Wow! That is about all I can say right now. I’ve experienced it first hand and I’m pretty amazed. I recently published a playlist to 8tracks entitled “Summer Time Fun” (http://8tracks.com/mixes/319131/player_v3). This is the 7th playlist that I’ve posted and I guess that 7 is my lucky number. Apparently you just need a few re-posts to Facebook or Stumbled Upon, or even a single “tweet” and the word really gets out. And I mean really gets out. My last 6 playlists received anywhere from 10-25 plays and each of them had a handful of “likes”.
[For those of you who have not checked out 8tracks yet…it is a site that streams people’s handmade mixes. You can search by genre or artist or peruse the “new today”, “hot this week” or “popular this month” lists. As an 8tracks “DJ”, I can see how many times my mix was listened to as well as how many people “liked” it and any comments that may have been left.]
Well, that single tweet and the reposts to Facebook and Stumbled Upon have landed my “Summer Time Fun” playlist on page 3 of the “hot this week” list. I’m not sure how 8tracks orders the mixes, but certainly being on page three helps since there are many, many pages. I published the playlist about a week and half ago and already almost 800 people have listened to it and 80+ people like it. And the numbers just keep going up. Pretty cool!
This new experience with social media got me thinking about the power of the internet and each of our individual voices. It is amazing how easy it has become to spread the “word”. My graduate degree is in Mass Communications and it is truly fascinating to see how drastically things have changed with the introduction of social networking applications like Facebook, Stumbled Upon and Twitter. Once even just a few people jump on your “bandwagon” the “message” (whether it be a playlist, a video on youtube, a product on a consumer site, a political speech, etc.) can spread so quickly– aka “go viral”. Quite a powerful tool for the masses.
Although, I must admit that I am a relative dinosaur when it comes to social networking. I had never heard of Stumbled Upon, I don’t tweet, nor am I a twitter follower. Facebook and blogging are as far as I’ve gotten. I took a quick look at Stumbled Upon and I don’t quite get how to use it. Wait, should I not be admitting that? Quite honestly, I don’t think I need another time-sucking site to gobble up more of my precious moments. So I’ll skip that one for now. Although, I am a wee bit curious to hear from anyone who uses Stumbled Upon and the ways you find it useful. I guess I don’t want to be too much of a dinosaur.
Oh and another topic….thanks to all those that recently subscribed to the blog. I really appreciate your support. And perhaps someday this too will take of like my “Summer Time Fun” playlist and lots of people will be following my blog. One can dream, right?
My Musical Muses 
I’m impressed. You are #30 on the hot list using 8tracks from my phone. Ahhh fame has arrived
Melisa, thanks for the gift of music. We hope to make it Saturday. I’d love to hear the 8 track at the party. Still trying to find time to sit and listen to some great music.
XX Lara