Social Media

Tweets on foreign policy

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

This piece of news could not have better timing, following my previous one about the questions arising about Twitter use.

The State Department‘s Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, Colleen Graffy is a Twitter user, and is microblogging during her three nation trip this week. Her posts are also linked to a Flickr account. Not many pictures so far, but hey!

Graffy (who once said that the government needed to move away from being so print focused and get into one-on-one media channels) appears to be quite comfortable with the format, with posts that include tinyURls, quick corrections and even complicated foreign names. (How many of you would be brave enough to  squeeze a name like  “Jolatonlistarhatio Hallgrimskirkju” into the 140-character tweet?)

Twitter is just one more way the State Dept has begun communicating using social media.

Unfortunately, the innovative use of social media comes pretty late for the Bush government. But at least it is laying the groundwork for the new government (whose insiders are anyway vastly more familiar with new media) and senior officials who will have to step up to the plate.

Let’s just hope Hillary (she who experimented with Yahoo answers, lest we forget) is practicing with some of these tools, considering that her campaign blog was given a “B” grade by Search Marketing Gurus that thought it to be a tad “uptight.”

Twitter questioning begins

/ Angelo Fernando / 1 Comment

I thought Kathleen Parker‘s column slamming –OK, questioning– the validity of Twitter was much. Followers, she describes as “a live self-selecting audience of brain voyeurs.”

And:  “the impulse to stay incessantly in touch can be viewed either as gregarious or as a sign of consuming anxiety …the opiate of the obsessively compulsively disordered.”

Indeed, Parker also raises some good questions, such as whether we might find some value is all public officials practiced some form of instant communication.

But Jerry Bowles‘ post that I missed last week goes further, with the provocative “Twittering is for Birdbrains” headline. His point?  That far to many people communicate the minutiae of their lives in this microblogging format and few communicate real ideas. Now I don’t entirely agree, but let’s be honest. Don’t many people’s tweets make us cringe?  That shouldn’t cripple the medium altogether.

You bet I am monitoring the comments that ensue –even those in the twittersphere!

Quotes for the week ending 6 December, 2008

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

“It is no use waiting for a 21st century Gandhi to do it! You and I must do it, if we are to change the world.”

Deepa, a Mumbai blogger at Mumbai Magic, who like many other Mumbaikars, are urging the government and the people to take action, now.

“for every “oh god my sister is in that hotel”, there’s one “Twitter is beating CNN! Yay us!”

Twitter user going by the name ‘naomieve‘ – last week’s tweet.

“Another “Twitterstorm” erupted this week when…”

The stormy clouds rolling in on a discussion at Media Bullseye about the Twitter storm.

“The mouse will no longer be mainstream in three to five years.”

Steve Prentice, analyst artGartner, on the news that Logitech has shipped one billion mice. He predicts the multi-touch device will kill the computer mouse.

“This one was significant, this one got our attention.”

Unnamed spokesperson for the Pentagon, commenting on news that Russian hackers had penetrated Pentagon computers.

“Innovation overhaul”

Peter Daboll, CEO of Bunchball in Advertising Age on the need for advertising innovation.

“dissenters’ voices may add volume to the discussion on international Internet governance and lend it legitimacy.”

From article on the centralization of Internet Governance under the UN

“Now if they can improve their iPhone service and turn it into an application, this will get even more interesting.”

Steve Rubel, on the improvement of Zinio, a digital magazine service for those who don’t want to let trees die to sustain a magazine habit.

Activists rap global warmers

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

A great way to gain attention is to stage a guerrilla event, and have a great pitch. But yellow crime scene tape never fails to get attention, as in this case of activists who “took over” the Washington DC office of Environmental Defense.

They taped off the entrance with yellow tape that read “global warming crime scene” for added effect. The tape has been used before, against BofA and ExxonMobil. The latter’s headquarters were declared a ‘crime scene’ by protesters who also used a truck. More commonly, activits have appropriated advertising tactics such as billboards and posters. This one by an animal rights group took that even further.

Oh, my!

Analog-is-dead talk ignores hybrid experience

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

Forget the analog is dead predictions about books and newspapers. There’s a new one being resurrected, about the death of the computer mouse. Yes, indeed, touchpads have eroded the usage of mice. Pen devices and laser mice have emerged, too. But I don’t believe the mouse will “die” anytime soon, just as much as I don’t believe that analog and digital will be an either/or option. (I say this having written two letters on real paper yesterday, in addition to sending of some outstanding emails.)

It’s not just the digital versus the analog options we need to consider, but the hybrid form that might emerge. The Amazon Kindle may not replace my book – yet-  but someday something like this eTouchBook application could make its way into my life. What’s the eTouchBook? It basically in the lab stage, where a book could be printed in a way that certain elements on the page could bridge into a digital environment. Imagine being able to move from a magazine article to an online video on your mobile device, or being able to “save” a short story you just read in an airport lounge as a text-to-speech podcast? I could visualize a time when we would enhance, not kill off our analog devices.

FREE IDEA: And here’s a mouse-based throwaway idea. Rather than bury my cordless computer mouse, I would be in the market for someone who could turn it into an MP3 player that downloads content direct to it. That way, when I shut down my laptop, I can still carry my reading material and listen to it offline.

White House 3.0 groundwork in place

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

Looks like the Obama team is using Change.gov to take the government into a 3.0 world. That’s right, they may as well skip past 2.0 and push into new territory. When was the last time you heard the government say that during this transition process, we the people could “participate in redefining our government?”

Take a look at their Newsroom and Blog links. Already you see signs that the old news page is merging with the blog, because you get a Newsroom: Blog category when you click on the Blog link.

And they’re quite up to speed on the Creative Commons 3.0 license, talking of a 21st Century government, where content will need attribution, but will be open to ‘remix.’

Would this make the WhiteHouse.gov interface (whose ‘interactive’ page inteprets interactivity as a Q & A exchange) obsolete? I can see it going through a huge overhaul?

They want their Bombay back!

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

People in Mumbai (or ‘Mumbaikars’) have begun to more than rally round after the terror attacks. They are angry and determined to send the terrorists –even the political and religious leaders — a strong message. It reminds me of the Londoners’ “We are not afraid” campaign. Networks are being forged, calling for:

UNITY: One group, organizing under the banner “We will not be divided” is asking people to sign a petition, and effectively get the leaders to take action. Today there are 26,676 members. Their message:

“We’re launching a message to extremists on all sides, and our fellow citizens, one that will be published in newspapers across India and Pakistan and delivered to our political leaders within one week. The message is that these tactics have failed and we are more united than ever.”

ACTION: A Facebook group, “One Million Strong for Bombai,” is pointing out who is to blame, and calling for change. They blame the politicians, the intelligence forces, and … themselves.

“By simply joining and saying ENOUGH, we’re taking a step, awakening us from our stupor of indifference.“

CHANGE FROM WITHIN: And most poignantly, from someone I know comes a long piece, saying she wants her Bombay back. She taunts those who have remained silent until now, knowing the change will involve a bottom-up movement.

“I am extremely angry now because my city has bled enough. I want to do something… anything .. to save my city, my home. I wonder why no prominent personality…actor, politician, sportsman, celebrity, poet, theatre artist, doctor… has come forward to fight for their city.”


Quotes for the week ending 29 November, 2008

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

“The impending total collapse of the dollar will render the true value of the average savings account or investment portfolio roughly equal to a bucket of warm piss.”

Thomas J. Wurtz, CFO of Wachovia, quoted in a press release about a new, daring billboard ad campaign

“If wearing your baby hurts your back or neck, you need positioning help, not Motrin”

Josh Bernoff, on the huge headache –um, backlash–Johnson & Johnson got on account of the ad about ‘wearing your baby’ in a sling.”

“Let’s face it: your beautifully lit, ideally scouted, model-perfect spot is likely going to be consumed in a 320×240 window. In that environment, Martin Scorsese would have a difficult time distinguishing between something shot on a Panavision Genesis versus a $150 Flip.”

Lewis Rothkopf, on the need to leverage broadband to narrowcast and target messaging in the way broadcasting has never done.

“Cheer up, it could be worse: it could be flu we’re facing and not merely a once in a 100 year meltdown in the financial system.”

Comment about a six-part drama, Survivors, on BBC1 where the story involves 90% of the population being wiped out in a flu pandemic.

“You get 14-year-old boys yelling out `I love you!’ because they learn these English expressions and try to use them.”

Kathleen Hampton, a teacher, using Skype to teach English to students in Korea in a reverse-outsourcing business from a town in Wyoming with a population of just 350.

“It’s not that we now have a president who’s black. It’s that for the first time we have a president who’s actually green.”

Oakland, Ca-based green-collar evangelist, Van Jones at GreenBuild conference this week.

“It’s a terrorist strike. Not entertainment. So tweeters, please be responsible with your tweets.”

A Twitter messge from Mumbai from primaveron@mumbai as the awful terrorist attack on the city broke out. Bloggers and the media took to new media to report the standoff and rescue operation

The Google t(r)ail you leave behind

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

It’s not just the attack ads that affect your reputation. It’s also the sum of the comments and hyperlinks Google’s elephant memory leaves there for posterity.

Motrin Moms – the backlash

ABC network’s slant –why 12,300 comments matter

Rush Limbaugh‘s attack on Michael J. Fox – bad Google junce from 2006

These are brand-names, but you and I could also take steps –pre-emptive ones– to avoid the whiplash of the long tail.