It's a New Yecade! I am going to keep saying that until it catches on. But either way, we're five days in and everything feels COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. Actually, and weirdly, it sort of does — maybe it's because of all the decade-end stuff, maybe it's because Nexus One is going to force us to buy a new phone, maybe it's because the TSA is about to peep our privates — but "2010" already looks, well, normal. We already feel SO much more mature than 2009, right? Enough to look back now on the year that was with a little of the perspective we didn't have while we were still in it (any 2009 wrap-up that didn't include the phrase "Crotch Bomber" clearly was not complete). Enough to admit some of those things that gave us shame — like secretly loving "Party in The USA" by Miley Cyrus. Which I do. Which I can now freely admit. I also love that song about a shorty fire burning on the dance floor. Am I alone in this secret love for cheesy Aughts-Pop? I refused to believe it — so I pried it out of a few of your favorite media people, or even some people you don't much care for. I also asked them who their favorite villain of 2009 was, and what we should blame on the a-a-a-a-a-a-alcohol. Turns out, maybe also this list. (more...)

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Wine video blogger/social media maven/author/New York Jets fanatic Gary Vaynerchuk is all about transparency. That's why he's such a proponent of communicating via Twitter - he can get called out on anything and everything he says. (more...)

I use Twitter a lot, but I was not among the very first to see the new Lists feature. I can now, though. And what I find much more interesting than actually using the feature myself is the fact that I woke up this morning to find that I was on dozens of other people's lists. Even though the irony is that Twitter introduced lists about a year after I stopped wanting such a feature, I do think there is some value in having other people put me on their lists. Braggadocio. Oh yes, braggadocio. (more...)

webcast It's a Mediaite Book Club edition of Mediaite Office Hours today. Joining us for our show, from Livestream.com’s studio live at 3pmET today, will be authors Gary Vaynerchuk, Duff McDonald, David Sax...and some surprises as well. (more...)

video Here comes the fall book season — which means here come the websites, blog posts, Twitter feeds and viral videos that have become necessary counterparts to the excerpts, readings, interviews and lectures that were once the only way of promoting a new book. These days, having a built-in audience is essential to making not only waves but sales — so authors better be able to tap into that. (more...)

Outside of the rapidly growing but still relatively cultish world of social media, he's some crazy wine guy people may have seen on The Today Show, Ellen, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, or, most recently, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Inside that world, depending on whom you ask, he's either a rock star or the new media version of P.T. Barnum. Gary Vaynerchuk expanded his parents’ wine store from a small shop in Jersey into a $65 million dollar business by creating WineLibrary.tv, where he has become a major new media personality with his energy-filled video podcasts, frequent conference appearances and chatty Twitter stream. (more...)