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A music & dancing legend tribute, Michael Jackson RIP 6/25/2009 at age 50

joelmackey — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:45:47 +0000

Once again, Twitter proved it’s ability to break and spread news faster than actual news networks themselves. However, this time it all seemed to work in concert. Twitter became the megaphone for the cascading sources to put out confirmed reports of Michael Jackson’s death from Cardiac arrest. Even though Twitter was going over capacity, just proving it is becoming the source of news, it stayed up and running to keep the real-time engine pumping out updated information. Many people were denying the first report that came from TMZ.com. The second report seemed to put a somber reality to the situation when the LA Times reported that Michael Jackson was confirmed dead from LA City and Law Enforcement officials. We will update this story throughout the day as new information, news and classic videos and interviews are released.

More confirmed sources of Michael Jackson’s Death (30 – 40 minutes after the 1st two):

Michael Jackson, 50, legendary ‘King of Pop’ dead in Los Angeles

Singer Michael Jackson dead at 50 (MSNBC)

Michael Jackson dies at 50 (USA Today)

Pop Legend Michael Jackson Dead at 50 (Fox News)

Great collection of stars and legends paying tribute to Michael Jackson through quotes on TV, Interviews and Twitter: The UK Independent

“I am absolutely devastated at this tragic and unexpected news,” said Quincy Jones, a longtime friend of Jackson’s and producer of his “Thriller” album. “For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don’t have the words. …… I’ve lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him.” – Quincy Jones

No matter what your personal feelings on Michael Jackson were as a person or about his run-ins with trouble, you cannot deny he was one of the best performers in the world. He redefined dance performance in combination with #1 hits time after time. The moonwalk is a classic. However, Michael Jackson defined and invented a long list of dance moves and made them mainstream. Michael Jackson took dancing to a magician mystery type level that will be emulated for eternity.

Beyond just the magician-like dancing Michael brought to the world, the inner music coming from his beatbox type of body and percussion producing rhythms also took the one-man band to a new level.

This page is in constant update mode. Please comment and let us know the best videos, interviews and stories you like about Michael Jackson and his career and we’ll add them.

Interviews

Young Michael Jackson Interview in 1972: Video Here

Videos

Michael Jackson – Thriller – MJJ Productions Inc: Video Here (watch in High Quality)

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A celebrity that gets social media? I know shocking…

joelmackey — Tue, 26 May 2009 19:02:12 +0000

We have all seen it happen, whether it’s on Twitter, Facebook or MySpace. A celebrity hops onto one of the sites or has someone representing them get on the site and they do what? Well, often times they don’t do much besides broadcast promo’s about their next show, movie, or where they’re going to be at… you get the drill. An interesting post written by Brett Borders titled, “Dear Web ‘Celebrity’ Who Never Follows Anyone Back” takes the issue to the level of calling these celebs snobs.

I don’t think I’ll go as far as calling these celebrities or their managers snobs, they are just misinformed. Maybe they think it makes them seem more famous to not follow anyone. Maybe they are afraid of having an out of control twitterstream? It is very similar to putting on those celebrity shades and withdrawing from the world. If celebrities are worried about their twitterstream (which I’m sure they’re not) they could use a tool like TweetDeck or Seesmic Desktop to solve that problem. What celebrities are telling you when they don’t follow you is that they don’t care what you have to say. Who wants to be a fan of that? Send in your fan letter you worked so hard on and it goes straight to the trashcan?

Oprah Winfrey Follower Numbers / Ashton Kutcher Follower Numbers:

The trend is changing

Now the good news is there are some celebrities that are starting to get it. You should take screen shots of celebrities accounts that don’t follow anyone because soon you will most likely notice a large portion of them following people back. Why? They may not even do it to listen to you, but instead for pure competition and marketing. Let’s take a look at a managed celebrity account that is starting to follow thousands of people and another account that has shown a similar trend. Below you will find @BritneySpears and @JimmyEatWorld following stats from Twitterholic.com.

With the competition brutal due to Twitter going mainstream, celebrities are starting to clamor for more follows to be ranked higher in the overall Twitter follower rankings. When looking at the column data it is from left to right: Date, Followers, Following.

You can see the incremental amounts that were increased from a mere 1,000 people that the Britney Spears account was following to three days later an additional 9,000. The action of following an additional 9,000 people resulted in a follower jump of 23,837. However, the biggest monumental jump was when an additional 58,000 people were followed which increased the people following the Britney Spears account by 581,000 additional followers.

Another example is with the Jimmy Eat World account. You can see the direct relation from the point that when they started following thousands of people their account is directly effected in people following them. Obviously following 0 people the @JimmyEatWorld account wasn’t doing too well! Two months later after following 70k they have gained 106,000 additional followers. Do you see a trend?

As celebrities, corporations, TV shows and brands observe this trend most of them will fall in line and end up following back. If they don’t, they’ll be passed by other celebrities and identities that are willing to follow people back and allow a two way conversation.

Why will celebrities follow people for more followers?

I’m quite certain you can answer this yourself. However, I do know some people that don’t seem to get it. From a marketing perspective, if you were Britney Spears and you were releasing a new album would you like to tell 100,000 people about it every day or 1,000,000? If you are Ashton, it’s movies, if you are Oprah it’s your show, book club, magazine. You get the point, right?

Now obviously this method doesn’t just apply to celebrities. It applies to all Twitter users really. Let’s be honest about that, right? Corporations, Pizza Companies, Hosting Companies, you name it. If there’s a message to be given, this new trend will creep into every corner of Twitter. Essentially they will follow the leader.

One problem remains: Engagement

So one problem has been solved. From the article mentioned above by Brett Borders which has been retweeted nearly 900 times, you can see that the Twitter majority feels celebs should follow back. Problem solved, the trend is moving in that direction and should tend do so in the future. There is still a problem however. Most of these celebrity accounts still don’t get it. They don’t engage, they don’t talk to their fans, they don’t ask them questions, they don’t take polls, they don’t have contests or even acknowledge the existence of a fan. So one problem remains, while they may follow people, they still don’t communicate with them. I think there is a way to change this trend as well.

The solution?

The everyday folks on Twitter should support celebrities, brands, companies and organizations that have open communication with their followers. If people that use Twitter in a favorable way get more attention, responses, retweets and press than the people that shun their fans, eventually the tide will turn.

I have noticed a particular celebrity account on Twitter due to my friend Susan Elaine (@BuzzEdition) bringing it to my attention, that has shocked me more than once. The account is for the band Collective Soul and can be found at @collective_soul. What I find so simply amazing about these guys is that they actually respond to fans. They retweet fans tweets. They read blogs by users on Twitter. They make exclusive videos just for their Twitter fans. I could go on, but let me put it this way. These guys are extremely successful and have went Multi-Platinum 7 times in the U.S., 18 times in Canada with 7 #1 hits and guess what? They still treat every one of their fans as a person. Amazing huh?

Before they were even jumping in the Twitter pool, this band was participating in Social Media. They have a phone line where fans can call in and leave a message. They randomly call back fans and talk to them. Even more interesting and voyeuristic (just like Twitter) you can listen to the fans messages yourself. I have taken a quick recording of a few fans messages. Crazy huh? Social Media with a telephone.

After talking with @BuzzEdition and @Collective_Soul I got the news that they are launching a blog contest that’s giving away crazy prizes! It just proved to me that these guys truly do get Social Media. Allowing the fans, followers and bloggers to be apart of the party is a great interactive way to be real. I’m thinking that to prove to celebrities and big brands on Twitter that have decided to “broadcast” instead of interact they should be given a wake-up call. By participating in this blog contest a knod can be given to the celebrities that are doing things right in Social Media. Here are the details of the blog contest:

Collective Soul Blog Contest

These guys are giving out some awesome prizes for participation!

1st Prize: 2 Tickets to any show, 2 backstage passes, AUTOGRAPHED GUITAR and a copy of new album

2nd Prize: 2 Tickets, Autographed Guitar Pick and a Copy of the new Album

3rd Prize: Copy of New Album, Autographed Picture, Autographed Drumsticks & Guitar Pick

The first 10 entrants into the contest will receive an Autographed Picture in the mail!

How to Enter

Write a blog post talking about Collective Soul that includes the following things:

1. Include a link to the Collective Soul Twitter Account
http://www.twitter.com/collective_soul

2. Include a link to the Collective Soul Website / Blog
http://www.collectivesoul.com/blog/
or
http://www.collectivesoul.com/news/

3. Mention new tour starting in 2009
http://www.collectivesoul.com/live/

Once you’ve written your blog post leave a link to your blog post in the comment section below. This will add some traffic and a backlink to your blog. Also TWEET a message to @Collective_Soul on Twitter announcing your new blog post like:

I just entered the @Collective_Soul Blog Contest here: YOURURL

Collective Soul has agreed to Retweet your blog post to all of their fans! (Your 15 minutes of fame!)

How Collective Soul Chooses The Winners

The band will pick the top 10 entries out of the all the submissions. It’s recommended that you be creative and let people know how you feel about Collective Soul, their social media interaction, how their music has effected your life or any other creative way you want to present the band. The only requirements that you need to include in your blog post are listed above.

Once Collective Soul has chosen the top 10 entries the final Top 3 winners will be chosen by you! An online poll will be held on Twitter to allow you to vote for the final winner. The top 3 contestants will win the prizes in the order of their votes!

Terms and Conditions

The contest will end on June 15th at 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time. The Collective Soul band will then choose the winners and the online poll will start within a week.

Blog posts must be for public viewing and not private! (ie. MySpace Blogs can’t be seen by anyone but your friends)

Anyone suspected of rigging the votes in the poll will be removed and disqualified from the contest.

If you have any questions just send @Collective_Soul
a message on Twitter!

In Conclusion

I hope that gives you an idea of the coming trends of celebrities and gives you one way you can fight back. You can accelerate the trend by supporting the celebrities that will actually interact and engage on Twitter. In the end, if most celebrities adopt the trend, Twitter will be a better place to hang your hat.

Peace, Love and Chicken Grease,
- webaddict

If you like this article, Tweet this message to your Twitter stream.

RT @webaddict A celebrity that gets social media? I know shocking… http://bit.ly/twittercelebrity #sm #socialmedia

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First Celebrity Swine Flu Death

joelmackey — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:17:11 +0000

We know you’re probably very upset. Please leave your condolences in the comments section for this well loved star. Rest in peace Kermit. Dang you, Miss Piggy!

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Melting borders, dancing around the world

joelmackey — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 17:52:04 +0000

Well, if there ever was a feel good video, this one should do the job. It breeds a feeling of optimism to see things that bring the world together and this video really gets it done. I hope this inspires you, makes you feel optimistic or at least just makes you crack a smile. Enjoy!

Oscar Piracy created due to Hollywood Stupidity

joelmackey — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:37:43 +0000

You may have spent your Sunday night on February 22nd, 2009 catching the 81st Annual Academy Awards. Most likely, you watched the Oscars being handed out on your TV on ABC. The diversity shown at the Academy Awards this year definitely increased worldwide interest in the broadcast. On Twitter, messages abounded looking for an alternative way to watch the broadcast. Messages like these:

“Wanted to watch the #oscars the only channel I found broadcasting it in the Middle East was around an hour late. Bleh ill just sleep 5am”

“I want to watch the #oscars but have no TV – anybody got a link to online streaming coverage?”

It wasn’t long after the pleas and requests were made that a response was found on Twitter offering a link to a live broadcast being offered on Justin.tv. The link is here:

“LIVE Oscars 2009 81st Annual Academy Awards Broadcast – Enjoy! http://bit.ly/iORUu #oscars” – webaddict

There were also other live streams found on Ustream.tv too. What about YouTube? Well, YouTube provided a nice collection of pre-Oscar information and interviews but no live stream. The Oscars also offered their Official Oscars Channel which was also mentioned on the Inquisitr Blog. The Official Oscars Channel provided, “Road To The Oscars.”

In other parts of the Internet people were pounding Google with searches like: “oscar live stream, watch academy awards live, watch oscars live online, oscar live, oscars live stream, oscar stream, oscars live feed, watch oscars online, watch academy awards online, abc, academy awards 2008 live, academy awards live feed, watch academy awards live, watch oscars live internet, watch oscars online, watch academy awards online” …….. you get the point, right? Guess what, there are thousands more!

About two hours after the Oscars broadcast Google Trends was still showing they keywords: “Oscar Live Stream, Watch Academy Awards Live and Watch Oscars Live Online” in the top 100 most search terms in the United States.

So lucky for the people that could find it, they found their Live Academy Awards Stream on Justin.tv or over at Ustream.tv.

It just goes to show that the big networks, media companies, Hollywood and record companies have to take a beating before they learn. ABC.com could have broadcasted the Oscars Live on their site and collected ad revenue but instead they wanted to try and force everyone to watch it on TV. As usual, the Internet proved easy in circumventing that problem by broadcasting live streams in surpring good quality.

Do you think that next year the Oscars will be broadcast live on the Internet or will the networks decide to go ahead and let Justin.tv collect Google Adsense clicks and pageviews? Only time will tell but if you had to ask us? The record companies are just now catching on because they saw that providing legitimate easy online access to products can work as a business model.

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Oprah Cocaine Addict? Ex-Boyfriend Cook tells all.

joelmackey — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 04:51:15 +0000

Just a couple days before Oprah launches a week long Obama inauguration celebration, unsavory details have been leaked by multiple sources that cocaine might have been a secret problem. One source publishing this story is always looked at with the typical “eye roll” and chuckle, the National Enquirer. The real source of this story however, seems to be a pretty solid source since it was one of Oprah’s past lovers.

Randolph Cook is getting ready to have his revealing book hit the shelves titled, “The Wizard of O: My Life with Oprah.” Mr. Cook had a 6 month love affair with Oprah Winfrey and he claims there encounters were littered with sex, drugs and typical Hollywood drama. Not only does Mr. Cook claim Oprah was using cocaine with him but he also claims she was under the influence of cocaine while recording her hit talk show.

The book gets pretty descriptive of specific situations Cook had with Oprah. This quote reveals a graphic description of Oprah getting high while she made a “rock” of cocaine and baking soda in the tube and heated it, which is known as freebasing, Oprah “then put the lit torch on the rock, inhaled and held the smoke in her lungs for a long time. When she finally exhaled, she began to shake violently as she put the pipe down, she had trouble catching her breath and her eyes got big as saucers.” Mr. Cook goes on to reveal more of their cocaine experiences which led to being under the influence during show tapings, “We smoked at least a couple of times a week. Sometimes we would smoke up until her limo was waiting to take her to the studio to perform her show…A few times, she was still under the influence while doing her show.”

If you are a strong follower of Oprah you probably are aware she has admitted to doing cocaine before. Oprah said on her show that she had “tried” cocaine in the 1970′s because she was madly obsessed with a drug dealer. But the dates of the Randolph Cook relationship don’t fit into the 70′s, they fall into 1984. Cook states that he was taught by Oprah how to smoke crack cocaine and their wild experiences of sex and drugs began.

So what exactly is driving Cook to dump all of this revealing information in public right before Oprah gets even more exposure due to the Obama campaign? A death bed. Randolph Cook was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and he was given two years to live. Mr. Cook wants his story told and everyone to know the truth about Oprah before he dies with problems he says are because of Oprah.

It’s possible that Mr. Cook is just bitter and upset that his clock is ticking and Oprah is still flying high. There is more rubber that meets the road coming from the “oh-so” credible source, The National Enquirer. The Nation Enquirer claims they found a 17-page court document at the National Archives and Records Administration in Chicago in 2007. The Enquirer was investing Oprah’s past and is now ponying up their findings alongside their new publication and Mr. Cook’s book. The document their revealing is titled, “Defendent Oprah Winfrey’s Answer to Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint at Law,” and it basically lays out proof that Oprah and Cook had a hot sexual past while doing cocaine around each other.

It was only months ago that Oprah was crowned as the #1 Powerful Celebrity in 2008 by Forbes Magazine. You can read the Forbes article here. With Oprah pulling in $275 million a year and launching a new network called the, “Oprah Winfrey Network” it remains to be seen if she’ll remain bulletproof in the eyes of America and on her balance sheet. You can also check out the National Enquirer summary here, but to get the full story they want you to purchase the newsstand publication.

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Facebook CEO is youngest self-made billionaire in history

joelmackey — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:32:32 +0000

At only 23 years old, the founder of social networking website Facebook Mark Zuckerberg reign in as the youngest self-made billionaire in the world. Announced by Forbes magazines yearly billionaire list Mr. Zuckerberg shot up to #785 on the list. You can view his bio page at Forbes here.

Matthew Miller, Forbes Associate Editor announced that billionaire history had been made when he stated, “He is the youngest billionaire in the world right now and we also believe he is the youngest self-made billionaire in history.” Mark Zuckerberg is even hanging around the likes of Oprah Winfrey who has $1.5 billion network. Although Winfrey is ranking above Zuckerberg they are both stated to be worth $1.5 billion.

One question that has been raised was how Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth was calculated. Some argue that Mr. Zuckerberg is much richer than $1.5 billion when taking into account the $240 million dollar Microsoft invested in Facebook for a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook in 2007. With Microsoft’s investment it places Facebook at market valuation of $15 billion. Mark Zuckerberg holds a 30% stake in the company which would have placed him with $5 billion in net worth.

The Forbes magazine made a statement about how they came up with the valuation when they said, “Would it really fetch that much today? Some analysts — and a few Facebook investors — doubt it.” The Facebook valuation is said to be stated on the estimated annual sales of $150 million dollars. The annual sales were mainly in advertisement revenue deals with Microsoft.

Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook in February 2004 from his Harvard dorm room. After dropping out of school and moving to Silicon Valley Facebook found venture capitalists ready to made their stake in the fast growing social network. Now Mr. Zuckerberg can have his bragging rights, he is the youngest self-made billionaire in history.

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Jenna Bush sets the date to marry former Karl Rove aide, Henry Hager

joelmackey — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 04:34:01 +0000

It’s official Jenna Bush has set the date to marry her fiance Henry Hager on May 10th, 2008. The wedding will be held in a private ceremony. Laura Bush did bring up the fact that she thought a White House wedding would have been more fun. Jenna has clearly stated she wants a small and private wedding. The private ceremonies location has been leaked by sources to be the Crawford, Texas ranch with plenty of room for a lavish wedding at 1,600 acres. The reasons for a private wedding are obvious, escaping the D.C. paparazzi and the White House press.

Mr. Hager actually talked with the other Bush twin, Barbara, revealing his feelings and telling her he wanted to marry Jenna. After getting approval from Barbara, Mr. Hager made his move in asking for Jenna Bush’s hand in marriage from George and Laura Bush at Camp David.

Three years separate the two lovebirds with Jenna Bush being currently 26 years old and Henry Hager being 29 years old. The love triangle is said to be formed after Mr. Hager served as a White House aid under Karl Rove, helping his soon-to-be father-in-law win reelection in 2004. It wasn’t long after election night in 2004 that Henry has stated he fell in love with Jenna. At the time, Jenna was still a bit of a party girl being caught with various other companions. Jenna has since settled down becoming a teacher and even writing a book. Jenna’s book titled, Ana’s Story: A Journey of Hope, tells the story of single mother in Africa. The mother in the story is 17 years old and has HIV. So with all the good causes and a settled down life, Jenna Bush has now set the date to become the first in line to the President to marry.