Ok, so it was about 8:30pm EST last night. I was on Twitter of course. @ijustine tweeted that the 2nd Annual Streamy Awards was going live on its official website very soon. I was like cool, let me check it out. I had no clue with the show was about. So, I get on the website and read its About section and I was like excellent! There is actually an award shows devoted to celebrating the accomplishments of famous and upcoming vbloggers and geeks, YouTube stars, web TV shows, and web TV programming as a whole. For over three hours, I watched the show and tweeted away the best and worst moments of the night and oh what a night it was! Here are the main highlights of the show:
1. How can an award show that was shown via live stream on its official website and other sponsored outlets not only lagged on the Internet throughout the whole night, but was nearly ruined by technical difficulties in the middle of the show? Most of the "What It Takes to be Nominated" piece was not shown because the DVD that contained the video footage was damaged. Which begs the question? This was an awards show dedicated to Web TV and someone did not make sure the footage was properly working BEFORE the ceremony? Plus, you had the most tech-savvy people and producers in the world in one-room! How embarrassing?! I blame Blizzard Entertainment or someone's iPad.
2. The host Paul Scheer, was a lot funnier than this year's Oscars hosts, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. Actually, I enjoyed this show more than this year's Oscars. Humorously awful at times, but not boring.
3. Was it just me or the whole VH1 "Best Week Ever" cast was on stage last night?
4. During the technical downtime, two naked male streamers ran across the stage. Their private parts were not censored at all, so I bare witnessed to penises and balls right before my eyes. Oh my! But remember, this was live-streamed, not on TV, so it made the experience more memorable!
5. I saw a young couple walked out of the room during a comic skit at the beginning of the show. How rude.
6. I heard more sexual jokes and innuendos and saw more sexual groping on one stage (sorry LisaNova and Chad Hardwick lmao!) than a hardcore porn video. The stereotype about geeks is true, I guess! We may be innocent and geeky on the outside, but we are sexual freaks behind...closed.... doors..... I also saw David Faustino from Married With Children in only white boxers presenting an award. He was pretty hot though. Yum.
8. Ironically, none of the winners were kicked off the stage for going beyond the time limit to present their speeches. I found it a great relief. I just wish CBS and ABC granted more time for winners at the Grammys and Oscars.
9. Felicia Day, creator of the hit Web TV series, The Guild, delivered the best speech of the night in my opinion. She devoted her Best Female Actor in a Comedy Series award to the geek girls out there in the world, who are still underrepresented in the tech world. In return, I promise to watch the third season of The Guild with pride!
10. The Gregory Brothers pretty much nailed the first segment of their skit. They took a auto-tune beat and the first seconds of several, popular YouTube videos to create a new song. It was creative. The other half of their segment was bland but they managed to bring it all together with a vocal "speech" for winning the Best News or Political Web Series Award for AutoTune for the News.
Despite the technical problems and excessively vulgar language, I enjoyed watching the show. I learned that there are a ton of popular Web TV shows out there that I am missing out on and now I have the opportunity to check them out on the Internet and possibly write about on my blog in the near future. Inspiration is all around us. I also learned that all the nominees worked very hard days and nights to produce new content, find the best actors and directors, and promote their brands online, similar to what I am doing right now with my blog. I look forward to viewing this awards ceremony next year without the delays and excessive amount of sexual jokes. Keep it short, smart, and entertaining. Winning formula right there!
Congratulations to all the nominees and winners!
A couple of days ago, I was strolling through my Tweet Deck until I came across a ijustine tweet with a link to a recent Justin Kownacki's article entitled, "Are You Waiting Until You're Popular Before You Start Being Relevant?". The title alone struck a chord to me. His words defiantly brought life to a continuing situation in my life: what is my path to success and how I can implement it in social media and in other mediums? Am I socially irrelevant? It only took me only two minutes to decide to write a response to this insightful article. I am here to confess to you that:
1. I am a shameless self-promoter sometimes. Who else is going to do my dirty work? Me.
2. I tweet celebrities and other famous people (in their own right), seeking some form of self-recognition and acknowledgment from the people that I admire, when nine out of ten, they don't response back.
3. Twitter and other micro-blogging platform feel like continuous beauty pageants. Everyone including myself, is seeking their fifteen minutes of fame in the most constructive or ludicrous ways possible. I personally was not the most popular girl in high-school, so I may already be at a disadvantage.
4. Setting yourself and your personal or professional brand(s) is harder now since more and more people are now signing up to Twitter and other social networking sites and creating new blogs at an astronomical rate. Your Twitter account or blog is like a resume/cover letter with hundreds of thousands of hiring managers grossing over it to see you are worthy following.
5. Twitter has now socially integrated into my own personal life. So for people who think I have no life outside my laptop computer, you can just stuck it.
6. Despite my pleas for self-recognition, I fear overexposure. Case in point, Justin Bieber. I still do not know why is he is a constant trending topic on Twitter.
7. Fear should be a sin. Like what Kownaski said in his article, what is stopping you from being the real "you"? I do not have a definite answer, but the plot thickens.
Despite these confessions, I am more grounded than I had thought. I do not compare the Twitter backgrounds or the tweets or writing styles of successful bloggers and social media experts to my own brand because everyone is different. There is no point in trying to be someone else or be another ijustine or aplusk. What I do envy, however, is the self-recognition and support that these people get on a daily basis. I just want to be known for my visionary talents. When you seem like you have a good foot in the door, another obstacle crashes on top of you. Despite my fears and problems, I see the brighter side of the rainbow. (To Be Continued).
What are your fears and anxieties using social media tools to enhance your business or brand?
