M.E. Exposed

So in case you didn’t know…I’m a new media freak! 

I wish they would stop creating things that I really want to be uncool, but then end up being so freaking cool.  Now with the common Facebook and/or Twitter sign up/login, it makes it so seamlessly easy to join these sites that it’s really hard to resist. 

So here are 5 new media thingy-ma-giggy-bobs I’ve recently discovered:

1. Klout

So who cares how many people you influence, but apparently Klout has found a way to use different social media sites that you are registered with such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, amongst many others, to determine your, well…Klout. 

They have filtered out the spam bots and porn girls that follow you, to reveal who really reads and interacts with the content you throw out.  Kind of a neat idea in theory, but why join up?  Well you get Klout perks, for instance I got free tickets to the NY premiere of ‘The Art of Flight’ (Red Bull Snowboarding movie), which was pretty awesome, and there are tonnes of other free promotional Klout perks that you can get, which are usually new product promotional material…Which is always cool.

2. ShoutOmatic

So I recently discovered Tout, which I will discuss in another part of my new media finds, but instead of text or video, Shoutomatic allows you to post voice/audio clips and even attach mp3s to these said clips.  Pretty cool for a musician trying to promote a new tune off their album.  You could shout, “Hey, listen to my new track”, which then merges with a 30 second clip of the song.  You can even set it to fade out if you do it on a computer, but you also have the option of recording clips on your phone and directly posting them through an app or via a telephone number.  You see why my days feel so long?  Discovering new sites can be very distracting.

3. Rapportive

So this little sucker plays on the word rapport, with their cool slogan, ‘Making Email a Better Place’. I’m guessing if you have a good rapport with people, maybe they will provide all their information for you. 

Rapportive works as a plug-in for your web browser, and seamlessly works itself into Gmail, so a column appears on the right which basically gives more information about your contacts.  It can pull their Google profile photo, their Twitter feed, and any other information that they provide on the net.  If you don’t know many people it may not be very useful, but if you have a hell of a contact list, it could be cool to have a photo reminder or a direct link to a Twitter feed or LinkedIn profile.  Nothing mind blowing, but it’s pretty neat I think.

4. Square

To be honest, I don’t know how much more awesome than this it gets.  So the clever people from Square have made the iPhone, a portable credit card machine.  I was 1st exposed to this at a CD release party for my friend Arin Maya (check her out and buy her album, she’s dope), where I didn’t have enough cash to buy her CD, but really wanted one, and her homegirl whips open the Square app.  Unfortunately she didn’t have the nifty credit card swipe device that plugs into the headphone jack of the iPhone, but the idea of paying for it through the iPhone was mad cool.  So of course I downloaded the app and signed up, and they sent me the little device for free (smart business move Square). 

There are service charges, which you can factor into your overall charge, but the convenience of this is really worth it.  I must say I’m really impressed with this.

5. Ticketbud

A lot like Square, the people from Ticket bud decided that they would allow you to again use an app on your Smartphone to be your own ticket vendor.  Who needs Ticketmaster anymore when you can create your event and sell your own tickets online.  The tickets can be printed by the purchasers and scanned when they arrive at the event.  Scanning via the smartphone, of cool QR codes that are printed on each ticket.  So your own tickets, your own scanner verification at the door, and if you have a successful event, probably a lot cheaper than printing a lot of paper tickets, and definitely more eco-friendly.

Technology is continuing to remove the middle man, and make entrepreneurial activity a lot easier, so really there are a lot less excuses, because there are so many simple, free and effective tools to make it happen.  I must say if things are moving at this rate now, I really can’t imagine what technology will be like in the next decade, but as usual I got all my senses ready for the next set of Thingy-Ma-Jiggy-Bobs that are gonna pop up.

Look out for part 2 on my new media finds, because this is what I do…find cool ish!  Until next time, blessed love.