Grown Up Thinking

Recently I’ve found that many of my friends’ Facebook, GChat and AIM statuses have become much less about their daily routine lives, but rather hilarious statements stemming from other people’s poor misfortune. Sites such as FMylife.com and TextsFromLastNight.com, in which people submit their day ruining moment or the funniest text they received over the weekend, have been overtaking my social networks, blogs and hours of my life I could otherwise spend doing something productive.

Even more interesting about this phenomenon is the rate at which these popular sites are being picked up for book deals. Publishers are flipping these trendy sites and turning them into hardcover coffee table books that typically sell for around the $10 price point. Sites that started with small underground followings like, Stuff White People Like, This is Why You’re Fat, I Can Has Cheezburger?, and of course FMyLife, have reached the masses through these deals.

This of course brings up the question, did they sell out? A site undoubtedly loses its edge when it’s suddenly turned into something that my mom can pick up at the local Barnes and Noble on the Best Sellers rack, but is the risk worth the reward? Either way, this is a trend I do not think we will see go away any time soon, as long as there’s internet and people willing to dress their dogs in funny outfits.

Perhaps Twitter may become the next frontier in method acting? Actress Barret Swatek is certainly ready to find out as the star of the new online comedy series “My Two Fans.” More and more entertainment choices are beginning to spring up exclusively on the web. (Arguably an early indication of things to come for the future of television? Discuss.) “My Two Fans” follows Swatek’s quirky character, Kate Maxwell, as she rebounds from a nasty breakup with the help of her two biggest fans. An inverted “Three’s Company” of sorts, the show can be consumed in a variety of ways including YouTube, Funny Or Die, or Facebook.

While the series has decent production values, a large marketing budget was decidedly out of the question. Enter Swatek’s personal Twitter page in which she began “tweeting” as her character and following businesses and people that could relate to the show. A large portion of the series is improvisation which allows a fascinating twist on life imitating art imitating life. In a relatively short period of time, the character Kate has amassed an 1,000+ following on Twitter, including key industry players at Sony, Lionsgate, and NBC. Even more interesting is how speaking in the character’s own voice has really fueled the actress’ own comedic writing with a huge dose of creative inspiration. Stanislavski would be like SO proud.

Big potential changes in the social media sphere this weekend: the launch of Facebook vanity URLS & the possible Twitpocalypse. The mind positively buzzes with potential blog posts for Monday morning…

Thanks, Sir Bogusky, for following me on Twitter & passing on news of the Twitpocalypse.

Conan’s an admittedly with it dude, and his happy inclusion of the oft inane tweets from celebs has permeated the Tonight Show over the past two weeks. The proverbial social media bar, however, has just been raised.

In addition to promoting a Twitter handle, @Tw1tterTracker, the Tonight Show just launched a dedicated microsite that aggregates all tweets from staffers in one thoroughly hilarious place. The site also gives visitors the chance to subscribe to various RSS feeds and follow other TS handles.

Frankly, it’s a tongue-in-cheek take on the sometimes all-too transparent tendencies celeb megaTweeters often display while offering Tonight Show fans the chance to easily consume curated content on a single page.

So what do YOU think about star Twitter fiends? They comprise more than 75% of the top followed Twitterholics. Is this just another example of how the idea of celebrity is evolving, from more mysterious icons to real people anxious to assert their own voice in the digital sphere? Is this trend another extension of how Consumer 2.0 is changing the way even the entertainment industry functions, or is it just plain annoying?

Congratulations “Web 2.0”, you are the English language’s one millionth word!

The Global Language Monitor has just deemed “Web 2.0” number 1,000,000 and says the English language contains more words than any other language on the planet, claiming about 14 words are added to English every day.

For those of you born last week, and a few of you before 1960, the term “Web 2.0” refers to the second, more social generation of the Internet. Then again, if you didn’t know that, you probably wouldn’t be on this site. Or maybe you’re here to learn!

GLM says words must make sense in at least 60 percent of the world to be official. While some language experts challenge the process and criteria for creating words, GLM uses computer models that check 5,000 dictionaries, publications and articles, as well as billions of Web sites, to see how frequently words are used. A word must make 25,000 appearances to be deemed legitimate. GLM says words up for consideration must make sense to different communities of people, not just one core demographic.

The five words leading up to the millionth prove how the English language evolves along with current social trends. This list includes: “Jai Ho!“, “slumdog”, “cloud computing”, “carbon neutral” and “n00b”.

We salute you, “Web 2.0”, and consider this a fitting honor for a phrase that has become definitive of our generation.

Brands have been scrambling to come up with iPhone applications that both add value to consumers’ lives and help drive basic business goals.  Some, like the Zippo app, are more awareness plays, while others are more successful at bringing the product to life within the device’s interface and actually driving sales.

One of the cooler apps that I’ve come across recently was just released by Benjamin Moore. Well, actually very similar apps have come from both Benjamin Moore and category rival Sherwin-Williams. These apps allows you to take a photo using the iPhone’s camera and match the colors in the image to the colors in the manufacturer’s paint catalog. If you want to get even more design savvy, shake the iPhone to reveal coordinating colors to complement the color matches.  Smartest of all, these apps usee the iPhone’s LBS capabilities to locate the nearest retailers to purchase the paint.

Which app is better I’ll let my dear readers decide.  Either way, these apps represent  a perfect marriage of utility and engagement. They tap into the consumer’s creative inclinations and uses the iPhone’s core functionality to bring their inspirations to life.  Thankfully, now I can finally figure out how to match the walls in my apt with Keyboard Cat’s dress.

Thanks bookof joe [via geeksugar]