jack-of-all-trades…I’m not surprised by the results. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to a conference or a training session or a job where I’m the only Black male designer. And having worked in design from everywhere to my personal freelance business to the United States government, the bias is palpable. Co-workers, regardless of your skill, still downplay your abilities. Management second-guesses your input and ideas. And don’t even get me started on the freelance tip. These survey results spell out in hard data what Blacks in the web field are already cognizant about — we’re absent.

I guess the question to take away from this is, where are the Black web professionals? And furthermore, how (or will) they contribute their skills to this new Web 2.0 movement?

With AllHipHop boasting one of the largest online hip-hop communities, because of the activity in its forums, I kind of expected that the online publisher would be the first out of the gate to launch a social network. And while there are may other hip-hop related social networks out there (many of which I’ll be writing about in future posts), there are none currently piggybacking off of a major media company (if you can call Harris major).

In that regard, this is going to be a good move for XXL, especially if both the timing and the feature set are all correct. Timing could be kind of tricky, as the target market may already be experiencing social networking fatigue. And considering the fact that hip-hop fans are some of the hardest to please, if what XXL produces can’t contend with the likes of MySpace or Facebook, it’s not going to get any dap.

From Crain’s today:

“Within the next month, Harris will go live with the Web site XXLBlocktalk.com, where members can post their own blogs and profiles, and view videos of artists interviewed in the magazine. Executive Publisher Jonathan Rheingold says the social networking site will give members the chance to connect with “the global hip-hop community.”"

On the ability to connect with agencies and marketers, Harris is taking a page out of CurrentTV’s handbook, and putting the power of advertising in the palms of the users’ hands.

“The company has partnered with apparel maker K-Swiss, whose ads will appear throughout the site. Harris will also run promotions in which members create their own ads using music from five emerging artists, including Ivy League-educated Chicago rapper Naledge, who have signed on to help promote the program.”

It’s really beginning to feel like 2000-2001 all over again. While there’s a lot of activity in the Web 2.0 space, particularly in the social networking arena, there’s talk of an impending Web 2.0 bubble. But you’ve heard about all of that already, haven’t you?

Fresh off their 2006 BETJ reality television series, “Committed: The Christies” the NBA basketball couple Doug and Jackie Christie, have announced the launch of their new online radio show. The show, entitled, Infinite Love Talk Radio with Doug and Jackie Christie, will debut November 1, 2007 on BlogTalkRadio.

About Blog Talk Radio:
BlogTalkRadio a social radio network that allows users to connect quickly and directly with their audience. Using an ordinary telephone and computer hosts can create free, live, call-in talk shows with unlimited participants that are automatically archived and made available as podcasts. No software download is required. Listeners can subscribe to shows via RSS into iTunes and other feed readers. Our network has produced tens of thousands of episodes since it launched in August of 2006.

Source:
PRNewswire.

It’s no secret that Black music celebrities and the Internet have a tenuous relationship. Whether it’s being the butt of a celebrity blogger’s joke or the subject of adoration on a fansite or message board, Black music celebrities end up taking one of two positions when it concerns the ‘Net: milquetoast admirer or bloodthirsty opponent.

The Congolese-French musician Kaysha is definitely an exception.

Dubbed as “the future of Afro-Caribbean music”, Kaysha’s energetic, frenetic music style samples influences from R&B, hip-hop, calypso, rhumba, zouk, kizomba and zouglou. Kaysha has four solo albums under his belt, runs his own music label Sushiraw Entertainment, his own T-shirt line called Sushiraw Clothing and has performed for thousands of fans all over Europe and Africa.

Fans, no doubt, came to follow Kaysha through his far-reaching range on the Web. He has taken advantage of several Web 2.0 services available to help craft his online image, including over 100 videos of his performances and behind the scenes moments on Viddler, over 11,000 photos on his Flickr account, and personal, up-to-the-minute accounts of his life on the road through his Twitter account. And like any music artist these days, Kaysha also has a MySpace page to showcase his music and list upcoming events. Because of these multimedia offerings, Kaysha’s fans can really get a personal connection to the artist from seeing his videos, reading his blog posts (of course, he has a blog) and listening to his music. Web 2.0 technology lets the fans really experience his life (without resorting to a tacky reality show on VH1 or BET).

More Black artists could follow Kaysha’s example and craft their own online presence.

When it comes to Web 2.0 technology and most Black artists, there’s not much of an intersection. It’s an odd observation considering the penchant for mobile and vehicular gadgetry flocked by most and celebrated in shows like MTV’s “Cribs”. But when you really think about Black music artists and the Internet, you have to ask yourself if they really leverage what the Web has to offer for their own purposes, or do they relegate themselves to the contempt and sarcasm of celebrity gossip bloggers?

Very interesting they have some new products or features in the pipeline:

“Today Black Voices named Tariq Muhammad Director of AOL Black Voices. In this new role, Muhammad will be responsible for spearheading all editorial activity for the site across all content areas including News, Sports, Lifestyle, Entertainment, Finance, Education and Community. He will also lead all business strategy including product launches, partnerships and site expansion. Muhammad will report into Mike Rich, Senior Vice President, AOL Entertainment and AOL Black Voices.”

Black Voices is known for their content and programming so it should be interesting to see what exactly this new site expansion and product launches will entail.

Source:
Black PR Wire