Category: Twitter
Twitter users duped into scam by promises of more followers
Despondent Twitterers, sad that their tweets are going unheard, except by their small band of uninterested followers, have been resorting to clicking a link which reads: “OMG I got over a 1000 followers from http://twittercut.com”. They’re then directed to a fake Twitter site and are prompted for their username and password.
The tweet then gets re-sent from their account along with one directing followers to a dating website. The fake site has accrued at least 13,000 unique user views over the last two days.
Remember you’re tweeting as much for yourself as you are for your followers. Eventually they’ll start following, and if they don’t, you know what they say? Give up and don’t go back.
Twitter Teacher faces invesigation after posting 38 tweets a day
A teacher, who tweeted while she taught, is to be investigated her employers after the Bute-based high school teacher posted up to 38 updates per day.
“Had S3 period 6 for the last 2 years…don’t know who least wants to do anything, them or me,” read one tweet.
“Have three Asperger’s boys in S1 class – never a dull moment! Always offer an interesting take on things,” read another. Argyll and Bute council have a policy of blocking all social networking sites in its schools.
It is thought that the unnamed teacher used her phone to send updates.
A council spokeswoman said: “Social networking sites are blocked in all schools as policy. This has always been the case and applies to all council staff and not just teaching staff.”
“The teacher in question is not facing disciplinary action, although the council is looking into the matter,” she added.
Even though the timing of posts appeared to coincide with school hours; “Depute came in while I was logging on.” Surely they’re at least going to confiscate her phone till the end of term!
London business babe makes money with twitter
Internet publishers have long complained, like a bunch of ninnies, that they can’t turn high traffic into high profit. Alicia Navarro’s skim links company allows online publishers and bloggers to create affiliate links automatically.
And after tweaking this technology she’s found a way of making money from tweets. Using her good.ly service, which like tinyurl.com, shortens URLs, Navarro’s users link to say, a book they enjoyed and someone else buys it – cablow, Navarro is in the money.
But being the caring, conscienouss and frankly pretty sexy businesslady she is, she’s giving the money to charity. Fancy her a bit? I do.
“I’m a huge fan of Twitter, but I really wanted to use it for something a bit more useful. I had already developed most of the technology for a commercial version so it was relatively simple to alter it for Twitter,” said Navarro, probably very sexily.
The entrepreneur, who has been shortlisted for a prize at the National Business Awards and in our opinion deserve to win it, said: “There is an incredible number of internet firms around.
“It’s amazing how London has become a real world centre for dotcom entrepreneurs, and there is a real feeling that despite the economic climate, people are beginning to set up firms and use technology to save money.”
Swoon.
(Via London Evening Standard)
Twitter goes TV with Samsung
Twitter is hitting our TV screens as the Samsung Internet@TV service embraces the world of microblogging. Now, to begin with my inner monologue went something like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” as it has done with all the widget TV nonsense since CES 2009 but actually this is completely brilliant.
You’re going to be watching TV with your mates at all times. Lonely nights in are a thing of the past. You can watch the box with people all over the country. Imagine the mass slaggings during reality TV; the awesome virtual mayhem through football games? Samsung, this is a stroke of genius. Great way to get around expensive premium rate phone calls for audience interactivity too.
The service is available NOW on Samsung LED 6000, 7000 and 8000 series televisions, and 6 and 7 series LCD screens too. Go use and make merry.
Samsung
Yoko Ono judges Twitter poetry competition
High-culture monolith, Yoko Ono, will begin judging the first ever Twitter poetry competition which started today.
London commuters are being encouraged to submit haiku poems about the British summertime, and those judged good enough will appear on the largest digital display at Kings Cross station and on Twitter.
Scottish poet, Jackie Kay, who will also judge the competition said: “I liked the idea of doing something that combined an old form with a very new form.
“People could do a haiku on the way to work and it’s a good way to exercise the brain. It’s like the sudoku.”
Whether the crowded commute on the tube is the most conducive environment for creativity is yet to be seen, and with a measly 128 characters to work with after the @kingsplace prefix, budding poets might find their burgeoning verse stymied.
But, getting into the spirit of things, I had a pop at one:
I recall summer,
The sun between may and july,
When I forgot how to write.
Not too shabby I think you’ll agree. Why not leave your comments as a Haiku? That’d be nice.
(via Telegraph)
@IvyBean104 is the oldest Tweeter in town
Meet Ivy Bean – self-professed Deal or No Deal nut and, as of today, the world’s oldest Tweeter.
At 103 she’s already become oldest cat on Facebook after hearing she could trump a 97-year-old French lady thought to be the social network age crown holder. So, now Ivy’s taking to the world of mircoblogging in between meals, naps and, of course, outside of Deal or No Deal time. If you’d like to follow her updates, she’s signed up as @IvyBean104 just to confuse you. Ivy’s already amassed 1,466 followers and is fully versed in all tweeting skills after a crash course from Geek Squad.
You don’t know how tempted I am to start a @HollyBush105 and start tweeting about Noel Edmonds and his sexy beard. I’m not nice person. Can’t help it.
(via Yorkshire Post)
Twitter rebellion as the company messes with @replies again
There’s a bit of a furore in the Twitter community today after a post on the company blog announced a change to the @reply system – the second in as many months, as it goes.
Until today, your account will only have been notified of @replies when both parties involved in the tweet were people you followed – unless you changed an option in the menus to allow them to appear, even if you only knew one party involved.
Now, for reasons of confusion, which that last sentence might have demonstrated, the powers that be at the microblogging service have decided to remove the option. The community is not happy. The community is rebelling.
There are channels set up like #fixreplies and #twitterfail where people are currently voicing their opinion to the point where it’s become the most discussed topic on the service today.
Already there’s been a response from Twitter CEO Evan Williams who tweeted:
“Reading people’s thoughts on the replies issue. We’re considering alternatives. Thanks for your feedback.”
Personally I’m not too fussed either way but removing options that used to exist are rarely a good thing to do, particularly when it was well hidden anyway where it would cause little confusion. Still, I’m thinking Twitter will change it’s mind on this one.
(via Twitter Blog)
Britain's top 20 tweeters by posts
Jonathan Ross is the UK’s most influential Twitterer and that Mashable’s Pete Cashmore has the biggest number of followers for a Brit (though we know he spends lot of time in San Francisco these days), but the question that I really wanted to know the answer to is who in the UK tweets the most?
Is it a very bored person in a dull job whose boss hasn’t yet got round to mastering email let alone micro blogging or a social media advocate who has to spend days following everyone and retweeting influentials cos that’s the main part of their job description?
So, some time in April, I started a on a mission to find out who the UK’s top twitterers are.
I guess I was just intrigued by how often people use Twitter and why they use it. Perhaps, most importantly, what kind of people are posting 20 plus tweets a day. Are they as immoral as the Daily Mail thinks they might be?
If you want to do a worldwide list of top tweeters this is very simple. You go to Twitterholics main list and click the tab marked Updates. You’ll then discover that, at the of writing anyhow, it is Internet Radio, which is basically using Twitter to tell its few followers what tunes various web based radio stations are playing. You then have to scroll down a long way before you reach a real person in the guise of Big Willie who has racked up an astonishing 55,000 tweets in six months. He is quite possibly cheating, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now as I can’t be bothered to spend hours combing through his many pages of tweets.
As for the UK, well the Twitter feeds for media groups like Popbitch, Q radio and The Daily Telegraph are highly popular, but they aren’t really people so I haven’t included them.
There’s also the added difficulty of there not being a single location for the UK which makes it very tricky using Twitterholic. So while I trawled through lists for most of the country’s biggest conurbations, if you are a heavy tweeter in St Neots, Lowestoft or Camspey Ash, I probably missed you.
I did think I had found a winner in Dave Pattern who had racked up over 50k tweets in a couple of years. He did DM me to confess though that many of those tweets were library codes and so he gracefully ducked out of my little poll.
So the real winner, unless you know different, is a web designer from Leeds who goes by the name of Shubox. He is likely to be the first Brit to reach 50k tweets which is a pretty amazing achievement as he needs to have been averaging an impressive 60-ish tweets a day. I DM-ed him but got no response, so I wonder too if he has been tampering with library codes, playlists or something even more sinister.
My number two, Robert Brook has agreed to a mini interview via DM which you can read here very shortly. If you have questions as to why he tweets so much and what he tweets about etc and don’t fancy wading though 35k tweets then tweet me @shinyashley
So here’s the list. I will fess up now that, although it has taken me ages to compile this list, it is quite possibly wrong on many counts, So, if I missed someone please let me know. It would be good to publish a more definitive list in a few weeks time
1 Keith Murdoch (shubox)
47,562 tweets
On Twitter 28 months
Britain’s most prolific tweeter (unless you know different) bills himself as a ‘Scouse Artist living in Leeds as a Web Designer! Occasionally known as Supasnail.’ Like many prolific tweeters he has been on Twitter a long time, but only has a comparatively small amount of followers
Mainly tweets about – Fairly serious tech stuff, Liverpool FC and Rhubarb
Sample tweet – I was often amazed that a Farm in Wakefield seemed to reject tonnes of Rhubarb each year. It’d be piled high for weeks.
2 Robert Brook (robertbrook)
35,411 tweets
On Twitter 32 months
Robert works for the UK parliament as part of skunkworks team, which, if like me you haven’t a clue what that is he defines it as: a group within an organization given a high degree of autonomy and unhampered by bureaucracy.
Mainly tweets about – Descriptions about what he is up to (you get to know what he has eaten and when he goes to bed most days)and conversations with other tweeters, plus lots of stuff about getting parliamentary staff using Twitter (now there’s a good idea)
Sample tweet – Bt have sent me a letter about my wife’s death. She’s right here!
3 lo fi (infobunny) London
28,702 Tweets
On Twitter 26 months
Lo fi remains a mystery as she protects her tweets. She’s a librarian which makes me suspicious that she might be doing something with library codes. She also blogs at a cool little site at twitterapps.co.uk
4 Amanda (Hedgewytch)
28,542 Tweets
On Twitter 20 months
Hedgewytch describes herself as a ENFP Mac Support general creative wannabee. Don’t know much else about her as she protects her tweets, but 28k tweets in 20 months sounds like she is either obsessed with Twitter or has been using it for something else interesting.
5 Danie Ware (Danacea)
25,920 Tweets
On Twitter 26 months
Danie is a PR for @forbiddenplanet (dotcom!) and also a Writer, Warrior, Fitness Nut, Geek, Gamer, Art Toy Freak, Mum and Lemur!
Mainly tweets about – Lots of chat with her many followers. Also lets you know how she is faring with the book she writing.
Sample tweet – in dire need of wine. There’s a bottle of Vino Collapso in the fridge calling me – but must finish chapter and put my son to bed first…
6 Jennie (jaffne)
18,340 Tweets
On Twitter 24 months
Another Librarian, this time for a law firm. She also protects her tweets. There’s plenty of legal stuff on her blog.
7 Sizemore (sizemore)
18,163 Tweets
On Twitter 29 months
Sizemore is Mike Atherton, a London-based writer who is not only prolific but also has a lot of followers and is occasionally rather witty.
Mainly tweets about – Lots of TV-related chat with his many mates
Sample tweet – Hello Dublin. Extra points scored for listening to Come Fly With Me by Sinatra while playing FlightControl in the air.
8 Steve Lawson (solobasssteve)
16,614 tweets
On Twitter 15 months
Steve Lawson is a lovely bloke who is quite possibly the world’s best connected bass guitarist. He blogs, lectures, makes vids and from time to time still finds time to play his bass
Mainly tweets about – lovin his bass and his podcasts
Sample tweet – in a sound war of bass vs power tools, I *could* win… but today, I’ll valiantly surrender 😉
9 James Governor (monkchips)
16,405 posts
On Twitter 29 months
James Governor (yep I think that’s his real name) is an industry analyst whose Twitter feed is chocka with interesting little insights into the way he sees the tech world going.
Mainly tweets about – Big companies like IBM and Amazon and the ecosystem that surrounds them.
Sample tweet – Get Excited and Make Things. Work on Stuff That Matters. Ignore Everybody.
10 Charonqc (Charonqc)
16,392 Tweets
On twitter 11 months
Legal blogger – sometimes very funny
Mainly tweets about – getting fit and other law companies
Sample tweet – Allen & Overy is now following me… that’s nice. I wonder what they will get from the experience? They issue lots of bulletins on Twitter
11 Suw (Suw) London http://chocolateandvodka.com
14,306 Tweets
On Twitter 29 months
The original British social media guru who has a very fine and very popular blog. Twitter feed is a must.
12 PaulWalsh (Paulwalsh)
13,869 Tweets
On Twitter – 29 months
Irish entrepreneur and start up guru who spends a lot of time in London. Can be very funny.
13 dominiccampbell (dominiccampbell)
13,621 tweets
On Twitter 22 months
Works on developing social media strategies for governments.
14 amypalko (amypalko)
Tweets 13,496
On Twitter 15 months
Bio says – ‘Fascinated in everything with a limitless curiosity – I live in a state of constant intrigue. ‘ Works in social media then.
15 joannayoung (joannayoung)
13,091 Tweets
On Twitter 20 months
Writing coach who has an interesting blog. Lots of details about her daily life.
16 Ram Solanki (jun6lee) London http://blog.ramchandra.me.uk
12,626 Tweets
On Twitter 22 months
Aspiring screenwriter. Lots of stuff about veggie food.
17 adamjones (applemacbookpro) London http://macbookismydream.blogs…
11,605 Tweets
On twitter 15 months ago
Given the title of his feed no surprise to find he has lots of followers. Lots of tech stuff and many retweets
18 Chris Leydon (chrisleydon) london http://www.chrisleydon.com/blog
11,440 Tweets
On Twitter 13 months ago
Astonishing tweet ratio from this 20-year-old who actually went cold turkey on Twitter a couple of months ago.
19 James Whatley (Whatleydude) London http://whatleydude.com
11,390 Tweets
On Twitter 25 months
Social media for voice to text people Spinvox
20 Phil O’Kane (icedcoffee)
Tweets 11,066
On twitter 26 months
Belfast-based photographer
RUMOUR: Apple to buy Twitter for $700m
First Facebook had a go, then the word was that Google made an offer and now the rumour is that Apple plans to buy Twitter and announce it in time for WWDC on 9th June.
The mooted price has jumped a mile from the last supposed offer of $250 million to a far healthier $700 million and according to the quote from an insider, “Apple is in late stage negotiations”.
Hard to know how much truth there is in this one. Last time it was just a meeting about advertising, apparently, so if there even is some talking between the two companies, then it could have been about a whole bunch of things. If it is about a deal, then that represents a very interesting move for what is, essentially, a hardware and software company into the world of services.
Google is fast becoming the giant of the tech world and it’s their take over of the internet that the waning Microsoft covets. Is this Apple’s first steps towards ensuring long term growth or is it just the next big company on the list to be linked with the microblogging darling. A fiver says it’ll be Twitter to buy Yahoo! next.
(via @Zee Tech Crunch)
Twitter bring search to its pages
Twitter has added a proper search bar to its pages now so that you, me and everyone we know can perform real-time searches as to what people are talking about. The move might actually give people a reason to go back to the main site whose overwhelming traffic goes only to the Twitter API with programs like twhirl and twibble and all other things generally with blue icons and beginning with tw.
The trouble is that are a plenty of services out there that already provide a real-time search of Twitter, so will it make any difference that the mother site has now got its act together?
If you can’t think of anything to search Twitter for, then the sidebar will display the most popular terms that people are talking about at the moment with Swine Flu and Wolverine on top at the moment. Not sure which of those I’d rather sit through.
(via Twitter blog)
