Congressman Resigns After Hitting the Wrong Button to Sext on Twitter
June 17, 2011 by admin · Comments Off
Thursday was Anthony D. Weiner’s last day as the U.S. Representative for New York’s 9th congressional district. The former Congressman issued his resignation from the same senior center in Brooklyn that once saw him announce his successful 1991 run for City Council.
Just last month Weiner was being thought of as NYC’s next mayor, but his misuse of social media has rendered uncertain his once bright political future. It all started when his political opponents, keeping a very close eye on his Twitter account, noticed that Weiner had sent an indecorous photo of his lower half to a Washington State undergrad. It turned out he had tweeted the photo publicly when he had meant to send it as a private message — a case of Twitter sexting gone very bad. Although Weiner initially claimed his account had been hacked, he was all too soon offering public repentances for the photo and for many more such incidences.
Mr. Weiner joined Twitter in 2009 and in March of this year, Time Magazine praised him for being “able to upload pictures,” having an “actual understanding of hashtags,” and not being “afraid to make fun of himself,” adding, “I mean, just check out his profile picture.” It would only be a few months before Time added the following notice to its feature:
Update: On June 16, Weiner resigned his Congressional seat, ten days after admitting that he’d accidentally Tweeted out at least one lewd photograph of himself. So… perhaps we overstated his savvy just a bit.
Some consolations for the former congressman include TV job offers from the “Entourage” production team and a “20 percent increase over his congressman’s salary” if he joins Flynt Management Group, whose top boss, Larry Flynt, just told the Huffington Post: “I feel that [Weiner’s] unfortunate resignation is a prime example of unfounded political pressure and the hypocrisy that has invaded democracy in Washington D.C.”
Read more:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2058946_2059021_2059018,00.html
Who Uses Twitter the Most?
June 2, 2011 by admin · Comments Off
As part of its continuing study, “Internet and American Life Project,” today, the Pew Research Center published an update to its reporting on the use of Twitter in the United States. The update detailed that roughly 13 percent of American adults connected to the internet are Twitter users. The report’s findings reveal an 8 percent increase in usage within the last six months.
Starting April 26 and ending in May 22, 2011, the Pew Research Center called Americans to ask, in both English and Spanish, about their internet use. The last time the survey was conducted was in November 2010. This previous polling revealed that only 8 percent of “online adults identified themselves as Twitter users.” Two other important numbers obtained: 95 percent of Americans on Twitter own a cell phone and 54 percent use the handheld device to tweet.
Giving the numbers more perspective and contouring, the Center determined that African Americans and Latinos were the demographical groups most likely to be engaged with the micro-blogging service. Of African Americans online today, 25 percent of them use Twitter; for Latinos the number is 11 percent. Other groups are also showing growth on Twitter: 25- to 34-year-olds have doubled their representation, going from 9 percent in November 2010 to 19 percent last month; by their turn, 35- to 44-year-olds have seen their numbers jump to 14 percent from their previous 8 percent showing.
Read More:
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Twitter-Update-2011.aspx
TweetDeck Goes to Twitter for Something Like $40 Million
May 25, 2011 by admin · Comments Off
The next time you mosey on over to TweetDeck, this message will greet you: “TweetDeck is now part of Twitter.” That’s because the fifteen workers comprising the London startup TweetDeck are now officially bound for Twitter’s payroll; Twitter is said to have paid $40 million or $50 million for them and their company. The application and service TweetDeck’s team created will continue to exist though some new features, more warmly embracing of the Twitter brand, will surely be added soon. The reports on the deal are also saying that TweetDeck will keep its London base.
Because the application does such a fine job of helping one keep track of Twitter posts, whether those authored by an account holder or by people followed, TweetDeck is especially popular among those deemed “Twitter power-users.” (A.k.a. people who tweet a lot.)
Iain Dodsworth, founder and CEO of TweetDeck, posted the following on a blog: “The mainstream Twitter user-base is well catered for by twitter.com and the official mobile clients … by becoming part of the official platform, TweetDeck will now fill that role for brands, influencers, the highly active and anyone that just needs `more power.’”
TweetDeck was founded in 2008 and has built a strong following among loyal users. With the buy, Twitter’s employee tally now stands at 505 workers.
Read more:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/05/25/national/a092201D35.DTL#ixzz1NPDGbnAD
Lady Gaga Reaches 10 Million Twitter Followers: Justin Bieber and Barack Obama Follow Closely
May 16, 2011 by admin · Comments Off
Lady Gaga has temporarily achieved Twitter Gold. On Saturday, for the 10th million time, a person on Twitter decided to follow her. At last checking, Lady Gaga’s Twitter account had 10,068,309 followers. Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (Gaga, by her given name) is the first person to reach 10 million followers on Twitter. And not entirely disparately, her two closest pretenders to the top of Twitter’s totem pole are teen singing (and hair) sensation Justin Bieber and 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama.
They, in turn, are followed by Britney Spears and Kim Kardashian at 7,845,366 and 7,498,364, respectively. Lady Gaga also previously bested Bieber to the 9th million follower mark. Twitter itself must be feeling very proud that its site is garnering so much attention and that Twitter rankings are continuously used as an important factor in the calculations for overall online popularity.
It was only about two years ago, in April 2009, that Ashton Kutcher — Charlie Sheen’s much vaunted “replacement” on “Two and a Half Men” — became the first person to amass 1 million followers. Quick Twitter facts of quirk: (1) The man himself, Charlie Sheen, was able to gain 1 million followers in little over a day (2) Beyoncé’s account just reached the same number without her ever having tweeting a thing and (3) Justin Bieber is predicted to take over the top spot later this year.
In recognition of her victory, Lady Gaga had the following to say, via Twitter:
Read More:
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1663919/lady-gaga-twitter.jhtml
http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/lady-gaga-10-million-twitter_b8816
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/05/lady-gaga-twitter-10-million-followers.html
Photo Sharing and Ensuing Copyright Furor
May 11, 2011 by admin · Comments Off
Furor was recently incited among Twitpic users when people started talking to one another about the site’s rules and regulations concerning the commercialization of uploaded pictures. One choice extract of Twitpic’s Terms of Service, before being summarily updated read:
You may not grant permission to photographic agencies, photographic libraries, media organizations, news organizations, entertainment organizations, media libraries, or media agencies to retrieve from Twitpic for distribution, license, or any other use, content you have uploaded to Twitpic.
As stated, the rules meant that users of Twitpic could not distribute or sell pictures they themselves had taken and shared with the world by using the free site. Unsurprisingly, it’s a business practice that is replicated by many of Twitpic’s industry-mates.
Because of the ensuing complaints and alarms raised, Twitpic saw fit to rearrange some of the terms’ wording. Another non-random extract from Twitpic’s Terms of Service is most currently reading:
You retain all ownership rights to Content uploaded to Twitpic. However, by submitting Content to Twitpic, you hereby grant Twitpic a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicenseable and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform the Content in connection with the Service and Twitpic’s (and its successors’ and affiliates’) business, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of the Service (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels.
Twitpic rivals keeping to themselves the rights, without consent, for use and distribution of user-uploaded photos include Flickr, Instagram, Color, and yFrog.
Read More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/11/twitpic-copyright_n_860554.html
Twitter to Become More User-Friendly and Buy TweetDeck
April 20, 2011 by admin · Comments Off
TweetDeck, the popular app that permits status updates and better arrangement of Twitter tweeps — columned alignment by affiliation or relevance — will soon be bought by Twitter. Jack Dorsey, Twitter-founder, along with Noah Glass, Evan Williams, and Biz Stone, was recently (three weeks ago) reinstated as Twitter’s Product Chief.
Although there are over 200 million registered Twitter accounts, it’s likely that a good slice of that total does not correspond to individual active users. Twitter hasn’t let on about how many active users it actually has, but the company is taking the necessary steps to up that number.
Its first offensive play? Make it so that first-time users’ Twitter experience is even less bewildering as the microblogging website strives to provide more valuable and resonant content, like tweets from people in one’s own “geographic region,” “local politicians and musicians,” among them. Twitter is apparently also looking to make tweets viewable in a mode other than the mere chronological. The rumored purchase price is $50 million.
The Wall Street Journal reports that eMarketer, a research firm, estimated Twitter’s ad revenue for 2011 to reach $150 million. In stark contrast, the company’s 2010 financing value was $4 billion. Twitter is based in San Francisco while TweetDeck calls London home.
Speaking at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, Jack Dorsey was quoted as saying: “We have a lot of mainstream awareness, but mainstream relevancy is still a challenge.” The same could be said of many businesses, but Twitter seems set to embark on an aggressively proactive approach.
Read More:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704004004576271262772728114.html
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/03/jack-dorsey-wants-to-take-twitter-mainstream.html
Charlie Sheen Makes Internships.com an Overnight Success with Twitter
March 17, 2011 by admin · Comments Off
The Los Angeles Business Journal reports that Charlie Sheen’s Twitter was one of the most successful campaigns for Internships.com that ad.ly Inc. ever brokered.
The power of social networking is almost unprecedented with the growing number of users turning to sites like Facebook.com and Twitter.com to keep in contact with one another and exchange ideas. And of course advertising companies have taken notice. Especially groups like ad.ly who helped Charlie Sheen set up a Twitter account on March, 1, 2011.
Giving him the breakdown of how Twitter works Sheen posted a tweet expressing that he was, “looking to hire a #winning INTERN with #TigerBlood.” Embedded in the post was a link to Internships.com where perspective interns could apply. That day alone Internships.com received more than 95,000 clicks and 74,000 applications for the position making the site one of the biggest overnight sensations in internet history.
Other celebrities and advertising companies have taken notice. Despite that no hard numbers have been disclosed, on either how much each ad.ly charged Interships.com or paid Sheen for the tweet, it was estimated to be around $25,000 to $100,000 dollars or more for their services. Celebrities can also make around $200 to $25,000 per tweet, and there is no doubt that Sheen got his fair share.
Some people have stated, like Davie Brown Talent of the Marina del Rey Entertainment Practices, that having such publicity with the notorious actor could have a negative impact on companies like ad.ly and Internships.com. But a company spokeswoman from Internships.com replied that Sheen’s reputation was not factored in their decision. Probably because Sheen’s fan followings and negative hype have only helped to promote both companies regardless of how the actor seems to be garnering the attention. Either way the success of the campaign cannot be denied, nor the power and influence of social networking in today’s media market.
Read more:
www.labusinessjournal.com/news/2011/mar/14/startups-take-sheen-charlie
www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-quick-20110310,0,6939948.story
Twitter Blocked in Egypt in Response to Anti-Government Demonstrators
The Los Angeles Times reports that Twitter was blocked in Egypt on Tuesday as thousands of government protestors clashed with police. According to the article, Twitter confirmed in a message from its PR account that its micro-blogging site was unavailable to members in Egypt.
Inspired by the uprising in Tunisia, protestors in Egypt rallied together on Tuesday to demand the end of President Hosni Mubarak’s reign. In response to the protestors, riot police blasted the demonstrators with water cannons, clouds of tear gas and tried to clear the area with batons.
Although demonstrators were able to utilize Twitter in Egypt through third-party applications on computers and cell phones, eventually even those were shut down, according to TechCrunch. A recent update on TechCrunch reports that the only way to Tweet in Egypt is by using Web proxies.
Both Twitter and Facebook were used to organize the event. The Facebook group We Are All Khaled said that the police are also firing rubber bullets. The same group is organizing another protest in San Francisco at 5:00 p.m. on January 26.
Read more:
techcrunch.com/2011/01/25/twitter-blocked-egypt
Twitter Now Tweets in Korean
January 19, 2011 by admin · Comments Off
Twitter announced yesterday that its micro-blogging service is now available in Korean.
South Korea is one of the fastest growing countries for Twitter with ten times as many Twitter users today than there was one year ago, according to the English translation of the company blog post released by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Along with other updates, Twitter announced that it has also updated Korean versions of Twitter for Android and Twitter for iPhone.
“With this launch, Twitter is now available in seven languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, and Korean. With 70 percent of Twitter accounts belonging to users outside the U.S., it’s important for us to make Twitter available in as many languages as possible, and we hope to support even more by the end of this year,”
Users can change their language to Korean via the Settings page.
Read more:
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2011/01/19/twitter-launches-in-korean
Twitter Community Sends Get Well Wishes to Apple CEO
January 18, 2011 by admin · Comments Off
Moments after Apple announced on Monday that co-founder and chief executive Steven P. Jobs is taking a medical leave of absence, the Twitter community responded with a slew of get well soon messages. According to Web Pro News, Twitter users have been sending messages via the hashtag #getwellsteve.
In an email to Apple employees released on Monday, Jobs writes “At my request, the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health. I will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company.”
Jobs has asked Tim Cook to take over Apple’s day-to-day duties.
“I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy.”
Read more:
www.apple.com/pr/library/2011/01/17advisory.html
www.webpronews.com/topnews/2011/01/17/twitterers-launch-hashtag-wishing-steve-jobs-well
