MYSPACE AND FACEBOOK

[Moonstruck]

Ever notice when you search around these sites for radio people that there are fewer old school people. Now I know it's obvious the mentality is different when it comes to younger people than the over 40 bunch and the younger you are the more you try to network to get ahead in a business where there's nowhere to go anyway but I have to wonder. Other than the novelty of it and what some consider the prestige thing of having some major market radio person you never met as a "friend" does anyone find these sites are anything more than a novelty? It's fine to have some major market radio person as a "friend" but when that person has 787 other "friends" is this anything more than just trying to be "in"? I know when it comes to radio people there are two schools of thought. Some swear by anything and everything that gets your name out there and other scoff at anything attention getting and public like this. Any opinions?

 

[blah-blah]

Real radio celebrities charge money for these types of referrals/contacts.

 

[Holland Cooke]

And you're ALL invited to be MY Friends...but you'll have to identify yourself..

Other than the novelty of it and what some consider the prestige thing of having some major market radio person you never met as a "friend" does anyone find these sites are anything more than a novelty?

Facebook can be EXTREMELY useful, as Barack Obama demonstrated.

If you work on-air, you can alert all your Friends to a contest or special guest or on-air event, or new song title.

And every day, you know who to wish "Happy Birthday."

HC
www.HollandCooke.com

 

[and.u.r?]

Yes Holland for the instances you described both sites are good but they have become overused to the point of foolishness.More and more radio people have private profiles anyway since some have gotten in trouble over comments they and friends have left.So basically you end up catering to the select few listeners and that brings us to the concept of catering to only those who call the stations which is very few.Then again if you believe every board op in Providence is on a first name basis with Paul Cubby Bryant my theory is wrong.

 

[Holland Cooke]

"both are good but they have become overused to the point of foolishness"

Agree!
It's like radio-info.com.
Filter-out the static, and these can be useful TOOLS.

if you believe every board op in Providence is on a first name basis with Paul Cubby Bryant my theory is wrong.

I don't know who he is, but, as Dan Yorke would say, "I will tell you this..."

Hit a Red Sox game, and watch the crack WRKO/WEEI street team in action, and you'll see the value of key support talent.

It's always been smart career management to "take the unwanted job."
Lately, webmaster has been one such job.
Often it's dropped-in-the-lap-of Promotion elves derisively referred to as "banner hangers."
Something interesting has been happening.
These support staffers, who are facilitating events and online assets are emerging as characters themselves.

What Regis & Kellie viewer doesn't know of "Gelman?"
How about "Ross the Intern" on The Tonight Show?

When I started at WPRO (1974!!!) young Gio was an intern.
I think the-very-first-time he spoke on-air was when I nudged him to the mic to relate a traffic tangle he'd just been through.
Just before I cracked the mic, I double-checked, "Your name is Dan, right?"

 

[DToTheJ]

Yes Holland for the instances you described both sites are good but they have become overused to the point of foolishness.More and more radio people have private profiles anyway since some have gotten in trouble over comments they and friends have left.

You can moderate comments other members post on your Myspace profile.

 

[radioguybroadcasting]

Yes Holland for the instances you described both sites are good but they have become overused to the point of foolishness.More and more radio people have private profiles anyway since some have gotten in trouble over comments they and friends have left.

You can moderate comments other members post on your Myspace profile.

Exactly, so there's no excuse for nasty, crap comments to be left by someone.. when you can take care of it before they're even posted.

 

[Moonstruck]

If you notice, it's the same group of radio people on all these sites anyway. On facebook it's funny but you will actually see a radio person's real last name the way they register. That is if you know how to look for people which is by clicking on friends to take you to their pages. The funny thing about all the private profiles is that the original concept on myspace is to bring yourself open to the public. When you go private, probably for good reasons, you're only letting in people you really know and some myspace whores whose only accomplishment in life is in knowing people. In that case, why even be on myspace when you can obviously email these people anyway. The whole idea of a public site like this is lost.

 

[Holland Cooke]

So THERE you are...

On facebook it's funny but you will actually see a radio person's real last name the way they register.

What many radio-info.com posters don't realize is that their actual IP address is known.
"Fingerprints."

 

[hotmanlarry]

Facebook and My Space = NOTHING.. Nobody even takes them seriously.

 

[McRadio]

IP addresses are known only to site administrators though.....not to inquiring minds.
As far as facebook and myspace these sites start out well then catch on then become just something certain people feel they have to do because everyone else does it. When even household pets have myspace pages it becomes nothing more than a joke but for certain people the sites do serve a legit purpose. Even those in radio who do interact with listeners on these sites are really there for other insiders, most of whom they've never met. Like Moonstruck said: your real friends have computers. So just email. When all your comments consist of is remarks like "Great time the other night. Pizza was excellent." it's really silly and it's all there just so others will see it.

 

[Holland Cooke]

Tell that to John McCain!

Facebook and My Space = NOTHING.. Nobody even takes them seriously.

Tell that to John McCain!

Yesterday, at the Republican Governors' Conference, pollster Dr. Frank Luntz said "Barack Obama had 10 million Email addresses. Our guy doesn't know how to work this;" and he held up his Blackberry.

 

[hotmanlarry]

Hey Hollan Cook, I don't know if you're in Radio, but 'whatever' McCain and Obama.

Keri Rodregius formerly at WSAR, had the Facebook - My Space thing happening and it meant nothing.
It's not going to help your radio career. Often, the only thing it may do is Hurt it. Thats what I've seen.

 

[Holland Cooke]

Voice: Jim Carrey as "Ace Ventura, Pet Detective"

"Al-RIGHTY then."







If this was a phone call, I'd say "Who IS this???"

Good afternoon from my quick Email check here at CBS/New York,
HC
www.HollandCooke.com

 

[wknd92]

Hey Hollan Cook, I don't know if you're in Radio, but 'whatever' McCain and Obama.

Keri Rodregius formerly at WSAR, had the Facebook - My Space thing happening and it meant nothing.
It's not going to help your radio career. Often, the only thing it may do is Hurt it. Thats what I've seen.

Not a good example to cite....

 

[riradio02842]

I think part of the problem here is that you can't treat all social networking sites as equals, when in fact, they aren't. In terms of "seriousness", I think if you were trying to network online then linkedin.com would be the place. That's a more business oriented site. One step below that is Facebook. You would be surprised the amount of networking that goes on there, and if you are there strictly for business the security settings are very customizable where you can have a very locked down "public" account where the general public can view but still prevent the graffiti and comments that could cause problems. MySpace is at the bottom of the list in terms of seriousness with the rather ugly profiles and frequent spam that occurs. If I was looking to network online I wouldn't hesitate to use LinkedIn and Facebook - if anything, it would peak someone's curiosity to see what other radio personalities they were associated with.

 

[Moonstruck]

When it comes to just looking for radio work most end up just networking with peers anyway rather than anyone who can help their careers. If someone is going to point you in a direction or give you a job tip it'll happen anyway if you know that person well enough. Linkedin is different but the others are just gathering places. There are also dangers in coming to misconceptions when you see certain people as friends on others pages. People start putting two and two together when they shouldn't. I can think of a specific example of something surprising I saw on facebook but am not going to because I could be wrong.