What`s Trending | Video

Alyssa Marino | 1/11/2013

Trending this week, a new online video series called the "Daily Dakotan". Created by filmmaker Matt Fern and sponsored in part by Bank of North Dakota, this series is sparking conversation all over social media. Daily Dakotan profiles the lives of everyday people from, you guessed it, North Dakota. This is their second season of the series and the community response has been overwhelming.

I sat down with Fern to hear more about his story. "I grew up here in North Dakota and after going to film school, I saw there were a lot of untold stories here and I saw Daily Dakotan as an opportunity to tell those stories as well as start growing a social media audience through Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. I think Daily Dakotan in important because it`s a way for a lot of stories to be told that otherwise wouldn`t be."

You can join the movement by liking the Daily Dakotan Facebook and YouTube pages. Also follow them on Twitter @DailyDakotan!

Besides talking with Fern, I was also able to sit down with a featured Daily Dakotan. Meet Ian Ridenhour, a 12 year old musical prodigy from Bismarck. He sings, writes and composes his own songs, plays the drums, or any percussion instrument for that matter.

He says his father taught him how core percussions work when he just about five or six years old. "I think it`s really cool that people appreciate the stuff that I do and the talents that I have. And I do recognize that for this age I have a sort of gift for music. This is really just a start for me and I`m really touched people appreciate my talents this much. It`s really, really inspiring."

You can check out his full episode on the Daily Dakotan YouTube page. Which, by the way, has over 56,000 views, over 1800 likes and over 800 shares on Facebook.

That`s What`s Trending. I`m Alyssa Marino. Make sure to follow me on Twitter @alyssa_marino or like the Country Morning Today Facebook page for more on these stories.

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