It’s generally not a good feeling when your government is known for its frivolous spending. It’s an even worse feeling when you see the details: one million for road signs touting stimulus funds at work in Ohio, two million for a water taxi to Pleasure Beach, CA. Did you know the government spends $10 million annually for an international music troupe? Before everyone gets up in arms about government waste and whatnot, let’s look at the rationale.

The Rhythm Road, as it’s called, travels to over forty countries to spread American music. It’s all done in the name of changing perceptions with the hope that American music is a reason to hate the United States a little bit less. But how do we know if it’s effective? You might guess that this isn’t the easiest campaign to measure, but since its inception in the 50s, the program has seen some success.
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Social media is everywhere (seriously, we can’t escape it). It’s caught at an interesting crossroad of recognition; is it a fad or a legitimate medium? I have to believe it’s the real deal. Besides the simple fact that my job depends on its survival, a couple of current events suggest that social media is thriving.

If you didn’t know it, today is “Everybody draw Mohammed day” on Facebook. The numbers the group has reached fascinates me. It’s jumped 50,000 fans in one day. What’s more is that Facebook is the driving medium for the group. They have gained so much attention that the sovereign state of Pakistan has banned Facebook. That’s right, they banned Facebook. I think the concept of drawing Mohammed is mediocre, but that’s where Facebook thrives. The marriage of an average concept with the ease of Facebook is bolstering causes that wouldn’t survive in other media. In other words, social media is changing non-movements into strong movements.
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Craig Ferguson, host of The Late Late Show, calls his Twitter followers his “Robot Skeleton Army” (or Skellyborgs, Twitzylvanians, Cyberbonies, Cyberbone Homies, Skellypeeps, and the RSA). Craig has been asking people to follow his Twitter in his monologues, and reading their tweets in a segment on his talk show.

The Late Late Show has had consistently competitive ratings, often surpassing its counterparts on NBC, even without traditional marketing used by other late night shows. It will be interesting to see how using social media will affect The Late Late Show in the long run, and if “followers” on Twitter can translate into higher ratings for Craig’s show.