Grant Baldwin's Blog » Media

What Would The World Be Like Without The Media?

Grant — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 13:37:10 +0000

Obviously part of the media’s job (and responsibility) is to report the news. But the unwritten/unspoken part of their job is to sway opinions. We all know that news channels have certain biases one direction or the other.

And I think it would be safe to say that the more media you consume, the more you’re swayed by that newspaper, talk show, or broadcast. And it got me thinking…

What would the world be like without the media? What if we were all able to get the news (and just the news) we needed but the slats and the opinions were left out.

If that were the case, all of the sudden it would force people to think for themselves as opposed to having someone on TV tell them what to think. If you had zero contact with the media, you would have no choice but to form your own opinions.

How would your views of the world be different if you stopped watching _______, stopped reading _______, and disconnected from __________ (I’ll let you fill in the blank for your media outlet of choice).

If you’re saying, “I form my own opinions, but I just watch ______ and read ______ because I agree with them,” you’re kidding yourself and you’re just plain naive.

Take a step back from the media and ask yourself: “Do I believe what I believe because I’ve thought it through or because someone else told me what to believe?”

By the way, if your feathers are being ruffled by this post, then you’re probably the person that needs to read this anyway.

Why You Should Be On Twitter…

Grant — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:31:40 +0000

Twitter has become very fascinating to me lately. It has just completely exploded in growth and with a very simple concept, they’ve managed to provide a lot of different usages for the service.

I’m assuming you’re already familiar with what Twitter is, so I won’t bother explaining it to the 6 people on the planet who don’t know what it is.

While most people are confused as to the value of Twitter, you should know that it is more than people sharing what they ate for lunch or that they’re sitting on the toilet (probably guilty of both). Here are a few of the ways I utilize this service…

Learn About Trends On The Internet – I personally use TweetDeck on my laptop and my phone. Their service includes a link to the site TwitScoop which basically tells you what the most popular topics or keywords are at that moment on Twitter. This can be incredibly powerful to see current trends and buzz on the internet. On several occasions, I’ve learned about breaking news before it was listed on major websites or news channels because so many people were talking about it on Twitter.

Connect With Like-Minded People – I use Twitter to keep connected with several people in my same profession. I talk with other speakers, educators, and others who work with students. To find people you’d be interested in following and connecting with, use the Twitter Search tool.

Links To Content – A lot of people use Twitter to share websites, articles, or videos online that they’ve found valuable. If you found a piece of content interesting, more than likely, someone following you may find it helpful as well.

Peak Behind The Curtain Of Other Peoples’ Lives – Twitter gives you quick glances and snapshots into other peoples’ worlds. You may have heard about the growing number of celebrities that use Twitter. Depending on how they use it, I think this can be very smart for them, because Twitter has the ability to humanize people. Celebrities or people you look up to and respect can share little glimpses into what’s going on in their lives.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/grantbaldwin.

Do you use Twitter? What do you like about it?

If Today Was Your Last Day…

Grant — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:00:05 +0000

Most days when I’m working, I listen to Pandora, which is basically a free, customized internet radio station. One song that has cycled through my “station” lately is by Nickelback called “If Today Was Your Last Day.” For one, it’s a killer song that I’m loving, but it also has an amazing message to it.

If you’re a sports fan, you probably heard last week about the tragic death of Anaheim Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart, who was killed by a drunk driver. He was 22 years old. Here’s a young guy who actually just pitched the night before in the game and a few hours later, he’s gone.

It is a sober reminder of how short life can be and the importance of living life to the fullest.

So I guess my question to you would be, If Today Was Your Last Day, what would you do differently? How would you talk to people? Would you handle your money differently? Would you still have an bad attitude when things don’t go your way? How many people would you apologize to, hug, or say “I Love You” to?

Finish this sentence: If today was my last day…

(Also, in case you’re interested, here are the lyrics to the Nickelback song…you should definitely scan through them.)

Facebook Poised To Overtake MySpace

Grant — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 09:21:53 +0000

One of my favorite blogs, TechCrunch, recently posted a story about how new data shows that Facebook may overtake MySpace in terms of users by late 2009 or early 2010 (Read TechCrunch article here).

First of all, let me state that I completely agree. I wrote a post several months back on the reasons why I think Facebook does better than MySpace. Although I have profiles on each site (Facebook & MySpace), I check Facebook on a daily basis while I only will check MySpace every once in a while.

I think the data is interesting, but I don’t think it shows the entire story. It is measuring strictly signed-up users, but not necessarily the activity of the site. My guess would be that Facebook gets much more activity and actual usage than MySpace, where there are countless inactive pages that sit and collect dust.

Just my take on it…

What do you think? Which do you prefer?

I’ve Found YOUR Dream Job…And Mine

Grant — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 09:23:33 +0000

Not sure if you saw this yet, but Australia is offering what is being called “the best job in the world.”

(I’m intrigued…tell me more…)

Basically the job is for you to chill on a paradise island for six months and take care of simple “care-taking” duties. If you can call them duties. Here is the nutshell of your job…

Stroll the white sands (I hate that…)
Snorkel the reef (oh darn…)
Report to an internet audience through blogs, video updates, and pictures.

In exchange for doing this “work,” here’s what you’ll get…

$105,000 salary (for only 6 months of work vacation)
Free airfare from the winner’s home country to the island
Stay rent-free in a 3 bedroom beach home (with a pool and golf buggy of course)

Interested? Apply here.

And if you win, can I come visit?

A New Way To Vote…

Grant — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 02:48:12 +0000

I came across this website tonight that I found quite interesting. In light of the election season, I would encourage you to visit this website: Glassbooth.org.

It is a good, non-biased way to determine how the candidates stack up on the issues that you are most interested in.

I believe it is extremely important to not only vote, but to know why you’re voting for someone. Do your homework before you punch your ballot.

You Know You’ve Got A Problem When…

Grant — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:12:06 +0000

Not sure if you saw this in the news, but the National Debt clock in New York City has run out of digits. Do you realize how insane that is?

There are 14 digits available to record the National Debt, and that still isn’t enough…

Wow.

9 Ideas For Debate Reform

Grant — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 04:17:58 +0000

I just finished watching the Presidential Debate and like most of you, I’m ready for all this to be over with. But with both candidates discussing issues of reform and change, I thought I would give some ideas for Debate Reform. Here are 9 ideas I came up with that would make the debates a little more interesting and less depressing:

For every 10 seconds you go over your allotted time to answer a question, the other candidate gets extra time to answer the question.
If a candidate doesn’t actually answer the question as determined by the moderator, they lose 3 gold stars (or 3 Electoral College votes).
If a candidate begins rambling and the audience gets bored, pre-selected voters can trigger small electric shocks to the candidate (Like a barking dog collar).
The stoplights that signal remaining time should be hung around each candidates’ neck. (Think Flava Flav’s clock)
If a candidate interrupts the other candidate while they are answering a question, they get slapped by a grandmotherly-like voter from the audience. If a candidate interrupts the moderator while they are talking, they get sat on by a Sumo wrestler for 10 minutes.
Every time a candidate says “look at my record,” we look at embarrassing-photoshopped pictures submitted by the other candidate’s campaign.
If elected, every time you break a promise you made in your campaign, you get docked 2 months of your Presidential term.
Two words: Cage Match.
Every time you trash your opponent, an undecided voter gets to punch you in the throat.

Now it’s your turn. Finish this sentence. “The debates would be more interesting if…”

You’ve Got To Listen To This…

Grant — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 02:47:09 +0000

Indulge me for a second while I pimp a CD that I think is killer.

You’ve got to check out this new CD by Clayton Risner. I knew Clayton back in high school and now he’s in Nashville living the dream of a musician. We got together for dinner in Nashville a few months back, and the guy is crazy talented and just a down-to-earth, cool guy.

If you’re a fan of Gavin DeGraw, Maroon 5, or Coldplay, then you’ll love this album. His single “Cmon” has been played nearly a quarter of a million times on MySpace…plus he has nearly 600,000 friends on there!

Check out his website and listen to some of the tracks. The CD is less than $5 on iTunes so stop reading this and go buy it now.

You’ll thank me for it.

The Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics

Grant — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 03:13:33 +0000

I’ve never really been a diehard Olympic fan, but I figured I would record the Opening Ceremonies and check it out. And in the words of the late Chris Farley from Tommy Boy:

I’ve seen a lot of things, but that….was….awesome!

The Opening Ceremonies was truly like watching a show unlike I’ve ever seen. I guess the difference between this “show” and others was that they have been planning this night literally for years; there were 15,000 cast members involved; the use of technology was mind-blowing; and the sheer magnitude of the entire ceremony was astonishing.

There was amazing attention to detail and the elements of the ceremony were performed with such precision and grace. It truly was incredible to watch.

What if you did your job/homework/tasks/responsibilities with the same approach of the opening ceremonies? Not necessarily to the grand scale of it all, but rather, think about this: these people put in countless hours of preparation in order to perform this “show” once. That’s it. It wasn’t like they were prepping for a Broadway show they would perform multiple times every day to a new audience. They had one shot at this. Plus there was the added pressure that the entire freakin’ world was watching.

So again, I come back to that idea…

What if you did your _______ as if the world was watching and you had one shot to get it right?

Now that’s excellence.