IsCool

Idea - #FollowFriday for #HashTags > #HashTagTues

DRAFT - STARTS TODAY (ELECTION DAY 2009)!

This is kind of a geeky idea but I'd love to grab a day of the week so that I could learn about what interesting HashTags are being used by people.

BackGround:

If you are on Twitter you probably know of the convention that on Friday people use the following Hashtag (more below) #FollowFriday (or #ff) to shout out to people (or groups / orgs / companies) that they think are worth following.

For example a tweet could look like this:

• #FollowFriday #ff Cool people that are progressives #p2:   @DrDigiPol, @GloPan, @jdp23, @DigitalSista

Where people reading this tweet would know that these are potentially interesting progressives (in this case also using the progressive HashTag of #p2).

(if you don’t understand this, then don’t worry, you are not on twitter!)

* FollowFriday idea - http://mashable.com/2009/03/06/twitter-followfriday/
* Hashtags idea.  More - http://twitter.pbworks.com/Hashtags

Idea:

I'd like to grab a day, say HashTag Tuesday, and start a way for people to follow Hashtags Vs. people.

Examples:

• #HashTagTues or #htt:  Progressive :  #p2, #TopProg, #Fem2, 
• #HashTagTues or #htt:  Conservative:  #TCOT
• #HashTagTues or #htt:  Political Races:  #VAGOV, #NJGOV, #CA10, 
• #HashTagTues or #htt:  Events / Conferences this week: #mHS09, #PubCamp, #NP20, #PDF09

Why:

I love the idea of #FollowFriday for following people.

However, I also find a huge amount of value following #HashTags around movements, conversations, events, conferences, groups, etc..

Thoughts?

Please use the comments below for further suggestions and ideas!  This is very much a DRAFT.

So IsCool - A Way To Validate If Your Followers Are Real Or Spam - TrueTwit Sign Up

#IsCool

I don't know about you, but I've received 100's of spam Twitter followers over the past few months, most of them something to do with porn.

In fact, in one week my follower total shot up by 500 people!  I knew that I wasn't that popular!

So, it is very cool that I discovered a kind of CAPCHA service for Twitter with TrueTwit.

Let me know what you think!

TrueTwit Sign Up.

Follow TrueTwit on Twitter here.

Social Media Stats, Updated Real Time

This is cool.  Here is the original page link.

Flutter. Is it the next Twitter?

David Almacy's Top DC influential Twitterers - #IsCool

David Almacy, who used to run the Bush Whitehouse web operations, just came out with his top DC Influential Twitterers after Patrick Gavin (@PWGavin) wrote an article in Politico last week about his top ten most influential Twitterers in DC.  Many of us "die hard" Twitter users thought it an interesting list, to be sure, but really not a true reflection of the Twitter community at large.  Gavin's list was really a list of influential people who happen to be on Twitter.

First of all, @Almacy is on my list of influential Twitterers, of course.  He has sharp insights into the role of technology, politics and government.  He is one of the few (regardless of political party) that has seen the inside of how difficult it is to meet the myriad of conflicting stakeholder needs inside the bubble of the Whitehouse; as the current Obama Whitehouse team is discovering quickly.  He is also a good guy.

Second, I'm honored to be on a list of incredibly interesting DC Twitterers.  I've met some of them, and hope to meet the rest in the next few months.  Congrats to all. 

Third, that #IsCool.   Thanks David.

Must Watch - @Ev (Twitter Founder) Video at TED

So, #IsCool.

How Twitter May Have Ruined VA GOP Plans - 2.11.09 Tweet of the Day

Is it possible that the Virginia Republican party gave up a chance to gain an extra seat in the House of Representatives (State House) because of an "errant" tweet?  That is what it looks like.  Wednesday's Tweet of the day came in with over 40 clicks:

• Interesting. Did Twitter just ruin VA GOP plans? #TopProg, #TCOT (fyi @NancyScola) - http://ow.ly/dWj

From the article:

Looks like politicians aren’t immune to Twitter’s rumor-mongering lure either — Virginia House Delegate and State Republican Chairman Jeff Frederick tweeted some good news for his fellow party-members today. But his tweet may have actually stopped that news from coming to pass.

What the heck am I talking about? Earlier today, Frederick sent this message to his Twitter followers: “Big news coming out of Senate: Apparently one dem is either switching or leaving the dem caucus. Negotiations for power sharing underway.” That would have ended the Democrats’ majority in the Senate.

Except, whoops, it turns out the news was premature. State Senator Ralph Northam was planning to switch parties, but during a recess, “Senate Dems proceeded to pile on Northam and he caved,” according to a conservative political blog called Virginia Virtucon. The National Review adds that according to a source, the premature release of the information via Twitter killed the deal.

Comments:

1. Another Tweet of the day that used hashtags to ensure a wider distribution.  In this case #TopProg for progressives and #TCOT for conservatives.
2. Another example of making sure that you don't Tweet stuff you don't want the ENTIRE FREAKING WORLD TO KNOW ABOUT.  Come on folks.  Use common sense.  Don't tell the world that you are going to rob a bank if you don't want them to know.
3. Politicians are starting to use Twitter more and more.   Click here for a list of politicians on Twitter.  WARNING:  Most of these pols use twitter for press releases and NOT for anything useful to read.

Top 10 Twitter Related Sites - 2.10.09 Tweet of the day

Monday's TOTD was not surprising.   It listed the top Twitter Tools as determined by a blogger.  The reason I liked it is that the #1 site was @HootSuite, the tool I use to manage all my Twitter accounts and a tool that I highly recommend.  Here is the Tweet with almost 40 clicks:

• #IsCool - Top 10 Twitter Related Sites - #1? @HootSuite ! - http://ow.ly/dHO

The second place TOTD with 37 clicks was:

• Interesting. Did Twitter just ruin VA GOP plans? #TopProg, #TCOT (fyi @NancyScola) - http://ow.ly/dWj

Comments:

Not much to say about this Tweet of the day other than, obviously, a Tweet about the top 10 Twitter sites sent to Twitter users is going to generate SOME interest.    It was also re-tweeted a few times to drive click-through.

Thoughts?

Why You Should Lose Twitter Followers - 2.9.09 Tweet of the day

Wow!  Monday's Tweet of the day blew all records with 85 clicks during the day.   The closest previous record was about 35 clicks for one day.  Here it is:

• From @shelisrael - Why you should lose some Twitter Followers - Best post on Twitter in months. Read it. #IsCool - http://ow.ly/bXQ

There are several reasons this was such a popular Tweet:

1. It was about Twitter and, well, it was sent to people only on Twitter.
2. The headline made you think twice.  Wait a second, I thought I was meant to get as many followers as I could.  More = better in Twitterland.   This headline went against that conventional wisdom.  This is something that David Meerman Scott has written about in the past.
3. It was Retweeted a bunch of times.  I think I counted about 7 separate retweets.  Obviously the more times that a Tweet is retweeted, well the more distribution that Tweet is going to get.
4. The Tweet was written @shelisrael but an already known Twitterer.  Shel Israel is a famous social media guy with over 12,000 followers.   He is respected and a known quantity.

I'd encourage you to read the post.   Unlike much of the trite and banal "7 reasons why you must Twitter" posts that are on Twitter 24/7 this is well written, provocative, and mostly true.

All the @IsCool Followers in a Mosaic.

This #IsCool.  An application to create a mosaic of your followers.  What do you think?

Get your twitter mosaic here.