Blogads for opinion makers » Twitter http://web.blogads.com/blog Thu, 05 Dec 2013 21:24:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.2 Dave Winer: Twitter is bleeding the blogs http://web.blogads.com/blog/2012/12/02/dave-winer-twitter-is-bleeding-the-blogs/ http://web.blogads.com/blog/2012/12/02/dave-winer-twitter-is-bleeding-the-blogs/#comments Sun, 02 Dec 2012 21:07:34 +0000 http://web.blogads.com/blog/?p=8761 Dave Winer, a trailblazer in blogging software and all around visionary when it comes to the social web, is increasingly pessimistic about the survival of small and niche blogs in the face of Twitter’s “140-character grunts and snorts.” By extension, Winer sees diminishing coverage of important information niches. He sees a possible solution, networking, but thinks its unlikely: “If we could do more networking on a more regular and systematic basis, that would create incentives for more people to do it [blog], and would build flow independent of Twitter. But blogs work like everything else. Installed leaders don’t generally help upstarts.”

Dave was amazingly prescient in foretelling the exponential wave of people-powered publishing that started with blogging and rolled on through Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram et al. This post from early 1995, titled “Billions of websites,” included this passage: “Every writer can participate in the web. Someday, very soon, I believe, every writer will. That’s the next big opportunity in the online world.”

]]> http://web.blogads.com/blog/2012/12/02/dave-winer-twitter-is-bleeding-the-blogs/feed/ 0 Five reasons you should start using Twitter lists today http://web.blogads.com/blog/2012/03/20/five-reasons-you-should-start-using-twitter-lists-today/ http://web.blogads.com/blog/2012/03/20/five-reasons-you-should-start-using-twitter-lists-today/#comments Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:18:18 +0000 http://blog.web.blogads.com/?p=7508

You’re out to lunch with a close friend that you follow on Twitter. She starts to tell you about the movie she went to the night before. “It was so lame,” she says, “I actually — well, you probably saw my tweet.”

You fake a laugh. “Oh yeah,” you say. You’re lying. You follow over 500 people on Twitter and can’t possibly read every tweet, even those written by your closest friends.

Or can you?

Sorting people you follow into Twitter lists hase been possible since 2009, but few users have really harnessed the power of the list. Here are five reasons you should start building lists now.

1. Slow down a rushing river. The more people you follow on Twitter, the faster the stream of tweets moves, and the shorter the life span of an each tweet becomes. Put your favorite 20 tweeters into their own list, that list’s updates will arrive less frequently than those in your default stream, and you’ll miss fewer tweets from the people you care about most.

2. Focus on specific groups. In addition to your BFF list, you can make a list of your favorite celebs, journalists or anyone else who posts interesting tweets. So when you only want to focus on a certain type of content, you can read only the lists that pertain to that topic.

3. Let other people know that you value their content. Whenever you add a new member to a Twitter list, that user gets an email notification. Want to let your funniest tweeters know that they’re good for a laugh? Add them to an “LOL” list.

4. Position yourself as a thought leader. New Twitter users often rely on Twitter lists to find new people to follow. One might search for “artists on twitter” or “ad agencies twitter.” Michael Gass’s “ad agencies” list, which has 813 followers, is one of the top Google results for “ad agencies twitter.” Chances are, people who trust Michael’s list also trust Michael himself as an industry expert. Create a list that shows your expertise.

5. Follow more people — without really following them. So somebody decided that it’s ‘uncool’ to follow a bunch of people, especially if you don’t have many of your own followers. You can create an overflow list for new Twitter friends that you don’t want to count against your cool follow ratio. Make the list private, and no one else will know how many people you actually follow this way.

Creating and curating Twitter lists is easy. Go to the profile page of any user, click the silhouette drop-down button, and choose “add or remove lists.” From there, you can create a new list, or add a user to a list you’ve already made.

Once you’ve created your lists, consider using a Twitter reader like Tweetdeck, Hootsuite or Seesmic to read them. These platforms allow you to view your lists side by side, transforming your single raging river of Tweets into a more manageable trickle that drips Tweets at your own pace.

screenshot via iamdownloader.com

 

]]> http://web.blogads.com/blog/2012/03/20/five-reasons-you-should-start-using-twitter-lists-today/feed/ 0 Ad agencies on Twitter: “I” vs “We” http://web.blogads.com/blog/2012/02/29/ad-agencies-on-twitter-i-vs-we/ http://web.blogads.com/blog/2012/02/29/ad-agencies-on-twitter-i-vs-we/#comments Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:01:11 +0000 http://blog.web.blogads.com/?p=7239

When you’re tweeting for a 10,000 person ad agency, should your tweets be written in the first person or the third person?

We hosted a SMWNY Social Media Week called “The voice behind the curtain,” at which we asked four intrepid ad agency tweeters to share stories and insights about representing entire organizations of creative geniuses on Twitter. One discussion that ignited the audience’s twitter-feed came from a simple question: is your agency an “I” or a “We” on Twitter?

So “we” decided to look at the voice of the 100 most-followed ad agency Twitter accounts. Here’s what we found.

THE “WE” TWEETERS

“We” is by far the most-used pronoun for agency Twitter accounts, which makes sense when you consider that the account often represents a company of many people.

Some Twitter accounts specify the authors’ names. Of the 64 “we” accounts, eight list multiple people tweeting, which further validates the use of the plural personal pronoun.

But what about that other slice in the pie? Four of the “we” accounts give a byline tweets to a single person at the agency. So are the individuals behind @McCann_NY, @W2Optimism, @4As and @McCann_WG making a conscious effort to call themselves a “we?” Was the plurality established when the account was started, or did it evolve over time?

Average ratio of following/followers for “we” tweeters: 23%

“We” account with the biggest following: @frogdesign

THE “I” TWEETERS

According to the “Flawesome” trend, consumers in 2012 expect brands to be more human, exhibiting traits like humor and empathy. It stands to reason, then, that the agencies who are advising their clients’ brands to be Flawesome would affect the same sense of humanity with their own brand.

One way that an agency can show a human side is by calling itself “I” on Twitter. For some smaller shops, for whom the president or CEO is literally the face of the agency, using the “I” pronoun is a natural and logical fit.

Some agency accounts use a mix of “we” and “I,” using the former for tweets that represent the entire agency, and the latter for “at replies.” But something feels unnatural about not knowing who “I” am — er, who “I” is… are…

Of the 17 “I” agency Twitter accounts in the top 100, only eight give individual agency folks bylines for the tweets.

Would the “I” behind @madebymany, @workatplay, @firstborn_nyc, @digitalkitchen, @AdContrarian, @jackmorton, @the_nerdery, @Rockfish and @TribalDDB please stand up? “You” are confusing “us.”

Update 3/1: The tweeter behind @madebymany has revealed himself. Thank you, sir!

 

Average ratio of following/followers for “I” tweeters: 48%

“I” account with the biggest following: @evoklarry

THE NEUTRAL TWEETERS

The majority of the most popular agency Twitter accounts has chosen a side in the “We” vs “I” debate. However, we did find 19 accounts that either refer to themselves in the third person or not at all. Some of them are clearly auto-feeds from Facebook or a blog; other agencies just really like to make the pronoun omission popularized by the likes of LeBron James, Elmo, and Seinfeld’s “The Jimmy.”

Average ratio of following/followers for neutral tweeters: 26%

Neutral account with the biggest following: @OGILVY

Who is “we?” This post was written by Nick Fabar based on research

]]> http://web.blogads.com/blog/2012/02/29/ad-agencies-on-twitter-i-vs-we/feed/ 0 Ding Dong: The Kim Jong Il Twitter trend that wasn’t – yet! http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/12/19/ding-dong-the-kim-jong-il-twitter-trend-that-wasnt-yet/ http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/12/19/ding-dong-the-kim-jong-il-twitter-trend-that-wasnt-yet/#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:42:18 +0000 http://blog.web.blogads.com/?p=6663

Shortly after the announcement of Kim Jong Il’s death, the 2004 film Team America became a trending topic on Twitter. But Team America, which features a lonely Kim Jon Il marionette, is not the only film being referenced on Twitter today.

Dozens of Twitter users are also comparing Kim Jong Il to the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz, tweeting out variations on “Ding Dong” and “The Witch is Dead.” Here are a dozen tweets from the #dingdong trend that wasn’t:

 

]]> http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/12/19/ding-dong-the-kim-jong-il-twitter-trend-that-wasnt-yet/feed/ 0 Netflix dumps Qwikster, Twitterverse QWIK to make same, obvious pun http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/10/10/netflix-dumps-qwikster-twitterverse-qwik-to-make-same-obvious-pun/ http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/10/10/netflix-dumps-qwikster-twitterverse-qwik-to-make-same-obvious-pun/#comments Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:12:16 +0000 http://blog.web.blogads.com/?p=5626

Looks like Netflix has decided to drop its DVD-only service, Qwikster, before it even launched. The ill-named site has allowed anyone with a Twitter account to be very, very funny. In the exact same way.

At the time of post’s original publication at 11am, this pun had been made nearly 100 times. Here are the first 25 people to think of it.

]]> http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/10/10/netflix-dumps-qwikster-twitterverse-qwik-to-make-same-obvious-pun/feed/ 0 Interview with @Advil: The prankster, not the painkiller http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/10/03/interview-with-advil-the-prankster-not-the-painkiller/ http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/10/03/interview-with-advil-the-prankster-not-the-painkiller/#comments Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:33:32 +0000 http://blog.web.blogads.com/?p=5495

A couple weeks a go, a young man with a pot-smoking Elmo Twitter avatar captured the imagination of the Internet when Netflix announced that it would mailing DVDs from the brand name Qwikster.  While journalists and bloggers criticized Netflix for not doing its due diligence in selecting a brand name, Jason Castillo’s @Qwikster account gained thousands of new followers.

But Jason’s not the only twitterer with a brand-name account. There are dozens, maybe hundreds of others that got to the good names first, and today we meet the man behind one of those accounts. Abdul Dremali is @Advil.

Q. When did you join Twitter and why did you choose @Advil for your twitter name?

I joined Twitter in April of 2008 when it was still in beta, which is how I got to snag such an awesome name. The pseudonym Advil was actually given to me by friends back in middle school and it stuck. I had no intention of commandeering the name in any way, back in the early days of Twitter, there was no basis for marketing or advertising among big companies so the attention I got was entirely unforeseen.

Q. Is Advil your preferred pain killer? Would you ever consider endorsing Tylenol for pain relief?

Well I actually don’t feel pain because of the exorbitant amounts of PCP that I consume*. But if I did, I would most certainly use Advil! I would never endorse Tylenol because a Tylenol tablet killed my puppy last year. So… yeah I hate Tylenol… Murderers.

*I don’t actually do PCP, I’m just incapable of feeling physical pain because I’m such a badass.

Q. Has anyone from Pfizer offered to buy the name? Have any impostors offered?

Pfizer has never acknowledged my existence on the interwebs. They most certainly know I exist, but choose to look the other way as I systematically dismantle any bit of integrity they have in social media…. If they ever asked me to sell out and endorse their product, I’d definitely do it because I have no shame… and I’d be great at it!

I’ve had offers from lots of strangers on Twitter to buy the name, though. It’s good money, but in all honesty, no dollar amount can surpass the satisfaction of being the one trolling a major corporation and countless innocent Twitter users who have no idea who I actually am.

Q. How often to people tweet at you or mention you thinking you represent the real Advil? Do you ever pretend to be the real Advil when you get those tweets?

I get tweets every single day from people bitching about their hangover, or complaining that Advil isn’t working fast enough or something like that. I rarely ever get a tweet saying how I saved their day or did a wonderful job curing their menstrual cramps. For some reason I actually get offended at how pissy people get with Advil on twitter. Maybe they should all stop being such pansies and suck it up. There are people in Africa getting limbs chopped off and I don’t see THEM tweeting about how Advil isn’t working fast enough…

I never respond to the tweets or pretend that I do indeed speak for Advil because I figure thats a quick way to get a formal complaint from Pfizer and have my Twitter account revoked, and that would be shitty. I’d love to be able to tell most of these people to stop whining though.

Q. I see that @Tylenol follows you, but his account has been inactive for a year or so. Do you follow him back? Have you ever heard from him?

I’ve tweeted at him before but he never replied. He probably has no real friends or personal life. Or maybe he’s just depressed and drinking away his sorrows after murdering my adorable puppy.

Q. What do you do when you’re not tweeting?

I work as a fashion and fitness model down here in Dallas and I’m a full time student. I hate hipsters, I exfoliate once a week, I hate flossing, My favorite animal is the African Elephant. My favorite color is Orange. I’m an avid sports fan. I love the New England Patriots more than I love my own family. I’m a connoisseur of chocolate milk and a sculptor of fine sandwiches. I am a champion at Duck Duck Goose, I hate the Yankees and I masturbate a lot.

What other social media do you use?

I’ve been known to generate a few laughs on my Facebook account. Anyone can feel free to add me: www.facebook.com/GregWoodin

Yes, that’s not my name, once again… it’s my best friend’s name. Once Facebook allowed custom URL’s, he was really excited about it, so I got there first and stole his name because he has red hair and I hate him.

I’m usually one of the first onboard various social networks due to my geekiness and love for beta testing new software. I’ve been involved in testing for Windows, Apple iOS, iTunes, BrightKite, Google+, Spotify, and a few other projects.

Who is your favorite person on Twitter?

I like reading tweets by @FitzyGFY as he’s a fellow Boston sports fan and a writer/blogger for all things Boston Sports. Also my friend Whitney because she has huge boobs. She won’t let me see them so that sucks. I will someday though… in this life or the next.

You’ve described yourself as a “notorious Internet smart-ass” Besides calling yourself @Advil, what other jack-assery do you participate in?

Oh gosh, where do I start…. My internet trolling dates back to 5th grade when I used to get into self-help chatrooms on Yahoo and tell people that my parents were Vampires and that all this crazy cult-like shit went down at my house. The mass hysteria I caused in these chatrooms was absolutely priceless. People used to be so gullible back in the early days of the Internet.

I make a lot of videos of me harassing my younger siblings. One video in particular that catapulted me into internet popularity was one where I locked him outside during a Tornado warning when we lived in Iowa. His histrionic screams were pure gold. They’re on my Facebook under my videos if you go look.

Q. If @advil had been taken, what would your backup name have been?

I probably would have gone with @Tycho, I’m a huge nerd and I absolutely adore astronomy. Tycho Brahe is my favorite astronomer and I think I would have adopted his name as my own in the Twitterverse.

]]> http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/10/03/interview-with-advil-the-prankster-not-the-painkiller/feed/ 0 Facebook’s unsung innovation of the f8 conference: The Vest http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/09/22/facebooks-unsung-innovation-of-the-f8-conference-the-vest/ http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/09/22/facebooks-unsung-innovation-of-the-f8-conference-the-vest/#comments Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:47:38 +0000 http://blog.web.blogads.com/?p=5364

If you peaked at the #f8 Twitter stream before Zuck took the stage today, you would have thought the Facebook developer conference was a fashion show.

]]> http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/09/22/facebooks-unsung-innovation-of-the-f8-conference-the-vest/feed/ 0 9 off-color tweets from people who claimed brand names on Twitter first http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/09/19/10-off-color-tweets-from-people-who-claimed-brand-names-on-twitter-first/ http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/09/19/10-off-color-tweets-from-people-who-claimed-brand-names-on-twitter-first/#comments Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:11:30 +0000 http://blog.web.blogads.com/?p=5261

Netflix has really stirred the pot, so to speak, with the announcement of its new DVD-only service, Qwikster. Apparently, in its haste to rebrand, someone at Netflix forgot to check if the @Qwikster Twitter handle had already been claimed. It had been, by a weed-smoking Elmo, apparently.

@Qwikster is just the latest brand-busting Twitterer to be added to my list, “Not Who You Think We Are”. Here are some more, uh, off-brand tweets:

Have you seen any other off-branded Twitter accounts? Let me know, and I’ll add ’em to the list!

]]> http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/09/19/10-off-color-tweets-from-people-who-claimed-brand-names-on-twitter-first/feed/ 0 Wendi Deng, Twitter folk hero http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/07/19/wendi-deng-twitter-folk-hero/ http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/07/19/wendi-deng-twitter-folk-hero/#comments Tue, 19 Jul 2011 19:03:17 +0000 http://blog.web.blogads.com/?p=4470 In case you haven’t heard yet, Rupert Murdoch’s wife smacked the hell out of a would-be pie thrower at her husband’s Parliamentary hearing today.

Once the foam settled, and the hearings resumed, the slap’s aftershock continued to ripple through Twitter, like a lede-burying folk tune:

Rupert Murdoch can recover all losses from this scandal by having 20th Century Fox remake Fist of Fury starring Wendi Deng.
July 19, 2011 Jul 19, 11 | 1:24 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite
@thejoelstein
Joel Stein
"Wendi Deng just became Wendi DAAAAAAAAAAANG." - @ #letthememesbegin
July 19, 2011 Jul 19, 11 | 12:06 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@jennydeluxe
Jenna Wortham

well, one thing is for sure: wendi deng is pretty bad ass.
July 19, 2011 Jul 19, 11 | 12:00 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@bmorrissey
Brian Morrissey

My respect for Wendi Deng just gone through the roof #hackgate
July 19, 2011 Jul 19, 11 | 11:56 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@Claire_Phipps
Claire Phipps
Full marks to Wendi Deng - quick as a cat.
July 19, 2011 Jul 19, 11 | 11:56 am via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite
@charlesarthur
Charles Arthur
Breaking News: Putin hires Wendi Deng as Head of Security. "No one ever suspects a little Chinese lady in pink"
July 19, 2011 Jul 19, 11 | 2:41 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@HollyValance
Holly Valance
Watched replays. Right slap not left hook by Wendi Deng. Still better than anything David Haye managed landed on Klitschko
July 19, 2011 Jul 19, 11 | 12:39 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@Kevin_Maguire
Kevin Maguire
I was at a party with Wendi Deng in LA a few months ago. I pity the pie-tosser in eye-scratching-out distance of that woman.
July 19, 2011 Jul 19, 11 | 12:49 pm via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite
@xenijardin
Xeni Jardin
Wendi Deng just got so "you are not the father" up in that hearing
July 19, 2011 Jul 19, 11 | 12:29 pm via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite
@nicomuhly
Nico Muhly
if only Wendi Deng could use her powers for good... Why, I'll bet she could clean up the Gotham City that is Britain.
July 19, 2011 Jul 19, 11 | 3:25 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@MarinaHyde
Marina Hyde
I don't know about y'all, but I'd pay money to watch Wendi Deng in a bar fight.
July 19, 2011 Jul 19, 11 | 2:41 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@cmonstah
Carolina A. Miranda
BREAKING: Wendi Deng Murdoch now confirmed as SEAL Team shooter of Osama bin Laden.
July 19, 2011 Jul 19, 11 | 1:37 pm via SpazReplyRetweetFavorite
@JRMcGrail
J.R. McGrail
If nothing else, Wendi Deng's left hook proves: You do NOT want to mess w/a Chinese lady w/her dander up. #justsayin
July 19, 2011 Jul 19, 11 | 2:42 pm via Twitter for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite
Can Wendi Deng be my wife too? Then I wouldn't need all these pesky body guards! #murdoch
July 19, 2011 Jul 19, 11 | 2:44 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@pmantha08
Poonam Mantha
I Don't care about Haye v Klitschko i want to see Wendi Deng v Klitschko ... great right hook! #enquiry #notw
July 19, 2011 Jul 19, 11 | 2:39 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@LeeWise84
Lee Wise
Wendi deng teaches us all...its all in the palm!
July 19, 2011 Jul 19, 11 | 2:44 pm via SeesmicReplyRetweetFavorite
@KyEscorts
Wild Kentucky Nights
Bout to unlock Wendi Deng in Mortal Kombat
July 19, 2011 Jul 19, 11 | 3:38 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@ItzTrizz617
Tristan Thomas
]]> http://web.blogads.com/blog/2011/07/19/wendi-deng-twitter-folk-hero/feed/ 0