According to a recent article on Wired Magazines website the two major social networking websites have finally found a weakness in there online empires. Myspace.com and Facebook.com are both websites that have taken the internet and our generation by storm. They allow for people from across the planet to meet and share stories, information, pictures and events with a variety of people on a variety of topics. However now as other networking sites are slowly popping up advertiser and investors are starting to ask are these two gigantic websites a little too general?
According to this article myspace alone boasts 225 million members. These people (including myself and probably you too) come from many different backgrounds. The fact that the creators of Myspace and Facebook found a way to get so many sets of eye balls to repeatedly come to there websites of course got audience hungry advertisers interested in these sites. However, now it seems they are asking themselves if these sites are truly able to connect them with the intended audiences. Just in a short visit to my own myspace page i found an ad to see the Jonas brothers perform live. Anyone who knows me or visits my page (www.myspace.com/jblack919) will clearly see that I and those who visit my page will not be going to see them.
This is what matters in the world of advertising. In recent weeks I have noticed an upsurge in niche social networking websites. Although these sites maybe small in membership advertisers are taking notice. Don't you think that the advertiser in charge of the Jonas Brothers event would be much more satisfied if they put that same ad on a website dedicated to there genre of music. Although the ad may not reach the millions of people it will reach on a Myspace or Facebook they would be able to rest easily knowing that a higher percentage of people would come out and support the event.
Niche websites like Conscious Africans connected (http://consciousafricans.ning.com/), Linkedin (www.linkedin.com) and YSN.com are all connecting advertisers and audiences in a much more focused way than Myspace and Facebook are capable of. However do not think that the two networking behemoths are to be outdone. Facebook has tried to combat this with its decision to show users when their friends patronize a certain business or ad however this strategy has proven to be more of an annoyance to the average user like myself.
Ultimately I feel that the social networking site is here to stay as are its two flagships. However the days of there whole sale market dominance are numbered. What we are seeing now is that the floodgates have been opened. The concept of social networking is backfiring on the creators of these two sites but in reality they are not going anywhere anytime soon. What I foresee happening is that they both will eventually fall into the background as more niche sites begin to appear. In any case nobody can argue that Myspace and Facebook have connected out generation like never before.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Heart Break in Hardcore Hip-Hop: Are Rap And R&B Ruining Your Relationship? Pt 1
Recently as I have been going through a break-up with my newest ex-girlfriend I began doing what many heartbroken people do which is turn to my favorite recording artists for comfort. This is when an epiphany hit me: "I am apart of the Hip-Hop Generation!!!" Although many rappers and R&B artist may create chart topping hits about heartbreak I must admit that typically the most listened to artist on my ipod are of the grittier style in the hip-hop genre.
However today after I turned on my itunes and began to listen to my new "heartbreak mix" I realized that the majority of the material that I was listening to was telling a similar story of the mind of young men of the hip hop generation. I realized at that moment the power that music has in the socialization of men and women. I have been going back and forth with my ex these past few days. Something that struck me was that she was not the one hurting (at least not externally) but I was. I began to hypothesize that maybe one of the reasons that I was taking the breakup so bad was because I had not been taught how to deal with the concept of having my heartbroken.
As I thought about this idea of hardcore hip hop having a heart I recalled a video clip I had seen of Tupac Shakur from when he was seventeen years old. In this video interview we find the future icon talking about how when he was dating a young lady and she stopped the relationship because he was "too nice". Tupac goes on to recount how this "nice guy" behavior got him a lot of friends but was not helping him in the romantic relationship department. Shakur then decided that he was going to "be like them" (other young men) because in his mind they seemed to get the girls by calling them the "B word". Then the video cuts to Tupac during his years on Death Row records saying "Bitches aint shit".
What is the psychology behind this behavior i wondered as I sat in my dorm room thinking of how young men view women in modern culture. I then thought of a more contemporary and in some aspects even more controversial artist then Tupac. The individual I speak of is Marshall Mathers aka Eminem. On his album Encore I listened to a song called "Spend Some Time". This song featured Eminem, Obie Trice, Stat Quo and 50 Cent. While listening to this track I was able to observe how these men handled heartbreak or "protected" themselves from it by degrading women with there language.
Whether it is the members of the Shady/Aftermath empire, a dead Hip Hop legend who keeps dropping albums every year or Kanye West and Jamie Foxx I kept on hearing the same things over and over again. Is this what we are dealing with? Is it possible that all of the bitches and hoes we have heard in rap lyrics over the years are the results of some of these men not knowing how to handle heartbreak? Could it be that the male recording artists have been trained to be (and are training) an army of drug dealing, gun slinging, bitch slapping young thugs who don't know how to deal with there emotions? In the next piece we shall delve into this matter a little deeper as we allow the female artists perspective to be heard and analyzed but for now take a second thought before turning to your favorite playlist of heartbreak songs. The time you take to think about it might save you some heartache.
To Be Continued.....
However today after I turned on my itunes and began to listen to my new "heartbreak mix" I realized that the majority of the material that I was listening to was telling a similar story of the mind of young men of the hip hop generation. I realized at that moment the power that music has in the socialization of men and women. I have been going back and forth with my ex these past few days. Something that struck me was that she was not the one hurting (at least not externally) but I was. I began to hypothesize that maybe one of the reasons that I was taking the breakup so bad was because I had not been taught how to deal with the concept of having my heartbroken.
As I thought about this idea of hardcore hip hop having a heart I recalled a video clip I had seen of Tupac Shakur from when he was seventeen years old. In this video interview we find the future icon talking about how when he was dating a young lady and she stopped the relationship because he was "too nice". Tupac goes on to recount how this "nice guy" behavior got him a lot of friends but was not helping him in the romantic relationship department. Shakur then decided that he was going to "be like them" (other young men) because in his mind they seemed to get the girls by calling them the "B word". Then the video cuts to Tupac during his years on Death Row records saying "Bitches aint shit".
What is the psychology behind this behavior i wondered as I sat in my dorm room thinking of how young men view women in modern culture. I then thought of a more contemporary and in some aspects even more controversial artist then Tupac. The individual I speak of is Marshall Mathers aka Eminem. On his album Encore I listened to a song called "Spend Some Time". This song featured Eminem, Obie Trice, Stat Quo and 50 Cent. While listening to this track I was able to observe how these men handled heartbreak or "protected" themselves from it by degrading women with there language.
Whether it is the members of the Shady/Aftermath empire, a dead Hip Hop legend who keeps dropping albums every year or Kanye West and Jamie Foxx I kept on hearing the same things over and over again. Is this what we are dealing with? Is it possible that all of the bitches and hoes we have heard in rap lyrics over the years are the results of some of these men not knowing how to handle heartbreak? Could it be that the male recording artists have been trained to be (and are training) an army of drug dealing, gun slinging, bitch slapping young thugs who don't know how to deal with there emotions? In the next piece we shall delve into this matter a little deeper as we allow the female artists perspective to be heard and analyzed but for now take a second thought before turning to your favorite playlist of heartbreak songs. The time you take to think about it might save you some heartache.
To Be Continued.....
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