Last year the Shorty Awards began to swell in popularity in the twitter community. I had a few friends that were pretty high up in the running to win including @luckystartups and @savvyauntie. While there was some talk of ulterior motives behind the awards, I thought it just promoted a dynamic and rapidly growing community of connectors.
Suspicions came back, as this year’s awards rolled around. First of all, these are not people in my social circle. I don’t follow celebrities. People I do follow that approach that status are usually offering great value. It had the feeling of the Oscars. Every year I feel as if the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is out of touch with the rest of the world, voting for what their tight circle believes should be given the title of best. The Shorty’s gave me the same feeling. Most of the nominated top list I have never even seen let alone gained value or interaction from. Something stank. I began to dig into the Shortys page. On the main Shorty foundation page, sorry.. the Real-Time Academy of Short Form Arts & Sciences (sound similar to anything?), I found the source of all my discomfort in a simple but spooky tag-line “defining media for the new decade”. Yeah. What? I thought the community, the customer, the individual was now defining media. So to say the least I am done with Shortys. In checking my own temperature I shot my friend Ash Shepherd a quick note asking his take. His response confirmed my reaction.
“I thought the Shorty awards were a democratic process whereby Twitter users vote. How does “the Real-Time Academy of Short Form Arts & Sciences play a vital role in choosing the winners of the Shorty Awards”? And defining media for the new decade?!? If anything we have seen the media now being defined by the users and not media moguls and celebrities any longer. Wait, who did the academy say will comprise their membership? Media Moguls and Celebrities?? Who got to pick this elite group of Media definers? Themselves. Sounds like the old guard is trying hard to find their way back into the spotlight and control of media. Weak attempt to promote themselves again if you ask me.”
I asked Ash to elaborate his thoughts here:
Two thoughts really bubbled to the surface for me. The first was the hypocrisy of it all. When I first got a vote for a shorty award I was surprised and excited all at the same time. So naturally I did what you do with any tweet you like on Twitter, I gave it a ReTweet. Imagine my surprise when I saw that doing this action automatically added me to the “egocentric” category for the shorty awards. A nice bit of public shamming that could not be undone. Had I only known it would have been better to create an academy, name myself lord of new media and Arts & Sciences. I would have become a hero and finally gotten some mileage out of those two science degrees.
The second was the double edge of user defined media. So not only can anyone create content these days but apparently if you can create a website and Twitter account you have license to create an Academy.
Your thoughts?
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