Twitter

will twitter kill our obsession with celebrity?

Posted on by Becky Green (was McMichael)

I had a thought last night…….will Twitter will be the tool that breaks the last decade’s obsession with celebrity gossip?

Like so many obsessions, that of following celebrities’ every supposed move in the press, visiting gossip sites and pouring over papped photos is often fuelled by a desire to feel part of that world.

So if today I can follow @celebrity and hear where they are going tonight/what they are wearing to the Oscars/who is the next guest on their show from the horse’s mouth, why do I need to scour the Internet for rumours?  And surely Twitter provides the ultimate fan experience? True two-way conversation…..can that ever live up to expectations?

Moving on a  step will the smart celebs post pics themselves using services like Twitpic, thus rendering the papped shots in the next morning’s paper or celebrity website out of date and with less narrative?

Wouldn’t a Twitpic of Sarah Harding hammered outside a club posted on Cheryl Cole’s Twitter account spread far and wide and kill the need for papped shots showing the same? {this is an example – as far as I know they don’t have Twitter accounts…yet}

We’ve been due a backlash on the celebrity obsession trend for a while now, will this be it?

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twestival 2009 – a case study in the making

Posted on by Becky Green (was McMichael)

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If anyone needs an example of what Twitter or other forms of social media can do for their organisation? Ask Charity: water on February 13th after one hell of a party has taken place. worldwide

On 12 February 2009 100+ cities around the world will be hosting Twestivals which bring together Twitter communities for an evening of fun and to raise money and awareness for charity: water.

The Twestival is organized 100% by volunteers in cities around the world and 100% of the money raised from these events will go directly to support charity: water projects.

In September 2008, a group of Twitterers based in London UK decided to organise an event where the local Twitter community could socialize offline; meet the faces behind the avatars, enjoy some entertainment, have a few drinks and tie this in with a food drive and fundraising effort for a local homeless charity.

The bulk of the event was organized in under two weeks, via Twitter and utilized the talents and financial support of the local Twittersphere to make this happen.

Around the world similar stories started appearing of local Twitter communities coming together and taking action for a great cause. Twestival was born out of the idea that if cities were able to collaborate on an international scale, but working from a local level, it could have a spectacular impact.

By rallying together globally, under short timescales, for a single aim on the same day, the Twestival hopes to bring awareness to this global crisis.

charity: water is a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations by funding sustainable clean water solutions in areas of greatest need.

Right now 1.1 billion people on the planet don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water. That’s one in six of us.

Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease, and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Many communities in developing nations often have a plentiful supply of clean drinking water just below the ground, but no way to get to it.

The organisers behind this project are volunteers and have shown us all what can happen when you think big and put in a lot of hard work.  I’ll be attending the Manchester Twestival -hopefully see you there.

link love: stuff I read this week

Posted on by Becky Green (was McMichael)

1100036_love_foodSome interesting stuff I read this week (muchos hat tips to those involved):

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

my Twitter essentials

Posted on by Becky Green (was McMichael)

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Three things I am finding very useful for monitoring topics and clients within the realm of lovely Twitter:

Twist — Real time tracking of trends in Twitter – compare 2 trends graphically over a 7 or 30 day period.  Great for showing clients how they are fairing against competitors or comparing one brand vs another for the same client. Can also embed the dynamic or static charts into your site for ongoing tracking.

Twilert — Email alerts when stuff you want to keep track of is mentioned on Twitter. Daily, weekly, monthly options available. Useful for longer term research and analysis.

Twitter search — oldie but goodie great for real time monitoring e.g. this morning for keeping on top of N97 news. Like the detail and the flow of tweets this provides.