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Tag: tweets

  • Twitter Unveils 2012 Year-in-Review Hub

    As the year-end best-of lists continue to roll in, Twitter is making their foray in chronicling 2012 with an impressive new round-up site called “2012 Year on Twitter.” The site features a series of top metrics as well as more in depth features about stories that played out on Twitter this year. You can access the year-in-review portal here.

    Twitter’s year-in-review hub highlights top tweets, trends, stories, and famous newcomers to the site over the past 12 months. The first section, “Golden Tweets,” highlights the most popular tweets of the year, in terms of retweets and favorites. For instance, you may remember that President Obama’s “four more years” tweet he sent out as the election was decided is the top tweet of the year. Not only that, but it’s the most popular tweet in the history of Twitter. Justin Bieber and the Green Bay Packers’ TJ Lang also had very popular tweets in 2012.

    Twitter also highlights the top trends, split into categories. For example, the top “conversation starter” this year was the hashtag #nowplaying. The top trending sports tag was #nfl, and the top trending political tag was #tcot. It shoudn’t surprise anyone that the most talked about country in 2012 was #syria.

    Twitter’s year-in-review page also showcases all the new faces that joined Twitter in 2012 – from the realms of TV, movies, politics, music, religion/culture, and more. There are also sections called “Pulse of the Planet” and “Only on Twitter” which look at stories and conversation that happend on the network.

    “Every day, we’re amazed and humbled by the many ways in which people use Twitter, which range from simply retweeting to igniting conversations with hashtags (even around lesser-known topics) to sharing spectacular and far-flung views. In 2012, everyone on Twitter brought us closer to moments and places that used to be far away or inaccessible: A Tweet from the bottom of the ocean. Tweets from Mars. An extraordinary view from space of Superstorm Sandy. A quiet backstage moment with a presidential candidate. All of these and millions of other such moments were ours to experience directly wherever we were, in the midst of work or play or travel,” says Twitter.

  • Tchaikovsky, Shazam, and Modern Seinfeld

    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!

  • Chandler Bing, Facebook, and Nicotine Gum

    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!

  • Breakfast Burritos, Apple Maps, and the Germans

    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!

  • Here’s President Obama Tweeting from the White House [VIDEO]

    Earlier this week, President Obama took to Twitter so answer a few questions about the so-called “Fiscal Cliff” that has Republicans and Democrats throwing barbs in Washington.

    And today, the White House posted a behind the scenes look the Q&A session on their YouTube page. If you think that the President wasn’t really tweeting out his answers, well, here’s some video proof. Although I’m pretty sure that any attempt to make it seem like Obama wasn’t answering specific, carefully selected questions is misleading at best. Just like the reddit AMA, Obama and his team know that when taking questions from the internet, you have to be careful and answer the ones that lets you get your message across.

    Either way, it”s fun to see the leader of the free world talking hashtags.

  • FedEx, Kate Middleton, and Meth Recipes

    FedEx, Kate Middleton, and Meth Recipes

    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!

  • Pope, Meet Twitter: Best of the #AskPontifex Hashtag

    As you may have heard, the pope is now on Twitter. Pope Benedict actually sent out his first tweet over a year ago, but it was from an official Vatican account. This time, the pope is opening up his own personal account.

    Well, as “personal” as an official papal account can be. Vatican officials say that all the tweets coming from the account will be the pope’s very own words. But they’ll mostly come from his masses, weekly affirmations and the like.

    Except for the account’s big debut. On December 12th, the pope will begin his time on Twitter by answering select questions from the Twitter population. The Vatican asked users to submit their questions via the #AskPontifex hashtag. As you would imagine, they’re going to have a lot of weeding to do.

    Here are some of the questions that his holiness will probably not be answering in a week’s time:

    Should’ve seen this one coming, fellas.

  • Duck Hunt, Kid Rock, and the Pope

    Duck Hunt, Kid Rock, and the Pope

    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!

  • The Pope Is Now on Twitter (in Eight Languages)

    It’s official: The Pope is now on Twitter.

    @Pontifex, as well as seven other variations of that handle that sport different language tags (Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Polish, Arabic and French) are now active on the site. Although the pope has yet to tweet, he already has over 100,000 followers. That first tweet will take place on December 12th, according to Vatican officials.

    What can you expect from the pope? Well, probably not Instagram photos or #FF suggestions. Apparently the pope will keep the account strictly business, tweeting on “spiritual” matters.

    But Vatican officials are adamant that the pope’s Twitter account will be operated by the pope himself. There will be no ghost tweeter at work. “All the pops’s tweets are the pope’s words. Nobody is going to be putting words into his mouth,” said a Vatican media advisor. Benedict will be tweeting when and what he wants.

    In reality, that means that most of the content being sent out via the Twitter account will come from the pope’s masses and other weekly affirmations. It’s unlikely that the pope will get so into it that he becomes attached to an iPhone with the Twitter app, so his aides will most likely take over the manual tweeting labor.

    Although this is the first time the pope has created his own Twitter account, this isn’t his first run-in with Twitter. Last summer, Pope Benedict tweeted for the first time, sending out a dispatch from the official Vatican News account. He used the first tweet to announce his new blog and to give praise to Jesus Christ, naturally.

    Here’s Benedict tweeting for the first time from an iPad. Here’s to hoping he’s gotten a little more familiar with the technology over the past year:

    [via Reuters]

  • Larry King, North Korea, and Snowflakes

    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!

  • Colonel Mustard, iTunes 11, and Lindsay Lohan

    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!

  • Steve Buscemi, Werther’s Original, and the Lottery

    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!

  • #Unbonjuif: French Group Wants Twitter to Give Up Identities of Anti-Semitic Users

    A French anti-discrimination group is holding Twitter’s feet to the fire, demanding that the social media site reveal the identities of a handful of users who posted anti-Semitic tweets during the lifespan of a racial-charged trending hashtag back in October.

    The French Jewish Students Union (UEJF) has filed a summons against Twitter, hoping that the company will give up the users so that they can be prosecuted under local anti-hate speech laws.

    The tweets in question stem from a particular hashtag that trended on the site a little over a month ago. #unbonjuif, translated in English to mean “a good jew,” led some Twitter users to post inflammatory images, holocaust jokes, and other unsavory messages. For instance, one Twitter user posted a photo of a dustpan alongside the #unbonjuif hashtag – clearly offensive.

    After pressure from the UEJF, Twitter agreed to remove the tweets on their own volition, as well as to wipe tweets containing another controversial hashtag prompting similar tweets about Muslims.

    “Twitter does not mediate content. If we are alerted to content that may be in violation of our terms of service, we will investigate each report and respond according to the policies and procedures outlined in our support pages,” said Twitter in a statement. But the action was seen as a mediation of content by some, although Twitter’s terms clearly gives the company the right to remove any content it wants, really.

    “We reserve the right at all times (but will not have an obligation) to remove or refuse to distribute any Content on the Services,” says Twitter in their TOS. They also state that Twitter users “may not use our service for any unlawful purposes or in furtherance of illegal activities. International users agree to comply with all local laws regarding online conduct and acceptable content.”

    Apparently, deletion of the offending tweets wasn’t enough. The UEJF wants to hold those responsible accountable, and they want Twitter’s help.

    Twitter, who has broadcast their firm support of free speech and user privacy protection in the past, has also made some decisions as of late that have thrown that commitment into question (at least in the eyes of free speech activists). Back in September, Twitter finally gave in the Manhattan D.A.’s office and handed over old, inaccessible tweets of an Occupy Wall Street protester. To be fair to Twitter, they fought it tooth and nail, only caving when facing a hefty fine.

    Back in January, Twitter also gave themselves the ability to locally censor content. “we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country — while keeping it available in the rest of the world. We have also built in a way to communicate transparently to users when content is withheld, and why,” they said.

    It took Twitter nearly nine months to use this ability, when at that time they blocked a neo-Nazi account in Germany only, leaving it accessible for the rest of the world. In the case of the #unbonjuif tweets, Twitter didn’t employ their local censoring tactic – they simply yanked them from the site altogether.

    [France Info via The Next Web]

  • Twitter Fiction Festival Selects Participants, Starts Tomorrow

    Twitter has just announced its official selections for the first ever Twitter Fiction Festival, the social media site’s foray into the world of experimental fiction. Earlier this month, they selected a panel of judges to review submissions which included authors, editors, press marking directors, and educators. That panel has selected 29 different fiction projects that will be showcased from November 28th to December 2nd. Twitter says that these projects span five continents and will come to you in five different languages,

    Here’s a selection of the selections:

    Author Jennifer Wilson (@travelinfamily) will invite Twitter users to help her write epigraphs for gravestones. Posting photographs of the existing stones, the community input will inspire short stories about each of the departed.
    Friday and Sunday at 12noon EST (17:00 GMT)

    “Censortive” is a story by a Chinese author that combines the words “censor” and “sensitive” and will explore the idea of permitted speech in the People’s Republic of China.
    Every night at 2am EST (7:00 GMT)

    The Gronsteins are a modern American family going through a tough time after Dad lost his job. In Ben Schrank’s (@BDSchrank) story, they share a Twitter account from which they chronicle life in their home.
    Wednesday through Saturday at 1pm EST (18:00 GMT)

    Writing in French, Fabrice Colin (@fabricecolin) will bring us the serialized story of five strangers trapped on a bus and sharing an incredible experience.
    Thursday to Sunday at 7am EST (12:00 GMT)

    Emmy Laybourne (@emmylaybourne) and Anna Banks (@byannabanks) will put a humorous spin on the paranormal young adult story with love affair between a teenage girl and a…Sasquatch.
    Wednesday through Sunday at 4pm EST (21:00 GMT)

    In a tense psychological thriller, Andrew Pyper (@andrewpyper) re-tells the classic Henry James ghost story “The Turn of the Screw” — set in a present-day White House. We will follow the Tweets of the new nanny, who is increasingly convinced something strange is afoot.
    Thursday through Sunday at 7pm EST (00:00 GMT)

    Good stuff. Head on over to the Twitter blog for the complete list of all 29 participants and the times.

    Of course, you can still participate even if you aren’t an official participant. Twitter suggests that you tell your experimental stories and include the #twitterfiction hashtag. The @TwitterBooks account will showcase some of the best user submissions, according to the company. So, if you have a way to utilize Twitter to make for interesting storytelling, keep at it.

    If you just want to follow along with everyone else’s fiction, Twitter has set up a dedicated event page for the festival.

  • Podcasts, Lindsay Lohan, and Cyber Monday

    Podcasts, Lindsay Lohan, and Cyber Monday

    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!

  • Alexander Graham Bell, Home Alone, and Black Friday

    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 Study Says Twitter Exposure Drives Purchases

    Twitter has partnered with Compete for another study that shows that exposure on Twitter is good for business. This time, they looked at Twitter’s effect on online shopping by analyzing 7,600 users and their purchasing behavior as it pertains to 700 retailers on Twitter.

    Here’s the gist of the study: People who see tweets from retailers are more likely to purchase a product.

    Twitter users who see retailer Tweets are more likely to make online purchases. During the timeframe that Compete analyzed, 27% of general internet users bought something from a retail website. Twitter users, however, made purchases at a rate of 33% from the same sites during the same period. When Twitter users were exposed to a Tweet from a retailer, that purchase rate increased to 39%. This represents a lift of 1. 4X and 1.2X, respectively, and is true across a variety of retail categories.

    Furthermore, quantity matters:

    The more retailer Tweets people see, they more they visit retail sites and make online purchases. As people are exposed to more retailer Tweets, the likelihood that they will visit a retail website and make online purchases grows. Twitter users exposed to Tweets from retailers on 12 or more days were 32% more likely to purchase from those retailers compared to all users exposed to retail Tweets.

    Twitter payed for another study back in October than looked at Twitter’s influence on political donations. That study found that simply being a Twitter users increases a person’s likelihood of visiting a campaign donation page. Furthermore, “this likelihood increases when Twitter users are exposed to political Tweets either from political handles they follow, retweets by users they follow, Promoted Product campaigns by a political handle, or searches on political terms. Twitter users exposed to any of these kinds of political Tweets are almost twice as likely (97%) as other Twitter users to visit an online political donation page.”

    Like this most recent study, that study is a pretty strong argument for making your tweets have a larger reach through Twitter’s family of promoted products (tweets, accounts, and trends). These studies are obviously beneficial to Twitter’s advertising strategy, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t true. Exposure can indeed drive a lot of things – purchases being one of them.

    You can check out Twitter and Compete’s full report here.

  • About 60% of Hurricane Sandy Tweets Were “Informative”

    Although we’ve seen that social media users can easily fall victim to hoax photos and hoax news stories, I’m pretty sure that we can all agree that Twitter is an important firehose for real-time information during times of crisis. Whether is was national organizations posting information about the storm, or users uploading their own photos of the storm’s progression and aftermath, Twitter was a helpful resource during Hurricane Sandy, which battered the east coast last month.

    Earlier this month, Twitter announced that users had sent over 20 million Hurricane Sandy-related tweets during the six-day period of the storm hitting and its immediate aftermath. They also said that at one point, search queries for Sandy on the site peaked at 20% of total search queries. That means that people were not only tweeting about the disaster, but also turning to Twitter for information.

    But just how many of those tweets really qualified as important, information-heavy dispatches? Well, according to a study from Pew, just shy of 60%.

    Pew says that from the day the storm made landfall to two days after that, 34% of the Hurricane Sandy tweets consisted of news and information. Another 25% consisted of photos and videos.

    The rest of the tweets were made up of jokes, hopes and prayers, political commentary, and “excitement” (Yay! the Hurricane is coming, school’s going to be cancelled!). Sure, you can argue that hopes and prayer or even jokes have their benefit. But when you talk about pure information that can be used during the crisis, 59% of the tweets fit the bill.

    Sandy Conversation on Twitter

  • iPhone Charger Cords, Black Friday, and Nicolas Cage

    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!

  • Answer Random People’s Twitter Questions with “You Asked It” Tool

    When my anti-Twitter friend finally joined the service, I expected that it would only take a few days for him to see why we love it. But after a week, he’d already deleted his account, saying it simply wasn’t for him. So I inquired further, and asked him if he’d been tweeting.

    Nah, not really, he said. Well, what about responding to others’ tweets? Nah, not really, he said.

    Well, duh. That’s the problem. You gotta engage, I told him. And now, a year later, his incessant Twitter use is borderline annoying. It’s all about engagement.

    And what better way to utilize the Twitter platform than to engage with strangers by helping them answer their questions. I’m sure you’ve seen some Twitter users use the service as if it were a polling forum, or even Google. So many questions floating around on the Twittersphere – why not take some time and answer some of them?

    That’s the thought behind Youasked.it, a new single-serving site that allows you to respond to random people’s questions on Twitter, in real time. A random question will be generated for you, and you then have 30 seconds to respond. If you don’t want to answer the given question, you can skip it and get a different one. You can also narrow down the type of questions you’re likely to receive by telling Youasked.it what string of keywords the tweeted questions must contain.

    Yes, you do have to be logged in to your Twitter account to participate – you can’t just send totally anonymous responses to people. But if you’re looking for a funny (and possible conflict-inducing) way to engage with people on Twitter that you may have never had the chance to engage otherwise, this is a pretty interesting little concept.

    Feel like trolling the Twittersphere? This tool makes it easy.

    [Youasked.it via Maarten Schenk via reddit]

  • Val Kilmer, Twinkies, and Secession

    Val Kilmer, Twinkies, and Secession

    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!