When Real Death Comes to Virtual Life – Part 1

It has been one hell of a week+ for me emotionally: four people whose lives have touched mine in various ways died in the space of ten days. Three of those used social media (mostly Twitter and Facebook), and that is how most of their friends have learned of their passing – and we learned of the fourth via the mailing list of a group of which he was a part.

It would take a much longer series of posts than I currently have the time or energy to compose to cover all of the ways social media users and their friends/family need to consider handling their digital assets and communities when the user dies. But for now I will note some specific technical tips for when (not if, increasingly) you find yourself mourning the loss of a loved one and are left with how to communicate about their departure with their social media friends.

[Note: I originally planned to cover both Twitter and Facebook in this article, but it’s already lengthy about Twitter so I will do a Part 2 about Facebook later]

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How To Watch A Live Show On Concertwindow.com

Many of my musician friends are trying a new concert presentation model:                 Concert Window is a website that allows performers to broadcast their show live over the Internet, using only their laptop computer with a web camera and microphone.

What this means for you the audience is you can attend a concert literally in your pajamas if you want! In fact, singer/songwriter Christine Lavin broadcast her first Concert Window show in her fuzzy bathrobe because she forgot she had scheduled it.

It’s very easy to attend one of these live webcasts – almost as simple as a watching a YouTube video. I’m going to walk you through the few steps to create a login account and buy a ticket, then tell you a bit about how the show works and how you can actually participate and interact with the performer(s):

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Social Media Guide For Fans – Chapter 2 Basics 1: Hashtags

Hashtags – Not What’s For Dinner

Before getting into the specifics of Twitter, Facebook, etc. let’s look at a tool that is useful on both those services, as well as Instagram, Google+, Tumblr, YouTube and more: hashtags

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Social Media Guide For Fans – Chapter 1 Introduction

I’m currently working with electric harpist/storyteller/composer Deborah Henson-Conant on her latest project: DHC-TV provides live mini-concerts webcast from her home studio via the Concert Window site. In addition to behind-the-camera technical support I am also providing a brief What Betty Knows feature during the show to help teach her viewers, many of whom are novice social media users, how to interact with DHC and other fans using various social media tools like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, et al.

Betty & DHC

I’m writing an ebook from the information I plan to present during the show. Here’s the first chapter draft: an introduction to why fans might want to use social media to communicate with and about their favorite performers:

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