Digital Influentials: Nuttin' But A "D" Thing Baby… - Cory Treffiletti - MediaBizBloggers

"One, two, three and to the four. Cory Treffiletti and digital media at the door."

(Ok, ok. I know – I can't rap. And yes – it might sound more than a little corny, but you try coming up with fun and exciting ways to open a regular column every couple of weeks and you'll understand what it's like and why sometimes you have to be a little strange to get your attention.)☺

Welcome to "the next episode" of the Digital Influentials, which is dedicated to Dr. Dre for no other reason than the fact that he's a doctor, and you should always trust a doctor. When Dr. Dre released the Chronic way back in the early 90's, and even before that when he was in N.W.A., he was blazing new trails (in every sense of the word) and showing the world something that they'd never seen before. He was a producer and an artist in some of the same ways that we see entrepreneurs in the digital media business today. It may not be about music as much, and it definitely ain't about the "gangsta" lifestyle (unless you saw The Social Network, which could be argued represented a similar set of values), but It's nuttin' but a "d" thing – meaning digital of course.

So shifting from one visionary to another, please "let me ride" and see what we unearthed from "deep cover" to share with you this week.

Digital media allows you to get to know your peers more and more, but the launch of VYOU(http://www.vyou.com) takes it to a whole new level. VYOU, or the "virtual you", allows you to post video responses to questions from random people and create a virtual version of yourself. It takes the concept of Q&A to the video world, building on products like Yahoo Answers and Aardvark while mixing in a little of the Old Spice campaign for everyone to use. I'm building my virtual me now, so check it out and ask a question (like what was the lead single from the World Class Wreckin' Cru)!

Speaking of me, have you checked out and signed up for the beta of ABOUT.ME (http://www.about.me) yet? The site is a little cryptic, but it appears to be a personal portal for others to uncover you in the digital world. They also promise a suite of analytics for you to track what's happening to you in the digital universe. They aren't live yet, but you should reserve your page now before someone else snaps it up.

Have you noticed the digital universe is starting to overlap with the real universe? A great example of that is a company called MOTIVECAST (http://www.motivecast.com). Motivecast is creating augmented reality games using your cellphone's video camera and real world environments through geo-fenced, location-based games. They're a PepsiCo 10 finalist and they're doing some really interesting things that you need to know about so bust out your phone "in da club" and download the app to check it out!

I can't go a whole column dedicated to Dre without making some rap music, so check out MYCYPHER (http://www.mycypher.com/). MyCypher turns your microphone into a rap recording device. Just record a rap (like a follow up to "My Name Is"), assign a beat and publish from your phone. If you're good, maybe Dr. Dre will hear your stuff and sign you up like he signed Eminem and 50 Cent? If I get signed I'm gonna call myself Two Dollars and 47 cents, because that's what an iced tea costs and then I can pour out the top quarter inch for all my media homies.

So by now you're probably tired of me trying to integrate gangsta rap into my column, so lets jump right into the mobile piece. If you want something fun for your iPhone or iPad this week, check out VANS LIVE for info on the triple crown of surfing. For shopping check out the new AMAZON WINDOWSHOP. And if you want to know the lyrics (in all their NSFW glory) check out the DR. DRE LYRICS STUDIO.

That's it for now – so as they say – La Di Da Di.

See you in The Next Episode.

Cory Treffiletti is President and Managing Partner for Catalyst SF. Cory has been a thought leader in interactive marketing and advertising since 1995. Cory can be contacted at cory@catalystsf.com.

Read all Cory’s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Digital Influencers - MediaBizBloggers.

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