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Entries in twitter (22)

Wednesday
27Jan2010

Oprah thinks Iowa is "getting better"

DateWednesday, January 27, 2010 at 7:42PM

I don't know the specifics but I'm guessing that I'm not in the target demographic for O, The Oprah Magazine. However, I caught a tweet today that announced that Oprah (or more likely one of her staffers) had decided Iowa (the state) was in fact 1 of the 100 "people, places, ideas, and stuff [the magazine is] loving more than ever."

Iowa clocks in at #32 and is one of three geographic places on the list (we rank behind formerly looted, ransacked and hurricane-devastated Oak Street in New Orleans and ahead of the hydrogen-bombed Bikini Atoll).

32. Iowa 
Legalizing gay marriage in 2009 + producing artisanal charcuterie (try La Quercia's organic prosciutto) + University of Iowa football landing among the top 25 college teams for the fifth time this decade + ranking second on MainStreet.com 's Happiness Index = one seriously happening Hawkeye State. 

Don't get me wrong, it's great for our state to get publicity. I agree that Iowa has improved and I'm in a somewhat unique position to see that since we moved back here last summer after five years living out-of-state. However, I do question their formula they provide above. The legalization of gay marriage is certainly worthy of such a determination (and, in my opinion, should be celebrated) but I question the other three.

Item 2 - Apparrently, we now produce "artisanal charcuterie". I admit, I had no idea what "charcuterie" is but according to the interwebs it's the "branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products". I've never tried La Quercia's prosciutto (nor do I have any idea where in Iowa "La Quercia" is located) but I bet it doesn't hold a candle to Mr. Porkchop on RAGBRAI.

Item 3 - Hawkeye Football. Really? I get it, Hawkeye football is good. I'm not a fan but that's neither here nor there. Quoting their ranking doesn't make a lot of sense since it's the judgement of external sports media (and coaches secretaries). Collegiate sports are divisive in this state; the Hawkeyes are no more the Iowa's team than are the Cyclones and it doesn't make sense to use either.

Item 4 - Mainstreet.com's Happiness Index. I s'pose it's a good thing that this website's subjective combination of "Non-mortgage debt as a % of Annual Income", "unemployment rate" and "foreclosure rate" for our state is more favorable than it is for 48 other states, it doesn't mean anything to me as Iowan.

As I said, cheers to Oprah for recognizing Iowa (although being on the same plain as a hurricane ravaged neighborhood and an American bomb testing location makes me worry about what she formerly thought of us) but next time dig a bit deeper and showcase our true accomplishments.

AuthorGeoff Wood | Comment4 Comments |
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Wednesday
25Nov2009

Remember the Muppets?

DateWednesday, November 25, 2009 at 8:04AM

My personal Twitter stream erupted, yesterday, with references to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody(1) and The Muppets. The Muppets, of course, are known primarily for their broadcast television hits The Muppet Show and Sesame Street from a time before we all had cable and from Fraggle Rock (the HBO show that we would catch whenever we would be at that rare friends house who not only had cable but also pay-movie channels). That, and they also had some sweet movies in 1980s.

However, they've been largely irrelevant to me for the past couple of decades with two notable exceptions: the irreverent and hilarious musical Avenue Q and their appearance in the story-within-the-story(2) Dracula puppet musical in the underrated Jason Segel movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

After the fifth or sixth tweet on the subject, I followed a link to Kt McBratney's blog and was blessed by this new creation from The Muppet Studio:

I'm not sure why they put this together but it's a lot of fun, especially for those of us who remember the original Queen video.

In related news, the aforementioned Jason Segel (who can do no wrong in my eyes) is writing a new Muppet movie: The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made (due out in 2012).

(1)As middle school aged kids at the time of it's release, we didn't necessarily understand Wayne's World but we sure loved that movie and this song. (2)Or more appropriately, the musical-within-the-movie

AuthorGeoff Wood | CommentPost a Comment |
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Tuesday
28Apr2009

The (lack of) Power of One Million Followers

DateTuesday, April 28, 2009 at 9:53PM

 

 

 

I saw an interesting article the other day being passed around Twitter that was written by Douglas Burns, a columnist with the Carroll (Iowa) Daily Times-Herald

Burns took note of native Iowan and Hollywood celebrity Ashton Kutcher's recent win in a race to one million followers on Twitter over cable news giant CNN.
Many social media folks have blogged and micro-blogged about the recent celebrity onslaught to Twitter that most notably started with Britney Spears, continued to Ashton (or Chris, as friends in Iowa once knew him) and has recently moved on to Oprah. Most note their embrace of the technology as the beginning of the end of the platform's trendyness (a sign that it has gone mainstream and therefore is no longer "cool").
Burns looks at Ashton's feat through a political lens and suggests that Ashton should utilize his followers to help him get elected into Iowa's 5th Congressional District. Iowa, known for it's "first in the nation" status in vetting Presidential candidates every four years, would be the perfect state for another political first: a celebrity parlaying their social media following into Congressional office.
Kutcher wouldn't be the first to utilize the power of an online community to assist them in winning elections, President Obama did it throughout his campaign and you can be assured that many other politicians will follow that example in 2010 and beyond. However, Kutcher would be the first celebrity - who earned their following through their pop culture status rather than political agenda - to do so.
Burns pitches the idea here at the end of his column:
In the end, the best argument for Kutcher is what happened last week when he reached the watershed of a million followers on Twitter, a texting/blogging convergence tool that allows users to send information out in 140-character or less blasts to anyone interested in reading them.
In effect, Kutcher just built a muscular grassroots political machine that would be the envy of many a campaign pro.
He should now test it.
Setting aside Kutcher's personal politics and their match to those of his would-be Western Iowa constituents, there are flaws in Burns doesn't mention in his article about the power of this particular online community to put a person in office; namely the fact that the one million Kutcher followers are likely not voting-aged Western Iowans. As Burns mentions earlier in the column, they could be leaned on in a request for political donations, but most of them can't vote (either because of age or lack of residing in Western Iowa). That makes them far less than a "muscular grassroots political machine". 
Other flaws include the fact that many of Kutcher's followers only chose to follow him because of the race against CNN (as opposed to having done so out of true interest for what he has to say) and that he has no experience in getting such a group to organize for any actual purpose (other than simply "following him"), mean that the connections that his followers have to him is shallow and certainly not something to use as the base on which to take a political stand.
Image of Mr. and Mrs. Kutcher campaigning in Iowa for Obama in September 2008 courtesy of music999 on Flickr

 

AuthorGeoff Wood | CommentPost a Comment |
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Sunday
05Apr2009

Iowa Affirms Rights for Samesex Marriage

DateSunday, April 5, 2009 at 8:56PM

For an expatriate Iowan(1), I think that I keep up on the news back home better than most. However, I missed the fact that the Iowa Supreme Court was set to issue it's decision regarding a challenge to state's ban on samesex marriage last Friday.


Thanks to the magic of the Interwebs, I was fully up to speed within a few minutes of logging on that morning. It started through Twitter, where there were a plethora of posts announcing that the Supreme Court's website had been over-trafficed and brought down prior to the decision being announced. Over the next several hours the site was restored and news sites like the Des Moines Register reported that news that the gay marriage ban had been (unaminously) overturned.

I don't want to get too far into the politics here so I'll just say I was pleased with the ruling.

I was more than a bit surprised at the positive reaction to the news throughout my social networks. The buzz was all over Twitter and Facebook. Tweets and status updates were littered with posts boasting pride in Iowa's progressive decision and the example that it has set for the nation. 

When it comes to politics, Iowa and it's "first in the nation" status is prominently featured at the beginning of each Presidential Election. Otherwise, we don't get a lot of notoriety - except for decisions like these.

State Senate Majority Leader Mike Grostal and State House Speaker Pat Murphy issued a joint press release applauding the decision that also featured other progressive moves the state has made in its history:

Iowa has always been a leader in the area of civil rights. 

In 1839, the Iowa Supreme Court rejected slavery in a decision that found that a slave named Ralph became free when he stepped on Iowa soil, 26 years before the end of the Civil War decided the issue. 

In 1868, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that racially segregated “separate but equal” schools had no place in Iowa, 85 years before the U.S. Supreme Court reached the same decision. 

In 1873, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled against racial discrimination in public accommodations, 91 years before the U.S. Supreme Court reached the same decision. 

In 1869, Iowa became the first state in the union to admit women to the practice of law. 

In the case of recognizing loving relationships between two adults, the Iowa Supreme Court is once again taking a leadership position on civil rights.

Great job, Iowa. 

(1)Well, kind of, sometimes Indiana seems like an entirely different country.

AuthorGeoff Wood | Comment2 Comments |
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Sunday
05Apr2009

Des Moines Register: Embracing Twitter

DateSunday, April 5, 2009 at 7:40PM

It's hard to not notice that Twitter is invading the mainstream media; it shows up everywhere from NBC's Today Show desk to ESPN's coverage of women's basketball(1). However, one gets a distinct feeling that many of these media outlets are jumping on the Twitter bandwagon not because they want to be there but simply because its hip and they don't want to be left behind. The results are often awkward and transparent.

One exception as of late that everyone should note is The Des Moines Register (@dmregister)(2). This mainstream media outlet has not only joined the bandwagon, they've embraced it and are being innovative both in fulfilling their journalistic mission and in promoting it to their readers.
The first example I want to share is their Twitter interface: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/twitter
This is a great design that let's you easily see the Twitterstream of four branded-Des Moines Register accounts as well as index of reporters and editors (including their assignment areas). Also included are top Twitter users in the Des Moines community and even a future opportunity to monotize their use of platform through showing sponsored accounts.
This idea isn't unique to the Register, other papers (such as another Gannett Property, the Indianapolis Star http://www.indystar.com/twitter) also have a Twitter index but they don't convey the same level of interaction.
The second example, is their coverage of the Iowa Supreme Court's unaminous decision to overturn a ban on gay marriage last Friday. As covered in this post by Zachary M. Seward of Harvard's Neiman Journalism Lab, it started with the paper anticipating that decision would be a big topic of discussion in social web (3). They created the hashtag #iagaymarriage and sent it out to everyone following the @dmregister account prior to the announcement. Hashtags are organic and change with the will of the users but are often controlled through first-mover advantage. As Seward points out, The Register took that advantage and was able to run with it by both channeling conversation through a dedicated page on DMRegister.com (which is a great idea to get Twitter-sourced content out to people who don't use Twitter) and get competitors such as the staff of the Cedar Rapids Gazette to adopt the hashtag.
I'm impressed by what we've seen from the Des Moines Register so far and look forward to see how they use the platform next.
(1)I don't typically watch women's basketball but alma mater is really good and I watched them through their tournament run to the Elite 8. Go Cyclones! (2)For disclosure purposes, I lived in Iowa for 22 years and consider myself a native Iowan (3)They were right

 

AuthorGeoff Wood | Comment1 Comment |
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Tuesday
31Mar2009

Social Media featuring Social Media about Social Media

DateTuesday, March 31, 2009 at 9:24PM

Through side-by-side commenting about LinkedIn on KyleLacey.com, I became aware of LinkedIntelligence.com by Scott Allen and I wanted to highlight it here.

It took me a bit to figure out exactly what Scott was doing with the site but it appears that its the first example I've ever seen of Social Media featuring Social Media about Social Media.
Confusing? Not so, Scott writes a blog (social media) featuring screen caps of Tweets from Twitter (social media) that are about LinkedIn (social media). 
It's ingenious really since it transcends most of us who comment on social media by simply blogging about it. 
All kidding aside, his posts demonstrate the value that Twitter can provide in researching a topic (in this case LinkedIn).

 

AuthorGeoff Wood | Comment2 Comments |
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Wednesday
25Mar2009

Three Twitter Resources for Everyone

DateWednesday, March 25, 2009 at 6:16PM

In the rapidly developing world of microblogging it can be difficult to keep up with the technology. For new users, it's even harder to figure out where to begin.
With that thought in mind, I put together the following quick list of resources for everyone to keep handy:
This Q & A-style resource is assembled and published by Jeremiah Owyang, a researcher with Forrester who specializes in Social Media. Jeremiah covers the basics and provides great answers that any new Twitter user will ask at some point; from tweet etiquette to defining platform slang to Twitter's place amongst a firm's marketing strategy mix.
As Twitter moves into the mainstream, it's logical that industrious people will look for ways to get more out of the platform than conversation and status updates. This has been accomplished through the development of analytic tools to monitor and extract useful information from both individual users and the aggregate Twitter Stream. New tools are being developed daily but this resource recommends eight excellent ones that you can use to make the most of your Twitter experience right now. Be sure to check the comments below the post, as well, for ideas on other tools and applications that will prove useful.
Twitter has evolved its own categorizing system through the use of the hashtag (#) character. This system is quite useful, allowing users to easily narrow down the aggregate Twitter Stream to focus on a specific topic. However, the topic names themselves often come from abbreviations and acronyms and can be hard to find if you're an outsider looking in. Enter, What the Hashtag?! a wiki-style resources that automatically catalogs trending topics as well as allows users to manually enter their own. If you're looking to find Tweets on a specific topic start here to see if a hashtag has been created then find other Tweets on that topic through Twitter search (http://search.twitter.com) or the integrated stream housed on the hashtag's page. It has cataloged more than 940 hashtags already and will perpetually grow.

 

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