The last two years or so, gurus, mavens, evangelists, ninjas have been populating the blogosphere with articles about how social media is going to replace the way we market, the way we communicate or the way we broadcast. They’ve held up Facebook, Twitter, Digg, WordPress and other platforms as potential worthy successors to mainstream media. And while I’m a big advocate of these social media platforms, I’ve yet to be convinced we can throw out our TVs and cancel our newspaper subscriptions. These new platforms are great but the biggest Facebook Fan page usually can’t hold a candle to the lowest rated TV newscast in most markets.
So, where does that leave us? Well, some hearty pioneers have been blogging or starting media or news gathering cooperatives. Still others, like one group of Chicago woman, started a blog called Chicagonista and then recently launched a Chicagonista Live talkshow, sorta like a poor woman’s “The View,” on Livestream.com. The women who make up Chicagonista Live are Nancy Loo, M.J. Tam, Beth Rosen and Duong Sheahan. All four women met via Twitter and it stands to reason that I found out about the show from an MJ Tam tweet. According to Tam, the monthly show started in January and last week’s segment was the fourth show. The group has future show dates booked out for the next few months.
Both LiveStream and its relative, Ustream, are interesting platforms that allow individuals and virtually any organization to create their own channel or broadcast show and recruit or attract viewers using the social media aspects of the sites as well as individual Twitter and Facebook pages. Perhaps you caught the live Ustream version of #journchat a few weeks ago that Sarah Evans hosted with several CNN reporters/producers at South by Southwest?
Ustream bills itself as “the leading live interactive broadcast platform that enables anyone with an Internet connection and a camera to engage their audience in a meaningful, immediate way.” These websites have serious implications that communicators should be considering for the communications needs of their clients and organizations.
It was interesting to see how the Chicagonista Live hostesses used the new technology to create a talk show that is similar to shows that one might see on mainstream television but at a fraction of the production costs. Here is the link to the show: http://www.livestream.com/chicagonista
I watched the April edition that was broadcast from a Chicago-area studio and found the conversation quite lively, spanning such diverse topics as Apple’s new Ipad, opening day for the Chicago White Sox, Chicago area violence, Chat Roulette, sexting and slutty prom dresses (doubly horrified on these topics). The women reacted with appropriate suburban moral outrage at these more aberrant topics while waxing on about the revealing aspects of HD video on Hollywood stars at the Oscars.
On the pro side, the Chicagonista Live group covered a lot of ground and read some on air suggestions from people who tweeted in, making it more responsive and interactive than a typical show. When the show gives voice to one of the women, it can be compelling and funny, but when it breaks down into a chatfest, it’s more difficult to hear what was going on.
Tam believes that sites like Ustream and Livestream represent extensions of broadcast technology but perhaps not replacements.
If you have a comment about the Chicagonista Live show, you can comment via twitter using the hashtag #chicagonista.
