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Entries for January 2008
Bradford Youth Summit 2008 : Part One
[SUMMARY—Digital journalists course.]
(GBR) We're up north for the next few days to deliver our digital journalists youth training for the Bradford Youth Summit.
Some info on the event:
This paper proposes that Bradford holds a Youth Summit a partnership of JRF, BYDP and Education Bradford to consult with young people across the Bradford Metropolitan District Council to glean a picture of how Bradford is perceived by young people, what are the key priorities organisations who hold portfolios of work with young people should focus on and how young people believe work should be developed on the cohesion and shared futures agenda.
The format of the day will be a combination of short key note speakers, interactive workshops, video dairies and concluding in the evening with an invite back to the young people to a formal dinner with entertainment in reward for their contribution.
You can follow our progress on the event blog
Filed by DK on January 30 2008 | READ IT »
No Community For Old Media
[SUMMARY—New media opportunities.]
(GBR) I visited the cinema the other day, to watch No Country For Old Men. After the film, everyone I was with had an opinion on what was seen, good and bad, we spoke our words and they beamed across to each others ears, then evaporated into thin air. We then walked off to the car and each went home.
How dull.
Was that it? I was thinking. I wanted to leave a comment, for the next person to find. There was no-where for me to do that. No number to text, no Kiosk to give my thumbs up or down, no video booth to leave a rant, no community cafe led by a local fanboy of the director to join in a discussion.
Sure the indie art house cinemas, have actor and director post feature discussions. But I wasn't at one of those. I was in a multi screen complex. Where 10s of thousands of pounds exchanging hands and thousands of people filtering through every week… I know these cinemas have a production line mentality, but they're also fighting the backlash of DVD sales, illegal downloads, and online screenings. Shouldn't they be embracing the technology? rather than putting their hands over their eyes and thinking no-one will notice.
I can't help but think that cinemas are slow to catch up. Their visitors are used to communicating instantly and hearing, reading, seeing opinions from everyone else before them.
I don't think it's enough for any form of media to just deliver anymore… whether that's books, music, films or stage shows.
How hard would it be to impliment just half of the things I've mentioned above? Not much I'm guessing. Maybe one day hey? Until then, there's definitely no community for old media.
Filed by Mark on January 29 2008 | READ IT »
Pacific Youth : The Launch
[SUMMARY—Announcing this years pro bono project.]
(WORLD) Pacific Youth is a five week online social media course for twenty youth leaders from Tonga and Papua New Guinea.
Coordinated by MediaSnackers the project is being delivered in partnership with Antonio López (World Bridger Media), Chris Schuepp (youth media consultant for UNICEF and theoneminutesjr.) plus Youth Action for Change.
Born out of a conversation and request from the founder of Youth Action for Change (check out the podcast we did with her here), MediaSnackers is excited, scared and honoured to coordinate this bold initiative.
The two reasons as to why we're doing this:
• to give something back—our annual pro bono projects are about enabling access to our services for those who would usually never have the opportunity (hence the participants being made up from two remote youth organisations on the other side of the planet);
• it's a first—to our knowledge this has never been done before (an energising factor in the whole project).
For more information on the agenda and delivery partners please check out the welcome page we have put together for the participants.
Where we are, where they are:
All the materials from the course will be made available upon completion under a Creative Commons license.
Filed by DK on January 28 2008 | READ IT »
Non-linear Navigation
[SUMMARY—It's going to be big.]
(WORLD) YouTube Warp Speed illustrates how to navigate, search and view online digital content in a non-linear fashion.
Here are some other examples:
• Digg labs: illustrating the 'live' nature of online information;
• Stumblepon: dynamic and random within a set search criteria;
• Badoo: multi-layered searching of profiles on this social network homepage;
• Musicovery: interactive music browsing by genre and mood;
• Flickr Related Tag Browse: allows you to search pics on Flickr by tags in a non-linear format.
The real fulcrum of all this is 'meta-tagging': attaching an identifiable and searchable word or words to any content (whether it be a website or element within a website, like a video or photograph, or even different profile pages on a social networking site).
In terms of how it relates to young people and their online habits in the next few years:
A hoary old fish, hooks and leaders trailing like battle ribbons from his jaw, approaches a collection of loitering youngsters taking their ease by a coral reef. "Hey," says the grandpa, "how's the water?". The young fish smile, bob and sway their fins deferentially. "Fine, fine, fine," they all say. When the relic has swum off and away, they turn to each other and, almost simultaneously, say, "What's that all about? What's water?"
Quote source: David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest.
Related post: Digital Breadcrumbs
Filed by DK on January 27 2008 | READ IT »
MediaSnackers Podcast#102
[SUMMARY—The 102nd MediaSnackers podcast features Animoto cofounder, Brad Jefferson.]
(WORLD) The MediaSnackers podcast focusses on individuals, organisations or companies who are simply impressing us and which are crying out for more discussion.
Brad Jefferson is one of the cofounders of Animoto, a deliciously intuitive slideshow creator for your photos which we love here at MediaSnackers (plus, have been using in our training gigs with adults and young people).
0.00—0.24 intros
0.25—2.00 how/why was Animoto born
1.01—3.17 logisitics
3.18—3.48 price caveat
3.49—7.49 stories of use (like this one)
7.50—9.34 democratising media practises
9.35—11.36 the future
11.37—11.46 outro
Want to suggest someone or put your virtual hand-up to be interviewed? Then get in touch here or send me an audio message by clicking the icon opposite.
Subscribe directly to these podcasts through iTunes by clicking on the icon opposite (download iTunes for free here).
Not using iTunes? Then just copy / paste this feed and drop it into your podcast aggregating software.
Check out our other podcasts here.
Filed by DK on January 26 2008 | READ IT »
Facebook Disabled Me
[SUMMARY—I've become an online outcast.]
(WORLD) Facebook disabled my account claiming I was using a fake name.
Facebook doesn't allow one letter names so I had "DK Ismyname".
In correspondence with them I explained my name, provided online proof of who I am plus offered to give them 'references' from several trusted sources. Their response:
…please provide a scanned image or a digital photo of a government issued I.D. (e.g. driver's license, passport) to confirm the accuracy of your name.
Would you give them this?
I posed the question to my twitter network if they would provide the information were they to be in the same situation. You can read their responses here, here, here and here (thanks guys).
On the one hand it's great to see Facebook ensuring the validity of their users. For me, a user with over 300 friends plus an obvious online prescence across many websites and web platforms, testimonies and quotes all citing my name, it seems an obvious mistake by them but one which they are not rescinding upon.
I'm not alone in getting my account deleted by using an apparent fake name check out this. It brings up a larger issue of identity and online ownership (to be tackled another time).
Will keep you posted.
UPDATE 30.1.08: My account has been reinstated. However, I had to send them a picture of my credit card to prove my bank calls me 'D'. I'm now known as DK Kendall.
None of my friends, associates or professional colleagues use my surname—only my bank and the tax office does. So which is more fake?
I asked to discuss this further with Facebook, (plus the issue of my account being suspended without cause and suggesting people are given a grace period before action is taken), here's Emma's response (although she never sent me a scanned image or a digital photo of a government issued I.D. (e.g. driver's license, passport) to confirm the accuracy of her name):
This policy is in place to protect the integrity of the site and it is not open to discussion. We apologize for any inconvenience that this policy poses.
UPDATE 7.2.08: After many emails back and for I am very pleased to announce Facebook has agreed to change my listed name to DK. Thank you Facebook for listening and agreeing (now people can find me just by typing 'DK').
Filed by DK on January 25 2008 | READ IT »
Growing Trend In Online Safety
[SUMMARY—An issue in danger of being isolated.]
(WORLD) You can bet your house on there being loads more of events like these popping up all over the UK (and the world) in 2008. An important and serious topic.
A few months back a teacher emailed me asking for a high-res version of our MediaSnackers Explained vid as he was hosting a parents session on internet safety. I sent him the video and an email saying:
There are lots of dangers you're right—hope you illustrated the potential and positive opportunities outweigh these though?
I never heard back…
All these online platforms and tools are value neutral (along with the technology) and there's a danger of discussing these issues in isolation of other positive considerations…
Related posts: Fear, Think Before You Post, Safeguarding Children Online and ChildNet Offerings
Filed by DK on January 24 2008 | READ IT »
MediaSnack-snack-snackers#24
[SUMMARY—Quotes which illustrate.]
(WORLD) MediaSnackers are being served more and more ways to snack on their chosen media than ever. It's hard to differentiate between companies and start-ups enabling snacking or the snacking trends driving media platform development, but here are a couple of quotes from the 'experts' or articles to sum it all up for any 'MediaSnacker-virgins':
The need to know the capital of Florida died when my phone learned the answer.
From a great article about creative thinking in education.
The public school system is designed to produce a workforce for an economy that will not be there. And therefore, with all the best intentions in the world, we're stealing the kids' future.
The words of Alvin Toffler
Adults going online for the first time are entering a world that has been shaped by the interests, desires and concerns of the younger generation, a world that does not operate according to the rules they have followed in real life.
The growing culture clash of older people exploring online worlds like Facebook.
It was very clear that we had to do something because at the moment what we do is spend £6m commissioning TV programmes aimed at 14to19 year olds and then put them out in the morning when they're at school.
The core of the decision behind Channel 4 axing its school programmes.
Trying to clone the success of blockbuster Web sites like Club Penguin and Webkinz, childrens entertainment companies are drastically accelerating efforts to build virtual worlds for kids. Media conglomerates in particular think that these sites—part online role-playing game and part social scene—can deliver quick growth, help keep movie franchises alive and instill brand loyalty in a generation of new customers.
Old school media rushing to meet new school media.
MediaSnack-snack-snackers #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 & 23.
Filed by DK on January 22 2008 | READ IT »
Measuring Virtual Skills?
[SUMMARY—A new trend.]
(WORLD) The thing with actively promoting the lifestyles of young people, is without evidence, we're kind of preaching the unknown. Sure, we're intelligent enough, and it's easy to convince doubters when its 2+2=4, but when it's Kids+Computer Games=Smart… it's slightly harder to justify by giving actual results and data to those who aren't convinced.
At best, we manage to convince others that Multiplayer Online Gaming, can create team building skills, but beyond that, being able to provide evidence of leadership or solid skills that leap out of the Gaming environment and into the real world starts to get tricky. A few stories from the world of Second Life, are out there, telling the masses you can make money in a virtual environment, but to my knowledge, that's a pretty limited percentage doing so—unless it's by some budding entrepreneur or a project by a company that has the commitment to see it through to financial reward.
For the average Joe that sits and plays games all day long, it's hard to see how they can ever leap into a real world environment and turn themselves into the same superhero they are in the game.
That is, until I saw this story on Digg this morning: "Gamer uses virtual medic training to help save a life".
Now I'm not a gamer, and only have limited knowledge the genre, and I can't even tell if this Americas Army game is a cash in by some commercial, a simulation by some non-profit, or a Government funded attempt to make shooting people appear a lot cooler than it clearly isn't. I dunno, I don't play it.
The fact that the guy involved here is 28 and we don't know why he was playing this game in the first place is irrelavant. The point is, as more gaming providers realise that peoples lives are being dominated in some way by these games, I'm certain will only fuel the demand for more realism, leading to more real world benefits of virtual learned skills.
But either way I was pleased (so pleased) to read about the story, of the guy that saved someone's life because of it. In time more stories like this will rise to the surface and filter through the media to demonstrate the good side of gaming rather than constantly dwelling on the negatives. And all of us will be able to stop blowing hot air around and start waving actual documented examples of virtual / real world positives.
Related posts: Education Not Legislation/Play Is Good
Filed by Mark on January 21 2008 | READ IT »
MediaSnackers Podcast#101
[SUMMARY—The 101th MediaSnackers podcast features LA Youth founder, Donna Myrow.]
(WORLD) The MediaSnackers podcast focusses on individuals, organisations or companies who are simply impressing us and which are crying out for more discussion.
LA Youth is a twenty year old print newspaper by and about teens. Here, we talk with its founder and CEO Donna Myrow about this great youth project, how it happens and its forthcoming 20 year anniversary event.
0.00—1.08 intros
1.09—3.14 LA Youth logisitics
3.14—6.48 20th anniversary
6.49—8.34 impact of new technology and online platforms
9.35—10.21 success stories
10.22—10.33 outro
Want to suggest someone or put your virtual hand-up to be interviewed? Then get in touch here or send me an audio message by clicking the icon opposite.
Subscribe directly to these podcasts through iTunes by clicking on the icon opposite (download iTunes for free here).
Not using iTunes? Then just copy / paste this feed and drop it into your podcast aggregating software.
Check out our other podcasts here.
Filed by DK on January 20 2008 | READ IT »
SlideCasting
[SUMMARY—Brilliantly intuitive.]
(WORLD) SlideShare rules.
Simply upload your Powerpoint/Keynotes/PDF's and it creates an embeddable presentation online. Ok, you don't get any funky transitions but you can Slidecast.
As you know, we prefer to show rather than tell so here's us slidecasting our services pdf:
Our inaugral slidecast above also made it to the 'Spotlight' section on ths front page of Slideshare—thanks for the feature guys.
Filed by DK on January 19 2008 | READ IT »
Nokia N95 8GB
[SUMMARY—A review.]
(GBR) There is only one answer when your current mobile provider offers you the latest Nokia N-series handset as part of a free upgrade—I've been playing round with my Nokia N95 8GB for a few weeks now and thought I'd share my adventures in a mini-review.
First the good points:
• capacity beast: 8GB is a lot of space. I have a ton of music, video and pics on there already plus it came bundled with Spiderman 3 (which you can hook up to the TV via the leads it came with);
• 5 megapixel camera: the picture quality superb compared to conventional phone cameras (check out the flickr N95 group for some examples) plus you can also record video at 640x480 resolution, 30 fps;
• double slider design: gives you quick access to controlling your music without opening the full phone;
• wi-fi compatible: surf the web without incurring charges;
• superfast charge: it's never taken longer than 30mins to charge this bad boy fully up;
• software treats: Flickr compatible, YouTube friendly, Skype (via Fring), accelerometer for fun stuff etc.
And now the bad:
• small keys: there is plenty of redundant space which could've been utilised fully;
• not wholly Mac compatible: to upgrade the firmware I have to find PC;
• no external mic: for voice/video interviews this would've been awesome;
• browser issues: clunky and not smooth (even using Opera Mini);
• average battery life: says it all;
The pluses certainly outweigh the negatives.
Filed by DK on January 18 2008 | READ IT »
MediaSnackers Podcast#100
[SUMMARY—The 100th MediaSnackers podcast features our founder, DK.]
(WORLD) The MediaSnackers podcast focusses on individuals, organisations or companies who are simply impressing us and which are crying out for more discussion.
To relaunch our podcast series the tables got turned and MediaSnackers founder DK got interviewed by our esteemed friend and colleague, Christian Long.
0.00—0.35 intros
0.36—1.38 MediaSnackers conception
1.39—2.15 previous experience
2.16—5.17 core values and brand essence
5.18—8.41 real-life stories
8.42—10.43 the African experience and the button theory
10.44—13.52 deeper change through social media and technology
13.53—17.32 repeatable questions from conferences, events or clients
17.33—22.02 the future for MediaSnackers
22.03—23.25 outro
Many thanks to Christian Long for giving up his time and for framing such great and exploratory questions.
Want to suggest someone or put your virtual hand-up to be interviewed? Then get in touch here or send me an audio message by clicking the icon opposite.
Subscribe directly to these podcasts through iTunes by clicking on the icon opposite (download iTunes for free here).
Not using iTunes? Then just copy / paste this feed and drop it into your podcast aggregating software.
Check out our other podcasts here.
Filed by DK on January 16 2008 | READ IT »
Youth Work(ers) Challenged
[SUMMARY—MediaSnackers referenced.]
(GBR) Michael Bracey leads youth support services for Southend-on-Sea Borough Council and also writes for Youth Work Now.
His latest piece entitled Conquer your technology demons is a great challenge to his colleagues:
But where are we? Ready to take non-formal education forward into the digital age? Prepared to use all this new technology to empower young people? In a word, no. We're to be found somewhere at the back.
Check out YouTube and do a search for 'youth work'. Apart from an entertaining clip of Tom Wylie, former chief executive of The National Youth Agency, in a hoodie and a great film from Liverpool Youth Service, it's not great. And it's even worse over on MySpace. These sites should be bursting with content showcasing young people's achievements.
An issue reflected in our posts listed below—fancy joining the discussion/campaign Mike.
Related posts: Wanted: Youth Work Bloggers and How To Become A Leader
Filed by DK on January 15 2008 | READ IT »
MediaSnackers Button Theory
[SUMMARY—One of our theories.]
(WORLD) This is purely experiential and non-academic. We talk about it a lot with clients and in our talks plus it's one of the reasons 75% of our training is with adults and not young people.
Get ready to chew on this for a while:
A young person would push a button to see what it does—an adult would ask what the button does before they pushed it.
It's very subtle but vastly important in terms of social media and technology.
It's why young people don't read manuals and navigate the web much quicker than older folks (for them, there's always a back button…). Call it the arrogance of youth or that they haven't learned how to 'fail' yet—they at least don't have the same consideration to the consequences.
Some say that's dangerous. Others, (like us and in this context) think it's a quality to regain and a healthy part of the nuances of being young.
You can hear me talk about it a little more in the MediaSnackers 100th podcast.
Filed by DK on January 15 2008 | READ IT »
Welsh Assembly: E-democracy Event
[SUMMARY—Widening eparticipation and edemocracy.]
(WAL) I attended a Welsh Assembly hosted E-democracy event organised by Wales Media Literacy Network (of which Ofcom Wales funds). Below is my write up of the day:
Filed by DK on January 14 2008 | READ IT »
Wanted: Youth Work Bloggers
[SUMMARY—I feel a campaign coming on.]
(GBR) There are no statutory youth workers blogging in the UK. Period.
MediaSnackers has been talking about this for the last year and took the opportunity to challenge all the heads of the youth services when we spoke at their annual conference last November.
There are a few more welcome voices adding to the cause: Tim has done a great job at outlining the benefits and Mike has made a funky start on a blogging toolkit.
However, there is a certain amount of recognisble irony blogging about the lack of youth work bloggers—we're preaching to the converted and those who we need to convince don't read/know about blogs.
There's the rub.
The solution in my opinion, make it personal, as in, in person (hence our training sessions and speaking gigs—person to persons.
And the message must focus more on emotions than intellect. The brain has something called the limbic system, it controls our feelings and is far more powerful than the intellectual bit of our brain, the neocortex.
This coupled with demonstrations of how easy it is, its obvious benefits plus managerial buy-in/top-down commitment, then we'll get there: the first statutory UK-based youth worker blogging. It's only a matter of time folks.
Update (22/1/07): Nonformality writes a great post on their ten reasons why youth workers should be blogging.
Related post: How To Become A Leader and Youth Work(ers) Challenged
Filed by DK on January 13 2008 | READ IT »
DOWA Featured
[SUMMARY—Great school design(ers).]
(USA) MediaSnackers friends Dull Olson Weekes Architects (DOWA)—the fantastic guys behind the 'Reshape Schools: Space and Place' event in Portland, Oregon we spoke at last May—have been featured in the seminal journal for their industry, Architectural Records.
Check out the two case studies: the $13-million Rosa Parks School and the multi-partnership Jefferson High School project.
Well done guys for the feature.
Filed by DK on January 12 2008 | READ IT »
Rotherham Conference Keynote
[SUMMARY—Up north.]
(GBR) MediaSnackers is keynoting at the Rotherham Young People's Services annual staff conference (entitled, "Youth Work Matters") today.
Filed by DK on January 12 2008 | READ IT »
Phoney Features And Funky Phone
[SUMMARY—We want one.]
(WORLD) I do wonder what's taken soooo long for mobile phones to catch up with what we want to do with them. Do the manufacturers all think that these content driven websites we're all glued to, are just a fad? They've been around with their format requirements for long enough, why are things still so mentally traumatic? Particularly when all that's needed most of the time is a software update?
Sure phones take great photos now, record voice and capture video well enough, but getting that content off of the technology on to a computer, then into the format you want, and finally on to a website of your chosing, has been a bit of a pain to say the least. My dad couldn't do it, and he's the benchmark whereby I measure everything in existence including, and not limited to, logging on and off of anything, using stuff which isn't obvious and balancing cups of tea on his belly whilst sat watching TV.
Now I know the N95 is the bomb, and the Viewty takes great high fps video, and the iPhone is dead sexy… and I'm sure millions of us care not about doing anything other than sending texts and phoning people. But I'm certain the biggest issue with adopting anything new beyond the ergonomics of using its basic functions, is being able to do something fun with whatever you've captured. Get that right from day one and you're onto a winner. Get it wrong and you'll probably struggle to realise it, because people won't use that feature and will just continue to use the basic functions.
I'm not talking about elite tech amongst us either, I mean the average Joe out there that just wants to get a clip on Youtube without having to run some daft software on his machine, convert the file from some bizarre .mod extension, navigate blindly through the help files of windows movie maker and somehow squeeze it up through their phone pipes and hold their breath whilst the 'upload' bar clunks its way up to 100% like we're suddenly reverting back to 56k modems again.
So it's with great interest, that I view the Motorola Z10 and hope they've made it as easy as its claimed… and then add me (and the rest of the MediaSnackers team) to the list of people that want one.
Filed by Mark on January 11 2008 | READ IT »
Every Child Wired
[SUMMARY—Plugging in a nation.]
(GBR) Plans are afoot by the UK government to ensure every young person in the UK is hooked up to the net at home. In partnership with some of the big media companies, the government is trying to get connectivity costs down in an attempt to bridge the 'digital divide'.
Jim Knight, the schools minister, said:
We need to get to a point where in the same way when they start school the expectation is you've [the parent] got to find a school uniform, provide them with something to write with and probably these days a calculator, and in secondary school some sports gear—well, you add to that some IT.
This is also about engaging parents more through giving them online access to their kids records. Be interesting to see how this one rolls out…
Filed by DK on January 11 2008 | READ IT »
MySpace Tribes
[SUMMARY—New classifications.]
(WORLD) Those sneaky guys at The Future Laboratory set up a 'virtual hide' in MySpace and conducted 1,000 interviews, the result of which are the following new classifications of tribes:
• Mindies—teetotal under-18s who follow the teen bands
• Cheemos—combination of chav and goth looks (the word is a cross between chav and emo)
• Slash/slash—kids are multi-skilled who like to create their own music and fashion
• Rudettes—follow Lily Allen's rude-girl style
• Double dressers—friends who co-ordinate matching or complementary outfits
• Essentialists—primarily use social networking sites to stay in touch with friends
• Transumers—those who follow new trends rather than make them
• Connectors—specialise in identifying and linking to cool content
• Collaborators—who create events and projects online by teaming up with other users
• Scene breaking—hunting down new bands and talent online and sharing that through the site
• Netrepreneurs—who use social networking sites to make money
Did you know?
Filed by DK on January 10 2008 | READ IT »
Killing Creativity
[SUMMARY—A rant.]
(WORLD) 'Creativity' and 'innovation' are great words, aren't they? Why, then, are universities shunning the idea? This isn't a sweeping statement that I've just thought about, I've spent all day thinking about it. I spent my first day at CBBC in London researching and browsing a bit on the net, I came across this article and thought it was completely unencouraging and uninspiring. To list twenty subjects that are described as 'soft' makes teens feel inferior and the less said about self-esteem and confidence, the better. What I am shocked at most, is that subjects such as Business Studies, Drama and Art are being seen as 'easy courses'.
I have had first-hand experience of Business A-Level—the syllabus was challenging to say the least (especially as I had not studied it previously at GCSE) and at both AS and A2 level, my classmates and I worked relentlessly to get top grades. I also know that Drama and Art have enormous workloads: Drama being based heavily on individual and group performance, as well as extensive coursework that has kept my friends up until the early morning to finish it to the best of their abilities. Art is time-consuming, with preparation work and research that needs to be completed weeks ahead of endless exams, projects and exhibitions.
I do not see the need to reject these 'unconventional' subjects, after all, out of these subjects; couldn't you find the next Sir Richard Branson, Will Smith or Banksy? Just because a student has wider and more adventurous tastes in, say, Physical Education, Sports Studies (both soft subjects) and Biology (a concrete subject), doesn't necessarily mean that a student who has studied all three sciences would be more geared towards a career in healthcare. I see this somewhat elite viewpoint as off-putting for prospective university students and makes top universities even more remote and out of reach.
What is wrong in encouraging teenagers to follow their hearts of being a dancer or an actor? The difficulties that we, as students, must face to even get into university is once again being highlighted. What with increasing tuition fees and higher percentages of students achieving top A grades, who really needs to be told they are studying an easy subject?
Related post: MediaSnackers Podcast#88: Sir Ken Robinson
Filed by DK on January 9 2008 | READ IT »
When Brothers Attack!
[SUMMARY—Virtually. And in a good way.]
(WORLD) For anyone thats sucked into the world of YouTube this may not be a surprise, but for the rest of the planet, Brotherhood 2.0 is an experiment / entertainment project set up by 2, erm… brothers that have decided to only communicate through video blogs!
Yep, think about that for a second… cause I had to.
To those that have experienced zefrank on youtube, you'll be happy to know that their style is very similar: there's John and his bro Hank Green.
Brotherhood 2.0 is into its second year now and has grown expanentially exponenshally expanencially massively due to their frequency of posts, incredible content and a 'nerdfighting' cause to save the world… and by something to do with 'uniting in my pants'… whatever that may be. Brotherhood 2.0 has begun the new year by launching their own social network to cram all the other nerdfighters together in one spot.
Marketing genious? Check. 14,000 subscribers in a year.
Entertainment? Check.
Inspiring? Not sure. But the kids seem to love it.
Filed by Mark on January 8 2008 | READ IT »
The Truth About Booze
[SUMMARY—A site review.]
(GBR) The Truth About Booze is a website is dedicated to reaching out to young people, raising awareness of alcohol and its baggage of problems -its presented in a very hip way with lots of cool graphics and youth jargon making learning about alcohol more accessible to Young People.
As alcohol is a bit of a taboo subject, with many young people seeing it as a way of socialising or even as a way of life, this website provides helpful information such as a "unit calculator" and a blog where you can talk about your experiences of alcohol. The best thing about this website is that you can learn in your own time, and its private—so it's far away from the effect of peer pressure that may prevent young people from finding out about drink.
There is also a page dedicated to help lines and companies that can help young people find out even more ideal. The more access to information that young people have in enviornments that they are familiar with (the web) the more they'll take in, especially when they are communicating with other young people via the blog.
Filed by DK on January 8 2008 | READ IT »
The MediaSnackers Manifesto
[SUMMARY—Lines in the sand.]
(WORLD) A public declaration articulating our brand beliefs and values:
Everything we do must be kick ass—the overarching MediaSnackers mantra.
Be fluid—(reflect the market and) bend, change, divert, redefine, fluxuate, react, stretch, evolve, reinvent, be dynamic and stay organic. It's a strength not to be rigid.
Leading is a choice—not a position.
Play constantly—with words, ideas, technology, platforms, structures and others. It's the best way to learn.
Real life has more bandwidth—faces are better than Facebook, getting out there, making people 3D and pressing palms still rules!
Believe in values—they are assets not to be sold. Meaning, we scrutinise every potential client and are selective who we work with (no tobacco companies or fast-food chains please).
Be nice…to people and the planet. We are currently developing plans to go carbon neutral and also prefer to build people up than to knock them down.
Don't be bullied—simply, ignore them. A secondary reaction to other stuff and it's not our issue(s) to own.
Everyone has something to teach—so, stop and listen (even to the bullies).
Follow the digital breadcrumbs—you never know where they will lead and to whom. Click, click, click away…
Think big, act small—it's been said before, imaginations have no limits, our capacity to deliver does though. Break it down, create layers and it becomes doable (with help usually).
Experience doesn't matter—not when you're trying new stuff. That's why it's called new. The success is nearly always in the attempt.
Make it personal—yes, MediaSnackers is a business but we're people first.
Collaborate—Albert Einstein said it best: "Nothing great was ever done alone." We like company.
Technology is a Trojan Horse—the real game is long-term 'voice projection' for young people. Giving adults just enough comfort with the tools to be able to innovate with their young charges is the key; likewise, giving kids the tools and mentors to begin to project their ideas/creativity on an unparalleled level is what we do (thank you Christian Long for flooring us with this).
Conversation over advertising—no direct mail-outs or fliers. We haven't the time or belief in interruption marketing. We ensure we kickass and promote this. More signal, less noise, or, simple stories, well told.
Look sideways to go forward—inspiration and ideas will come from other sectors, glance around constantly and see what's going on elsewhere, then adapt and adopt.
The MediaSnackers Manifesto will be permanently accessible here and is subject to change.
Inspired by An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth
Filed by DK on January 7 2008 | READ IT »
MediaSnackers Monthly Digest
[SUMMARY—January 08.]
(WORLD) This months MediaSnackers digest is live.
Filed by DK on January 7 2008 | READ IT »
Good Luck Jess
[SUMMARY—We're so proud.]
(GBR) Our very own Jess is starting a two week work placement at the CBBC tomorrow—a direct result of her work at last years Showcomotion gig.
Good luck from all at MediaSnackers, Jess.
Filed by DK on January 6 2008 | READ IT »
MediaSnackers Vodcast | Episode#013 | January 08
[SUMMARY—Another mouth-watering MediaSnackers Vodcast to devour.]
The MediaSnackers monthly vodcast is a ten minute shot (more or less) of yummy-youth-media-goodness. Featuring content made, produced or focussed on young people and media from around the globe.
Featuring: Graffiti by Otto Markus : theoneminutesjr.org; MobileJamFest promo; Sense Mag interview; Save Me by Showing Off To Thieves.
Subscribe directly to these podcasts through iTunes by clicking the 'subscribe' icon opposite (download iTunes for free here).
Not using iTunes? Then just copy / paste this feed and drop it into your podcast aggregating software.
If you have any short video content (under two-mins) relating to youth media projects, are involved in any aspects of youth media or are a young person producing digital content (audio/visual) and want to discuss submitting pieces for consideration, please get in touch.
Watch the other MediaSnackers Vodcasts.
Filed by DK on January 5 2008 | READ IT »
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