Since the early 2000s reality shows have completely taken over not only television but pop culture as a whole.  MTV has been slowly changing their network into a reality based free-for-all since the 1990s when the The Real World was established, but the 2000s were really the origin of a mass across the board reality show influx.  Social Media also became popular around the same time and it seems like both of these now commonly accepted institutions have started to ebb and flow into one another and are sharing many similar cultural aspects.

MySpace was almost an incubation period for social media; all the kinks were still getting worked out, Blingees made loading pages almost like an off road course, and the visual format seemed like it took precedence over the actual function of the site, but when Facebook started rearing it’s monolithic stature, the entire world of social media was torn asunder.  That’s when the real similarities and gray area between reality show culture and social media really started to emerge.  Facebook has organically (and rather artificially) become a virtual parallel to the docu-reality series that have forever changed the landscape of television and our perception of cultural constructs.

One of the most similar aspects between social media and reality shows are the construction and evolution of archetype abstractions.  Every reality show casting director talks about the extremely specific almost algorithmic equations they use when formulating a new show.  They need Character A. to react to Character B. so Constant C. can interject creating a whole new set of variables for D, E, and F to become flustered with; and then this process repeats throughout the season, accumulating steam along the way for the inevitable finale / reunion where the whole process begins anew.

Social Media has become a similar half-fabricated / half-actualized venue that allows it’s participants to write their own storylines as they shape and mold the outcome through their personal online tableau; a cryptic little tweet here, a specific photo vaguely framed there, an eclectic Spotify playlist that seems incongruent at first but slowly reveals abstractions in the sense of a fiber optic board game.  All of these little details, whether purposely articulated or by accident, add up to an online persona that can be every bit as simulated as the most elaborate reality show scenarios.  Social Media allows us to change as little or as much of our own reality to create a linear or abstract storyline that ends up personifying our own persona construct.

Another major parallel between reality shows and social media is the ease of it’s participants to take part in the contruction of their persona.  That’s one of the major flaws reality show casting directors have talked about since the massive proliferation of reality shows since the 2000s.  It used to be easy for them to find the rough and tumble hillbilly with a heart of gold, or the housewife with golden locks and an armful of existential crises to match, but now everyone is way too self-aware of what casting directors are looking for, and they come to the auditions already in “character”, or they say something like “I’m the such and such arche-sterotype you’ve been looking for”.

The same exact thing has happened on social media.  Instead of organically articulating exactly what comprises themselves on a visceral level, people create versions of themselves that are more palatable both in the real world and in online venues; not in the context of “I don’t want my boss to know I went to Hooter’s with my gram-gram for Easter”, but more so that they’re sculpting and purposefully editing out or exaggerating their own online persona to appeal to a seemingly larger audience.  Even if you’re 100% authentic in real life there’s still aspects you might edit out within social media to present a more well-rounded auto-tuned version of yourself.  It’s kind of like how MSG evens out the five main tastes to create a more pleasurable but inherently banal palette, some people use social media to quality control their own organic shortcomings.  The same way reality shows have catacombs overflowing with 14-hour-a-day editing kiosks, social media can be used to crossfade or edit out our undesirable facets only to heighten and spotlight our glorious and nutrient rich accomplishments.

I’m so excited to be featured in an interview for WeAreNYTech.  It’s a really informative and comprehensive website that showcases some of the best people working in the technology industry in New York City.  I was happy to talk about my background in digital marketing and the different projects I’m currently working on.  There’s a transcript from the interview and a link below.

http://wearenytech.com/262-luna-vega-digital-marketing-consultant

You mention in your bio that at one point you just decided to make your childhood dream come true and start your own business.  How did you come to the decision that it was the right time?

I have always been a perfectionist. It was important for me to get plenty of professional experience under my belt before starting my own business. I took me several years to work up the courage to take the leap.

I vividly remember the day I launched an extensive project for company I was working for at the time. If I had successfully managed and survived this project, I could undertake anything that came my way, I knew I was ready. I had earned the confidence needed to be an entrepreneur. A huge weight also lifted the day I finally quit my job, as if I was finally allowing myself to be me and go for what made me happy deep down.

Is there any particular reason that you choose projects aimed at Gen Y, Hispanic, and Tween target audiences?

When I started my business, I quickly realized I needed to specialize. I dug and wrote down what came to me naturally. I had an affinity for pop culture, fashion, music combined with an internal flair because of my up-bringing (french/hispanic). Indisputably, my strengths rely in pop culture trend forecasting, and understanding the youth demographic. So I decided to apply this knowledge to the work I provide my client. A digital strategy is vacuous if you don’t understand demographic you are reaching out to. You can tweet and blog all you want but if no one cares about what you have to say than it’s a lost cause.

PluggedIn is a new project that you started that is a new web series where you invite your colleagues to debate digital platforms, relevant issues and new technologies affecting the New Media landscape.  Where did the idea for this project come from and what were some of the challenges that you faced when putting the web series together?

My goal in 2011 was to create a video blog educating folks about the power of social media. It was hard at first as,  everything had already been done. After going through a series of ideas, I decided to collaborate with my friend Trevz founder of  thenewpop.com and create a debate show where our colleagues would size up issues in the Social Media landscape. I felt there was little constructive criticism out there about new technology especially from “real users”. It was time we gave a voice to the non techies and for them to provide their insight about which tool they like or dislike. It was important for Trevz and I to create a specific aesthetic for the show while making it entertaining.

Google + hangout launched not to long after we came up with concept, as a logical progression we decided to use the chat technology to host our debates. Producing this show has been one of biggest logistical challenges we have ever faced. It hasn’t been done before so we are literally making it up as we go along. We are constantly testing new video screen grabbing technology, accessing which browsers are better for streaming etc..

It’s funny how various brands measure their success by how many fans or likes they have on Twitter and Facebook. It’s not unheard of for a brand to have thousands of fans and still get limited to zero engagement for their products.  What is it that they’re doing wrong?  Do they care about your message?  Do they share content back with their peers and are they actually helping propagate the message?

Here are some great free tools to help figure out if your engagement on social media is sticking.

1.  Klout – What is your Klout rank?

Klout is a great tool. It allows you to monitor exactly how successful your campaign is and it shows you data you can use to revise and improve your content.

http://klout.com/home

2.  Edge Rank for Facebook

Edge Rank is another Analytics tool that you can use to monitor and assess the popularity of your campaigns and content on Facebook.

http://edgerankchecker.com/

3.  Alexa and Google Analytics

Even thought they don’t refer back to Social Media, Alexa and Google Analytics are both great ways to measure if your initiative is successful. By seeing your SEO rankings and traffic generated you can get a good idea if your push is working. At the end of day, the purpose of Social Media isn’t to constantly blab about yourself, but to get users to come to your website.

http://www.alexa.com/

http://www.google.com/analytics/

For a lot of small companies figuring out different ways to get their product out there can become a challenge.  I always recommend that start-up brands and even more established companies should have their own Facebook Store.

Why Facebook retail? Because the statistics are so strong in your favor.  Facebook users spend an average of a half hour DAILY on Facebook. That’s more than any other website, and even more then some other social media platforms combined.  It only makes sense to have your product accessible from where your potential customers spend most of their time.

You could even consider a Facebook store as your very own pop-up shop. It’ll becomes just another outlet to get people aware of your brand and eventually to buy your product.  Another thing to keep in mind is that people are more likely to click on a Facebook link than on an outside link, and a Facebook store gives them the ease of being able to shop right from where they spend most of their time online.

Here are some great apps you can use for you template Facebook Store:

STOREFRONT: http://storefrontsocial.com;

http://www.facebook.com/ShopTabApp

SAM / Social Application Marketing;

http://www.wildfireapp.com/

http://www.snapengage.com/

Part of this phenomenon comes from the normalcy most teens feel when going online.  They don’t really see any separation between the real world and social media and they view their online profiles as merely an extension of their actual personalities.  If you literally grow up within Internet culture then it never really seems false or inorganic; it just becomes another layer of your actual life.  Some people take this concept further and create online personas for themselves where they can evolve into any idea they want and shape and mold each and every variable that personifies their online presence.

With the Internet and especially the evolution of new web culture an online persona is easily attainable for anyone that wants to participate.  You can create a multifaceted presence within social media by incorporating different elements of your persona through the various online platforms.  You can tweet about your avatar’s daily minutia, you can post pics of yourself and your scope of influences on your Tumblr, you can post webcam snapshots or entire vids on your vimeo or Youtube while personally interacting as your persona on your Facebook wall.  Each platform becomes another layer of your avatar that eventually accumulates and begins to personify your entire “brand” as a whole.

That’s almost what these avatars turn into, depending on the extent someone wants to get involved or what they’re attempting to accomplish with their persona.  Dracula in Dior is a blog that covers current fashion trends from the perspective of a fashion obsessed vampire.  Although it’s a persona that’s slightly less real world accented then some other examples, its still exemplifies the infinite possibilities one can incorporate when developing their own persona, avatar, or online brand

Molly Soda has definitely become one of the standout stars of the new web Tumblr era, and her brand has become really well represented through every online platform, eventually leading to physical press like her interview in the underground culture magazine SuperSuper.  There’s numerous examples of people that develop an online persona for themselves, whether purposefully or letting it organically evolve over time, which could potentially become as influential for others as some of their own personal persona influences.

That’s another aspect that’s so interesting about the phenomenon of social media avatars.  It’s still such a new concept that’s its evolving everyday and someone could start a Tumblr based on aspects of the avatars of other personas and if they’re innovative and standout enough their own “avatar” could eventually come to influence others, and the process and culture would keep evolving and changing from there.

That’s what’s so intriguing for the current crop of tweens, teens, and other Millennials that spend a majority of their waking hours online.  Within a certain extent you really can be anything you want online.  Sometimes when reality interferes with this concept as in the “documentary” Catfish the results aren’t exactly what’s initially expected, but for the most part developing your own persona or avatar online in the context of creative pursuits only serves to expand your brand and the extent of your creative possibilities.

A lot of people’s online personas incorporate aspects of their real life personality but they expand upon them to include qualities people might feel their lacking or wish they had in real life.  That’s why so much of this new culture is so attractive for tweens, teens, and almost anyone who’s grown up or to a certain was extent raised by the Internet.  You can be anything online you can dream up and it doesn’t matter which aspects are real or which are hyperbole; they all eventually coalesce into an amorphous mush that’s one part organism and one part entirely virtual until the two are virtually indistinguishable from one another.

Way before MTV started showing videos around the clock in the early 1980s music was primarily an aural medium.  There was always the visual element of magazines, posters, and sparse television programs, but for the most part unless you attended a concert the only visual element you had of your favorite band was their album cover and if you were lucky maybe a few page spread in Rolling Stone.  MTV completely changed this concept and from there on the visual aspect became just as or even more important then what the music sounds like.  In the new web era of unlimited bandwidth and non-stop visuals from YouTube, Tumblr, and every other media platform (twit pics I’m lookin’ at you buddy) music has become just as visual as movies or television.  So much so that there’s been micro-genres sprouting up where the visual element is almost more concrete and substantial then an actual unified musical aesthetic.

The extremely recent Tumblr incubated micro-genre of Seapunk is definitely the best example of this concept.  Witch House, the micro-famous / micro-infamous genre that had some critical fanfare in 2010 has a real definitive visual aesthetic that accompanies the sound, but the sound itself is also really specific and pretty easy to nail down.  Seapunk honestly seems like the first musical sub-genre that’s invented for and by the Internet where the visual element is more concrete then the sound itself.

Seapunk is kind of an inside joke of a joke which isn’t too surprising considering it’s fiber optic origins.  Web celebrity and all around digital hooligan Lil Internet said he came up with the term from a dream he had and from then on, as most Internet concepts seem to do, it became viral in a matter of months.  Seapunk can be loosely described as the 90s early Internet cyberpunk culture filtered through a utopian glossy gif aesthetic of dolphins, yin yangs, CGI rendered dreamscapes, and everything aquamarine you could possibly cram into an animated gif.  It’s kind of like if that Kevin Costner box office bomb Waterworld was shot on the Internet with a 4D camera and then turned into a elaborate Tumblr theme.

Actually the visual element is easier to describe then the musical aesthetic if that even seems possible.  Part of that is due to the extremely short time span it’s been around for.  Only a handful of artists are producing music under the Seapunk umbrella, and out of those there’s only been a handful of label releases besides for the abundance of web only Seapunk mixes, which is definitely a parallel to the witch house movement.  The first official release was the Coral Records compilation Seapunk Volume 1.  There’s definitely a similarity in the sound across the whole compilation, but more then anything it’s a genre where the visual element is a much more concrete tangible concept.

The sound on the compilation spans everything from old school jungle, rave, and breakbeats you might have found in London in 1995.  There’s also some aspects of the lo-fi chillwave sound, but with an overall aquatic kind of shimmery vibe.  If you sat down and listened to the whole compilation you could probably pick out 15 – 20 genre elements which are then rearranged and put back together in a familiar but decidedly off kilter fashion.  As with so much other new web culture, Seapunk takes the last 20 or 30 years of electronic music history and even visuals and completely Cuisnarts them into an entirely new sound and visual aesthetic.

That’s one of the most interesting aspects of Seapunk which is definitely become a common theme for new web culture in general.  It’s a musical genre that’s based more on the visual then actually how it sounds, which is something you can really only pull off on the Internet.  It’s like when a new brand launches or an esteemed company releases a new product.  Before you even use it or have a chance to buy it you’re introduced to it through the visual element; the type of the package, the logo, the actors in the commercial representative of the potential audience’s demographic.  Before you actually make a purchase the visual element is the first thing that gets you to the store to even contemplate buying it.

That’s kind of what Seapunk has done.  In the last few months there’s been so many Seapunk Tumblrs popping up, Seapunk photos where everyone’s hair is turquoise, Ecco the Dolphin screen captures, and enough yin yang animated gifs to fill an aquarium.  Before you even have a chance to listen to the music you’re already so familiar with how the music looks that it changes and affects your perception of how the music sounds.

That’s one of the concepts the new web culture has accomplished that’s extremely hard to pull off in other mediums.  It’s the visual abstraction of the genre that personifies the music, instead of people’s perception of it being defined by it how it sounds.  It literally sounds like how it looks, but unless you’re online or familiar with new web culture, that concept is extremely confusing.  That’s what the Internet has accomplished over time almost by accident.  No matter what creative endeavor someone is working with, the Internet has the capability of merging all the preexisting mediums into an entirely new blurry amalgam that’s made from the parts of the old model but looks nothing like the history it was conceived from.  Seapunk may be only the beginning of a cultural evolution where all of our senses could potentially be engaged in a medium instead of the conventional aspects we’re used to.  In a few years people might be talking about how a new song tastes or smells instead of how it sounds, and considering what’s happening now, that really doesn’t seem too surprising.

Note:  We want to credit the seapunk graphics and images to artist Kevin Heckart who is the main artist behind the Seapunk aesthetic.  We’re sorry that we didn’t give credit earlier to Kevin Heckart for his artwork.  Thanks.

I’m so happy to share with you my new project Pluggedin!  Pluggedin is a new web series where we invite our colleagues to debate digital platforms, relevant issues and new technologies affecting the New Media landscape.  The audience decides the winner, and the winner gets a 30 second video plugging anyone or anything they like courtesy of thenewpop.com.  Pluggedin is shot entirely on laptop cameras using Google + Hangouts.  It definitely looks like nothing you’ve ever seen before!

In this week’s pilot episode we’re debating WordPress vs. Tumblr and which is the better blogging platform.  Everyone has their own reasons for liking one platform over the other and our guests make great cases for each, and your vote determines the winner.

Which platform do you prefer?  Tweet your comments @pluggedin_tv – The person with the most @ tweets will appear as a guest on an upcoming episode.  This week’s featured panel of debaters include:

Igor Smith – http://drivenbyboredom.com

Kristina Marino – http://thedowntowndiaries.com

Sara Martinez – musingsinfemininity.tumblr.com

Nasa Hadizedah – http://culturedproductions.tumblr.com

One of the things the Internet has accomplished more then any other medium is the extent of interactivity possible.  Almost every other medium elicits a passive process where we ingest visual or audio content but it doesn’t usually allow us to alter or change it.  The Internet and the rapid expansion of technology has truly created an almost universal remix culture that has increasingly become more interactive and easier to accomplish as time goes on.  Literally the same week a rap album comes out the chopped & screwed version pops up on YouTube and mixtape sites, sometimes even with more acclaim then the original.  YouTube itself is literally overflowing with every type of “remix” you can fathom, from Funny or Die esque meme parodies, to video mashups and collages that could span 50 years of visuals in 3 minutes.  The more technology advances, the more established and advanced this remix culture becomes.

The interactive element of the Internet is one of the main reasons people are so attracted to it.  Television, films, and to a lesser extent music has always been almost entirely passive mediums where the viewer is never allowed to alter any aspect of the original content.  Before digital audio software became so affordable and easy to use, even music remixes were relegated to professional musicians or at least serious music hobbyists.  Now because of the way culture exists on the Internet the passive nature of all these mediums has become completely reversed.  Not only do some companies and artists encourage interpretations of their creative output, but some aspects of culture are entirely based on this concept.

Rap music is probably the genre most associated with the remix.  It’s literally the only genre based on sampling, which is inherently a version of remixing.  The earliest rap songs from the late 70s were for the most part based on breakbeats from disco records, and from then on rap culture has engulfed every other genre into a seamless melange that sounds distinctly like itself while still resembling aspects of every genre it’s based on.  The Internet has created an environment for every single medium that rap could only achieve with music.  Now instead of sampling old funk or some obscure idm record, people sample TV shows, movies, webcam snippets, images; literally anything that can be replicated and reproduced in byte form.

One of the most widespread current trends within remix culture is the new-web Tumblr aesthetic.  Tumblrs are very similar to a concept of a blog minus the inherent structure and organization that comes with regular blogging.  When a Tumblr is really executed well it’s a perfect pastiche of anything and everything you can imagine, very often with little to no explanation of the context or an inferred cultural message.  Very often you’ll see YouTube clips next to a soundcloud demo underneath some 70s fashion advert and then a collage of webcam images superimposed over the exact time stamped dialogue of the webcam exchange.

That’s why the Tumblr aesthetic is such a great example of the new remix culture and the almost universal sampling that takes place in every facet of the web.  They encompass everything the author is thinking about or wants to think about all in one place without needing to be placed within the canon or properly contextualized for the audience.  I think that’s one reason Tumblrs and remix culture in general is so attractive to the web audience; people don’t need or want to have these cultural mashups explained to them and its possible the explanation might even ruin some of the mystique behind them.  Just like a song or film or piece of art that you might enjoy on a visceral level, sometimes the unanswered questions that Tumblrs often propose are the most exciting and innovative aspects about them.

Another facet of the new-web remix culture is defintely video collages, and the homemade music videos that currently populate YouTube.  Video collages are new videos specifically cobbled together from the remnents of old clips, whether they’re derived from dusty VHS tapes, a DVR archive, or even old scratchy Super 8 transfers.  Video collages are one of the best examples of the current remix culture and a definitive cousin / accompaniment to the Tumblr aesthetic.  Video collages have almost become the defacto visual element for the qusasi-nostalgic aesthetic of certain Internet based music genres, especially the tongue in cheek “chillwave” and some dream pop (or even dreamwave) and ambient electronic sub-genres.

That’s what the new-web culture has become; people that sample sounds from old songs and then make a video for their track sampling old videos they found in a thrift store or even some rubbish bin.  The new remix culture is creating an entirely new medium based on the detritus of the old.  Even record labels and media conglomerates can benefit from this recent massive trend of remix culture.  By letting people put their own spin on a record label’s hit single or maybe even remix a television skit or commercial, it gives them a more direct and personal relationship with the media that’s impossible to create from passive participation.

Instead of thinking about remix culture and audience reinterpretations of media as a threat to the original concept, some companies can actually benefit from these ideas and very often people will develop a much deeper and more visceral appreciation for the media by personally interacting with it.  Remix culture provides a level of interactivity that can potentially benefit everyone that’s involved, but most importantly it helps to advance and perpetuate the experimental nature of creative mediums which has become one of the most important tenets of new-web culture and the Internet as a whole.

As a digital marketing consultant, I’m fully aware of all the “social media” gurus out there and individuals preaching that “social media” is the holy grail for all of your marketing problems. Truth be told, social media is a great technology that has enabled the democratization of content, and it allows smaller entities to broadcast and rally their communities without having to knock at the doors of “big media”.

Sometimes what they don’t tell you though is advertising, marketing, and PR concepts still apply when using social media.  People don’t just blindly engage with your ideas or concepts, they must be given a reason to care.  Tweeting or incessantly Facebook posting about your brand & not engaging in conversations is still considered spamming.  One of the most important aspects of this two way conversation is you still need to give people a reason to care.

People buy things based on a feeling or on a story.  It’s important to always think about your community and the consumer.  Once you understand what they want & figure out ways to provide it to them your job will become a lot easier.  It’s also important to be original when marketing through social media.  The attention span of Internet users  keeps getting lower and harder to please the more we get bombarded with information left & right.  That’s why it’s so important to consider how your company will get noticed through marketing.  It’s necessary to think about your direct community and exactly how you’ll have an impact.

A great example of this concept I want to share is an article I read about a year ago and I still remember it to this day.  It was about a teen who posted online that he would give people private concerts at their house as he trekked around the US. He would travel to a city and tell people he was in town and they would book him to get serenaded at their homes.  I thought it was such a great concept, especially considering the out of the box method he used to approach marketing a concert in this day and age, when everyone’s Facebook inbox is overloaded with potential events. It even got him enough press to the point of being published in Ad Age.  This is a great example of thinking outside the box and finding ways to separate yourself from your competition.  I would love to hear your thoughts on different ways you can use social media for marketing and promotion.

Thanks so much to everyone who joined my “Internet Famous” webinar yesterday presented by Accion New York. Special thanks to Accion for for hosting the event.

I realized that I tried to fit a lot of information into 1 hour so I hope you were able to take away some valuable tips.  In a nutshell these are some key things to keep in mind to be successful with social media:

1. Research where your targeted demographic spends time (which blogs are they reading, which Facebook Fan pages are they following etc…).

2. Be consistent; this is easy to achieve by having an editorial calendar in place and creating content in advance.

3. Be unique and create content that is not widely available (example: restaurants and web radio stations).

4. Share rich media content and make it available on various platforms like Instagram, Flickr, YouTube, and Vimeo.

5. Make sure you start conversations instead of just spamming your message.

6. Consider partnerships as a way to expand your business in the future.

7. Make sure everything you do drives traffic back to either your Facebook Page or Website.

If you missed out on the webinar, here’s the link to it on Slideshare

http://www.slideshare.net/edorn/luna-vega-webinar-9363842