MTV seeks first 'Twitter Jockey'

International television channel MTV announced the selection of 18 candidates who will vie to become its "Twitter Jockey." Two more aspiring candidates interested in this "hot job" can be nominated through June 27.

The competition, "Follow Me: The Search for the first MTV TJ," will bring 20 social media enthusiasts head-to-head in Twitter challenges with the winner becoming the first MTV TJ - Twitter Jockey.

The candidates selected are active in social media with a unique voice and a passion for music and pop culture. So far, they include: MissAllizona, OhItsRyan, lolamack, daniellesmyname, Gabifresh, imjmi, bitty_boop, KayKiSpeaks, Livitluvit, Officialdjx, lifeisadream89, and jthrasher.

Aspiring candidates can nominate themselves and other Twitter users through www.zync.mtv.com or www.facebook.com/zync. Close to 300,000 submissions have been logged in since June 14. Contest rules and additional info can be found on www.zync.mtv.com/about.

The competition segment kicks off on MTV.com, July 7-July 19, with wanna-be MTV TJs participating in a series of Twitter challenges from discovering a local band to interviewing MTV talent.

After five challenges, five finalists will advance to the elimination rounds, with one slot to be voted on by Twitter fans via texts on the live televised finale August 8 at 10 pm EST for the first MTV TJ.

Judging will be done by an internal committee and TweetLevel, http://tweetlevel.edelman.com, a specialized tweet-scoring service that measures influence, popularity, and trust.

The new MTV TJ will become a voice for the channel across social media platforms, including MTV.com, to expand a dialogue with the global audience, ask what fans want to know about celebrities, report on what's going on in the halls of MTV, and more. The first assignment will be reporting at the 2010 MTV Video MusicAwards in Los Angeles on September 12.

http://www.facebook.com/zync and http://www.zync.mtv.com/

RC