As the brain behind the popular music portal AbsolutePunk.net, a pop/punk/emo-centric news site turned social media community, Jason Tate spent the last decade turning the cure for his teenage boredom into a vast network of fans, bands, and conversation. Aside from consistently scooping the competition on the latest news, AbsolutePunk.net also encourages discussion via its message boards, blogs, and user profiles. The site even curates real-time chats with the bands it covers (recent participants include Hawthorne Heights and Third Eye Blind), bringing the band/fan relationship even closer. AbsolutePunk.net currently boasts nearly 400,000 registered members and well over 2 million unique visitors per month. Jason was kind enough to answer a few questions for me about social media and why his site crushes the competition. Pay attention, you could learn a few things here.

Get Fresh: Let’s start with some background on Absolutepunk.net.

Jason Tate: I started the website as a 15 year old bored in high-school.  It began as a little pet project for me to talk about bands I liked, music I was listening to, and keep people updated on Blink 182 and MxPx.  As my favorite bands expanded – the website expanded.  And then it got popular.

GF: How did the site transition from fan site to news site to social network? Was it a conscious decision or did it evolve organically?

JT: It just sort of evolved into what it is today. We added things that made sense to improve the community. We only make moves we think will help people discover new music or get the information/content they’re looking for. We don’t make changes just to make changes. The social networking part definitely came about organically. We saw how people used the website and we tried to build around what they were doing naturally, but give them better ways of doing that.

GF: Why do you think social media is important?

JT: I think it puts the power back in the hands of the fans. The “consumer” if you will. It allows people to dictate how community and content evolve. The key is for those running the social media sites to find the best way to display the best content. There need to be filters to control spam and control junk - but if you can figure that out I think social media allows us to use the wikinomics model and all benefit.

GF: What do you think leads users to visit, re-visit, and participate in AbsolutePunk.net over other similar sites?

JT: We are constantly updating. You can visit the website all day and find something new. New conversations, new news, new content, new bands, new music. We do out best to provide users with the tools to shape our content - but it’s always new.

GF: How do you use social media to attract new readers and engage them?

JT: We’re on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace - things like that. We run contests through them, promote our news stories through them, and the like. We allow people to quickly share our stories on these sites as well.

GF: What do you think is the biggest thing that marketers and business people fail to realize about social media?

JT: That they can only control it to a certain degree. They like to be in control, to dictate what happens, who sees what and where it goes. They don’t account for real viral movement. They try and force campaigns down people’s throats instead of using word of mouth and truth social networking to achieve their goals.

GF: You have a close relationship with many of the bands you feature on the site. How have they been able to use AbsolutePunk.net and its social media applications to their advantage?

JT: I think there are a variety of bands that would say AbsolutePunk.net has helped them read a wide audience and help foster their early careers. I think we allow bands a way to reach out to a wide group of people when they want, but also for them to stay on the radar with news updates even when they’re not the ones having to provide the content (i.e. personal Twitter or Myspace pages). Fall Out Boy was one of the first bands that really understood the importance of the internet and how it could be used to build a fan base. They remain one of the stalwarts of the website and a band we still strive to support.

GF: What is the most used social network feature at AbsolutePunk.net and why?

JT: The comments section. People love to express their thoughts and opinions on things. No matter what the subject, they wanna talk about it.

GF: What are some of the business lessons you’ve learned doing AbsolutePunk.net and how do they influence decisions regarding the site’s growth?

JT: First and foremost it’s that I can’t please everyone. I can’t create a site that will please everyone. I also decided a long time ago that I won’t sacrifice the vision I have for the website, for traffic. I won’t stop expressing my opinion even if it means I would probably be more popular and get more viewers.

GF: What forms of social media do you engage in personally and how have you used it to grow your presence on the web?

JT: I’m on Facebook and Twitter, feel free to reach out. Social networking/media only works if you participate in it so I make sure I stay active.

GF: What does the future hold for AbsolutePunk.net? What’s next?

JT: Simplify. We want to take what we do to new levels, but we want to do it in ways that are easy for the users to follow and engage in.