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With art, you always have someone in every medium that pushes the envelope and creates something entirely new and unheard of; artists who try to take some ordinary substance and turn it in to extraordinary pieces of art.

It is no different with social media. As technology progresses, people are finding different ways to use the social media forums given to them to create something the world has never seen before.

These pioneers have done just that. Some have used apps, others have used Tumblr, all producing content that is unique and never-before seen. Enjoy!

Didn't get enough Halloween? Check out the new app Haunting Melissa (iOS). The Producer of The Ring and Mulholland Drive created this ghost story video series that will give you chills. Episode by episode, you will learn the whole story, and experience twists and turns along the way. The interactive story will even let you snap in-app pictures and upload them to Instagram, to make sure you creep out all your friends.

The first app of its kind, Haunting Melissa may change the way producers share their content in the future. Instead of creating a mini-series for TV, more and more video series may show up as interactive apps, which allow for audience participation as well as social interaction. I mean, come on. You know you want to post the creepy ghost pics on your Instagram, tell them that its real and scare the beejezus out of your followers.

You know I will. 

Want more eeriness? Listen to the podcast Welcome to Night Vale. Set in a small desert town, the podcast is played as a radio show that points out the mysterious goings-on, from unexplained lights overhead to disappearing aircraft to bizarre neighbors. Read like a radio show broadcasting the news to this small town, this podcast has become wildly popular due to its original content and dead-pan humor. 

The podcast started a wave of entertainment personalities using podcasts as a story-telling device, rather than simply for interviews, education, marketing or news casting. Like the radio programs of old, podcasts have been rebranded to story-telling devices, and this story...may make you weary of small desert towns from now on.

Humans of New York is a Tumblr profile that takes photo blogging to a whole other level. What started as one man's project to create a photographic census of New York turned into a series of photographs and short stories about the unique people of New York. 

Unique New York. Say that five times fast. 

Instead of the normal memes and Harry Potter/Mean Girls mashups you regularly see on Tumblr, Humans of New York uses the photo sharing platform to tell mini stories about people he encountered. Potentially, more and more people could use Tumblr  to facilitate photo-journalism and news bullets.

Not that I'm hating on Harry Potter/Mean Girls mashups.

Speaking of great Tumblr users, Electric Literature is an indie publishing company that has revolutionized the book publishing process. Instead of traditional book printing, Electric Lit makes releases eBooks as well as a magazine called Recommended Reading that can be seen on either their app or on Tumblr.

They were also the driving force behind author Ricky Moody creating an entire short story simply using Twitter.  Charged with the task of creating a story using a series of Tweets, Moody wrote "Some Contemporary Characters", a tale of two online daters whose date does not succeed. Unlike other stories that have been produced using Twitter, Moody wrote this with Twitter in mind, using the social media platform to create these two characters and develop their personalities to the readers. Even thought this project was met with a lot of media backlash, Electric Literature became well known and succeeded in gaining many interested readers.

Question: where can amateur film makers go to market their movies and connect with their fanbase? Look no further than Chill, a website that will advertise and distribute your movie, and allow fans to follow their favorite producers. If someone produces a mini-series, Chill will email their viewers to alert them of any upcoming episodes or to sell any merchandise made for the movie. They have revolutionized the way that movie makers are able to distribute their content: no longer having to show their groundbreaking footage for free on a shaky YouTube platform.

These are just a few examples of some social media pioneers. Do you know of any not shown on this list?   

Going to the Movies

Whether its staying in with a bag of popcorn or going out to the theater, horray for Hollywood! I love movies, especially anything that involves Pixar, Disney, happy endings and brightly colored shiny things to hold my attention.

Nobody claimed I wasn't a seven-year-old trapped in a 23-year-old's body.

However, the movie experience can be made even MORE enjoyable through...what, class? Anyone? Bueller?

That's right, technology! There are so many apps and websites that will make sure you get the right movie-going experience or chose the right movie. After all, movies are like, $20 now. It would almost cost you the same to see a bad movie as it would to buy a plane ticket and go throw tomatoes at the director/screenwriters house.

I'm just saying.

To start, you need the basics of movie-going apps. Apps like Fandango (Windows, Android & iOS) will tell you what is playing in a theater near you. It will also let you preview the movie and buy movie tickets right from your phone. So when the midnight premiere of the new Superman/Batman movie with Ben Afflek goes on sale, you will be able to buy tickets before everyone else!
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Just kidding, no one will be there.

Speaking of bad movie decisions, Rotten Tomatoes by Flixster (Windows, Android & iOS) is a movie rating app that shows you what the critics think about a certain movie (is that an actual job? movie critic?) to what rating actual moviegoers gave it. Save yourself some time and read what other people say about the movie you are thinking of seeing. Just watch out for the spoilers!

RunPee (Windows, Android & iOS) wins the award for Most Useful App That No One Actually Knew They Needed. Seriously. Turn this app on at the start of your movie, and it will tell you the best times to go use the little girls/boy's room. It will tell you how much time you have to make it there and back, and will give you a synopsis of what you missed while you were gone. I always have to pee during movies (darn you, 40-0z jumbo soda!) so this app is the best invention, hands down.

We all know the feeling: "O darn. That guy, that was in that movie...the guy with the hair....and the teeth! You know the one I'm talking about!" Breathe easy, my friend, and iMDB that ish (Windows, Android &iOS). It has saved me many a times from only remembering the name of that actor/actress 30 minutes after the conversation has ended, believe you me.

Not sure what to Netflix? Try Movie Twist (Android & iOS). This app allows you to type in the name of a favorite movie and will recommend other movies that are similar to that one. Or click "explore" and tell the app how much of the following characteristics you want in your movie: loving, funny, violent, thrilling or clever; and it will also give you great recommendations.

Except "White Men Can't Jump". Stop giving me that recommendation, darn it!

For those who want a different movie watching experience, Chill is a website that was created for those lesser-known filmmakers to exploit their talents, allowing users to rent and watch their movies, and then support their projects. Chill is equal parts Kickstarter and Pinterest for movies, and some movie projects even have a merchandise store, so you can wear your support. It is definitely worth taking a look at on a slow Friday night.

Also, I need this.


What are some of your favorite movie apps? Comment below to let me know!