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…)

Do you remember when Tamayra Gray was up-and coming?

“A new, musical mini-version of Romeo and Juliet, directed by super-hot fashion photographer David LaChapelle is available for viewing online, only at the H&M website. Featuring Mary J. Blige, “American Idol” staring Tamyra Gray, and up-and coming dancer Gus Carr, the six-minute film was launched earlier this month to kick-off H&M’s fall jeans marketing campaign.”

I wrote that back in 2005, when I was a trend reporter for an international multicultural marketing firm looking for web trends. The microsite was hot. I found myself going back over and over again, sitting through a 6 minute flash page without hitting skip just to hear the music. At the time, it was innovative and enticing. However, while designers, developers and actionscripters try to force feed content down the throats of their audience through elaborate microsites with splash pages that have long since lost the ability to do anything awe inspiring (featuring been there done that interactivity that doesn’t really give any relevant information) I find myself asking, is the microsite dead?

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At first glance eVIPlist.com may look like another Digg clone. While the site does use Digg’s open API its business and web strategy is far from the typical “rank news/info” model that we typically see from other sites using the same API. While similarities can certainly be found between eVIPlist.com and other sites such as GlobalGrind.com, a deeper look into the content will show otherwise.

eVIPlist’s content appeals to a “party-goer” demographic…I should say more of a XXL magazine type of audience. More importantly what also sets eVIPlist apart from other sites we have seen launched lately is its longevity. The site has actually been around since the web 1.0 days but in a different format, it launched under this domain in early 2001. Originally the site was a social network that was hugely popular in the Washington DC metro area, in this state the site connected party goers and successfully bridged the online/offline gap in that area. Most of you know that I am orginally from the DC area so I must say that the site in general holds a soft spot in my heart (I truly miss DC and was a member of the site nearly since its launch).

Anyway, the reason I write this is not because I endear DC; or to compare it to GlobalGrind.com and other sites; or even to review it (Urban 2.0 gave a good review over on their site). I write this to take a deeper look at how offline activites such as events and user generated content can feed off of each other sucessfully at a local and national level within the urban online space. (more…)

During an interesting conversation today the topic of “Young, Black, and…” sites came up and how many of these sites do we really need? How minute can it be before it becomes irrelevant, or does relevancy of a site with Black in its name ever die simply because of the niche nature of the internet today? A simpler and more direct question may be “How many of these sites will be developed before it gets old?” Maybe it never gets old since web users are in general younger in age, or a completely different and possibly more accurate take on it: (more…)