by Natasha Wescoat

A SOCIAL MELTING POT

Social media is taking our world by storm. It’s the forerunner of Web 3.0, which is the integration of the internet as a symbiotic thing working throughout our everyday lives. Internet on Fridges and Tv’s, anyone?

Everything from blogging, videoblogging, podcasting, lifecasting/webcasting, texting, twittering, micropodcasting, microblogging, etc is becoming the norm, or at least us geeks think so. And what’s really fun is that it’s FREE and accessable in all forms and places.

And of course, everyone is cashing in on this free candy!

Entreprenuers, corporations, home makers, and teenyboppers are designing and creating media and building a web presence for themselves. With artists selling online, art sites are cashing in on this evolution, grabbing their virtual real estate and popping up in every corner of the web. Great things are being created, but it feels like we are being overwhelmed with art sites and art communities every which way. Thousands of artists are putting up websites and sticking their heads in every facet of the web to build their presence. It feels as if we’re in the same boat we were in before we started jumping in the water! Can anyone even see me in here?

There is also quite a slew of competition out there. Very amazing artists are finding a presence on the web, and building a huge fan base using social media tools.

So, how do we stand out, as media producers and artists? How do you attract attention amidst the hundreds, thousands, and millions of other internet media users/producers out there?