Here’s yet another example to show how—increasingly and especially among the young— social media is the message. Whether you are a huge corporation or a young Muslim who wants to change the public perception of Islam, arenas like YouTube and personal blogs can be used to spread your message.
Today’s New York Times features a story about Ali Ardekani, a 33-year-old Web designer/filmmaker who has taken his mission online. That mission is to start a dialogue for change. To do this, Ardekani optimizes the power of the Internet.
Casting himself in video blogs as the fictional Baba Ali, Ardekani uses humor, satire and irony to rattle stereotypes about Islam and open some uniformed eyes. His shtick is reminiscent of Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G, Borat) and the Canadian comic Russell Peters.
Search his moniker on YouTube and you can watch, among many videos, one called “Racism and Pride,” which humorously addresses cultural issues relevant to Islamic youth, such as marrying outside of one’s religion. “Randomly Checked (at the airport)” is another video spoof about…well, I think the title is self-explanatory.
Ardekani is one of the most visual of what the NYT called a “new wave of young American Muslim performers and filmmakers trying to change the public face of their religion.”
Some of these other videos have had over two million hits. For a student filmmaker 10,000 hits is said to be the benchmark of success, suggesting that a video has circulated beyond one’s extended circle of friends, family and colleagues.
Social media has so many useful PR functions: it delivers information, it is visual, it is engaging, it is ubiquitous…all the things anyone with a message longs for. And what’s better, just about anyone with a computer and an idea can take part in the social media revolution.
An added dimension of social media is the ever-present human desire for personal attention that comes with online ventures. I won’t speculate on Ardekani’s motives here, but the offshoot of his online campaign has been something of an offline career as a standup comic, playing clubs across the US. All told, Ardekani can be seen as something of a brand, now integrating offline appearances into the marketing mix.
Today’s New York Times features a story about Ali Ardekani, a 33-year-old Web designer/filmmaker who has taken his mission online. That mission is to start a dialogue for change. To do this, Ardekani optimizes the power of the Internet.
Casting himself in video blogs as the fictional Baba Ali, Ardekani uses humor, satire and irony to rattle stereotypes about Islam and open some uniformed eyes. His shtick is reminiscent of Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G, Borat) and the Canadian comic Russell Peters.
Search his moniker on YouTube and you can watch, among many videos, one called “Racism and Pride,” which humorously addresses cultural issues relevant to Islamic youth, such as marrying outside of one’s religion. “Randomly Checked (at the airport)” is another video spoof about…well, I think the title is self-explanatory.
Ardekani is one of the most visual of what the NYT called a “new wave of young American Muslim performers and filmmakers trying to change the public face of their religion.”
Some of these other videos have had over two million hits. For a student filmmaker 10,000 hits is said to be the benchmark of success, suggesting that a video has circulated beyond one’s extended circle of friends, family and colleagues.
Social media has so many useful PR functions: it delivers information, it is visual, it is engaging, it is ubiquitous…all the things anyone with a message longs for. And what’s better, just about anyone with a computer and an idea can take part in the social media revolution.
An added dimension of social media is the ever-present human desire for personal attention that comes with online ventures. I won’t speculate on Ardekani’s motives here, but the offshoot of his online campaign has been something of an offline career as a standup comic, playing clubs across the US. All told, Ardekani can be seen as something of a brand, now integrating offline appearances into the marketing mix.
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