Friday, August 7, 2009
12 Ways to Combat Twitter Withdrawal
Twitter is down, slow, or not working and you're starting to get the jitters, twitches, or go New York on everyone you see...
Take a DEEP breath. Inhale all the way and exhale slowly through your mouth.
Calm down, it's not the end of the world. Here's what you can do to combat your Twitter withdrawal. Feel free to use one, all or just some of these tips, in any order that suits you.
1. Pick up a phone and talk to a friend. Maybe someone you haven't spoken to in ages.
2. Walk the dog or pet the cat. (You can talk to them too but they'd probably be thinking, "Oh no, there she goes again about Twitter.") If the dog sighs, I suggest you change the topic. The cat might just run away or wag his tail slowly, in anticipation of the end of the conversation.
3. Open a window or door and look at the sky.
4. Play on your PSP, Wii, or an iPod game.
5. Get to your record or CD collection and play something old. Remember that song you always listened to in high school? They didn't have Twitter then. (@epandu: not for you, since you tweet FROM school. Go do your homework or pay attention to the teacher.)
6. Cook yourself or your love something, even if it's just eggs and beacon. He'd still appreciate it. Or bake a cookie, she'd really love that.
7. Talk to your roommates (Even if they don't live on Twitter, they're people, too.)
8. Watch TV. It's ok, you don't have to tweet about it. Don't cheat and look for news about Twitter either.
9. Go out to a movie. You don't need to tweet about that either.
10. Buy yourself a little present like a box of chocolates or a new pair of pants. You'd be helping the economy anyway.
11. Read a book, newspaper, or a magazine -- anything on paper -- even the ingredient listings on cereal boxes would do.
12. Write something, a haiku, free write, describe your cubicle, room, computer etc. Remember that screenplay, treatment, article, or letter you always wanted to write but didn't have the time? Explore writing that is not bound by 140 characters.
Bonus: Write a blog post about how you combat Twitter withdrawals and share it with the world by linking to this post. ^_^!
Photo by: srqpix
Thursday, July 23, 2009
What Customer Care 2.0 Should Be
I have a bad habit of typing whatever there is on my head on Twitter. I'm not as 'chatty' in real life as I am online. If you know me, you know that I'm actually a quiet person. I don't talk much. I spoke very late in life, so late that my mother thought I was a mute kid. This week I've been rambling off about my wishes on Disqus, and a new TV commercial of Sula Wines. I actually said something bad about Sula Wines. I thought no one was listening. @sulawines immediately replied and said that I should try their premium wines. If they didn't call me on it I wouldn't know that they had premium wines. I'm willing to try it out now even though I haven't liked their older wines. Some of my expat friends drink Sula. I just haven't developed a taste for it but their new line might make me change my mind.
As for Disqus, there was something wrong with the connection and a comment got posted twice. I wanted to delete it. It was more of a wish to be able to delete your own comment than a complaint. It was cool that @disqus got back to me immediately. I'm so used to complaining about Airtel or electricity that I didn't expect reaction from the Twitterverse. They were both nice pleasant surprises. Now I just wish more companies, especially from India are on Twitter and are listening. It can boost their brands to another level and gain not just customers but brand ambassadors as well.
Airtel are you listening? Stay tuned for my next post on my Airtel nightmare experience.
Graphic by: Ben Sheldon
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Spymaster: New Twist to Flames & Cyber Bullies?
Spymaster is the latest sensational Twitter game that was just recently launched on Facebook as well. Ben Parr wrote on Mashable that, "Spymaster has become the standard in Twitter games." I got invited a while ago from one of the people I was following on Twitter. I didn't get around to try it out until yesterday. I loved the interface, the premise, and the connections that I can make to my friends. By this morning I was hooked. Just like I get into World of Warcraft or Westnoth (the open source, turn-based, tactical strategy game) I started carrying out espionage tasks as much as I could.
I left my Twitter followers alone though. I figured there would be a ton of auto-tweets and messages if I played it. I know to what point my obsession can run with RPGs. (And no, I'm not too old to be playing games, thank you.) I lucked out that the Facebook invasion was launched last week. My Facebook posse (though weaker spy ring) is more tolerant with game messages since they also play games. They're also friends who I've met, who can control what they see as opposed to the Twitter crowd who I talk to mostly for professional exchange of ideas.
So today I explored other parts of the Spymaster universe. I read the Directorate's blog and signed myself to the Spymaster Fan site, which is using the Ning custom social network platform. There's also a Spymaster Fan group on Facebook if you want to network with other spymasters.
What I saw in the forums at the Spymaster Fan site didn't surprise me. There was a woman who said she'd be quitting because another spy master had been assassinating her, winning, and getting her assets. She equated her losses to be a case of harassment and bullying. Those who replied to her SOS post (including me) wanted to gang up on the fellow and assassinate him in return. After all, making and helping allies is a part of the game.
Apparently picking on certain spy masters as target to be assassinated on a schedule is used by some as game strategy. It's not a bad game strategy, but it's a boring strategy. It takes the fun out of the game. I've picked on lower level newbies from time to time but never the same target. That's just really really boring. Plus we have the whole of Twitter and Facebook universe to explore, which means two hundred million or so potential spy masters are out there.
While it's not really nice to be picking on just one person because you know the odds are in your favor, it's not really the case of cyber bulling either. Cyber bully implies that you don't really have any choice and you're psychologically attacked. Here you have groups to turn to for help and other spy masters who are willing to help you. It's also the premise of the game. After all being a spy means you'd be at risk for assassinations and psychological warfare. You should also know that you've already agreed to notifications etc.
Here's a screen shot of the 'dossier' of the spy master who had been attacking the woman spy master. Judging from the messages, it has both the 'assassin' and the 'victim'. And maybe other spy masters as well.
In dossiers screen names don't come up like regular messaging boards because they're not supposed to be a wall or a messaging center. It's a heated discussion. There will be more heated discussions over wins and losses. And there will be wars between groups. I'm interested to see addition of new spy group affiliations other than the Russian, CIA, and MI6. Personally I'd like to see Mossad and RAW (Research and Analysis Wing - India).
As to controlling cyber bullies on Spymaster, ground rules should probably be developed. In certain games there would be ground rules or pre-defined system settings. But this is a spy game -- you ARE supposed to be killing each other. Maybe people are taking their role playing too seriously. (Another thing that is so common in RPGs or MMORPGs.) Maybe Spymaster should develop algorithms or "cooling off periods" in place for spy masters. What's your take on this?
P.S. If you are playing the game you can add me to your spy ring by sending me a friend request on Facebook. Send the message "Spymaster" along with your request. If you're on the Fan site, you can go ahead and add me as a friend. If you're in the CIA, you can join this group. ^_^!
Update: Here's a great post on Spymaster and why people play it. You'll understand more.
Photo by: Whiskeygonebad
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Twitter Combats ID-squatting but is it enough?
Any of us who use Twitter on a daily basis who get bogus followers and femmebots know what a pain in the butt fake profiles can be. On June 6th, Twitter announced on their blog about the Twitter verification process. It seems they've been moving through the celebrity tweeple for now because I saw it as I was checking out @wilw's twitter profile. (If you don't know who Wil Wheaton is, he's the actor who played the doctor's kid, who became an ensign on Star Trek Next Generation series.) I checked some other personalities like @WilliamShatner and his account was verified, too. I think they're moving through the twitter elite first before the program it's available to us mortals. If it's ever available.
With hacks, security lapses, and impersonations galore, folks will want to be verified. For people who work and live online, our identities are priceless. We take years building up profiles. Our accounts, data, and networks are very important to us. Brands or even fake personalities like Bruno wouldn't be able to market and pull off campaigns if there were others hijacking or using the names. ID-squatting can not just damage reputations but can lead to financial losses.
I use OpenID via ClaimID but it takes a while for an average user to figure out the system. Steve Rubel calls it "geeky". Right now, there's no real unifying process across all social networks unless it's passing info to that specific social network. New apps pop up every day and new sites come online. The average Joes and Janes are moving onto social networks to interact with friends and family. They're not going to think twice about protecting themselves online.
Privacy is an after thought, no one really looks for that little button that limits views of your profile. Case in point: Facebook and MI6: MI6 chief's wife posted family photos and details of their home. For ordinary people, that's a simple fun thing to do online. Everyone does it. But for an MI6 chief, it can be life threatening. Same thing goes for diplomats. And diplomats' wives do blog, if you know where to look or who to look for.
Social networks are moving so fast and becoming popular that governments, and companies can hardly keep up. There are no manuals on how to protect your online identity or even awareness campaigns on why we need to protect our IDs. We're also not developing tools fast enough to combat this problem. Once a system is in place, there will be less femmebots, fake profiles, and spammers. Just like ISPs and email marketers have come up with strong systems to block and punish those who abuse the system, there has to be a way to control it in the social media arena.
There has to be a balance, to let people have fun while protecting their privacy. What are your thoughts?
Monday, February 23, 2009
Will Tweet for TV: Trends for Twitter
For those of you who don't know: I don't own a TV. I used to make films and documentaries, radio shows and taught girls younger than me about media and using it to tell their own stories. After all that dissection of the media, I really don't feel like watching TV, instead, I'm on the Internet most of my waking moments during the day. (Incidentally, my mentor's name is News Dissector.) But I like movies, and ya, I miss shows like CSI, Brothers and Sisters, and stuff on HBO. With Twitter, you don't really feel you're missing the action. I wrote about Twitter citizen journalism a while ago about the Mumbai blasts.
Case in point: Oscars. The word "Oscar" started trending since Friday but at the bottom. Now, we've tried this before, it doesn't take much for a word to start trending in Twitter. You need about 10 to 15 tweeple tweeting constantly with the same hash tag or specified keyword. You can check out the trending 10 topics on twitter by going to: http://search.twitter.com/ (I can't wait until the search is improved.) It's a pretty useful nifty tool if you like tracking trends. Keeping the word in the top 10 list however require a bit of critical mass. You need a lot of folks to be talking about the topic with that keyword as a hash tag or with the word in the tweet. You can't have a big time lag between tweets either. Sure enough, Oscar slowly rose the top 10 list and became #1 when the real red carpet action started. It's because everyone's watching and they're tweeting about it.
Best thing about twitter trends? It's real time, it taps into the collective stream of conscious of tweeple. It's a pretty good sample/focus group if you believe what Pew Internet research said, that one in ten Americans tweet. It happens in the now, it's not like Google Trends, or Yahoo Buzz, even those have time lag. If you want an overview analysis of trends over a period of time, check out Word Tracker.
With all said and done though, if you're thinking of Internet marketing or viral marketing don't forget to keep Twitter in your marketing plan(s). Twitter has the potential to become a great viral marketing vehicle -- if you know what you're doing.
Update: If you like tracking trends make sure you check out http://surchur.com/ It gives you all the trending topics on one page. Neat site, I just found it.
Photo by videocrab
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Twitter Follow Friday - 10 Tweeple You Should Follow, Too.
Twitter's 140 characters just won't do when I have to explain why I follow certain people and not others. When someone follows me on Twitter, I don't usually follow blindly back. In that sense I'm pretty much a twitter snob. But those who I do follow, I check them out, their profiles, landing pages, LinkedIn if I'm really interested and so on. So here's ten tweeple that I follow and why I follow them for this week:
@mayhemstudios
Calvin Lee posts the most interesting links for designers. You should check out his blog and read up on how to set up a design business. There's a wealth of information there. He's also #5 of Twitter Elite in LA.
@rotkapchen
I've been following Paula Thornton for a couple of months now. She's very engaging and interactive, she'll usually respond to your tweets if you engage her. You should check out her blog at FastForward where she blogs about business 2.0 and how design integrates with marketing.
@chrisgarrett
Chris Garrett needs no introductions. I started following him because well, I work in the social media and Internet marketing field. I think he's one of the best new media gurus out there. Recently, he's been tweeting a lot about green stuff and renewable energy -- which is what I'm getting into, too. So I'm totally psyched to read more of this tweets.
@imjustcreative
Graham Smith is the director at the JustCreative Group, they develop brands and brand identity. I always believed that branding is the first step to marketing -- holla me if you agree or disagree. If you're a designer, or just starting out you should totally be following him.
@Pistachio
Laura Fitton is funny and insightful. You can't just enjoy 140 characters of her tweets, you need to check out her blog, too. Frankly, I don't know how she keep track of her 19K+ followers.
@jeanettejoy
I started following Jeanette Fisher because of her profile. I was curious on what a "design psychology expert" does. What she does is really interesting, and I'm not into the whole Martha Stewart thing. If you're into interior design and stuff you should totally check out her profile. Remember, to check out Bamboo Women too. It will definitely inspire you.
@JackBastide
Jack Bastide started following me a week or so ago. At first I thought he was one of those MLM spammers. Then, I read his twitter bio and I got hooked. That's what a good marketer should do right? He's funny, and he kicks major ass.
@db
Besides tweeting and blogging from my favorite corner of the world, Brooklyn, Damien weaves in how social media fits into business, life and music. He's one of the rising stars of social media. While you're at it, make sure you check out his background pic on the twitter profile. It's really funny. ^_^
@cheeky_geeky
I got to Dr. Mark Drapeau via some retweet. I was curious to know what the Department of Defense is going to do with social media. Of course, revolution is possible through twitter given the right elements. In fact, even years before twitter came online techies have been discussing about social change using technology like P2P networks and shared servers etc. No, I'm not going into politics here but yes, we need some changes. And yes, I believe stuff like getting the Berlin Wall to come down or stopping Apartheid can happen with tools like Twitter. Federal, state, and governments officials are already using twitter here's a comprehensive list of government tweeple. We can apply the technology for disaster relief, early epidemic detection, tsumami warning etc. Let me stop here cause I can go on and on about this... Check out Cheeky Geeky's recent interview about Twitter here and you'll learn more.
@mrtweet
If you haven't followed MrTweet you should totally start NOW! Well, what are you waiting for? I've been following MrTweet since it launched and I love following the changes and evolutions that it's going through. It's perfect for twitter newbies because he'll suggest whom to follow on this vast network of tweeple. He'll give you insights to who your followers are and who the influencers are in your network. MrTweet is developed by @mingyeow and @ambivalence.
Graphic by jmilles.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
What's the name for the new twitter graphic?
Suffice to say that I'm a tweet addict. I'm an official member of Twitters Anonymous and they have a word for it: ADTD (Attention Deficit Twitter Disorder). I spend most of my time on Twitter -- it's usually for research, networking, and monitor trends. Today when I wanted to reply to someone's post, instead of the Twitter Fail Whale, I got this:
Now, what are we going to call these two? The "Twitter Ice-Cream and Twitter Caterpillar"? The editor inside me snickers:"P shouldn't be capitalized." The cool thing is Twitter Fox tells me that it's going to be back up in an hour. I guess I can control my jitters better that way.
Incidentally, (if you don't know) there's a Fail Whale Fan Club. There's a great article on LA Times on the Origins of Twitter, all of a sudden it's weaving into the social fabric and pop-culture of our lives. I'm really looking forward to how it's going to develop over the rest of 2009.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
My Twitter Follower Posse!
Haven't been able to post much here because I've been busy with my job. Do you know about 123Greetings.com? We have a great Facebook group and fan page and the numbers are growing!
Anyway, I'm off to Durgapur speaking at a conference called Mukti '09 which is basically a geek conference on Free Open Source Software (FOSS). ^_^
Before I head out, as a sign of appreciation to my followers, I wanted to show off my twitter following:
Thank you all! And thanks Jeanne, ya I snooped around your blog. :-)
