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Tag: tweets

  • Twitter Tops 500 Million Users; “Users” is a Loose Term, of Course

    Social media “users,” as we are all well aware, can have quite the variance to the amount of “use” they give to the social network in question. Not only that, but the word “user” doesn’t even necessitate any human element.

    So, with thoughts of bots and inactive human users rattling around your brain, it looks like Twitter has finally crossed the 500 million user mark.

    That’s the news according to analyst group Semiocast, who says that Twitter crossed the half a billion user threshold back in June. They also say that 140 million of those users are from the United States.

    By comparison, Facebook just reported in their Q2 earnings that they now have 955 million “active” users. That’s a monthly figure, as the daily active users tally is around 552 million.

    Back in September of 2011, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo said that there were 100 million active Twitter users. And in March of this year, as Twitter celebrated their 6th birthday, they announced that there were 140 million active users. If we do a little math and assume that the growth rate stayed roughly the same, we can assume that there would be about 160 million active Twitter users by now.

    So, the discrepancy between this figure and the 500 million figure is all about “users” vs. “accounts.” If Semiocast found over 500 million accounts and Twitter’s growth rate in active users hasn’t skyrocketed since March of 2012, that means that there are a whole hell of a lot of worthless and bot Twitter accounts out there. A pretty hefty majority, actually.

    Other fun facts from the Semiocast study:

    • Japan, while growth is slowing, still remains the second most Twitter-happy countries.  They post 10.6% of all public tweets, worldwide.
    • People only tag tweets with a location 0.77% of the time
    • Arabic usage is growing on Twitter, as it’s now the 6th most popular language on the site.  I’m sure this has something to do with Twitter launching in right-to-left languages (including Arabic) back in March.
    Also, here are the top tweeting cities in the world, according to their data:

  • Michael Phelps Just Needs To Channel Walter White, Says Bryan Cranston

    Who really knows what happened to Michael Phelps over the weekend at the London Olympics? Could his disappointing fourth place finish in the 400m Individual Medley signal that the once-unstoppable medal machine has lost a step stroke? Is there something more sinister going on – perhaps something a little more mental? Or did he just have a crappy race – because, you know, people sometimes just have crappy races?

    Either way, his falter made way for teammate Ryan Lochte to take home the Gold in the event. And Phelps was congratulatory, tweeting “Way to keep that title in the country where it belongs!!”

    But Phelps isn’t done, as he has a few more chances to get on the podium (as an individual) in 2012. And if he knows what’s good for him, he’ll probably take the advice of Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston.

    Cranston just wants Phelps to “be the danger”:

    Sound advice: Break the plane just like Walter White breaks up a tray of Blue Sky.

    Hopefully, when Phelps wakes up, he’ll see this tweet and channel his inner Mr. White. The Olympics, meth dealing – it’s all just a game, right?

  • Greek Olympian Banned For Racist Tweet Thinks Her Punishment Was Excessive

    Voula Papachristou, the Greek triple-jumper whose distasteful tweets earned her a swift exit from this year’s Olympic games, thinks that she was treated unfairly.

    Earlier this week, Papachristou was expelled from competing at the London games for tweeting this to her 9,000 followers:

    With so many Africans in Greece … at least the West Nile mosquitos will eat homemade food!!!

    That tweet drew the attention of the Greek Olympic Committee, who promptly dismissed Papachristou from the national team. She issued a lengthy apology (in English) via Twitter, but it was too late to save her position on the squad.

    I would like to express my heartfelt apologies for the unfortunate and tasteless joke I published on my personal Twitter account. I am very sorry and ashamed for the negative responses I triggered, since I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach human rights.

    My dream is connected to the Olympic Games and I could not possibly participate if I did not respect their values. Therefore, I could never believe in discrimination between human beings and races.

    I would like to apologize to all my friends and fellow athletes, who I may have insulted or shamed, the National Team, as well as the people and companies who support my athletic career. Finally, I would like to apologize to my coach and my family.

    Now, Papachristou is speaking out. According to her, the committee’s actions were both rash and harsh.

    “After so many years of hurt and sacrifices to try and get to my first Olympics I am very bitter and upset. But what has upset me the most is the excessive reaction and speed of the disciplinary decision,” she said. “”I don’t know if they want to make an example out of me because of my profile, this is for others to judge, but what I believe is that they used their maximum disciplinary power on me for this. They went straight to the final stage in excluding me from the team, which was highly excessive.”

    Social media has been the downfall of many athletes. Papachristou isn’t the first, and she won’t be the last. Whether or not she deserved to be banned outright from participation is up for debate, but it remains as a cautionary tale for anyone that uses Twitter. No matter who you are, and no matter how hard you worked for something, a couple keystrokes can ruin everything in a flash.

    Chalk it up to the perils of social media.

    [via The Guardian]

  • Olympics Opening Ceremony: U.S. Fans Should Follow Along On Twitter

    Unfortunately for Olympic fans in the United States, the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics is underway and they can’t watch it live. That’s because NBC is not showing the ceremony live – either on TV or streaming online.

    Luckily, Twitter can help.

    Twitter has set up a dedicated page for the Olympics, which you can access here. This page is similar to other event pages that Twitter set up for NASCAR events and the Euro 2012 Championships.

    The dedicated Olympics page will feature tweets in real time, and they will be curated with the help of an algorithm in order to bring you the most relevant, timely updates.

    For instance:

    You can also browse the #openingceremony hashtag, where I’ve found plenty of media-rich tweets.

    NBC, with the help of YouTube, will stream the rest of the 2012 games free online.

  • Medusa, Orange Nail Polish, and Chick-fil-A

    Twitter is a wonderful place for one-liners. To be funny on the site, you’ve got to be sharp and practice economy of language. You’ve only got 140 characters to make an impression.

    And what better way to wind-down the work day than with a selection of some of the day’s most entertaining tweets.

    Enjoy!

  • London Olympics Gets Its Own Dedicated Twitter Page

    Tonight, the 2012 Summer Olympics officially kicks off with the opening ceremony, and the social media buzz is already at a fever pitch. According to Twitter, more tweets are coming in about the London Games in a single day than did regarding the entire Beijing games in 2008. Of course, this probably isn’t so much of an indicator of which games were the most popular or anticipated – but more of a commentary on the growth of Twitter in the past 4 years.

    Anyway, Twitter wants to be the go to place for all of the up-to-date news and analysis about the 2012 Olympics. To the end, they’ve partnered with NBC to launch a dedicated Olympics event page, which you can access at twitter.com/hashtag/olympics.

    From the Twitter blog:

    This page will highlight Tweets from athletes, coaches, teams, families, NBC personalities, fans, and many other Olympic insiders. When those nail-biting, riveting, and emotional moments unfold, you’ll see and hear directly from all of those who are closest to the action.

    Like similar pages that Twitter set up for NASCAR events and the Euro 2012 championship, the dedicated Olympics page wont simply cull every tweet that hashtags “#Olympics.” The tweets will be a hand/algorithmically chosen set of tweets that are the the most interesting and informative.

  • Twitter Jokes About Blowing Up Airports: Now OK in the U.K.

    If you’re traveling around the U.K. and something pisses you off so much that you jokingly tweeting that you’re going to blow an airport “sky high” – have no fear. That’s because there is now precedent for the legality of your statements.

    A 28-year-old Northern Ireland man has won an appeal and had a prior conviction overturned by the High Court in London. His earlier conviction, which occurred in 2010, stemmed from a tweet he made at the Robin Hood Airport near Doncaster.

    Admittedly frustrated by the fact that the airport’s service were closed for snow, Paul Chambers sent out a tweet saying:

    Crap! Robin Hood airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!!

    Of course, Chambers declared that the tweet was just a joke said in a moment of severe frustration. But in May 2010, he was convicted of sending a “menacing electronic communication.” His first appeal went nowhere. But this time, the judge agreed that the tweet was clearly a joke, and not menacing at all.

    And let’s be honest here – this kind of tweet would be highly unusual for someone planning true terroristic activity.

    Through the ordeal, Chambers has some friends in high places – including actor and comedian Stephen Fry. He tweeted his support for Chambers throughout his appeal process, using the hashtag #twitterjoketrial.

    “I am relieved, vindicated – it is ridiculous it ever got this far,” Chambers told the BBC.

    [Via BBC]

  • Google Fiber, Pandora, and Arthur Balcony

    Google Fiber, Pandora, and Arthur Balcony

    Twitter is a wonderful place for one-liners. To be funny on the site, you’ve got to be sharp and practice economy of language. You’ve only got 140 characters to make an impression.

    And what better way to wind-down the work day than with a selection of some of the day’s most entertaining tweets.

    Enjoy!

  • Kim Jong-Un, Chick-fil-A, and Sleep Number Beds

    Twitter is a wonderful place for one-liners. To be funny on the site, you’ve got to be sharp and practice economy of language. You’ve only got 140 characters to make an impression.

    And what better way to wind-down the work day than with a selection of some of the day’s most entertaining tweets.

    Enjoy!

  • These Celebrities Are Hurt By Your Hateful Tweets

    Twitter, even more so than Facebook or other forms of social media, allows celebrities the opportunity to interact with the general public in a genuinely real way. If you tweet @ a celeb, there’s a decent chance that you’ll get a reply (depending on who it is and how inundated they are with mentions). If the particular celebrity owns and operates their own accounts (instead of outsourcing the job), then you are actually having a conversation with the star. To many fans, it’s an exciting feeling.

    But that, of course, is the good side of the open dialogue Twitter provides.

    Naturally, there will be haters. And Twitter is the perfect place to go if, as one of the little people, you want to sh*t all over someone famous.

    But just remember: You’re not just slinging vile venom at an avatar. There is a real person behind that Twitter account, and your tweets hurt them. Unless you’re Kenny Powers, in which case you may not really give a f*ck.

    One of the best Jimmy Kimmel segments is back, as more celebrities read mean tweets about themselves. Part two sports an impressive cast of star like Katy Perry, Kristen Stewart, Danny McBride, Larry King, and Justin Bieber.

    Check it out below:

  • Amelia Earhart, The Olympics, and Tang

    Twitter is a wonderful place for one-liners. To be funny on the site, you’ve got to be sharp and practice economy of language. You’ve only got 140 characters to make an impression.

    And what better way to wind-down the work day than with a selection of some of the day’s most entertaining tweets.

    Enjoy!

  • Kristen Stewart, Penn State, and Barbecue

    Twitter is a wonderful place for one-liners. To be funny on the site, you’ve got to be sharp and practice economy of language. You’ve only got 140 characters to make an impression.

    And what better way to wind-down the work day than with a selection of some of the day’s most entertaining tweets.

    Enjoy!

  • Girl Who Tweeted The Names Of Her Rapists Faces Jail Time [UPDATED]

    As we’ve seen in the past, social media can add some complications to the normal flow of legal proceedings. In recent months, we’ve seen court cases wind up declared mistrials because of the social media activity of jury members.

    Now, it’s the alleged victim in a legal case that’s taking heat for her Twitter activity. Seventeen-year-old Savannah Dietrich of Louisville, Kentucky is facing up to 180 days in jail and $500 fine for a series of tweets she made regarding an open case.

    The Courier Journal reports that Dietrich, who was reportedly the subject of a sexual assault where two young men violated her while she was under the influence and then circulated photos of the event, was upset about what she felt was the unfair plea bargain that the two men received.

    She took to Twitter, where she named the two boys that allegedly assaulted her, saying,

    “There you go, lock me up. I’m not protecting anyone that made my life a living Hell.”

    Another tweet read: “Protect rapist is more important than getting justice for the victim in Louisville.”

    The two boys’ attorneys want the trial Judge to hold Dietrich in contempt, as she has violated a court order to keep confidentiality.

    The defendants have both already plead guilty, but received what amounts to a “slap on the wrist,” according to Dietrich. “So many of my rights have been taken away by these boys. I’m at the point, that if I have to go to jail for my rights, I will do it. If they really feel it’s necessary to throw me in jail for talking about what happened to me as opposed to throwing these boys in jail for what they did to me, then I don’t understand justice.”

    Two different Facebook pages have already been set up in support of Dietrich. “Savannah Dietrich is a victim of Sexual Assault, upon doing the right thing and naming the men who assaulted her, she is being wrongfully punished. Please spread the word,” reads the page Help Savannah Dietrich.

    There’s also a petition on popular online petition site Change.org. They are calling on the Kentucky District Court Judge on the case to dismiss the charges of Dietrich for tweeting the names of her attackers.

    It reads:

    She tweeted the names of her attackers anyway, likely feeling that it is wrong for anyone to get away for what they did to her. Now, she may face jail time for “contempt” because she stated who attacked her. Her punishment may be up to 180 days in jail and a $500 fine. This girl has already been traumatized and abused by her attackers. Now they want to violate her rights and ability to control her body again by putting her in prison, and the twisted laws are on their side.

    Please sign to tell Judge Dee McDonald, stand with rape victims, not their attackers. For too long, rape and assault have gone unreported and un prosecuted. Please do not send Savannah to jail for standing up for herself.

    Whether or not your think that Dietrich was right in her actions or that she violated the law, the only thing that’s certain is that cases like this are only going to increase as more and more people have access to public forums like Facebook and Twitter.

    UPDATE: As of Monday afternoon, defense attorneys for the two boys have withdrawn the motion to hold Dietrich in contempt for tweeting their clients’ names. Since the names have already been tweeted, one defense attorney told the Courier Journal, ““What could contempt do now? Seems like a rather useless exercise doesn’t it?”

  • This Classless Tweet Will Probably Cost Celeb Boutique Some Business [UPDATED]

    Unless you’ve completely avoided the internet and television today, you’re aware that the early morning hours saw a devastatingly senseless and brutal crime take place in Aurora, Colorado.

    During a screening of The Dark Knight Rises, a 24-year-old man opened fire on a crowded theater, killing a confirmed 12 people and injuring 38 more (including a 3-moth-old baby). According to reports, the gunman was armed with tear gas, an AR-15 knockoff, a shotgun, and two Glock handguns.

    The suspect was captured without resistance.

    As the nation mourns the tragedy, people have been taking to Twitter to express their grief and support for the people of Aurora. And as generally happens when the entire country is talking about one topic, a trending tag was born.

    And whoever is running the Twitter account for online clothing retailer Celeb Boutique decided to jump on the trending tag of #Aurora:

    Yeah, I don’t think that’s what people are talking about. But then again, the little winky face emoticon would suggest that they’re well aware of that fact.

    Have some class, people. Is it really that hard?

    UPDATE: The tweet has been deleted and Celeb Boutique has labeled it a “misunderstanding”:

    Let’s just hope this was an honest mistake.

    UPDATE 2: It looks like this tale of poor taste has turned into a cautionary tale for PR people – always double check those trending topics:

  • Chick-Fil-A, E-Petitions, and Bluetooth

    Twitter is a wonderful place for one-liners. To be funny on the site, you’ve got to be sharp and practice economy of language. You’ve only got 140 characters to make an impression.

    And what better way to wind-down the work day than with a selection of some of the day’s most entertaining tweets.

    Enjoy!

  • Fred Willard, The Dark Knight Rises, and Kinko’s

    Twitter is a wonderful place for one-liners. To be funny on the site, you’ve got to be sharp and practice economy of language. You’ve only got 140 characters to make an impression.

    And what better way to wind-down the work day than with a selection of some of the day’s most entertaining tweets.

    Enjoy!

  • Rush Limbaugh, Bing, and the PalmPilot

    Rush Limbaugh, Bing, and the PalmPilot

    Twitter is a wonderful place for one-liners. To be funny on the site, you’ve got to be sharp and practice economy of language. You’ve only got 140 characters to make an impression.

    And what better way to wind-down the work day than with a selection of some of the day’s most entertaining tweets.

    Enjoy!

  • Turkey Burgers, David Hasselhoff, and Coffee

    Twitter is a wonderful place for one-liners. To be funny on the site, you’ve got to be sharp and practice economy of language. You’ve only got 140 characters to make an impression.

    And what better way to wind-down the work day than with a selection of some of the day’s most entertaining tweets.

    Enjoy!

  • Twitter for BlackBerry Update Brings Better Tweet Details

    Today’s version 3.1 update to Twitter for BlackBerry focuses on bringing more information and context to individual tweets.

    Any single tweets that you expands to see the details will now features full-res images from pic.twitter.com as well as full RIM maps whenever the tweets is tagged witha location.

    The tweet details screen is also going to show more of the conversation, as it now includes previous tweets and replies. They’ve also also a “retweets” bar under each tweets so users can get a quick look at which users have retweeted their tweets.

    Version 3.1 also brings support for right-to-left languages like Arabic and Hebrew. These languages moved out of Twitter Translation Center back in March. Users also finally have the ability to undo a retweet, just in case they get ahead of themselves or want to reverse a mistake.

    The last update to Twitter for BlackBerry (version 3.0 back in April) gave users the ability to share their previous tweets as BlackBerry Messenger messages. It also let users pull their BBM contacts’ Twitter accounts directly from their BBM profiles.

    Last week Twitter announced Twitter for Nokia, which will expand Twitter to series 40 phones giving the service a borader reach across millions more devices.

    You can download the update here.

  • Breaking Bad, Mitt Romney, and Klondike Bars

    Twitter is a wonderful place for one-liners. To be funny on the site, you’ve got to be sharp and practice economy of language. You’ve only got 140 characters to make an impression.

    And what better way to wind-down the work day than with a selection of some of the day’s most entertaining tweets.

    Enjoy!

  • Bill Cosby, Lemonade, and Rejected Scout Badges

    Twitter is a wonderful place for one-liners. To be funny on the site, you’ve got to be sharp and practice economy of language. You’ve only got 140 characters to make an impression.

    And what better way to wind-down the work day than with a selection of some of the day’s most entertaining tweets.

    Enjoy!