MTV Chooses Black Woman, Gabi Gregg, as First Twitter Jockey

Gabi Gregg has been selected as the first Twitter Jockey for MTV. Gregg won the position after a nationwide vote that had the 23-year-old up against thousands of other competitors. The job is a natural extension of the VJ jobs that MTV offers, and Gregg will report on pop culture news. She is also assigned to work with the company's Facebook account, various blogs and main Website.

Many African Americans are cheering Gregg on because she's black. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 2008 with a major in international relations and African American studies. She also founded a blog called Young, Fat and Fabulous, likely a conceptual spin-off of the blog TheYBF.

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Government Names: Black Music Month Edition

What's In A Name?
Assuming a new identity is nothing new for celebrities who find major success in the entertainment industry. It seems as though everyone has a stage name. Take a look at the real names of some of our favorite black music makers.

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Black Celebrity "Government Names"

Stage Name: Alicia Keys
Real Name: Alicia Augello-Cook
Profession: Singer-Songwriter, Actress
Factoid: Before acquiring Keys as her stage name, Alicia reportedly once considered calling herself Alicia Wild.

Black Celebrity "Government Names"

Stage Name: The Game
Real Name: Jayceon Terrell Taylor
Profession: Rapper-Actor
Factoid: In addition to being a close friend and high school teammate, NBA star Baron Davis is also reportedly the godfather of Game's eldest son Harlem.

Black Celebrity "Government Names"

Stage Name: Tina Turner
Real Name: Anna Mae Bullock
Profession: Singer, Actress
Factoid: Winning seven Grammy Awards and selling more than 60 million records has made Tina Turner the world's most successful female rock artist of all time.

Black Celebrity "Government Names"

Stage Name: Sade
Real Name: Helen Folasade Adu
Profession: Singer
Factoid: Before making it big with timeless songs as 'Sweetest Taboo' and 'No Ordinary Love,' the Nigeria native set up a small fashion company in London making men's clothes.

Black Celebrity "Government Names"

Stage Name: Diahann Carroll
Real Name: Carol Diahann Johnson
Profession: Actress-Singer
Factoid: In her 2008 memoir, 'The Legs Are the Last to Go,' the Bronx, N.Y., native revealed that legendary entertainer Pearl Bailey caused anguish for her when they starred in Truman Capote's Broadway musical 'House of Flowers.'

Black Celebrity "Government Names"

Stage Name: Soulja Boy Tell Em
Real Name: DeAndre Ramone Way
Profession: Rapper
Factoid: In 2008, hip-hop veteran Ice-T criticized Souja Boy for "killing hip-hop" and referred to his chart-topping song 'Crank That' as "garbage."

Black Celebrity "Government Names"

Stage Name: Foxy Brown
Real Name: Inga Fung Marchand
Profession: Rapper
Factoid: Foxy made her big screen debut alongside Jada Pinkett Smith in the 1998 romantic comedy, 'Woo.'

Black Celebrity "Government Names"

Stage Name: Diddy
Real Name: Sean Combs
Profession: Rapper-Actor-Mogul
Factoid: According to Date.com, Diddy was voted Hollywood's Sexiest Single Father in a 2005 poll.

Black Celebrity "Government Names"

Stage Name: Mica Paris
Real Name: Michelle Wallen
Profession: Singer
Factoid: Mica Paris' 1991 song 'If I Love U 2 Nite' was written by Prince and recorded at Paisley Park studios.

Black Celebrity "Government Names"

Through winning the contest, Gregg will receive $100,000 and a one-year position with the company. She says that her strongest interests are fashion and pop culture. Gregg also said that she loves to use Twitter to meet new people. "I meet people [through Twitter] that I'd never have the opportunity to know," she said. "It's been a great way to give and get feedback from my readers, for blogging in between posts. When I got started, I had no idea how cool it was."

Social media is a new must-have for any business wishing to keep itself in the public eye. If you don't have a Facebook and Twitter account, then you will certainly be behind the eight ball in the coming years. Additionally, the use of Twitter, in addition to blogs and e-mail, is important for companies to reach their customers. The massive number of followers possessed by MTV will surely give Gregg a very large and engaged audience, while her skills will help MTV maintain its top youth culture position. This is quite an opportunity for Gregg, who's relatively new to the field of media but clearly has a lot of offer.

Lawrence Watkins is the founder of Great Black Speakers. He is also the owner of speakers' bureaus dedicated to Hispanic speakers and Christian motivational speakers. His book, 'Frame Your Future: 8 Principles to Effectively Focus on the Future and Not Dwell in the Past,' will be released in this month. If you would like Lawrence's articles delivered directly to your e-mail, please click here.