Followers on Twitter
May 12, 2008 at 9:36 am
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I’d be interested to know how others choose who they follow on Twitter. And general thoughts on following/unfollowing policy!
There seems to be two appoaches:
- Active, ie. those who peruse others’ followers lists and randomly add new names.
- Passive, ie. the ones who rely on the notification system to alert them to new followers. If they like the look of, they’ll follow them too.
I fall into the latter category, although I have aspirations to join the Actives. I’d love to have the time to select someone whose thoughts I admire and follow, and click through their list of ‘following’. I’m sure it’s a great way of expanding your horizons and getting to hear new voices.
My (Evolving) Process For Following:
- I tend to add anyone I’ve met in the flesh. If we’ve had an interesting conversation in person, then I’m very happy to subscribe to your daily Twitterings. I see that as one of the real values of Twitter allowing a continuous ongoing conversation.
- I do check all notifications. If someone follows me, and I recognise most of the other people in their followers list, then I’ll follow too.
- If I land on a twitter page, and I don’t know the person/followers, then I’ll click the link to their blog or website. If it interests me, I’ll follow.
[I’m really not that fussy you know! Like most users of the internet in general, all I’m looking for is some relevant content.]
My Process for Not Following:
- Brand newbies who I don’t know, who have nothing to say, and who have not posted a link to a blog or website
- People who tweet in a different language to me. I have to understand you! Note that this includes overly technical language. The exception to this is @briangreene because I admire his passion even if I don’t understand his broadcast frequency language!
- Americans who tweet mainly about the election, particularly those who display ‘vote hilary’ badges on their sites. It’s not that I’m against having a woman leading the US, I’m just not that politicised
- Spammers because they are the scum of the universe
Other Thoughts:
- While I don’t pursue an active Following policy, I do tend towards an active Unfollowing policy. If someone isn’t doing it for me, I unsubscribe.
- For a while there, I was following quite a few Americans, ones who would have a large following on Twitter and their blogs, but I found the level of detail about how many coffees they were having a day a bit on the boring side. [I think Irish Twitterers rock - there’s a great mix of interest and wit]
- I like thanking someone for the add, it’s polite. @damienmulley is very good at this, despite the huge numbers of people he must deal with.
- In general, I don’t get an ego boost from displaying long lists of friends on social networking sites. One of my favourite is Goodreads.com and I’ve only got about 3 friends on there. Half of my friends are on Facebook. The other half are not. Facebook has started recommending friends to me. [Should I worry?] It’s just based on common friends. Most of the people whose mugs appear are those I chat to most days on Twitter. I don’t feel the need to add them to FB as well.
So that’s my policy for following/unfollowing on Twitter. I’d love to hear yours.
M&A in Adland
May 9, 2008 at 7:57 am
Yesterday saw Martin Murray’s Interactive Return join Publicis QMP in a move for an undisclosed sum. This is the first acquisition of note that sees an Irish advertising agency buy in much needed digital skills.
“Headless chickens - but with attitude” is how I’d describe my dealings with the people at that agency. They approached Brightspark because they didn’t have the skils to do what they wanted to do in-house. Or perhaps they had the skills but that one guy was so overworked he was never going to be able to deliver to the tight timeframes the Account Manager imposed? Their method of working was directive; they weren’t interested in our suggestions on how their creative might work better if adjusted for the online environment. And in true advertising style, they paid late. Very late. That’s why I chose never to work for them ever again. They don’t deserve us!
I have a lot of respect for Interactive Return. A very professional outfit with a great team of skilled and creative people. A win too for Dublin City Enterprise Board who were one of the early supporters of Interactive Return.
Perhaps the greatest winners of all will be Publicis’ clients. Cast your eye over the client list here (and no, I can’t link directly because in true advertising agency style, it’s an all Flash website!)… It’s a worthy client list with brands and companies that you will be familiar with. But stop and think - do you know them from being online? I don’t think so. Here’s hoping that Murray and his team have the freedom to pitch their ideas in to Publicis clients.
You Know You Want To
May 7, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Training. Upskilling. Continuous learning.
You know you want to. But it’s hard to find the time to do.
What if the training course is boring? What if it just plants some ideas and you’re then expected to go off and study more to get the ideas properly sunk into your head? It’s time to banish those ‘what if’s’. Prepare yourself for a practical, relevant, and uber enjoyable training course that is guaranteed to improve your business writing immediately.
Brightspark is now offering its famed Write for Web Training course to the public - for one day only, this Wednesday 4 June. Read more…
This course is suitable for you if you write content that is published on a website, on an intranet, or in an email that is consumed by more than just your mates.
I’ve been delivering this training since 2002 and have a finely honed set of ideas and examples that are guaranteed to lodge themselves in your brain with the minimum of hassle on your part. You will probably enjoy it as well as we cruise through sites with a critical eye, looking for examples of poor scannability, excellent skimmibility, and intelligent hyperlinks.
- Wow your friends at dinner parties by bandying such terms as the Flesch Kincaid Readability Index - and knowing what it means.
- Amaze your colleagues with your heightened use of action verbs
- Have the confidence to throw old grammatical conventions out the window and start sentences with prepositions. Because you can!
Write for Web training will be taking place in a bright airy room in Filmbase, Temple Bar. You will be working on shiny new Macs. And there will be an abundance of good coffee and other refreshments throughout the day. At lunchtime, we will be adjourning to the Italian quarter perhaps for a little al fresco dining, then it’s back to the studio for more write for web excitement.
So what are you waiting for? Places are limited, so book early.
Read more about the course content and book your place now!
Webby Awards 2008 - Vote Now
May 1, 2008 at 8:08 am
It’s that time of year again - the annual Webby Awards Peoples Choice Vote. Voting closes on Friday, so get on over, check the shortlists and give the worthy ones your vote. One of the unique features of the Webbys is that winners are selected by a panel of luminaries (the Academy) and also by the people. I always find it interesting to see where the groups diverge in their opinions. Now’s your chance to have your say.
There are just so many things to do! Between voting in the Webbys and taking part in the Open Coffee today at 11.05am, sure it will be lunchtime before we know it.
Get your message out to NYC (and the world)
April 30, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Thanks to Twitter, the live Open Coffee hook up has been picked up by NYC digital media producer, Chuck Boyce. He’s going to cover the Irish Open Coffee Stream-Up on his show, ChuckTV. He’s a three-time Microsoft MVP award winner, has a presence on blip.tv and his show focuses on digital media: the big picture.
VIEW OPEN COFFEE ON BLIP TV HERE.
So apart from getting to talk live to your buddies at the various Open Coffees in Ireland in a mac and pc hook up, and apart from getting your message out on the www, you’ll now be featured on one of the more popular digital media news shows in the US. All of this for the price of a cappachino!
What to do?
- Any time from 11.05am you can log on here: http://www.onlinemeetingrooms.com/index.php?page=login
The six seat option should be selected with pop ups allowed.
Port 443 or 1935 needs to be allowed if you are behind a proxy - If you’re stuck, get help here: http://www.onlinemeetingrooms.com/index.php?page=faq
- Now the ’secret password’ will be “Coffee” - make sure you do the upper case C
Be sure to get a good night’s sleep tonight. Don’t forget incidentals like hair and make up! And of course have a killer 90 second pitch ready.
Tune in to Open Coffee this Thursday
April 28, 2008 at 1:33 pm
As it happens, Dublin, Limerick and Waterford are all having Open Coffees at the same time this week. So the plan is to connect and go nationwide!
Note for your diary: this Thursday, 1 May we’ll be broadcasting live from Open Coffee. It normally kicks off in Dublin from around 9.30am, but our country cousins don’t start until 11am. I suppose cows have to be milked and all! Imminent podcaster Bernie Goldbach, Onlinemeetingrooms.com Maestro Joe Garde and I have just tested the connection for a live hook up this Thursday.
Want to take part? Here’s how:
- Come along to The Morrison Hotel for Open Coffee Dublin, take part in the chat that will be broadcast live online. If you have an event or something worthwhile to promote, prepare a short/Twitter style plug and you can have some free advertising time.
- If you can’t come in person, log on from your desk or home. Am thinking that if you’re based outside the city centre or you work for an organisation that doesn’t see the value of giving you a couple of hours off to go and have coffee with your mates, then this option is for you! On Thursday at 11.05am, log on and take part. All the details you need are here.
The plan is as follows:
- We’ll hook up with Limerick and Waterford at 11am
- There will be short twitter style introductions of who’s present
- Dublin will have been on for an hour or so. We’ll share the main topics of conversation that have taken place with our friends outside the Pale. And hopefully have some lively discussion.
- If anyone has anything they particularly want to promote, now’s your chance!
Are we getting our Niceness back?
April 24, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Over the course of this week, I can’t help noticing how NICE everyone is here in Ireland!
We’re getting our chat back. Returning calls and being pleasant. I’ve even had some smiles from Centra shop assistants.
And I wonder why?
- Is it because the Celtic Tiger Bubble that is farting out hot air as it deflates is giving us all a chance to get back to our real selves again? I’ve written before about ‘busy sickness’ and how my home town of Dublin was changing into a city I didn’t recognise. One where people would bump you on the street if you happen to slow down. All of us with a sense of urgency to rush around the place like little ants.
Other Signs:
- Taxi drivers have stopped talking to me about their holiday homes in Spain and are recommending books again (albeit gruesome ones about rape and murder).
- While passing the Head Office of a large property company this morning, in the sunshine, there were quite a few smokers hanging around outside. Have they got a little time on their hands?
Or maybe it’s me?
Am sporting a bit of a tan. Am feeling relaxed and happy. Loving it that if you smile at someone, they smile back. Maybe this is why tourists love us so much. Anyway, it’s good. And I hope it lasts.
While I was away… Twitter’s gone Mainstream
April 22, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Can you believe it? I took myself off on a 5 week holiday and not a mention of it on the blog. The thought did cross my mind at various times while soaking up the sun on Brazil’s gorgeous beaches, or breathing deep the air of the rainforest … but hey, that little thought was cast back to where it belonged (dark recesses).
While I was away - Twitter went mainstream
The signs were there…. I use my Gmail account for Twitter and there was a steady stream of ‘add’ notifications going on. Most were people I don’t know. And hardly any were marketing. But the daily numbers were growing.
Just a moment ago, Paul Walsh tweeted about breaking the 1,000 followers mark on twitter. I don’t believe he’ll try to sell his Twitter account like the dude in the US is trying to - with 1500 followers.
Neatly summed up (again today!) in Tech Crunch article on how Twitter has become a monopoly:
For others the Twitter habit started long ago. And for most people, it is yet to start. But the trend is clear: Twitter is becoming an Internet utility. And their monopoly power via the network effect they’ve earned means they don’t have to worry much about downtime. We’ll all still be sitting here patiently, waiting for it to return.
But the ultimate sign of mainstream has got to be the Coca Cola Earth Day home page. Recognise the little birdy?
Charity Campaigns
March 5, 2008 at 9:26 am
While I’m working myself up to having a VENT about PAYPAL, my new Most Despised, I thought I’d mention two campaigns that came by my inbox in the last 3 days. What I like about both of them is that they make it easy for me to take action. In just 2 clicks, I’ve done my bit for climate change and for a stateless Palestinian.
- Trocaire: loving their recent work both online and offline. Last year they courted controversy with the ad that was banned. This email is executed brilliantly. From the attention-grabbing subject line “Be a climate change journalist” to the nifty “2 clicks and you’re done” email to John Gormley or Hillary Benn in the UK, it’s very impressive. In an era of donor fatigue, it’s not asking me for money, but succeeds in getting something way more valuable - my attention and my time. Now go and do it.
- Amnesty International: part of their fabulous Unsubscribe-Me campaign, they have created an international action page for people like you and me to get involved in the campaign to get Maher Rafat al-Quwari repatriated to a safe country; to anywhere but Guantanamo Bay. The one downside of this action page is that it links you to the US Army website where you’re supposed to be able to work out for yourself which part of the army you should direct your request to. It scores highly in that they give you the text to use. But I didn’t want to get my head around the US Army website, so I hit the contact us button on the unsubscribe me site on Saturday asking for help. Let’s see how long it takes them to respond. I really hope that Amnesty isn’t an all gloss, uber designed campaign with no follow up. View recent post on lack of contact us.
Warm & Fuzzy Feeling
March 2, 2008 at 6:15 pm
The 2008 Irish Blog Awards took place last night at the Alexander Hotel and what a great night it was too! Thanks must go out to all the organisers who put so much thought and hard work into making it an amazing event. And as for Mr Mulley, the man should be sainted for his contribution to blogging in Ireland.
Congratulations to all the winners, particularly Kieran Murphy of Ice Cream Ireland who won the Best Business Blog against *stiff competition* for a second year running. He wore the full ice cream man get-up, with white wellies and all. I was also thrilled to see Best Designed Blog go to Sabrina Dent. And the Best Technology Blog go to Robin Blandford. I do love Lexia’s blog also. A hat trick was scored by Twenty Major, 3rd year running that he won Best Blog. Now that he’s got a book out and is in publicity overdrive mode, he revealed himself at the awards. Well, not in the way that some smutty minds might imagine, because that would be quite scandalous, but he was present as himself and was even autographing his book! View Twenty Major here on the left beside Joe Drum-Google!
Before the event took place, 37 women bloggers all met in the Market Bar for the Ladies Tea Party. I didn’t see a whole lot of tea being drunk, but there was plenty of chat, openness and sharing of stories and ideas. It was quite fabulous actually. I reckon I knew 5 women who were there from previous meets. I ‘knew’ about 5 or 10 more from their blogs. But by the end of it though, I felt like I knew everybody and we were all set to whoop each other on at the awards themselves. Special mention of my favourite gimick of the night was Julie-Anne Graham of Curious Tales.com who handed out fake mustaches to everybody to promote her new blog. The blog sounds really interesting; she takes old clothing and re-engineers it with a contemporary look and blogs about the story of the clothes. She also designs a rather fine range of eco T-shirts too. If anyone has any pics of me in the ‘tache, please pass them on!
For me, the Blog Awards confirmed how lucky I am to work in such a open, friendly, supportive, and highly creative, talented, and humourous industry. Everyone was buzzing to be meeting people they chat to daily in the flesh. There was much smiling and congratulating, and of course much flashing of flashes! I was getting a buzz off the fact that my favourite 5 web designers in the whole country were there within 10 metres of each other (in various states of inebriation!). At least 5 of the serious entrepreneurs who I most respect were knocking shoulders too. And it was all good.
I reckon it’s quite unique to work in such a non-hostile, supportive and open industry. Do groups of bankers and doctors all share the same warmth and camaderie at their get-togethers? I wouldn’t think so. Is there such genuine delight in the meet-ups at the Property Awards? I wouldn’t bet on it. Yes. Apart from being able to make my living doing what I love, I am also blessed that I get to it with such great people.
So that marks the end of the warm and fuzzy piece. Normal ranting and giving out service will resume tomorrow.
