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New York Times Leveraging Twitter As A Content Database

Scott Adcox — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:12:01 +0000

Instead of building our own system, we asked reporters to post their updates to Twitter and use hashtags to associate each update with a race.

It’s very cool that the New York Times found a way to use someone else’s platform to not only churn out updates, but also store and pull in information from their app users and readers.

Even cooler…they aren’t doing anything that you can’t do. What if your own whitelist was made up of a Twitter list you create? It wouldn’t be that hard to do the exact same thing they are doing, would it?

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Twitter Changing The Way It ReTweets

Scott Adcox — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 04:38:44 +0000

TechCrunch has some details of the changes we can expect to see to the mechanics of the ReTweet and even has some screen shots of how this could look on Twitter (the site):

From the looks of it, this could mean some pretty big changes on Twitter. As you can see in the mock-ups above and below, the retweet (written as “RT” in most tweets) is no longer a part of the actual tweet itself, but rather is a link below the tweet.

Now…how many people are actually using Twitter (the site) most of the time? Most people I know use Twitter (the service) with a client like TweetDeck, Seesmic, or apps on their mobile phones. All of these came about because Twitter (the site), well, kinda sucks.

They definitely need to beef up their web site with some features to get people to actually use it, but has that ship already sailed?Similar Posts:

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NFL Loses Control Of The Message

Trace Sharp — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 13:23:49 +0000

According to the Washington Post, Twitter is allowing the players in camp to send out the message, not the Powers That Be in the NFL.

For the first time, fans aren’t dependent on media reports for training camp updates. Players themselves are divulging certain details, from the humorous to the inconsequential, using Twitter feeds.

snip

Twitter has ruffled some feathers in recent weeks. While players test their boundaries and wrestle for their independence, league and teams have kept a careful eye on Twitter feeds, trying to maintain a semblance of order.On Friday, San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman punched into his Blackberry: “Coach said we cant tweet in the blding so i called my lawyer and found a lupo [loophole] in that contract…tweeting outside yeaaaaa.”

And this, campers, is not what mainstream media or organizations that have controlled its dynasties’ public image anticipated with the onset of social media devices such as Twitter and Facebook.

I find it to be very interesting on how it is going to play out.Similar Posts:

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Twitter Crackdown

Scott Adcox — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:44:58 +0000

Did your follow count just drop? I received an email from @tless that I’d lost 60 followers on Twitter. I’m not really phased by that, since I don’t really put much stock in how many people are following me. I mean, I want followers, but I only want quality followers who are engaging. According to TechCrunch, Twitter has eliminated a bunch of spam accounts.

If you notice this morning that your follower count on Twitter dropped dramatically, don’t be alarmed. It is just Twitter cracking down on spam accounts and bots that automatically follow people. So chances are those weren’t real people anyway.

I’m actually good with that. Not that it harms me for fake accounts and bots to follow me, but I’d like to see the communication medium kept as pure as possible. Spam accounts make it less credible.Similar Posts:

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A Glimpse Inside Twitter

Scott Adcox — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:13:10 +0000

Techcrunch has published some of the internal documents from Twitter they received. As they put it, Twitter isn’t exactly happy about this, but they’ve put this info out there with their approval.

Lots of great info there about their relationships with Google, Facebook and Microsoft. I’ve only had a chance to skim over it so far, but one statement definitely stuck out to me…

RSS is the enemy.

Also, they don’t see as much value in Diddy as he sees in himself. I think they pretty much speak for all of us with that sentiment.Similar Posts:

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The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Scott Adcox — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:35:05 +0000

It will be tweeted 130 characters at a time on Twitter.

Matt Stewart is tweeting an entire novel on the French Revolution. A pretty cool thing to start on Bastille Day.

He says the book has been shopped to several publishers already, but none bit on it. So why not publish it on Twitter? Just getting it covered by TechCrunch is a lot more free publicity than most authors get.Similar Posts:

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Blogs Still Chasing Mainstream Media

Scott Adcox — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:24:37 +0000

Kirk Lapointe has some interesting results from a Cornell Study

As for the notion that the blogosphere originates stories that mainstream then adopts, the study found that only 3.5 per cent of stories started in social media.

I’ll buy that. I think what the blogosphere, and especially Twitter, does best is disperse the information. And really, I think that sums up the financial issues the MSM is experiencing right now…

The dollars are in the delivery of the information, not in the information itself.

The only difference between the web and print is that the preferred medium of delivery used to be owned by the same people gathering the facts and writing the stories.Similar Posts:

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Twitter For Dummies?

Scott Adcox — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:57:07 +0000

I’m not a big fan of any of the “for Dummies” or “for Idiots” books. I’m not an idiot (ok, that’s open for debate), and I’d imagine most people who are can’t glean much knowledge from any book, no matter how dumbed down it is.

But Twitter For Dummies just makes me laugh.

I guess someone will buy this, but how would you even know about Twitter unless you were already on the web. Is it referenced in Facebook For Dummies or something?

Michael Silence has more…

It’s 266 pages. 266 pages? Good grief. It outta be titled Twitter for Dumbasses.

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Verification Vs. Speed Of A Breaking News Story

Trace Sharp — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:43:12 +0000

Blogs like TMZ and social media powerhouse Twitter may have broken the story of Michael Jackson’s death but the reality is that even the most casual news junkie wanted confirmation from an established journalism institution.

Simon Owens explains and shows Google Trend goodness on how this went down last week regarding the death of the King of Pop.

There’s some evidence that Google users may find credibility more important than speed. I was chatting with an editor at the LA Times who pointed out that Google Trends showed that more searches were aimed at the Times’ coverage of Jackson compared to TMZ’s reporting

This is important. As Owens outlines, that CNN, which is also owned by TMZ’s parent company, waited it out until official confirmation came from reliable sources.

This is something anyone working in journalism needs to watch. TMZ was right. However, readers and established news outlets waited for verfication.

Even with all of this said, news changed last week. Only time will tell in the long run which direction news is headed.Similar Posts:

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Aaron Brown Is Not A Fan Of Twitter

Trace Sharp — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:26:22 +0000

I don’t think Brown gets Twitter and he’s more than all right with that.

“It still seems more self-indulgent than relevant, but oddly, that’s what a lot of journalism is these days.”

Well, yeah, there is truth there as well. Personally, I like Aaron Brown and I appreciate his candor.Similar Posts:

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