Black Web 2.0

Last week Radio One and Yankelovick (a consumer market research agency) released the “largest national survey of African-Americans” and website that hosts the findings on BlackAmericaStudy.com.  It is definitely interesting and gives great insight into Blacks and our relationship with New Media.  The study surveyed about 3,400 Blacks and also states what many of you probably already believed…the digital divide is fading.  Additionally, the study found that about 68% of Blacks are online and fall into 11 segments:

Black is Better
Black Onliners
Boomer Blacks
Connected Black Teens
Digital Networkers
Faith Fulfills
Family Struggles
New Middle Class
Sick and Stressed
Stretched Black Straddlers

Below is a nice concise overview of all of the segments: (more…)

Revver just brought new talent to its site, with the Pras Michel video blog. (See the announcement here.) Of course he isn’t the first urban celebrity to vlog, it’s just that most of them do it as a channel on YouTube, like Diddy. Then most of them don’t have their own site where they cross promote the video, except for a few exceptions like Gunit with its kyte deal.

But in this case, the former Fugees platinum rapper has partnered with Revver as part of a larger initiative, in which the video service simply serves as a distribution channel for his video blog. But he has a larger business model in mind, and it looks as if the video blog is just a teaser to bring people in and create brand awareness.
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There’s been big news for Glam Media lately:

1. It acquired Monetise Ltd, an online media sales company based in the UK.
2. It formed a partnership with Brightcove to boost video content for Glam’s network.
3. Expanded to include video distribution across its network of sites, in partnership with Sony BMG, E! Online, Lifetime Networks, and TV Guide Broadband.
4. And it’s extending its reach in the UK through a slew of super smart moves.

But one of the most unreported deals to happen for Glam as of late is one with urban/hip-hop content aggregator and sharing site Global Grind. A smattering of hip-hop and urban blogs reported about the network deal, and ClickZ turned it into Glam Aims to Dominate Social Hip Hop…Maybe. I think Global Grind aims to dominate social hip hop, and Glam is the distribution channel that will help them get there. It’s even likely that Glam is a partnership of many to come for the upstart. At least that’s if the folks at GG are smart.
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The recent attacks on SOHH and AHH are D Dos and cross script attacks so some of you may want to double check to make sure your databases are updated with the latest security patch. Earlier today Miss Theda also posted exactly how the security on these sites were broken.  Be sure to check with your web hosting provider and/or system admin to ensure your servers and databases are patched.

San Francisco, Seesmic Says ‘Why Not?’ To $6M More
Just four months after closing its Series A funding, video chat company Seesmic Inc. has raised $6 million in Series B financing from E-Bay Co Founders “Omidyar Network” and Wellington Partners.
http://www.seesmic.com

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It’s seems as if haters have taken their tactics online. According to LvLselect, a group of hackers calling themselves “Anonymous” have started cyber attacks on Hip Hop sites including SOHH and All Hip Hop. It seems as if it all started with some racially charged statements on SOHHs Forums and has escalated to brute force attacks that have seemingly temporarily taken SOHH down. Miss Theda reports that SOHH is working diligently to get the site back on up. Here’s the hate filled Wiki chronicling the hackers intentions for SOHH.

UPDATE ALLHIPHOP.COM STATEMENT via MissTheda.com:

“Urban culture and lifestyle has come under attack by a group of cyber terrorists. AllHipHop and SOHH, two pioneering websites that have been in the industry for over 10 years, are appalled by the unprovoked racist attacks of these cyber terrorists. With all the social strides that we have seen for several years, it is sad to see that this sort of blatant, hateful racism still exists in 2008 - a time of tremendous possibility. Together, AllHipHop and SOHH, are committed to relentlessly pursuing these attackers, using every resource available, to ensure the capture of these criminals and prevention of repeat offenses.”

Chuck Creekmur and Greg Watkins, AllHipHop.com Co-founders

UPDATE ALLHIPHOP.COM STATEMENT via MissTheda.com:

As many of you are already aware, SOHH.com has been under attack by hackers this week. We noticed the first wave of attacks in our vBulletins forums and as of this morning the whole site was compromised.

It appears that hackers are specifically targeting Black, Hispanic, Asian and Jewish youth who ascribe to hip hop culture. Other websites, including AllHipHop and Da Piff forums, have also been compromised or threatened this week.

We are managing this situation on several fronts. We have taken down the server to patch the security breach and put in protections for future attacks. Also, as this is an international issue, it is being addressed by The FBI and the Strategic Alliance Cyber Crime Working Group .

We realize the hackers attacked SOHH.com because of our stature in the hip hop space and the people we serve. Unfortunately, we did a poor job of protecting SOHH.com from imminent threats from people who hate our community simply because of our racial and ethnic makeup.

This has brought to light our vulnerabilities and those of the internet publisher and users as a whole. What’s possible now is for us to join together to identify and eliminate this threat.

If you are under attack and have any information about these attacks please submit a report to the FBI cyber crimes unit here: https://complaint.ic3.gov/ .

Felicia Palmer CEO SOHH.com

Wyclef Jean recently sat down with Voices on Personal Technology which is a video series produced by The Washington Post and Big Think.  It’s a short video that’s a little over 2 and a half minutes where he discusses his thoughts on how the web has changed the music industry.  Stuff most of you guys know already I am sure but it is always interesting to hear an artists’ take on it, enjoy:

Grammy Award-Winning singer, song writer, and producer T-Pain recently launched his much anticipated full digital independent record label Nappy Boy Digital. The label’s mission is to create a direct artist to consumer connection without the constraints of the traditional major labels. Nappy Boy Digital is an obvious next step for record labels who may have finally realized that the Internet is a friend and not a foe. But as I learn more about the label, I can’t help but wonder if T-Pain squandered this opportunity to make a lasting effect in the music industry. (more…)

Yahoo! launched their  Yahoo! Go 3.0 beta yesterday, a tool for browsing the internet from your mobile phone through a bunch of mobile widgets.

It got me thinking…  Everyone I know checks their mobile phone as much (if not more than) they check things on their computer.  They all text more than they email and as phones have gotten more capable of browsing the internet and accessing wi-fi networks, they are also using their phones to browse the internet.  I can’t even imagine what’s going to happen once the iPhone price drop occurs.  So, I went on a quest to try and find the best black mobile sites out there… wait, let me change that, what I really did was look to see if sites that have a black target audience were capitalizing on the fact that more and more people are using their phones as their primary device to connect to the internet.

Now, I would be lying if I said I was surprised to find out that all of the sites I went to were not optimized for mobile browsing (minus the blogs that weren’t image heavy). (more…)

The American iconic TV program Soul Train, which ceased production in 2006 has been sold to L.A. based Mad Vision Entertainment and the private equity firm Intermedia Partners. This is a hell of a deal in my mind, as there is a tremendous opportunity to resuscitate the legendary Soul Train franchise which includes the longest running Black program in America, along with the Lady of Soul Awards, and the Soul Train Music Awards.

To provide a little more background, Soul Train is recognized as the first black music variety show ever offered on American television, as well as one of the longest running syndicated programs in American television history! The show was created in Chicago in 1969 by the former radio broadcaster turned entertainment industry giant - Mr. Don Cornelius.
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