The fact that there are 20 seasons of The Real World makes me feel old

Defining the Next Generation - Christina Norman, MTV

• It's about the content, first and foremost
• Let the audience be excited, don't eat into that but embrace it
• Enable them to connect with each other
• Allow the audience to help shape your brand
• It's about giving the audience what they want, when they want it. That means a cross-media strategy that takes advantage of the best parts of all media, creating an all encompassing brand experience.
   
• New ventures at MTV such as Rock Band use technology to allow fans to connect with bands they're fans of. And since MTV is the enabler of that connection then they become more valuable and popular with the audience as well.
   
• MTV has harnessed the power of their fans and the connection they have with them to affect social change by tapping into the passion for change on issues important to them.
   
• Being a fan is more exciting when you can share your passion with someone who shares it. THIS is what's important about the social media world. It enables people to connect - whether it's through social networks or blogrolls or whatever - with each other and have "geek" conversations that get you excited.
   
• To create a truly passionate audience you need to be committed to a two-way dialogue, or "digilogue."
   

One of the points Christine made in the Q&A was that it would be better to create a strong reaction in the audience - either love or loathe - than for the audience to have no feeling at all. That's important to remember when you're doing social media monitoring, I think. If no one is talking about you, that's not a good thing. That's not contented happiness you're seeing in the lack of conversation. It's apathy. If you have people who say they hate you, at least that's an opinion you can turn around.