Social Media Gives Sachem Grad Outlet

On the "about" page of Dan Chizzoniti's Website he settles a major gripe.

"Despite what many people may think," he writes, "I was not born with  BlackBerry in hand."

It seems like it's another appendage, he quells in the next line. For Chizzoniti, a 2006 graduate of Sachem North, social media has been his escape into the digital world. He says it's, "probably the biggest past time, love in my life."

MTV was recently looking for 18 people who are exuberantly involved in social media and pop culture. The massive network reached out to Chizzoniti because of his active Twitter page – follow him @DanChiz – and take on all things related to current music/movie/fashion culture on his blog.

For two weeks he was submersed in a battlefield of texts, tweets and social media grenades that could give even give the Jeff Pulver's or Jeff Jarvis' of the world a headache.

Though he did not win, the grand prize was a six-figure salary and the title MTV TJ (Twitter Jockey), a newly created position MTV launched with ZYNC from American Express. The final competitors began competing in head-to-head twitter-centric challenges, ranging from discovering a local band to interviewing MTV talent.

The MTV TJ position is a modern-day re-imagining of the pioneering MTV VJ, according to the company. While the MTV VJ had a one-way dialog in reporting music and pop culture-related news to the audience, the MTV TJ will actively engage MTV's hyper-social audience -- answering their questions, amplifying their interests, doling out behind-the-scenes information, cool links and exclusive media across MTV.com, Twitter, Facebook, blogs and in 30-second sponsored on-air interstitials.

"Whether it's letting viewers take the mic to ask the President of the United States a question or turning the camera on themselves, MTV pioneered the idea that our audience has an important role to play in our programming and deserves a global platform," said Stephen Friedman, General Manager of MTV. "The newly created MTV TJ role and search with ZYNC from American Express is a natural next step and one that will help amplify the voice of our audience as part of the global conversation." 

Chizzoniti's first celebrity hit was from JoJo, who retweeted one of his initial messages. Andy Cohen from Bravo, a Boston University alum like Chizzoniti, was the first celebrity to actually follow him.

A self proclaimed Starbucks junky, Chizzoniti has a degree in psychology from BU, but is pushing hard for a job in PR, social media or event planning. He interned this summer at NYU's Financial Access Initiative, and also worked at PR and event planning firms, spreading himself thin and sacrificing the time for a career.

"I like the way the information is related, quick up to the minute and get it to a lot of people at once," he said of social media. "There's no wasting of time, it's a great way to build a brand and relationships. I had three internships all because of Twitter."

As for the future of digital media, Chizzoniti thinks the industry will become even more personable.

"People will actually be able to tweet on video clips that could be 15 seconds."

The potential in the industry is great, but so is Chizzoniti's future.