2008 October | Karen Strunks Photographer

B4AM – Needs your vote!

Posted at 31st October 2008 Posted in Blog by Karen Strunks

UPDATE: Voting now closed. Digbeth got the most votes, so that is where I went this morning. Thank you to everyone who voted. Much appreciated

Screen shot of vote results. Click to enlarge.

Well, I had a notion tonight…..what if……I let others decide where I go for the next part of my B4AM (Birmingham at 4am) project.

What brought me to this idea tonight was Social Media. I was having a good think about it tonight. I am not entirely sure I have a clear definition of it at the moment but I am going to my first social media meeting tomorrow, so maybe I will be enlightened there. But some thoughts for the moment….

How does social media pertain to me?

Well, for a start, doesn’t having a presence on the Internet mean you are ’social networking’? For example, I have a website, people can find it and contact me through it. Likewise, I have a blog.

There are countless online communities; amongst the most popular are Facebook and Myspace (both of which I have yet to join, but I shall!). You don’t need a ‘traditional’ website to make contact with people, a Facebook or Myspace account will serve the same purpose. People build a website or a webpage and that enables them to build online communities with people who share similar interests.

Another good example is Twitter. Twitter is another ‘online application’ that I use. So far this have proved very useful in making contact with others with shared interests. I may not have heard about the Social Media Cafe tomorrow if I hadn’t joined Twitter and made contact with others.

And what about ‘Media’? I think traditionally the word ‘media’ referred to newspapers, magazines, books and television. Now it has a different meaning which encompasses the internet; websites, videos, blogs etc as well.

Anyway! My point is…I’ve had this idea. And I think this idea involves social media. People will find out about my idea via my website, this blog and twitter. And (hopefully) these people will want to get involved. And if they do…..then that’s an example of one way social media can work.

On to my idea. A few days ago I blogged about a new project B4AM (Birmingham at 4AM). I am planning another outing soon, and I would like to involve you. I have a few ideas of where I would like to go next, but I am going to let you decide.

Whatever area of Birmingham City Centre gets the most votes, I shall go, at 4am. I am not sure when I am going to go. It could be in a few days, or a couple of weeks, but whatever area of Birmingham has the most votes when I decide, that is where I am going to go. It’s a bit of an experiment, but all being well, I think this is something I will use again on this project.

2 Comments

Thank you to…..

Posted at 30th October 2008 Posted in Blog by Karen Strunks

…Birmingham – It’s not shit and Created In Birmingham for mentioning me on their sites.

Birmingham – It’s not shit:

Birmingham: It’s Not Shit loves Birmingham, its people, arts, animals, buildings, parks, grass verges, factories and bus stops. We’ve even got a soft spot for the Black Country. B:iNS runs The Brummie of the Year Award, Talk Like a Brummie Day and we’re inviting you all to spend eleven hours on the eleven bus on the eleventh of November.BiNS is mostly by Jon Bounds, a Birmingham based social web consultant, producer and writer.

Created In Birmingham:

This is a weblog about the creative community in Birmingham. Given the sheer number of musicians, artists, designers, writers and so on working in the city that’s a pretty big remit.

Thanks guys!