WSJ: WSJ's Kara Swisher attacks Zennie on Twitter

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So a few days ago I wrote a blog post with a vlog about the Iran Elections or given what's going on over there the "Iran Revolution" and in preparing for it ran across an article who's take on Twitter, the main event in the Iran uprising, I disagreed with. It was written by Kara Swisher, the semi-well-known Wall Street Journal vlogger who covers "All Things D" or "Digital" as her blog site's called.

I wrote:

The amount of information communicated through Twitter has been of staggering proportions. While Kara Swisher may write that it's "inane and half-baked", the fact that Iranians can use their cell phones to tweet information and share photos has done more than the mainstream media in telling the World what's happening.

Well that sent her into a tizzy. She got on Twitter and publicly blasted me, writing things like:

karaswisher@zennie62 "inane and half-baked" were NOT my words and you said they were. I said it was simple which is different. Are you all-baked?

At first, I looked at her words with empathy and offered to make a correction, even though I totally disagree with her take. As a response, she wrote:

karaswisher@zennie62 it is not a favor to me for you to make an alteration. You attributed a quote to me I did not say. You made an error, so fix it.

After that, I reconsidered. After all it's my view, my opinion, and it's not against her at all. I like Kara's work and her -- not met her yet. But that doesn't mean I have to agree with everything she writes. In this case, no the words were not Kara's but she used them as a device to make a point and it's the use of the term I take issue with, as she didn't back away from it in her blog post.

And her title did use the words Inane and Half-baked. Maybe she'll go back and change it (please don't), but that's what was there.

So Kara, it wasn't personal. Ok? Twitter is a complex system to me. The rules of engagement on how to gain followers, following the right people, improving one's reach; that's a complex set of relationships in my view.

Twitter's not simple, and it's indeed revolutionary.

Digital Britain? How About Digital Oakland?

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The Twitterverse is abuzz with the news of the "Digital Britain" report introduced by Stephen Andrew Carter, the Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting or "Lord Carter" in the UK. The idea of the report is to lay a framework for future development of the digital media industry in Britain. But this is a terrible first start; it's just a PDF report! (You can get it here!)

When I think "digital media" I expect a video, podcast, and blog complete with a website of some kind. Not in this case. There's no real good website at all, just pages and a forum that has way down in the page an embed of a video from the first Digital Britain event, a stodgy affair featuring a bunch of older British white guys, rather than a diverse set of young people, the common theme in the industry.

That's the problem.

Digital industry policy should be formed with the most common consumers of it in the room, and the suited group in the video's not it; the grassroots bloggers, programmers, and vloggers are. It's no wonder Digital Britain's policy's appear to favor large old media telecommunications firms (an indefinite 3G license to original holders without competition for them is a terrible idea) almost at the expense of the little but innovative players in digital media. Moreover it seems to be some kind of rationale for the funneling of public dollars to a few big companies, like iTV.

The other problem with the report is that it focuses on Britain as if the rest of the World doesn't exist. In the matter of copywrites, the report explains a desire to essentially liberalize rules but how? What if the material doesn't come from the UK, as is often the case? I think the whole initiative's a good start but an example of what not to do; such efforts must be both "local" and international.

Local in that there should be a "Digital Oakland" where Oaklanders set their own digital media policy directives. Or Digital London, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, and so on. In fact, Oakland's a terrific place to have a "Digital Oakland" conference. We've got our share of large firms, like search engine operator Ask.com, and a healthy group of members of the Twitterverse coupled with vloggers like myself, a government that's really behind the curve on this stuff (sorry but it is), and a large set of people who want to know more about how to access and use digital media for business and for life. Oakland's perfect.

Digital Oakland. I like the sound of it.

Ellen DeGeneres Starts Twitter Campaign "Tell Gov. Arnold"

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In just less than an hour ago, comedian Ellen DeGeneres has started a Twitter / email campaign informing her 1.9 million Twitter followers to email California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger en masse in an effort to stop him from reducing the time animals are kept in shelters from six days to three days.

Important: Tell Gov. Arnold not to limit time animals are kept in shelters from 6 days to 3. Email him: http://www.gov.ca.gov Pass it on.  

In other words, what the Governor's proposing is that an animal that currently  just six days time in an animal shelter before it is sentenced to death by euthanasia  would have only three days time, which, as Franny Syufy informs us on her blog is...

barely time for owners to discover their cat missing, track him down to a local shelter, then arrange for his release.

Why the Governors' people decided to pick on defenseless animals is beyond me, but they did it and it's out in the open. So much so that several Internet petitions have been established and DeGeneres has employed her vast new media reach - including her Facebook page - to spread the word in the hopes of turning around the Governor's apparent position. So far the Guv's Twitter updates don't include any word on his personal view on the matter, but this online movement's just hit Twitter with full-force, thanks to Ellen.

Stay tuned.

Twitter Retains Fewer Users Than Facebook and MySpace? So?

 

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I saw an interesting blog post today over at Webguild.org reporting that Twitter is "Doomed" (in fact the title is "Twitter Doomed") and I had to laugh. There have been any number of people explaining either why they don't use Twitter or predicting its demise. There's even a website-style blog called "Twitter Backlash". But back to the post that got my laugh banks engaged and this sentence:

Apparently more than 60 percent of Twitter users fail to return the following month and pre-Oprah more than 70 percent of Twitter users failed to return to the site according to David Martin, Vice President, Nielsen Online.

Apparently Nielsen believes it appropriate to lump in Twitter with social networks like Facebook, MySpace, and others, and that's the problem. Twitter's a micro-blogging environment much more than a social network and thus should not be compared to Facebook and MySpace. Facebook and MySpace have places for photos of whatever you're doing or a place for installing your favorite music to share with others. That's not what Twitter's designed to do. Thus comparing them is lumping Apples with Oranges.

Twitter, again, is for the act of "micro-blogging" or explaining something in less than 150 characters. That's a system that can be and has been incorporated into a social network like Facebook, but it's not a social network like MySpace and Facebook.

I think what's happening is because one can communicate with others on Twitter, or have "friends", it's viewed as a social network as opposed to something that allows social-networking.

Two different actions.

In Facebook I have various pages, I'm a "fan" of President Obama, and I can see my friends photos, attend events I'm invited to, and play games they invite me to engage in (when I have time).

I can't do any of that on Twitter.

So it should come as no surprise that Twitter has a lower retention rate than Facebook or MySpace. Hey, people like to learn about other people which is what we use Facebook and other networks for. (Personally, I swear by Linkedin which I use far far more than MySpace.)

I don't see Twitter as a competitor to Facebook, but as complementary to Facebook. My Tweets go from my Twitter page out to my followers then onto my Facebook page and for good measure migrate over to my FriendFeed page as well. And my blogs are hooked in the same way: Blog to Twitter to Facebook to FriendFeed. Hey, that horizontal subscription count can add up!

The reason Twitter has a lower retention rate is simple: there's less there. It's a great place for the rapid transfer of information but that's it and you have to use it to understand its value.

Alas, Twitter doesn't have the revealing voyeur factor, so unless someone comes up with an app to send Paris Hilton sex tape through Twitter, the retention rates always going to be less than for Facebook, and that's just fine with me. Twitter's going through a shake out period where everyone thinks they have to use it. It's not for everyone. Eventually, we'll get rid of the wanna bees and be left with a really engaged Twitterverse.

Hooray!

NFL Draft: Commissioner Goodell Discovers Twitter

 

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For the past three years I've been litterally pestering the NFL brass about "getting into the 21st Century" because they didn't have videos or use live streams or use social networks.  The NFL's concern has long been the possibility of "losing control of its brand" which to me is a statement marketing people make that always goes unquestioned when it should be challenged.  When its done, I find that the person making the statement really didn't think through what they meant and the fear is less than imagined if it was ever there at all. 

As other large firms have, as they say, moved into the social network space, the NFL's started to see the light, first with videos on NFL.com, then a live stream of the NFL Draft that was done starting in 2008 (after I did it in 2007) and now Twitter. 

The NFL  started Tweeting with the last Super Bowl and "upped" its efforts with this Draft.  NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell even has his own Twitter page.  Here's the full list of his updates:

1. passing the podium role to Ray Anderson, our football ops chiefabout 2 hours ago from mobile web
       
2. among the hilites of every draft is saluting our military. it is nice to hear applause for them #nfldraftabout 3 hours ago from mobile web
       
3. josh said it was longtime coming. he wanted to be a Buc!about 4 hours ago from mobile web
       
4. cushing another player out of new jersey. good 2 c so many family/friends hereabout 4 hours ago from mobile web
       
5. i told crabtree that at least he gets to keep his same college colorsabout 4 hours ago from mobile web
       
6. eugene says it's unreal. just unrealabout 5 hours ago from mobile web
       
7. aaron invited 12-yr boy w/ leukemia. i gave aaron card 2 give 2 Brysonabout 5 hours ago from mobile web
       
8. Jason Smith wouldn't let me go. he was so happy and surprised to go.about 5 hours ago from mobile web
       
9. wished Matthew a long productive career and said u look good in blueabout 6 hours ago from mobile web
       
10. are u ready for some draft picks? I'm ready to get started #nfldraftabout 6 hours ago from mobile web
        
11. ok, here we go. great seeing so many fans outside #nfldraftabout 7 hours ago from mobile web
        
12. headed up to Columbia to talk with some grad students. Looking forward to it.8:18 AM Apr 23rd from web
        
13. I'm looking forward to the Draft on Saturday11:50 AM Apr 22nd from web

Now here's my take: I think it's great Commissioner Goodell's using Twitter, but he and the NFL can get far better use out of it. The Commissioner should use his Twitter page as a press release to get out information he wants to share without the usual media filter. It could be something as simple as making sure NFL Draft patrons visit NFL.com with a link or URL reference, which in turn drives traffic to that site. You get the idea. But the Commish just posts random things he's doing; by contrast Twitter for me is a device to get the Word out and send people to my daily updated blogs and Twitter.

It's not enough to be on Twitter, you have to have something to say too!

Michelle Malkin Reports Twitter Problems; Punishment For Following Rush Limbaugh

On Facebook, Michelle Malkin -- seen above in a 1992 photo posted at Wonkette --  today complained of Twitter problems; I'm fine Michelle.

She reports

            "Having twitter problems. Anyone else?" 

Nope! Michelle, that's what you get for blindly following Rush Limbaugh!

Obama's inauguration: sharing it on Twitter, Facebook, other sites - Inside Bay Area

More at Inside Bay Area: “Obama on Tuesday will not simply take the oath to become the 44th president of the United States. He will serve as both emcee and epicenter of the most socially networked moment in political history.
"This is a historic event and the way we'll experience it will be just as historic," says Erica Schaefer. In perfect Generation Y style, the 20-year-old San Jose State University junior will watch the televised version of the ceremony at a local live screening — but she'll also be outfitted in full social-media regalia.
"I'll have my BlackBerry and my mini-laptop, which will allow me to share my status online, and I'll probably be on Twitter following @BarackObama, and on my Facebook chat section where I can talk about it live with hundreds of friends at the same time.”