Online Personality Shira Lazar is a Digital Reporter for CBSNews.com and host of The Partners Project on YouTube. Based in LA, Shira is legitimately a digital goddess. She’s a celebrity of the web and an incredible journalist with her focus on anything digital and everything online.
To kick off the new year, Lalawag would like to introduce celebrity blogger Shira Lazar to share her thoughts on the digital world for 2011 in her brand new monthly Lalawag column “Ask Shira”!
1) What are the latest digital trends people should watch out for in the new year?
Interactive TV- We’re already hearing the buzz around Google TV, which will begin to bridge the gap between the one way communication of the “TV screen” with the two way conversation of that smaller “computer” screen we use for all things digital. Content creators will have to adapt and start thinking more about how they can use these tools in terms of interacting with the audience and creating more innovative programming. But lets face it–in the end it’s not going to be about TV vs. laptop vs. a tablet. They will each have the same media and content available, it’ll just depend on how you want to experience it.
More personalization- With the rise of location based services like Foursquare and Gowalla this year, combined with the popularity of the universal Facebook “like” button, expect more sites and apps to know what you like, want and cater to just that. They’ll nudge you on your phone when you’re in an area that might have a sale or spot you would like. Expect sites to also customize the news and content for you (even more than we’re seeing now) based on what they see you and your friends are reading and watching.
Net neutrality and open internet- With the activities of WikiLeaks being more pervasive than ever before, expect more talk about the issue of Government interference online. Also, more mainstream chatter surrounding net neutrality–keeping the internet a democratic space–will continue to be a big issue as bloggers and notable personalities jump on the bandwagon to spread the word.
Gov 2.0 – Developers making apps and tools to help the government and the public sector, which allows for greater transparency, efficiency and innovation that ultimately helps the community and its citizens.
Mobile micro-blogging and micro-updates- A new survey from the Pew Research Center showed that half as many teens actually blog as did in 2006, and the number of millenials (18-33) dropped too. They are instead opting to update their communities on Facebook, Twitter, etc. I extend those micro-updates to show and tell photo apps like Insta.gram and Foodspotting, where people will continue to share experiences even more through photos.
2) What do you think will be the top 3 content websites to look out for this year and why?
Flipboard created a ton of buzz this past year by becoming the first social magazine taking in feeds from your RSS and social communities. While magazines apps have failed on the iPad, Flipboard has become a signature of what works- pulling in content from our most trusted sources—our friends and followers. We’ll be hearing more about them this year and they’ll possibly make more official partnerships with bigger media outlets too. Tumblr has been one of those quiet sharks. Without many of us realizing, it has become a leading community and blogging platform with more than 3 billion page views per month, according to analytics service Quantcast.
Mashable : the top social media site online has made some big leaps the past year partnering with CNN and holding noteworthy offline events like the Mashable Media Summit, the UN Social Good Conference and Mashable Awards at CES. With their slight competitor TechCrunch being acquired by AOL this past year for $25 million, I’m expecting something big for Mashable in the near future too.
Buzzfeed: The site, which features content going viral around the web is a great resource to discover what people are buzzing about in real time.
Spotify: My favorite music service. We’ve all been waiting desperately for the US launch. Imagine having an iTunes player available on any device (Computer, laptop, mobile, Xbox, etc) that allows you to search for any music and create a playlist without paying for anything? Oh, and did I mention it’s completely legal? Sounds like a dream! They currently have around 75 percent market share in Europe, but negotiations with labels in the US have stalled the launch here. Here’s hoping we can all have access to free music in 2011.
3) As a journalist of the digital age, what would you consider one of the most positive differences between being a journalist now versus 50 years ago?
Being a journalist way back when, meant you needed to be hired by an organization to perfect your craft and create content. That’s obviously far from the case now, where you can build a career and quality content without that association. If anything, more credibility, relevancy and attention is being given to the independents as opposed to the larger media outlets we grew up watching and reading. It’s also incredible when in one hour you can connect with someone on the other side of the world, video chat with them over Skype and post the story. While there’s a lot of noise, important issues and stories can bubble up and spread globally with the click of a button.
4) Tell us about the company you just launched?
Disrupt Group – with the help of my co-founder Damon Berger, we’re working to help with digital strategy, content creation, building communities around brands and content, and ultimately acting as a disruptive force within media. Our first venture is The Partners Project, the talk interview show of YouTube. Every Thursday, we feature and profile another YouTube star. It’s kind of like “Inside the Actors Studio” but for YouTubers. We’ve already interviewed The Really Annoying Orange, iJustine and ShayCarl.
5) What are your top 4 favorite internet tools for what you do?
Tweetdeck: I get so many ideas for stories from the people I follow on Twitter.
Facebook: Another great way to get ideas and stay connected. I’ve also gotten in touch with so many people for interviews that I would not have otherwise known how to reach out to.
YouTube: Not only is it a source of great distraction but it has a giant pool of stories just waiting to be told, as long as you can find the needle in the hay stack.
Pipl : Another great online resource to find people. I’m not a stalker, just a journalist people!
To “Ask Shira” a question for her next column, please tweet @lalawag #askshira or email us at tips@lalawag.com
For more on Shira Lazar, go to http://cbsnews.com/onthescenetwitter.com/shiralazar
