Friday, July 03, 2009
"i only bought a ford because of twitter."



Some people say trying to monetize Twitter is like trying to monetize the telephone (I tend to agree, mostly), but sometimes Twitter allows for stronger relationship and brand building. Seeing this tweet from Chris Lovett says it pretty succinctly.

And before you say "let's get our best intern on this," consider this post from Church of the Customer. Would you let an intern:
* Man your customer service line?
* Be your receptionist?
* Be your spokesperson to the Wall Street Journal?
* Be the main contact for your most talkative customers?
Is your presence on Twitter creating future tweets like the one from Chris Lovett? Could it?

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:37 AM   0 comments



Thursday, July 02, 2009
coke and pepsi fall in love on twitter



After years of sitting side by side on grocery store shelves and 7-11 coolers, you kind of wonder how they didn't fall in love before. It took the magic of social media to bring to opposites together, and romance has blossomed.

Here's how it went down:
Coke sends Pepsi a tweet. Pepsi responds. And then the Twitterverse suggests that they end the war and follow each other. And now Coke follows Pepsi. And Pepsi follow Coke.

World peace is certainly next. Twitter: turning hate into love since 2009.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:36 AM   2 comments



Wednesday, July 01, 2009
people are tweeting about you



We've posted before about Convo Monitor and other useful Twitter tools. Steve Rubel points to another one: Backtweets.

When people post urls on Twitter, they're usually shortened and therefore not picked up using normal Twitter search. So how do you know if people are tweeting up your site?

The folks at Backtweets have figured out some secret magic to search through the actual urls of tweets. I found a bunch on BrandFlakes that I didn't know about before.

Genius. And useful.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:00 AM   0 comments



Monday, June 29, 2009
a tribute told with twitter



Maybe you're tired of all of the Michael Jackson tributes and pretend news...but this one is completely different: A tribute to MJ carried forth with tweets. You'll want to watch it twice. Amazing.

From Robert Scoble

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:12 AM   0 comments



Friday, June 26, 2009
get your twitter on



Turn any word that you want into a cute little Twitteresque logo. (Birdie not included.) From Chris Pirillo

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:38 AM   0 comments



Wednesday, June 24, 2009
plot your twitter followers globally



Ever wonder how widespread your Twitter friend group is? Are you global? Foller.Me gives you all sorts of senseless information about your activity on Twitter, including a handy map of your followers charted on a Google map.

Clearly I need to follow more people in Kazakhstan. And all of Africa. From Greg Verdino.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:06 AM   2 comments



Tuesday, June 23, 2009
vw tweet analyzer



VW has a fun set of new banner ads that analyze your tweets and tell you which VW might suit you best. I like that it put me in something black and fast.

Hopefully you won't get the beige Jetta Wagon. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) From Red Square Agency

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:19 AM   3 comments



Monday, June 22, 2009
facebook and twitter: the facts



Here's everything that you wanted to know about Facebook and Twitter, presented in an easy to love wonderous info graphic.

If you're too lazy to click through, here's some juicy facts for your breakfast pleasure:
+ There's 50% more tweet activity during the week vs the weekend.
+ 850 million photos are uploaded to Facebook every month. Some are embarrassing.
+ Facebook now has more users than Brazil has citizens.

(Check out the graphic for even more delicious social media factoids.)

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:26 AM   1 comments



Friday, June 19, 2009
the next best thing to being there



Online friend CB writes a nice post about how she attended Neocon. Virtually.

It's true that now thanks to Twitter, you can watch just about any conference from afar by searching the associated hashtags. So it's almost like you're waiting in the same line at restaurants, complaining about the same poor wifi, or listening to the same brilliant speakers. Who needs to travel, if your Twitter friends can do it for you?

(And of course any blog post that mentions me by name is always a brilliant piece of wonderment. Thanks, CB!)

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:28 AM   1 comments



Thursday, June 18, 2009
news reporters realize that twitter is cool



Because people that are in love with Twitter love to talk more than 140 characters about Twitter, they've created a conference for them. 140 Character Conference brought together a bunch of Twitter lovers and media stars to do what they do best: talk endlessly about the Twitterverse.

One cool concept that apparently came out of the event is the possibility of a Twitter News Network - or TNN.

Ummmmm.....DUH. This is something we suggested back in May, and the folks at TwitterGrep created (which now sadly appears to be defunct.)

Here's an idea: CNN, NBC, whoever: instead of waxing over the possibility, why don't you create it? Next week? The tools are here (TwitterGrep was proof of concept) and the opportunity exists for a valuable tool branded with your network's name on it. (Call us if you really don't know how.)

Oh, and if you didn't make the conference, but have a secret crush on Ann Curry like I do, then you'll love the beautious shots that Brian Solis captured at the event.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:48 AM   1 comments



Monday, June 08, 2009
twitter staff not addicted to twitter



ReadWriteWeb has an interesting post on how the employees of Twitter don't use the tool as aggressively as some of their more ardent fans.

ReadWriteWeb believes that it could be a problem that Twitter employees don't tweet as much, don't follow as many people, or don't follow the known Twitter community of developers.

Twitter CEO Evan Williams thinks differently, and responds to Marshall's points in the piece. An interesting read, and proof that everyone has their own perspective on how best to use Twitter.

I like that Evan Williams believes that 1000 people is "the right number" of people to follow. The Twitter users who see this all as a contest might learn a little something from that statement.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:33 AM   2 comments



Thursday, May 28, 2009
because you needed this



How many times have you said to yourself that the world would be a better place if I only had a search engine that neatly organized both Google and Twitter results together?

Rejoice! Your day has come. Meet Twootles. Your two favorite things - Google and Twitter, nicely wrapped together in one sweet package. From @BenKunz.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:44 AM   0 comments




what happens when artists get together with scientists over beer



Artist Blprnt took his curiosity for visualizing information that isn't shared, but inferred, and explored how that might be put to good use.

The video clip above uses a database of of tweets featuring the words "just landed" and maps them across the globe visually. This would seem to be a good graphical representation of the people (on Twitter) who are currently landing in airports. Find more detail on Blprnt's blog.

The whole experiment came out of a discussion with a friend in bioinformatics chatting about new ways to chart the transmission of disease (relevant to that stupid pig virus.)

Proof that curiosity and design can accomplish awesome things. From Under Consideration.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:33 AM   0 comments



Tuesday, May 26, 2009
the twitter power system



At first it seemed like this might be a joke. Or a parody. Sadly, it looks as if the Twitter Power System is for real. Yeeeesh.

If you still haven't made the jump into Twitter, you don't need any "proven methods to success." Just think and act like a reasonable business person.

Here's six (free) tips about Twitter that will save you the $77 cost of a "system":

+ Try it. Give it a few weeks.
+ Follow 20 people that interest you - and then grow it slowly. Based on people that interest you.
+ Understand that this is not a "system" where the person with the most followers wins
+ Think of Twitter as a cocktail party. Act accordingly. Learn your surroundings before you jump through the door and start handing out business cards.
+ Be yourself.
+ Share, communicate and join the conversation.

Thanks, Casey!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:00 AM   5 comments




twitter tv?



Reveille, the company responsible for producing tv hits "The Office", "Ugly Betty" and "The Biggest Loser" is apparently developing a Twitter TV show.

Twitter's Biz Stone says that "we have a lightweight, non-exclusive, agreement with the producers which helps them move forward more freely."

(And you thought tv was dead.)

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:42 AM   3 comments



Friday, May 22, 2009
some people try too hard



Twitter is awesome. No question. But like anything awesome, there comes a level of ridiculousness.

Tweeting Too Hard is here to expose the ridiculousness of Twitter. And that's awesome. Thanks, Banjofreak!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:26 AM   2 comments



Wednesday, May 20, 2009
tweets on tees. because it had to be.



We just received some advance tees from the coolest new partnership on the internet: Threadless + Twitter.

Buy these for all of your twitter friends, and then give them out at the next tweet up, and then wear them around for your outside world friends to be even more confused by your twitter shenanigans. Sweet. (I mean tweet.)

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:22 AM   0 comments



Monday, May 18, 2009
sharing links in tweets made even easier



Twitter makes it easy to share links, quotes and things that you find on the internet with your friends. Now TBUZZ makes it even easier.

Just add the TBUZZ button to your browser toolbar, and share instantly. The video shows you how easy it is. Cool. From HughBriss.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:24 AM   0 comments



Wednesday, May 13, 2009
people from the future are still using twitter



Twitter will continue to be huge, at least for the next 9 years. We know this because people from the year 2018 are sending us coded tweets about the upcoming revolution against the machines.

It's all part of what looks to be a pretty sweet Twitter game promoting Terminator Salvation. This is a Twitter promotion done right. An on-going game, great twitter tools and goodies, and feeds that keep everyone up to date. Pay attention, because this is rare. From Adverblog.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:41 AM   2 comments



Tuesday, May 12, 2009
another addicting twitter app



Were you looking for something to suck that last ounce of productivity out of your day? We recommend Stweet.

Watch tweets arrive with a corresponding Google satellite or street view image, for any city in the world. Amazing. Addicting. Fun for the whole family.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:17 AM   0 comments



Monday, May 11, 2009
share documents on twitter



File this under "wish you thought of it."

Twitdoc lets you upload documents and photos, and then share them on Twitter. Huge.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:57 AM   0 comments



Wednesday, May 06, 2009
all the news that's fit to tweet.



Introducing the Twitter newspaper. Because it needed to happen.

Check out TwitterGrep. It's a virtual newspaper of what's being tweeted in the twitterverse. Yeah. People at old school papers are freaking out and saying things like "really?" and "are you f*&king kidding me??" right now.

Some are already saying that RSS is dead - replaced by the immediacy of Twitter and FriendFeed. So TwitterGrep doesn't seem like such a bad idea.

Idea: Here's an IMMENSE opportunity for a brand to create a custom, branded paper. Why can't I have a custom Twitter paper, with my own feeds, customized with my own tags? And then include a column with your brand's news, too. Seriously. Let's build this. Call us.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:49 AM   1 comments



Friday, May 01, 2009
if your fridge could tweet...



it would reach out to the world and tweet with magnets.

Until your fridge figures out social media, you can just play around with Twitter Magnets. It's like twitter, but with magnets. Or just follow the stream of other people's magnetic tweets. From swissmiss.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:51 AM   0 comments



Wednesday, April 29, 2009
old people: i'm confused.



You've heard before that fastest growing demographic on Facebook is the 35+ age bracket. That audience could be at risk, if you believe what MarketingVOX and Techcrunch have to say.

I've seen myself in the presentations that I've given on social media - how few people are using anything beyond the basics of Facebook.

Apparently, old people prefer Twitter for its simplicity. We think it's much more complex than that, but are enjoying all the chatter about Twitter versus Facebook. Can't we just use them all?

(Sidebar: please check out this post on Mashable, for an AWESOME rundown on how to manage your Facebook friends in a way that won't get you fired.)

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:09 AM   1 comments



Tuesday, April 28, 2009
facebook to open status updates to developers



Soon you'll be able to incorporate Facebook status updates into all sorts of fun promotional and engaging tools.

Mashable has an excellent synopsis of what's expected to roll out, outlining the key difference between this potential Facebook access versus the access that developers already have to Twitter. (In short, Twitter is wide open, Facebook allows users to approve every individual use.)

We're excited - this means more opportunities, more tools and more fun for Facebook users, for brands and for all citizens of the internet nation.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:27 AM   0 comments



Monday, April 27, 2009
get your tweet on while the boss watches



You have a need to tweet. Your boss needs you to work. Instead of managing your time or using some of the awesome social tools that make it easy, you could just pretend to work, while tweeting the day away.

Thanks to Spreadtweet, you can now disguise Twitter as an ugly, borriffic spreadsheet. So you're tweeting and your boss is smiling. Until the end of the day, when your work is still there. From Buzzfeed.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:09 AM   0 comments



Tuesday, April 21, 2009
this twitter thing is probably going to be really huge



I'm trying really hard not to continually add to the hype about Twitter. But there's new stuff being developed every day, and you need to know.

The latest twitterawesome development is Sign In with Twitter. Clearly an effort to compete with Facebook Connect.

Here's the deal: In the future, you'll be able to log in anywhere you want using just your Facebook OR Twitter ID. No more unwieldy usernames and passwords filling up your pockets. You'll travel lighter. And you'll have a jetpack.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:07 AM   0 comments




r/ga is up to something.



This is what real internet geeks do for fun, when they're not at the office:

R/GA Creative Director Richard Ting is experimenting with RFID tags and a bar code reader. He's hooked everything up so that his 20 month old daughter can swipe tags with a scanner, and it automatically sends a tweet.

This is cool. This may provide endless opportunities.
+ Runners could swipe at mile markers in races, and auto tweet their position in a race.
+ Kids could swipe when at school/at class
+ Party attendees could swipe and auto announce "I'm here. Let's drink beer."
+ Your package could tweet that it just arrived on the UPS truck
+ Think of the countless opportunities where an easy swipe could send a tweet to let your family/friends/world know what's happening.

Time to head to Radio Shack, for parts.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:30 AM   0 comments



Monday, April 20, 2009
many brands still oblivious.



Pingdom did a poll of the Top 100 Fortune 500 IT companies, to see who had registered their names on Twitter. Surprisingly, 67% of them were not registered, or used a more difficult searched name than their brand.

Sadly, I believe this. Our agency pitched a major beer brand about a year ago, and realized they hadn't secured their Twitter name. I did this for them, and then handed over the passwords to the account in the pitch meeting. They have yet to take it over, even though the account gets new followers every day. C'mon, brands!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:50 AM   3 comments




if you were here before oprah, say "yeah."



You've been on Twitter before Oprah. Tell the world about it. Or at least the Twitterverse. From Dabitch.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:48 AM   1 comments



Friday, April 17, 2009
the spectrum of online friends



Have you struggled at attempting to describe your online friendships to your Amish friends who just don't understand the power of Twitter?

Thankfully, Mike Arauz has made this difficult topic even easier to understand with his spectrum of online friends graphic. Print a bunch of these, and just hand them out to your meat-space friends who don't understand. From News from the Herd.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:01 AM   0 comments



Wednesday, April 15, 2009
twitter hashtags seen in the wild



Twitter hashtags are used to sort and combine tweets around a particular topic. Putting a hashtag after a tweet (like #brandflakes) would allow Twitter search engines to pull together all tweets regarding that particular topic. The practice is popular among tweeters who are chatting within any meme.

And now, it's jumped out of the Twittersphere. Caffeine Goddess reports on Land Rover ads asking people to tweet about their brand, and use the hashtag #LRNY. You can see the results here.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:06 AM   0 comments



Tuesday, April 14, 2009
all of your tweets now in your browser



Brand Managers: here's a handy tool to monitor what's being said about you on Twitter. Convo Monitor lets you create multiple "stacks" each that monitor a keyword or search term within Twitter.

So you don't have to launch Tweetdeck, or any of the Adobe Air tools that allow multiple keyword monitoring. It's kind of like TweetGrid, but all new and shiny. From Steve Rubel.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:00 AM   0 comments



Friday, April 10, 2009
what your tweets look like as photos



Portwiture takes your current Twitter status and pulls photos from Flickr that relate to what you're tweeting. Let's call it tweetart.

(For the record, I am almost positive that I have never tweeted about kittens, cats or kitties - yet there's a kitten photo in my Twitter collage. Clearly a bug.) From TSand.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:37 AM   2 comments



Tuesday, April 07, 2009
the cool kids are using asterisks



Henning von Vogelsang has what sounds like a cool idea. Let's use the asterisk symbol to denote a source, when we're referencing an idea, link or concept that someone else gave us.

Henning's post actually points out an interesting detail about what Twitter has done to online pop culture. People now use the @ symbol to refer to people, and hashtags to refer to topics - even outside of the twittersphere. So why not add the asterisk?

*Henning von Vogelsang

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:28 AM   2 comments




silly media people, all a twitter



It's funny when you see your local news anchors talk about Twitter - and they have to kind of say it with a chuckle - because "it's so silly."

Current TV just had some fun looking at the news media Twitter overload, and the silly, silly anchors being all Twitteriffic. Sigh. Thanks, Whitney!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:27 AM   0 comments




twitter: over. flutter: hot.



Flutter is the new hot tool on the internet. 26 characters. It's all we need. Just like the alphabet. From MTLB.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:04 AM   1 comments



Thursday, April 02, 2009
a future guide to tweeters



I can't stand popularity contests. Or "top whatever" lists. But Tweettop has some potential. Taking a cue from Alltop, they're trying hard to be a resource, for Twitter. A collection of tweeters, neatly organized by topics. Grand idea.

In its current state, it's FAR from awesome, and smacks of "popularity contest." But I believe they're going to continue to populate the categories, and actually build a useful tool.

Let's bookmark, and check back later for goodness.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:04 AM   0 comments




your social media strategy in a single quote

Advertising Lab finds a sensational quote from Mike Arauz that could sum up a brand's social media strategy:

"If I tell my Facebook friends about your brand, it's not because I like your brand, but rather because I like my friends."

Well said.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:51 AM   0 comments



Tuesday, March 31, 2009
a fail whale art show



Back in the days when Twitter was just getting popular, it failed frequently. Instead of an error page, users were treated with a sighting of the fail whale. Since then, the fail whale has become sort of a celebrated pop culture hero of the twitter generation.

If It's Hip It's Here has curated the most wonderful collection of fail whale art - from incredible paintings to lawn sculptures to...tattoos.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:29 AM   2 comments



Tuesday, March 24, 2009
people in suits are tweeting



Exectweets is your ultimate guide to all of the executives that are tweeting. And when executives tweet, people listen. Found on Thought Gadgets.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:09 AM   0 comments



Thursday, March 19, 2009
um, duh.



A couple good rules to follow in life:

+ Never say something about someone that you wouldn't say to their face.
+ Expect that anything you post to the internet is permanent.

Even on Twitter.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:09 AM   0 comments




you'll want to tweet this



Check out the Trouble with Twitters. You'll want to watch the full episodes, starting on Friday. It's laugh out loud twilarious.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:08 AM   2 comments



Tuesday, March 17, 2009
how to do sxsw without doing it



Didn't make it to SXSW, the interactive, film and music conference in Austin, Texas? Instead of sitting back getting all annoyed at how conference attendees took over Twitter for a couple of weeks, you could attend virtually.

That's what Todd Sanders did. There are thousands of SXSW photos being tweeted and uploaded to Flickr. And Todd's got a few friends here, too. So, he's created his second "imagication." This time, he's Photoshopped himself into attendance at the famed interactive portion of SXSW.

See how Todd joined us for lunch at the Jackelope yesterday. Or maybe you can spot him attending a panel, above. He's still "here" - so stay tuned for more fun. Hilarious.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:56 AM   4 comments



Friday, March 13, 2009
friday flakes episode ten



Today's Friday Flakes is recorded at SXSW, from the Pepsico Podcast Playground. This week's episode is hosted by David and Darryl with special guest Eric Fleming from Segway!

This week, we chat about:
+ FridayFlakes is celebrating our tenth episode!
+The cabbie that picked up David and Darryl from the airport has knowledge of a secret plan to replace humans with insect people. Eric got to ride in a stinky cab.
+ The weather is sucking in Austin, and we bitch about it like babies.

In the World of Social Media, we chat about:
+ Why Segway comes to an event like SXSW
+ The overall vibe at SXSW
+ How Eric plans to learn a bunch of things at SXSW, while Darryl and Dave are here for BBQ.

In This Week at BrandFlakesForBreakfast, we chat about:
+ The Pepsico Twitter mashup showing what's happening at SXSW
+ The Pepsico Podcast Playground
+ How people at SXSW need helmets, because everyone's walking while tweeting

Want to follow David, Darryl or Eric's adventures in more details? Here's all of the links you'll need:
BrandFlakes SXSW Edition

Darryl's Tumblr page
David's Tumblr page

Darryl's schedule
David's schedule
Eric's schedule

Darryl's Twitter page
David's Twitter page
Eric's Twitter page

Have a Texas-style weekend! (Whatever that means.)

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 12:51 PM   0 comments




even if you're not at sxsw, check this out



Pepsi scores big with their sponsorship of SXSW - and with this super delicious mashup of the SXSW Twitter stream. Even if you're not at the interactive/music/film conference , you can enjoy watching what's happening while it's streaming and graphing and making your browser look a coloriffic twitterlicious soft drink.

This is a fantastic idea that could live with other events where Twitter is prevalent too. Think of any major televised event, or other conferences. Impressive. I'm going to get me some man-Pepsi, right now.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:23 AM   2 comments




will you send this link to 100 friends, if i give to charity?



There's some real interesting discussion going on at Brian Morrissey's blog about the Tide promotion that took place earlier this week. A handful of agency type people were asked to come to the P&G offices, and in a true Jerry Lewis style tweetathon, reached out to their networks in an attempt to sell t-shirts. $6 from every $20 t-shirt went to a charity.

You can see all of the tweets, captured with the hashtag #pgdigital.

Sounds pretty cool? They raised about $40 - $50K for a charity. And people were talking about Tide. Not everyone thinks so. Some consider the tactic nice wrapping paper for pay-per-post. It is a little scary to think of our Twitter streams clogged with brands spamming for attention. And donations.

This clearly illustrates that the rules are still being written. That there's no "proven way to use social media" to market your brand - regardless of what the social media "experts" may tell you.

And the one thing that still wins EVERY TIME - is great content. Want to let the the social media masses spread the word? Don't wrap it in charity. Don't pay people to talk about it. Give them something awesome, that they want to share.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:30 AM   0 comments



Tuesday, March 10, 2009
it's good for you that big brands are getting social



There's a great post on Mashable about why it's cool for all of us that big brands are using social media. Read the list and you'll realize just how much business has changed - and will continue to change in the foreseeable future.

Transparency = quality product = stories = relationships = community. Nice.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:17 AM   0 comments



Tuesday, March 03, 2009
twitter literature 101



What if tweets were fine literature?

Marcus Brown reads through social media's more popular tweeters and contemplates the meaning of it all. From his toilet, of course. Beautious. From Bill Green, MakeTheLogoBigger.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:49 AM   0 comments



Thursday, February 26, 2009
ashton kutcher: redefining celebrity?



I have to admit that I was skeptical when I heard that Ashton Kutcher was on Twitter. (And his wife is there too.) But after following his tweets, I've changed my tune.

What's pretty cool is that they're actually using it. They didn't assign a crew of their interns or publicists to spam us with a feed of useless Hollywood Ashton news. Nope. They're actually tweeting. Actual people...connecting with their fans. And they're even using it to accomplish good things.

Some would even say that they're redefining celebrity. I think so. Fans have a constant curiosity about artists and celebrities - and here's a way to share their lives in a way that was never possible before - while maintaining "artistic control." Hollywood: pay attention.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:03 AM   6 comments




how to turn your twitter stream into a waterfall



Remember the days before the internet, or Twitter, where you would go outdoors? And maybe you would even take a hike, and view a beautiful waterfall?

Well, worry no more. Now you can turn your twitter stream into a waterfall, and never leave your computer. A waterfall of tweets.

Thanks to Twitterfall, you can now picnic in front of a constantly flowing fall of data. I imagine people getting married in front of it, and people putting their tweets in barrels. Awesome.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:34 AM   0 comments



Wednesday, February 25, 2009
i had oatmeal for breakfast



Overheard just about every single day:

John Doe - “I hate Twitter”
Jamie - “Why?”
John Doe - “I don’t want to know what somebody ate for breakfast!”

Pass this to your best friend "John Doe" who still says "I've tried Twitter...and I don't get it." Some friendly tips on how Twitter is only as good (or as bad) as you make it. From Jesse Newhart

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:04 AM   1 comments



Tuesday, February 24, 2009
the first status update on a business card



This is a super hot idea for a business card. Kim Bost has created a card that instantly connects, makes a statement, and is flexible for the way she's feeling or the person she's meeting.

Awesome idea that you wish you thought of.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:16 AM   3 comments



Monday, February 23, 2009
what it's like to be the comcast dude on twitter



You're tweeting. You get what it's like to be tweeting. But your boss is one of those dudes that needs a new article pushed in front of his face every day, showing the value of tweeting. "When BusinessWeek can show me how Twitter can be used in business, then maybe I'll believe this tweeting stuff."

Here you go. BusinessWeek details what it's like to be the dude from Comcast on Twitter. Not that you'll learn anything here - just send it to your boss. From the Consumerist.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:28 AM   0 comments



Friday, February 20, 2009
how a coffee shop let twitter double it's clientele



Looking for another great example of how to use Twitter in your small business? Check out this story about a coffee shop that used Twitter to double their business.

And guess what - it's all about building relationships and fostering community. Something a coffee shop knows a little something about. Pass this to your friend that owns a small business. From Brand Aid.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:33 AM   2 comments



Wednesday, February 18, 2009
businesses on twitter



Twibs looks to be the ultimate list of all businesses and brands on Twitter. Conveniently organized alphabetically or by followers.

Send this link to your boss who says "The internet is a dangerous place. We have no business on places like Twitter." From Bub.blicio.us.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:52 AM   1 comments



Monday, February 16, 2009
the next big social media opportunity



Want to be the first brand on the next big thing? How about Drew's arm?

If you're the high bidder, Drew Olanoff will tattoo your Twitter username onto his arm. Why not? You know you've spent more ridiculous money on the bosses' son's yearbook advertising. Or his friend of a friend's golf tournament. I say go for it.

Even better - this can come out of your "donations" budget instead of your "advertising" budget - as the winning bidder only needs to make a donation to the Make A Wish Foundation. At time of this publish, the current bid was at $1850. That's still less than the CFO's cousin's charity ball program guide ad that your firm paid for last year. Hurry. Bidding ends at close of business today.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:22 AM   0 comments



Friday, February 13, 2009
friday flakes episode six



Today's Friday Flakes is hosted by David, Chris and Darryl. (And special appearance by Jason!) In this week's episode, we talk about:

+ How David is a Star Wars geek AND a Friday the 13th geek
+ Darryl's return to the office after a week away
+ Warm weather touches the northeast quadrant
+ An unconventional, conventional pitch

In the World of Social Media, we chat about:
+ The reporter who made a dumbass out of himself on Twitter
+ We introduce a new feature called Tip of the Week (a great idea by Eric Smith) and talk about the cool tool that Ryan Kuder turned us onto, called Skitch

In this week at BrandFlakesForBreakfast, we chat about:
+ How Macy's disrespected dead cyclists
+ Valentwine, and how to find your most compatible Twitter friends (thanks to Atherton Artelby for the link)

Happy Friday the 13th from FridayFlakes!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:25 AM   5 comments



Thursday, February 12, 2009
think before you tweet



A reporter for the National Post who either doesn't understand Twitter, or doesn't understand basic human interaction (or both) posted a series of completely embarrassing and unprofessional tweets to Marketing consultant April Dunford (pictured above).

April didn't call him back as quickly as he would have liked. So he chastised her on the phone. She tweeted about the exchange (without naming him), and then things went south. Real south. See the entire exchange on MediaStyle. Yikes.

From Social Media 411

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:27 AM   1 comments



Wednesday, February 11, 2009
lost gets the most tweets for tv



NewTeeVee is using Trendrr to track the number of tweets on major television shows. Last week, Lost was the big winner, although the Grammy's had a nice night of Twitter glory. (You can bet that MIA's maternity dress generated a significant portion of those tweets.)

It's cool to see TV tracked by the power of internet conversation. Hopefully the network Brand Managers are paying attention. Regardless, you should add some sweet Trendrr graphs to your next PowerPoint presentation, and impress your coworkers.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:11 AM   0 comments



Monday, February 09, 2009
got a couch? will tweet for food.



Paul Smith is a freeloading Twitter-using wanderer on an adventure that is appropriately described as Twitchiking. He's traveling the globe at the mercy of his Twitter followers. And there's a charity involved, too. He's got a blog to detail his travels beyond 140 characters, and he's scheduled to kick off his trip on March 1.

Got a place for Paul to stay? Want to buy airfare? You know where to find him. From Truemors.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:56 AM   0 comments




find your valentine on twitter



Have a crush on one of your Twitter friends? Compare your Twitter love interests, and see if you're compatible! Be my Valentwine lets you check your compatibility with other Tweeters. Use it to find twue love or use it to match up your friends.

From Atherton Artelby, via Twitter. Duh.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:10 AM   0 comments



Tuesday, February 03, 2009
the kinds of people who are found on twitter



Andy at A Million Monkeys Typing found a comprehensive guide to the types of people that you'll find on Twitter:

+ people who are just back from a really awesome run
+ people who have forgotten how to text
+ people who are involved in "social networking" and optimizing the power of re-Tweeting and "computers"
+ people who really like the news
+ people who are cold
+ Shaquille O'Neal
+ people who are concerned about the collapse of the publishing industry
+ people who are about to go for a run
+ people who are mad about Twitter

Sadly, I've contributed/been a part of this list on more than one occasion. You?

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:01 AM   3 comments



Tuesday, January 27, 2009
watch the superbowl with your social media friends



Because your friends are all about the game. And your extended family is just annoying. And you want to talk about the ads. And comment. And see what other people like you are saying.

Not to worry...during the Superbowl, turn on your Twitter machine of choice and add the hashtag #superads09 to the end of any superbowl ad related tweet.

Then turn to the handy Adrants Twitter channel and see what all of your cool friends are saying. Details here. Start now.

(Or, if you're one of those people that's all "they don't make Superbowl spots like they used to,", then go check out the AdLand archive of every superbowl spot. Ever.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:00 AM   0 comments



Thursday, January 22, 2009
brands that get it, on twitter



What?? Your boss hasn't allocated sixty katrillion dollars to a social media marketing campaign?? She doesn't believe that brands are using it? Mashable is here to save the day, with a profile of 40 brands that are rocking Twitter to the best of their ability.

They've profiled each of the brands, and had them answer a handful of questions...in 140 characters or less, of course. Send it to your boss, and then ask for a raise.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:39 AM   2 comments



Wednesday, January 21, 2009
history and tweets, side by side



If you ever get the opportunity to tour the CNN Center in Atlanta, you'll see a really cool exhibit that charts CNN viewership alongside world events. The graph is a pretty sweet way of illustrating history.

I believe that we can now do the same with Twitter. According to their own blog, there were 5x normal tweets-per-second and about 4x tweets-per-minute during the inauguration yesterday. The graph tells the story.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:22 AM   0 comments



Friday, January 16, 2009
friday flakes episode two



Here's episode two of Friday Flakes! Today's Friday Flakes is hosted by RJ and Darryl.

In this week's episode, we talk about:
+ A crazified, cold and gummi-less week at Plaid.
+ Darryl's zombie thumbnail

We highlight two posts from BrandFlakes:
+ A pirate store helps a non-profit
+ Yet another social media network that Caff and Dirk turned us onto

In the world of social media, we chat about:
+ The Facebook vs Burger King faceoff
+ How Twitter broke the plane crash story

We're still troubled with audio issues, but refuse to use any of our pro equipment. We're attempting to produce these episodes with Flip cameras - virtually eliminating all setup, digitizing and editing. Our goal is to produce an entire show from start to finish within 30 minutes, and zero editing. This is something we'll consider to discuss and experiment with - and your ideas are welcome!

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:22 PM   0 comments




a list of ad industry tweeters



I can't stand Twitter lists or rankings. And once you're knee deep in tweets you'll understand that they're typically worthless. The value of Twitter is all in the quality and relationships of the people you follow. Not a number.

That said, one of the questions we always hear from new Twitter friends is "how do I find good people to follow?"

Armando Alves has attempted to create a ranking of the Twitter users who also have Advertising Age Power 150 blogs (a list we're proud to be on). Armado calls his list the Twitter Power 150 (we just cracked the top 100 of this list, too).

Use this list as a starting point to find people that interest you. You've already got one thing in common: an interest in the ad industry.

Thanks, Todd (who by the way, is a hilariously fun person to follow.)

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:38 AM   3 comments



Friday, January 09, 2009
Introducing friday flakes



We're going to try this podcast thing. Here's our goal:
+ A quick ten minute-ish clip from the makers of Brand Flakes for Breakfast.
+ Hosted each week by two Plaid employees, and posted every Friday.
+ A little bit about the industry, cool stuff we've noticed, and life at Plaid.
+ Un-rehearsed, quick and dirty, no editing, just sit down and chat.

Our first episode is above. This week, we talk about:
+ Returning from a long, long holiday break.
+ CES and MacWorld
+ Robert Scoble stuck on a bus.
+ David Armano makes social media magic.

And we highlight three posts we thought were interesting this week:
- A cool way to do testimonials
- Some new thinking on "free"
- How not to be a tweetscumbag

We've already torn the first episode to pieces and know what we'll do better next week. This is absolutely a work in progress. But what about you? What should we do more of? Less of? Get better at?

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 2:05 PM   7 comments



Wednesday, January 07, 2009
don't be the dumbass on twitter



If you're new to Twitter, or thinking about jumping in and finding out what all the hub bub is all about, then you'll want to read this post on Mashable about followers.

There are hundreds or thousands of people touting Twitter success, counting followers, and proclaiming themselves as experts...with about twelve weeks of experience.

So if you don't want to be the dumbass at the party, take Atherton's advice, and be yourself. Be interesting. And don't stress over followers. (Oh, and don't act like that sleazy insurance sales dude, at the party.)

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:34 AM   2 comments



Wednesday, December 31, 2008
twitter: stops rust and improves gas mileage



Just in case your boss still believes Twitter is for twits, here's yet another great story on Twitter saving the day for an ad campaign.

From HughBriss (via Twitter, of course.)

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:53 AM   0 comments




pass this to your friend who's in danger of losing her job



Church of the Customer has some outstanding advice on how to deal with a layoff: Start your prep well before the layoff ever happens.

They suggest taking three steps that will help position you better in the marketplace, should your job disappear:
1. Blog
2. Tweet
3. Join niche communities.

The coolest thing? Even if you're NOT losing your job, these actions can help you in your current position. Now's the time for making resolutions, right?

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:34 AM   0 comments



Tuesday, December 30, 2008
donuts are on twitter. are you?



Even now, after like six examples a day, you're still unsure of what your brand could be doing on Twitter?

Here's another great piece about how companies are using the tool to help their brands. This post talks to Dunkin' Dave (Dunkin Donuts), Scott Monty (Ford Motors), Tony Hsieh (Zappos) and other professional Tweeters to profile how they've used Twitter to help their brands. (In the land of the future, we'll be able to deliver donuts through tweets. Mmmmm.)

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:05 AM   0 comments



Monday, December 29, 2008
use a slow week to experiment



If you've promised yourself that you'll spend at least some of your holiday time digging into social media, here's a great place to get started: Mashable points to a kabillion and a half how-to's on everything from Facebook to Twitter to Google to everything else.

This is the perfect week to get your feet wet. Try something that you haven't had the time to do all year long, but have been meaning to. Or try something you've been hearing some buzz about.

Regardless of your social media expertise, there's definitely something that you haven't given as much attention (or experimentation) to, as you could have. Why work, when you can explore?

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:58 AM   0 comments



Thursday, December 18, 2008
careful of what you tweet



Here's a funny story and a reminder of how Twitter lets everyone know exactly where you are. Kind of.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:59 AM   0 comments



Tuesday, December 16, 2008
follow santa on twitter



If you've always loved following Santa's route via the NORAD tracking system, then you'll love the fact that they're tweeting it this year too. Now you can really follow Santa.

(found via a Twitter friend, but I can't remember who now...sorry.)

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:55 AM   0 comments



Tuesday, December 02, 2008
your holiday gifts can now communicate via twitter



Spent a load of cash celebrating cyber Monday yesterday? Have a load of goodies on the way to your house? Wouldn't it be great if they could 'tweet' you about their location?

They can!! Thanks to TrackThis, you'll get tweets when your package leaves the warehouse, arrives in the distribution center, gets on the delivery truck, and when it's delivered to your door.

This is one of the most awesome Twitter tools yet. Found on HeyStephanie.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:08 AM   4 comments



Monday, November 17, 2008
mommy, what's a twadturd?



If you're participating in the Twitterverse, you understand that there's a language to accompany the experience. You post tweets on Twitter, for the benefit of the twitterverse. Maybe you even become a Twitdict.

How do you keep up with the language of Twitter? By following the TwitDictionary. On Twitter, of course.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:19 AM   2 comments




motrin's mommy mess



On Friday, Motrin launched a new campaign geared toward mommies, that referred to "baby wearing" as a trend that could could cause them personal pain. Lots of mommies disagree. And they started talking about it. And tweeting about it. And blogging about it. You could say that this weekend was Motrin-mommy-fest in the social media world.

There's a video devoted to the distaste for the campaign. A collection of tweets and links related to the distaste for the campaign. And countless blog posts. And as of the writing of this post - THEIR SITE IS DOWN, likely because it wasn't prepared to handle the onslaught of traffic.

So what did Motrin do wrong? They launched a creative execution that pissed some moms off. And they weren't listening to the internet over the weekend.

Realistically, no person's life is at stake here. This is not a 'stop the organization' emergency. But it's going to be very important to listen. And to respond.

Parents tell their teens that "the internet is permanent. Be careful of what you post there." Here's just one list of negative blog posts about Motrin. That's a permanently recorded negative response from a very large crowd of moms. Yikes. It will be quite interesting to see how Motrin deals with this, during the week.

In the end, what people will likely remember is how they handled it. Not the campaign itself, or the fact that they didn't have their Twitter ears on over a weekend.

What can you learn from this?
+ Be active in social media. Or have an agency that is monitoring it for you.
+ Social media doesn't stop at 5pm on Friday.
+ Have an emergency plan, or the ability to respond quickly to an audience. A blog is nice for this.
+ Mommies really enjoy 'wearing' babies.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:53 AM   3 comments



Tuesday, November 04, 2008
pr students: everything you need to know



Twitter buddy Brad Ward is speaking to a bunch of college PR students. So naturally, he sent a tweet asking:

"HEY!!!! If you had 133 characters to tell a class of PR college students something, what would it be? Tag it #jr342. Thanks!! And retweet."

The results are pretty amazing. Tweets from across the globe came in within a matter of hours, with wise advice that couldn't possibly be duplicated in any textbook, professor's lecture or general internet search. Students: bookmark this, and refer back to it, often.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:47 AM   4 comments



Monday, November 03, 2008
if only everything could be done in 140 characters



Jared Goralnick has a wonderous post about the beauty of Twitter, and communicating in 140 characters or less.

(And look! I still have 27 characters left!!)

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:19 AM   0 comments



Monday, October 13, 2008
twitter for journalists



Herd points to Reporting On, a Twitter like tool for reporters. You tweet about what you're working on, and anyone with a lead can chime in and help. Across the globe. Even bloggers.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:16 AM   0 comments



Tuesday, October 07, 2008
twitter releases new spam fighting tool



You're on Twitter, tweeting away to the twitterverse, and you get a notification of a new follower. Hooray! Except a quick check on the follower shows they're following about 2,359 people, and only 4 people are following them. Every single one of their tweets points to their stupid blog on "how to quit your day job and make a fortune at home, while losing weight and having more sex"

Twitter feels your pain. So they've created a spam fighter. Just follow Spam, and send a direct message (or a reply) with the evil spammer's Twitter name, and they'll take care of it! From Techcrunch. You can continue tweeting now.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:08 AM   1 comments



Monday, October 06, 2008
the hottest agency ever



There's a new agency in town. After Plaid, this could very well be the agency to end all agencies*.

And the Twitter Agency was built with Twitter. Laurel Papworth noted that Vodafone was putting their $30 million account up for pitch to agencies. Laurie wondered if her and her Twitter friends could do a better job. One thing led to another and....well, they haven't won the account yet, but this is something to watch. She's essentially crowd-sourced 61 brilliant social media thinkers together in the matter of a few hours.

And it's not too late for you to join in on the fun. This could soon become the largest agency in the world. And then, we'll begin to buy up other agencies. And then we'll invest heavily in other stuff. And then we'll make a mistake, and run out of money. But it will all be ok, because we'll get a bailout. Or we'll tweet a bailout. Maybe I'm getting ahead of things, but you can see the potential. This is our Twitter future.

*People like DirkTheCow or Charlie or (your name here) might think the third best agency.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:44 AM   1 comments



Wednesday, October 01, 2008
popular words during the debate



Twitter has analyzed the popular words tweeted during last week's Presidential debate. "Iraq" was a super popular word. More absolutely meaningless information that you totally needed. See if you could work this into a PowerPoint presentation today.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:41 AM   0 comments



Friday, September 26, 2008
how to watch the debates tonight



If you've watched any major televised event while also watching your Twitter stream, you understand that it brings the viewing experience to a whole new level. Imagine a tv viewing party with about 600 of your favorite friends.

CurrentTV realizes the value, and will be broadcasting a tweet stream simultaneous with their broadcast of the debate. Holy sweetalicious social media TV!! (I swear this was my idea, btw.)

You only need to add "#current" to the end of your tweet, to have it broadcast. I'll definitely be trying this out (although I'm not really sure if we get CurrentTV at home).

If that zombie dude shows up, this is going to be a blast.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:50 AM   0 comments



Wednesday, September 24, 2008
what obama should be doing



The other night, while tweeting to a friend that "Obama should should turn solar energy into his version of putting a man on the moon." , I discovered that someone's collecting every tweet in the world that includes the words "Obama should".

You can see them all together on the Obama Should Twitter page. Tweet your own Obama should tweet, and you'll show up in the stream, too. Or follow and find out what everyone else believes Obama should be doing. This is a great idea for a brand promotion...

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:56 AM   0 comments



Thursday, September 18, 2008
five friend types of social media



Mashable has categorized all of the friends that you keep in your social networks into five handy groups. This is a good primer for someone that's new to social media, and might not understand the types of relationships that are possible.

I believe it goes deeper than five categories, although the cocktail party analogy is a good one. I could meet someone at a party tonight that could very well become my best friend for life. Or a new business partner. Or who will introduce me to a new client. However real friendship is more complex than that.

I have clients, vendors and associates who I would trust with the keys to my house, or one of my children. And I have personal friends that I wouldn't allow to drive my car, or lend $20 to. Unfortunately, not everyone fits into a bucket so easily. So it's not that you need to organize or tag your friends into folders, but perhaps it's good to understand what's possible.

If nothing else, they'll serve as five sweet bullets in your PowerPoint presentation about social media. Enjoy.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:56 AM   1 comments



Wednesday, September 17, 2008
is that a penis, or are you just happy to tweet me?

There's a new site tearing up the twitterverse. Twenis takes random Twitter posts and replaces certain words with "penis" and then republishes the tweet. Hilarity ensues. You can follow them on Twitter, of course.

(I couldn't think of a graphic to go with this post that would get through your firewall. Just imagine there's a photo of a Twenis, up above this post.) From BuzzFeed.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:28 AM   0 comments



Monday, September 15, 2008
tech crunch 50. the yammering starts now.



Now that TechCrunch 50 is over, it's time to review the list and see what's hot, what's happening and what works.

The big winner in the bunch is Yammer - a Twitterish tool made just for the people within your company. This has got to be a wonderous tool for big companies, but we think it has value for small firms, too. We're using it to share quick ideas, thoughts and stuff that might not be worthy of a group email, but worthy of discussion or chat. Other firms seem to be doing the same.

We've done a quick review (meaning we looked at the descriptions and clicked through to the sites) of the other TechCrunch 50 companies, and here's the stuff we like:

Schryk
LiveHit
Devunity
OtherInBox
Me-trics
iCharts
Dropbox
Closet Couture
TrueCar

Want to learn more? Watch all of the videos. It's the next best thing to being there. Interesting side note: All the good urls are gone. If you're starting a brand, it's almost a necessity to invent a word, or have a url that's a string of words.

What are you loving from the fab 50?

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:46 AM   0 comments



Monday, September 08, 2008
tally: video with twitter is really cool.



We have a client Tally (I'd say that I've changed her name here, to protect the innocent, but I haven't). Tally loves reading our blog. Except for when we post videos. Because they're too disruptive to the work flow. Because you know - you can kind of work, participate in a conference call, and sort of half pay attention while reading blog posts. (You do the same thing. Admit it.) But video is different. Video requires most of your attention. And that's where Tally draws the line.

The social media developments in video this year have been nothing short of amazing. So many wonderful tools, and so many possibilities. The other day, I posted on 12 seconds, a tool that lets you record 12 second video clips.

Viddler just upped the ante. You can record 15 seconds of video with Viddler. But it's not the 3 seconds that makes the difference. It's how Viddler integrated their tool with Twitter. Viddler and Twitter. Together. So now you can post a quick video clip and tweet it at the same time. That's video-micro-blogging awesomeness.

Tally: stop working. Forget about productivity. Your company will run itself. You should just spend more time goofing off, and watching videos. I believe you may enjoy this one.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:23 AM   2 comments



Friday, August 29, 2008
another tool for twitter users to obsess over



One of the downsides of Twitter, blogs and other social media tools is that they bring a gross personality trait to the surface that used to be reserved for "the populars" in high school. People obsessing over the number of followers that they've amassed, the traffic they pulled, and other measures of how "popular" they are, versus the real connections, friendships and bonds that they're making.

These people will rejoice with a new tool that rates their Twitter performance. Twitter Grader lets you "measure your Twitter mojo." Yech. Another measurement to obsess over. To compare against others. Watch for the many tweets about the obsessor's scores, and theories on how to increase their scores.

My advice: Ignore it all. Share. Connect. Help others. Be a part of a community - paying no attention to scores, rankings or who's dating the cheerleading captain this weekend.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:42 AM   4 comments




everything you ever wanted to know about any website




QuarkBase is a sweet new tool that compiles all of the available information about any website. From the whois registration info, Alexa traffic, popularity on linking sites, and even the latest tweets about the site, from across the twitterverse. Really, really handy.

From Startupmeme, via Twitter

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:23 AM   2 comments



Tuesday, August 26, 2008
madmen not the real madmen?



We've posted before about the MadMen using "tools of the future."

You've got to start following the cast. This is becoming more entertaining by the minute. Alan Wolk reports that it's not an AMC project. And that characters are being taken down, likely at the request of AMC. (Like my girl @peggyolsen - who has re-appeared as @peggy_olsen. Because she's got tenacity like that.)

Perhaps it's all the work of a fan? If that's the case, AMC needs to admit they missed the opportunity and let it go. Punishing the fans for doing what you could have been doing in the first place won't make it better. Embrace brand fans. Don't be bitter because they beat you to the social media party.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:37 AM   0 comments



Tuesday, August 19, 2008
yes virginia, there is a twitter wish fairy.



Well, hopefully the actual wish fairy is a cute girl in a white dress. But maybe you're into wish fairies that look like this dude. We don't judge.

If you don't have the email address of an actual wish fairy, but would like to know what people are wishing for, you may want to follow Twishes on Twitter.

Twishes is a twitter stream that pulls tweets that feature the word "wish". So you can view the stream and get the pulse of the wish trends across the world.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:40 AM   1 comments



Monday, August 18, 2008
madmen using tools of the future



Are you a fan of MadMen, the retro tv show dedicated to the advertising industry of the glorious 60's? Back when people smoked and drank and had sex in the workplace? Back when people used phones and paper?

Now you can stay in touch with one of the show's characters, Don Draper, by following him on Twitter.

This is a very clever use of Twitter, and other television/film properties should pay attention. Well done. From BrandNew, via Twitter. Duh.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:11 AM   2 comments



Monday, August 11, 2008
stuff that i learned on tour: listen to smart people

We met a boatload of really smart, creative and inspiring people while on the PlaidNation tour this summer. I'm stoked to share with you interviews with three of those people - and three people that I really admire - Robert Scoble, Biz Stone and Cathy Brooks.



Robert Scoble actually invited us into his home. In this interview, we talk to Robert about a personal brands, social media, haters, and his Twitter-stream.



Biz Stone was an awesome host for the Plaid crew, at the brand new Twitter digs, in San Francisco. In this interview, we learn about the origination the fun and unique illustration work now synonymous with the Twitter brand, and how the fail whale came to be a celebrated, fun symbol of - failure.



Cathy Brooks is one of the many recognizable faces of Seesmic. Cathy gave us the royal tour of Seesmic headquarters, and then we sat back in some comfy FatBoys to chat about Seesmic, and how brands could use this wonderful tool in their marketing plans.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:07 AM   0 comments



Wednesday, August 06, 2008
tweet your bank account



Here's an innovative use of Twitter - by the financial industry.

Wesabe, a financial planning/organizational tool now allows you to tweet your Wesabe account, and record notes about transactions. Just bought lunch with a client? Tweet "add to business expense" and you'll be able to sort it all out later. From best Twitter friend Ben Kunz.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:21 AM   1 comments



Tuesday, August 05, 2008
protect your identity. unless you have oil money.



Someone's tweeting as Exxon on Twitter - and it's not Exxon. Sure, Exxon has the luxury oil money, that would allow them to buy Twitter and shut it down. Or buy the town of the person that's Tweeting and shut it down, or buy every computer of every person and block Twitter. But you probably don't have that kind of oil money.

So you might want to protect your brand on Twitter before it gets hijacked. Even if you're not sure how to use it today. (And if you don't, maybe you should get an agency who does. ;p)

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:57 AM   3 comments



Tuesday, July 29, 2008
sadly, this is necessary



Maximizing downtime is awesome. And what better way to maximize your downtime than being productive when you're walking from point A to point B. Thanks to your lovely iPhone, you can now email/text/tweet while walking down the street. Only one problem: Obstacles.

Pedestrian obstacles are no problem, because you can just plow through them, and snarl as you tweet down the sidewalk. But street poles. Nothing stops a good tweet or text message like a light pole in the forehead.

Thankfully, Chicago will be installing padded lampposts. We need these everywhere. And yes, that's sad. But there are important twitter moments just waiting to be documented.

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posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:28 AM   1 comments





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