Behind The Click: Wayne Sutton
Some of the most visited sites for African-Americans are gossip blogs and entertainment sites. How do we create an awareness about platforms such as Atlantapost.com and SocialWayne.com?
It’s a culture thing. Its tradition and I am not someone who likes tradition. Gossip is one of those traditions that has really stuck with us. We are drawn to sites like Mediatakeout and Necholebitchie–some people would call these blogs trash. Here I am trying to write grammatically correct and intelligent posts and if I misspell something, I can get criticized. I understand people want well written posts but these sites say and post whatever and still receive massive amounts of traffic. My friend manages blogs for Bad Boy Records which get tons of traffic. He and I were discussing that people of color think of blogs in a negative way because they associate blogs with gossip sites. There is so much more than gossip sites in this space. We as a people have to look beyond that and come together when we see a good site, support it and use all available channels to promote it. We have to set competition aside and support each other. The internet is big enough for everyone.
What are some approaches to supporting one another in the digital space?
When Black websites launch or have developments why don’t we do what Google or Mac does when they have new product? They use channels all over the web to receive buzz. Getting web-wide exposure is the name of the game. I think there is this urgency around who is first on the stories but it doesn’t matter who is the first one on the story. What distinguishes your platform is the commentary you add on the story.
How can we utilize the online space to initiate dialogue on socio-political and cultural issues?
The most important things are communication, education and having channels set up, so people can locate that information about the issues that plague our communities. We have to constantly have dialogue about these subjects. In 2008, I went and had an HIV test, took a picture and posted it on Twitter, just as a way to create awareness. Whether its World Aids Day or any day that is reserved for a cause, we have to funnel our energy around it. It is important that we use the tools and network to build up these conversations within our community. It is all about working together and connecting.
Black owned business account for 10-12% of business ownerships—does the new digital landscape have the potential to increase this?
I believe this is the opportunity for the next generation African-American tech entrepreneurs. We just have to find these individuals and support and encourage them to launch their own companies. Because of our culture and new technologies, we will see a new wave of entertainment. The “next BET” will be in the digital space with a black owned business model behind it, without any association to BET. There will be a digital model built online for the music industry that works for everybody and African-American entrepreneurs will have the capacities to bring these innovative businesses about. African-Americans are already heavy consumers online, which means we are there and are aware of what is happening.
If I were an African American entrepreneur what would be critical steps I can take to position my business online?
You should first establish your own domain name, an analytics program, create a presence on the social web, and conduct market research to locate your customers. Online, everyone is very visual and customers are grabbed by professional and modern design. Smart business people wouldn’t allow their physical store to look outdated because no one would want to patronize it if that were the case. You have to think of your online brand in the same way. People want something fresh, new, creative and unique. Once you have all of those components you have to observe how it looks as a whole and how your different platforms connect.
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