Ever since it was first launched back in 2006 (THAT long ago!?) Twitter has been open and free for all of its users, regardless of of any issues of censorship or local problems in their home countries.
Well this week Twitter has announced that in the future that may no longer be the case, and if the micro-blogging platform is required by law to censor tweets, it will. Although it claims this will be on a country-by-country basis, many have been suggesting that those living in Europe and the US are likely to be most affected.
Here's the official explanation from the Twitter blog:
"As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression. Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there. Others are similar but, for historical or cultural reasons, restrict certain types of content, such as France or Germany, which ban pro-Nazi content.
"Until now, the only way we could take account of those countries' limits was to remove content globally. Starting today, 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."
In many ways this shouldn't (don't hold us to that) affect most users and the blog post does go on to say that if your tweet has been censored you'll be alerted straight away and hopefully told what caused the issue (and hopefully why). Twitter also assures us all that it's working closely with a blog monitoring company, which specialises in online censorship, so you'd hope only the most problematic tweets will be weeded out.
It may seem scary to think our tweets could be censored in the future and Twitter is likely to face a lot of criticism in coming weeks. However, you only have to look at recent super-injunctions in the UK to learn that in actual fact there are many things we can't talk about in the street on a daily basis, so should we really be able to openly talk about those issues online?
The problem lies in the fact that there's a very fine line between restricting people from talking about serious issues that have legal implications and censoring things just because it's now possible. Let's hope Twitter works closely with each country as it promises and they all figure out where that line is.
Virgin Atlantic has launched a new "tweet bot" service this week, which will allow Twitter travellers to find out more information about their flights via the social network.
All you need to do in order to use the service is tweet your flight number and departure date to @VAAInfo. The bot will then tell you what time you can expect it.
Fergus Boyd, the head of e-commerce at Virgin Atlantic, said:
"We now have over 50,000 Twitter followers worldwide and we know that many of them use the social network to keep abreast of travel news and updates. We are finding that many travellers are using the tool simply to confirm when their flight departs and others to check details when picking up friends and family from the airport".
He also raised the interesting point that during times of travel disruption the service will be invaluable for many confused travellers who don't want to complain or rant, but just desperately want to find out when their flight is due. Boyd added:
"This service, although used by many on a day to day basis, will really come into its own during times of disruption when we get high peaks of customer queries, many of which are simply asking for an update on the status of their flight."
Although this is the first time a major airline has used Twitter to give passengers real-time travel updates, a London-based Twitter service called @whensmybus is proving to be really popular and works in the same way.
If you have a GPS-enabled device, simply tweet your bus number to @whensmybus when you're stood at a stop. If you don't have GPS you can still tweet @whensmybus with the place you're stood along with the bus number too. Obviously the GPS-enabled tweets will be more accurate, but whichever way you choose, @whensmybus will use TfL data to tell you how long your bus will be within less than a minute.
It's interesting to see these two very different services use the same mechanic to give us instantaneous travel updates. Not only do they give frustrated travellers super fast information, but they make the whole process much easier too, particularly if you're always on Twitter and don't want to have to switch over to another service to find what you're looking for. In many ways you could argue this is a testament to just how lazy we're all becoming, but in another it just makes complete sense and most importantly takes the stress out of travelling, so there's no need to obsessively check timetables, ask strangers when to expect the next bus or mutter to yourself in frustration.
This week sees that the number of visits to online video sites in the UK has increased by 36% since September 2010, four new social media magazines launch, the optimum length of a Facebook post, watch Florence + the Machine new album launch gig online for £3.99, Google makes changes to Reader and are brands 'over-reliant' on Facebook?
Visits to online video sites has increased by 36% in UK since 2010 New stats from Experian Hitwise show that visits to online video sites grew by over a third in the UK over the past year, with over 785 million visits to sites like YouTube in September. From 2010 to 2011 traffic increased by 36%, truly demonstrating the increasing popularity of online video. If anything this shows the importance of incorporating video into brand campaigns.
How consumers interact with brands on social media [infographic] A pan-European study has found that one third of Facebook and Twitter users in the UK follow brands, which apparently is more than twice the percentage of other markets on the continent, writes Wall Blog. Other stats include:
- Twitter has the highest sharing rate of branded messages and content (18%)
- Consumers want brands active in social media channels to be 'informative', 'entertaining' and 'interactive'
Social media magazines hit the shelves At a time when most magazines and newspapers are gravitating towards tablet apps, digital editions it is interesting to learn that GSG World Media is publishing four new monthly magazines dedicated to Twitter, Facebook, Google and LinkedIn. The freshly pressed magazines are 'aimed at helping business owners harness the power of the social sphere' and come at $7.95 each. But if you'd rather keep things digital, they are also available for free via a digital subscription. Is this the way forward: Offer print editions at premium prices and give the content away for free digitally? Not the best business model is it...
Does size matter when it comes to Facebook updates? Apparently so. Publishing platform Vitrue has looked at over 11,000 posts made by the 150 largest Pages on Facebook to see if there is an optimum length on Facebook posts when it comes to engagement. Taking the Likes and comments and dividing them by the number of fans they ended up with an engagement rate as a percentage. The result: the longer the post gets, the more the engagement rate decreases... So what is the optimum number of characters? Well the study didn't say but ensure to keep Facebook posts as concise as possible while still fully communicating what you want.
Are brands over-reliant on Facebook? With brands investing millions into developing excellent Facebook pages, could they be at risk of trading in their privacy? A leading analyst at Constellation Research Group - quoted in Marketing Magazine - thinks so and has now warned brands that they are 'over-reliant on Facebook and it will come back and bite them'. An interesting notion, but we'd like to think brands are using Facebook in a way that doesn't put privacy or customer data at risk. However with Facebook's many 'privacy issues' over the past years, it's worth thinking twice about how your brand's customer data is stored. Are brand owned platforms the future?
Google makes changes to Reader Google is definitely working on cleaning up its social/digital footprint. Not long after announcing Google Buzz is to become extinct, they've now revealed that they will be making changes to Google Reader. The service will get a brand new design and be brought closer to Google+. In a few weeks you'll no longer be able to friend, follow or share linked blogs inside of Reader. This will now be integrated into Google+ so if you're an avid user of Reader you best start working on your Circles now!
LinkedIn launches new tool to help you stay in touch with old school friends First and foremost a place to keep your professional connections organised, LinkedIn is launching a new tool called 'Classmates' which aims to help you stay in touch with fellow graduates and alumni. Personally I welcome this as I sometimes feel that my Facebook is crowded with people whose holiday photos I don't necessarily want to see, but who I keep on there because I once went to school with them and it would be a shame to loose contact completely. What do you think?
43% of Londoners use social media to find jobs [infographic] A nifty infographic by LondonLovesJobs shows how Londoners search for a job and how social media is changing this. No surprise that people are using social media in the hunt for the next step on the career ladder, but the research also shows that employers have yet to fully tap into this trend - as are the recruitment teams! Other stats worth nothing:
- 25% of Londoners look for a job on LinkedIn
- Only 14% of job sites and companies advertise or promote openings via social media
- More men than women search for jobs via social media channels - 30% of men use LinkedIn to find a job compared to 18% of women
More mums use Facebook and other social networks than average internet users New figures by eMarketer show that an estimated 23 million US mums are on Facebook this year, using the site at least once a month, representing well over two-thirds of all online mothers in the country. This means that more mothers use Facebook and other social networks each month compared to average internet users. Luckily my mum is not on Facebook - have yet to convert her to Skype - but I do have a few aunts and friends that have offspring of their own.
Toyota launches Facebook game ahead of Tokyo Motor Show sports car debut Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has launched a Facebook game to promote the production model sports car that it plans to debut at the Tokyo Motor Show in December. Dubbed the Social Network Racer the game is now live and will run through 31 December, allowing racers across the globe to 'test-drive' the new car and compete for a super prize: a free trip to Japan. Start your engines!
Personal sharing network Path closing in on 1 million users I tried Path - the mobile app that lets you share images and the personal things with friends - when it first launched a while ago. To be honest, I never used it again. But good news for the company as it is apparently closing in on 1 million users. Path enables you to share the most personal things with a limited number of your nearest and dearest (50 last time I checked), such as first dates, deaths or injury that perhaps might not be sharable on other social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Do you use Path?
This week sees use of social media among US adults soar, Twitter launches User Galleries to tempt people to use Twitter.com, Facebook ditches Places and adds location to updates, Manchester City in a digital and social media push, Beyonce's baby bump break Twitter record and 10 cool Facebook brand pages.
Adult use of social media soars Thumb up for this one! Here's a reason for your company to jump on the social media bandwagon if you haven't done so already (who are we kidding, of course you have). New research by Pew Research Center has found that 65% of all US adults now use social networking sites, up from 61% one year ago, with 43% saying they visit sites like Facebook and Twitter every day. Interestingly most of the growth came from Americans over the age of 30 with seniors making up the bulk of it. With Silver surfers now joining in on the fun, why are some businesses still scared of entering the social media sphere we wonder?
Twitter launches user galleries Totally unexpected, but perhaps unavoidable Twitter has launched User Galleries that gather all the recent images tweeted by a user in a pretty and scannable gallery. I love this new addition - it does make me want to user Twitter.com more - but it has also made me rethink what images I tweet. Downside: it will only display up to 100 images.
10 cool Facebook brand pages ShinyShiny has listed ten Facebook brand pages it thinks tick all the boxes and make people want to actually 'Like', competitions and incentives aside.
Facebook ditches Places and adds location to status updates In a somewhat surprising turn, Facebook has scrapped its Places check-in feature after only one year. But Facebook hasn't left location-based features completely, as it has instead launched a new 'add location' to your updates or tag a place in a post. Gravy, we weren't really getting anything out of Places either way apart from stalking our friends' whereabouts.
NOTE: As Facebook rolls out these changes they might have changed your privacy settings. So unless you want your location posts to go public, check your privacy settings now!
Facebook hits 1 trillion page views in June
Well that is according to Google's Double-Click says TechRadar. If you ask comScore they will tell you the 'real' number is 467 billion not 1 trillion. Either way, it is a huge number!
Think SEO when creating Facebook pages In a world of SEO and getting the wording right, new research shows that search makes up to 34% of all external referral traffic to Facebook pages. Facebook page admins should therefore be concerned with search engine optimisation when naming pages, filling in fields on the Info tab, posting content and placing links to Pages on websites.
The growth of social media
An interesting infographic by Search Engine Journal that tells it how it is and how social media has grown since the early days. Among the stats are:
1 in 4 Americans watches a video on YouTube every day
86% of US internet users between 18 and 29 uses social networking sites in May 2010
Facebook dominates the daily unique visitors graph with 310million daily uniques
53% of employers research potential employees on social neworks
In 2012 it is estimated that 43% of companies will use blogs for marketing purposes, up from 39% this year
Would you like a pizza with that app? Pizza chain Domino's has launched its official iPad app on the UK app store, so you can now order your pizza, pay for it and track it as it makes it way to your house. The latter is really cool if you haven't got anything better to do than track your pizza delivery man... But luckily we can think several things that are more worthwhile.
Manchester City rolls out digital initiatives Between us here at Sutro we care more about Manchester United, Arsenal and Aston Villa, but we have to say that the digital initiatives by the 'world's wealthiest football club' Manchester City sounds pretty impressive. Man City is to offer RFID chip membership cards, augmented reality season tickets, online data toys, connected TV channels, Foursquare, mobile remixes and more - and all for free!
Man 'earns' £11,000 through Twitter by betting against his boss Must admit that when I spotted the RTs on this one on my Twitter feed recently I did wonder if it was some kind of spam campaign. What started as a bit of fun - basically this guy trying to prove to his boss that Twitter isn't a waste of time - ended up with 23,000 retweets and @poultrykeeper £11,000 'richer'. Unfortunately the boss in question didn't pay up and poultrykeeper in no richer. This is a great example of how Twitter can work to spread the word, but please don't think of it as an excellent way to get exposure. Most people just RT without even looking at what they are sharing - sadly.
Vanity Fair *hearts* Mark Zuckerberg As the Next Web comments it "truly is the most beautiful sign of nerd's revenge when you see who's made it into Vanity Fair's New Establishment list this year". For the second year in a row, VF editor Graydon Carter has included Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg tops the Top 50 list of an "innovative new breed of buccaneering visionaries, engineering prodigies and entrepreneurs" as "The Age of Information gives way to a burgeoning Age of Technology." Click through to Vanity Fair to see the complete list.
Google+ lets you ignore people Yep that's right, you can now ignore people's updates on Google+ if you so wish without blocking him or her completely. By 'ignoring' you will not see any of their posts in your stream, you won't be notified about their activity, and they will be de-Circled - all with them being none the wiser. He or she will still be able to see your stream and comment on your updates.
Facebook has offered this for a while so you can keep people as friends but don't be hassled with their updates. It honestly does make for a happier social experience sometimes.
This week sees Google add Google+ Hangouts to YouTube, Twitter users more likely to impact brands than any other social network, tech inspired words like retweet and w00t make it into the Oxford dictionary, new service Twylah makes it possible to create brand pages for Twitter, 44% of companies track employees' social media use in and out of the office and is football gossip ruining Twitter?
Google adds Google+ Hangouts to YouTube
In what is being seen as a drive to boost Google+ numbers and interaction levels, Google owned YouTube has been kitted out with a 'Hangout' icon underneath every video. Mashable notes that this is the first step towards Google+ members being able to activate hangouts around content. This means that we can now watch cats being silly with our friend, without them having to be in the same room. Life is complete.
Twitter users more likely to impact brands than any other social network
The Next Web reports on a recent study which found that active Twitter users are three times more likely to amplify the influence of that brand than a Facebook user would. For people who are active on Twitter daily don't stop there: 72% publish blog posts at least once a month, 70% comment on others' blog posts, 61% write articles for third-party sites, 61% write at least one product review a month. In short, the content on Twitter doesn't just stay on Twitter. How can brands use this information? For one brands ought to not treat Twitter like any other social network. It is a social network populated with influentials who are active online participants in internet culture, and should be treated that way. Use Twitter wisely and there is no limit to where your content could go.
Retweet and w00t makes it into the Oxford dictionary
The Oxford English dictionary is updated and a couple of tech inspired words are included in the 400 new words that have been added. These include 'retweet', 'cyberbullying', 'sexting' and 'woot'. No doubt social networking sites have contributed to create a language on the net, which has in turn trickled into offline conversation. We wonder what people would have said 100 years ago - when the first edition of the dictionary was published - to the latest additions... Rather splendid we say.
Retweet Pronunciation:/riːˈtwiːt/
verb:(on the social networking service Twitter) repost or forward (a message posted by another user). Noun:a reposted or forwarded message on Twitter
Meet Twylah, your brand page for Twitter
One thing that Facebook - and soon also Google+ - has that Twitter hasn't is brand pages. Instead brands have to use the same account template as the rest of us. Not great for marketing your brand... Enter Twylah, a new service that lets you create one page that sums up what you're about. Automatically selecting 20-odd of your most popular tweeted topics (you can exclude any of you so wish) to give potential followers an instant summary of what you tweet most about.
This is a great way to find out who your latest followers are and if you want to follow them back. Check out The New Web's review here.
Social media in the workplace: 44% of companies track employees' social media use in and out of the office
A new survey finds that 71% of the companies asked claim to have actively blocked social networks. This is a very high figure and quite odd considering how integrated social media is in people's lives these days. The same study also finds that 44% of the companies' surveyed say they have polices in place for use of social media that cover both in AND out of the office. While we agree that you as an employee are part of your company's DNA and that anything you do and say online could indirectly implicate your employer, we're wondering if this is taking it a step too far. Should your boss be allowed to "tell" you what you share and tweet in your own time? Truth is that most organisations will benefit from networked employees with possible lead generation, new opportunities, access to 'influencers' and more being brought to the company; so why is it that such a huge portion of companies are still actively restricting this?
Yumalicio.us makes food blogging made easy... well nearly
If you're an avid cook and want to share your creations but can't be asked to set up a blog on the topic, here is the social network for you. Yumalicio.us lets you share images of your dishes, add a short description, follow other users and leave comments. Negative points are that you can't add the whole recipe on the site and there isn't a mobile app for it yet so you still have to take the photo and upload it to your computer before loading it to the site.
Is football gossip ruining Twitter?
The football season is back and fans across the UK rejoice as they take to Twitter to talk about the games. That said the social network has been filled with tweets over the summer with transfer rumours and the saga of Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas' move to Barcelona. As a result of this ShinyShiny asks if football gossip is ruining Twitter, and if so what can be done about it?
It is annoying when a specific topic clogs your Twitter feed for a longer than necessary. Things that I can think of right now: X Factor, Celebrity Big Brother and ... Justin Bieber.
ShinyShiny offers two solutions to the football conundrum (and potentially all other listed above)
1) Create a Twitter especially for fans, whether it be football, X Factor or the Bieber.
2) Use technology to block subject-related tweets. Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could simply block out any noise around a subject you have no interest in! I am currently choosing to not go on Twitter during times of #CBB and #XFactor as I have no interest in either, and my feed is flooding with tweets related to the reality shows when they're on... Would be nice to be able to filter out so that I could still see the cool things people are tweeting/sharing even during times of bad TV.
What's your view on this? Let us know in the comments below.
German state dislikes Facebook's 'Like' and bans it among data protection violation claims
The German state of Schleswig-Holstein tells all state institutions to close their Facebook pages and remove the 'Like' button from their websites. Otherwise they face fines. The reason? Apparently Facebook builds profiles of both users and non-users with data collected by the Like button, which, if true, violates German and European data protection laws.
Check into events with Foursquare
One of the first location based social networks, Foursquare adds new features that allow check-ins at events, like concerts and cinemas, instead of just the actual venue. Currently only available in the US and only on the iPhone, Foursquare has partnered with ESPN, MovieTickets.com and SongKick to realise the new features. If you're using Foursquare are you looking forward to this feature coming to the UK?
Starbucks to launch its first Facebook game challenge
Yep, it's soon autumn holiday season in the US which means pumpkins all around. In a new creative push coffee giant Starbucks US is launching a Facebook game - a first for Starbucks - that asks its 24 million plus fans to compete to bring the holiday themed Pumpkin Spice Latte to their cities one week ahead of the official release date.
FA cup match airs live on Facebook
Friday's "first-kick" extra-preliminary FA Cup game between non-league teams Ascot United and Wembley FC was streamed live on Budweiser's Facebook page, the new sponsor of the cup. The 90-minute live steam reportedly had a 'viewing' audience of over 20,000 Facebook members which is a pretty decent first time figure. There are no reports of how much it cost Budweiser...
Yesterday the longest running transfer saga in British history - Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas' move to his home town team Barcelona - finally reached its messy conclusion with the talismanic Gunners captain going for £35 million, a few interesting add on clauses and a sigh of relief from thousands of British Twitter users.
For much of the summer now the Fabregas transfer, along with talk of Man United's failed bid for Wesley Sneijder and City's attempt to offload Carlos Tevez, has been a staple of the Twitterspehere. And while football fans obviously love talking about transfer targets on the micro blogging network not everyone is happy.
RT @sgevans: Football transfer rumours expose most of the negative aspects of social media. Streams of worthless nonsense.
And you know what, I think he is bang on. For much of the summer many football obsessed Twitter users seem to spend all the time tweeting and retweeting the slightest bit of gossip about transfers to and from their club.
It is generally useless title tattle based on rumour, hearsay and the insider knowledge of the cousin of the driver of the guy who runs the boot room at Manchester United. And much of it is utter bollox.
But for football fans it is both incredibly frustrating (as you hear about players supposedly coming to your club who actually couldn't even find the place on map) as well as utterly addictive.
Footy gossip is in many ways exactly what Twitter was invented for, but I accept that at times it must seem hugely annoying to people who don't care for the game who see their Twitter streams transformed into one long deluge of ridiculousness. I feel the same most Saturday nights when there is endless discussions of Britain's Got Talent etc
So what can we do about this? Here are two possible solutions.
1 Create a Twitter for football fans - Most hardcore footy fans are still serious abusers of forums and massive commenters on both mainstream news sites like The Guardian as well as footy blogs. For me though Twitter has the edge over websites. You can talk quickly to a huge group of people who can come back at you with that nugget of wisdom in seconds. Twitter users are invariably smarter and funnier than website and forum users too. Commenting on blogs is great for longer tirades, but it just can't compare to that Twitter fix.
I do wonder though if there is a possibility of a Twitter type service exclusively for football fans. There are a few contenders, like the recently launched Bantr, but most seem to be a little too complex and lack the immediacy of Twitter. Besides they will never have the number of Twitter followers. So maybe this is a non-starter.
2 Using technology to block subject-related tweets - Twitter does allow users a great deal of flexibility in organising tweets. So for example football fans have hashtag searches constantly on the go for their favourite teams. Tweetdeck is also useful in that users can place all their football loving friends into one category.
However this doesn't solve the problem of football-related tweets constantly appearing in non-football fans streams. I am sure there is a way of using technology to solve this issue (I would for one would welcome any reality TV tweets barred from my stream) and I hope someone is working on this right now.
You could even take this a step farther. Personally I am not too keen on people who use Twitter for endless conversations with one person. I want funny observations, links to interesting content etc not discussions between two people about where they are going to meet up that has nothing to do with me. I would love to have a system that prevented all those tweets from ending up in my stream.
Conversely the technology could be used to kill off retweets, links to content etc and just allow people to use Twitter for conversations.
Maybe users could be given more control over brand related tweets too?
There is of course one easy to editing tweets - it is called the unfollow button. However I do think it is time for Twitter (or more likely someone else) to come up with a smarter solution.
In my daily work of keeping on top of what's going on in the world of social media it is becoming apparent that the two biggest social networks, Twitter and Facebook, are becoming increasingly alike
While Twitter once tried to distinguish itself as an "information network" it has with its recent product announcements, like an improved Twitter.com and a native photo sharing service, put itself right up there to take on Facebook head-to-head in the battle for the social network crown.
Pivotal to Facebook's success is its photo sharing facility, not relying on third party applications to let you share snapshots of your life with whoever you choose to have on your friends' list. Now, wanting to take advantage of people's apparent love for sharing photos, Twitter has announced a native photo and video sharing to its service. This facility received a massive boost last Tuesday (7 June 2011) when Apple announced that iOS 5 would include deep Twitter integration. Being taken under the wing of one of the most world's most successful consumer electronics companies means that that the 200 million plus people with Apple gadgets will be able to post videos, links and photos to Twitter with on single tap.
This is might prove to be a significant blow to Facebook which has for a long time been the preferred - or default - 'connection' mechanism for social sharing.
It is however interesting to read on Mashable that Facebook is now trialling a 'live feed' of what users' friends are liking, sharing and commenting on in real time. The 'Happening Now' sidebar will show up next to the primary news feed, and will duplicate much of that content in shorter form on which you can choose to click on to explore in more detail without leaving the feed. Err so basically what Twitter is all about...
Personally since signing up to the service in 2009, I have used Twitter mostly to share and discover fun things related to work, personal interests and what's happening in London. Most of the accounts I follow are those that I feel can add value to my day - why I still follow them - most of who I have never met in real life.
Facebook on the other hand is where I socialise with people I have met at one time or another and who I consider acquaintances if not friends. Yet many of the updates (read photos of your child or gaming updates) I have absolutely no interest in, yet I cannot bring myself to cull some of them from my friends' list. Perhaps it's because social network rejection is horrible, even if you haven't spoken to that person in years...
However, with these increasing similarities making Twitter and Facebook appear more like a Tweetbook, will people eventually choose one over the other as their services will no longer offer enough differentiation to justify keeping them both alive?
As easy as link-shortening services bit.ly and tiny.url are to use, external services are always a bit of a faff. So tweeters everywhere will be very happy to hear that Twitter has introduced automatic link-shortening.
It works automatically - just paste your full link into the tweet box, and hit send. The link will then appear in your tweet, abbreviated to 19 characters. Like magic, if you will.
The shortening will kick in if the link is longer than 13 characters, and the count box will take into account the shortening when showing you how many characters you have left.
The new service is called t.co, and an incremental roll-out started yesterday.
"Since we show a shortened version of the original link, people will know which site the link points to," Twitter wrote on its blog. "This service also increases security. If users click links that are reported as malicious, we direct them to a page that warns them."
We got away with it once, but it seems UK lawmakers are not ready to admit defeat on the issue of the internet and superinjunctions.
Dominic Grieve, the government's senior law officer (there's something very America-sounding about Attorney General, isn't there) said that those who violate injunctions on the internet could find themselves prosecuted for contempt of court.
It's usually up to the person whose privacy has been infringed upon to pursue these sorts of claims, but Grieve said to the BBC he would go after this himself if necessary. This means people who gossip on Twitter, who could be fined or even go to prison.
Speaking in the Commons two weeks ago, Grieve said that if people think they can use modern methods of communication to "act with impunity", they could be in for "a rude shock". These statements were overshadowed by John Hemmings MP's blurting out of Ryan Giggs' name. But now it seems Grieve is determined to have the last word in the matter, and considering how Twitter gave up the personal details of those badmouthing South Tyneside Council, it looks like it will be very possible for him to have his way.
The outing of Ryan Giggs was a victory for gossips everywhere, if nothing else. We will refrain from getting into the discussion about whether Giggs' morals are any of our business, and instead keep to what us geeks find to be the more interesting element here: the tech side of the story.
It was the fact that Giggs had been named over and over again on Twitter that caused the superinjunction to break. MP John Hemming pointed out that it would be "impractical" to imprison everyone who had named him, and with that it seems we all got away with it. But just when we thought we were all free to say whatever we wanted on Twitter without consequence, something unexpected happened; Twitter released the personal details of an anonymous UK user who had been badmouthing South Tyneside Council.
This suggests it may be possible to enforce a superinjunction on Twitter after all, as long as the authorities get in there quick enough before the information spreads. Still, new whistleblowers have appeared on the microblogging site even since the news that their anonymity isn't safe, and MP Hemming has also said he will use parliamentary privilege to name any celebrities with injunctions who threaten to prosecute those who reveal their identities. Celebrities should not be allowed to "erode British culture" by threatening to have people jailed for simply "gossiping about them", Hemming said, according to the Daily Telegraph.
It seems like the Battle of Twitter is far from over. Both sides have good arguments for their cases and a few victories under their belts. We can't help but wonder where it will all end, though - after all it was a US court that made Twitter give up user details to a UK council. Will the US courts stick to US laws when deciding whether to give up information, or will it consider the laws of the country where the tweeter lives? Also, will the US courts get the British sense of irony? We're keeping our eyes peeled.
Until now we've had to use outside services such as Twitpic and Instagr.am to share pictures on Twitter - this could all be set to change.
Twitter is expected to present plans for its own photo-sharing service at this week's D9 conference in California, in a speech expected tomorrow from CEO Dick Costolo. TechCrunch, first to report the rumour, thinks the service could be delivered via twimg.com, a site which Twitter has owned since July 2010.
Twitter is working hard at monetising its services, meaning we may potentially expect ads alongside any new services. Last week Twitter announced it had bought client Tweetdeck for a rumoured £24 million. It seems safe to conclude Twitter is keen to secure more control over the user experience.
0.05% of Twitter users generate half the tweets on Twitter - that's what Yahoo found in a new study.
Half the tweets were created by what Yahoo called 'elite' users, meaning the media, celebrities, organisations and bloggers. The study also confirmed that people tend to flock to others who are like them on twitter: celebrities listen to celebrities, while bloggers listen to bloggers, and so on.
This makes Twitter more an information-sharing tool than a social network, the study concluded - not a controversial stance really, but this study is interesting because it has studied more thoroughly who listens to what on the site.
Researchers studied 260 million tweets posted on Twitter between July 2009 and March 2010. As the research showed that Twitter users are less likely to follow people back, this makes it a less egalitarian social area than the likes of Facebook:
"The Twitter follower graph ... does not conform to the usual characteristics of social networks, which exhibit much higher reciprocity and far less skewed degree distributions, but instead resembles more the mixture of one-way mass communications and reciprocated interpersonal communications," Yahoo said in the study, entitled 'Who says what to who on Twitter'.
So if we only listen to the people we find interesting, and only a small percentage of Twitter users have loads of followers, does that mean that most people are ... boring? Hm.
The "Tweet Viewer" virus poses as a tool to tell you who has been looking at your profile, but if you click on the link it will grant itself access to your account. But it doesn't work - and the virus will then tweet a link to itself to all your followers.
Twitter warns users not to click on any link containing the word "tweetviewer", and asks that those who have already done so to disable the worm's access to their account. While URL shortening service bit.ly has cancelled the worm's privileges on its site, each user who has clicked the link needs to cancel the access or the creature will live on. Do this by go into your settings and look under the "connection" tab, then locate the application and revoke access to your account.
Yesterday the worm was spreading by 159 tweets per minute, according to TechCrunch. The worm doesn't seem to actually harm anyone's computer, but spreads just because it can.
First the crowds, then the spammers. That's how it works, right? With Facebook now suffering through its the biggest spam-attack to date, it seems those crafty fraudsters out there are really starting to understand the power of social media.
More than five different spam waves have hit Facebook in the last 24 hours, and security experts are warning that clicking on a fraudulent Facebook link could infect your computer even if you have anti-virus software. While some of the spam means posting false messages on your wall, other spam schemes are sometimes quite clever - directing you onto a different site where you are asked to take part in a small survey.
This fraudulent site can sometimes be within Facebook, meaning there are no immediate signs of danger. These apps often ask permissions to access your data as well, meaning you could be bypassing your anti-virus software by basically opening the door on the virus.
Naïve users
Because we are not used to spam on Facebook, we are actually very gullible to fraudsters. So far it's been a safe environment, where links are posted by friends who we trust not to send us anywhere dodgy.
"Facebook is vulnerable to spam by design, since Facebook users trust the messages they see on their friends' walls, and have no fear of clicking them," said Urban Schrott of antivirus company ESET.
It's like being back to when internet banking fraud first started, this - we had to be taught to never respond to emails looking like they came from our banks. But before we clued up to how it worked, a lot of people would respond to these emails asking for password "confirmation".
Tweeting tactics
Twitter is also a decent hunting ground for spammers, either by hacking people's accounts and tweeting links, or by setting up accounts just for spam. When the links come from friends the problem is the same as with Facebook spam - we don't have any fear of clicking on friends' links and could inadvertently infect our computers.
The spam-only accounts are a somewhat different issue though - and at first glace it seems odd that it's even worth the fraudsters' while. But you get out of Twitter what you put into it, and this is true also for spammers. The clever ones will search Twitter for mention of certain terms, say for instance "cardigan", and then they will respond to your tweet with a cardigan-related link. Sometimes they can be quite friendly and chatty doing this, but it's still spam, and you should report them as such. Twitter has handily added "report for spam" as an option in the drop-down box on each profile.
Another crooks' trick is to add tags to spam tweets and get them to trend - people are usually curious about trending topics and this increases the chances of someone clicking on your link.
One born every minute
The problem is that spam works - there will always be someone who falls for it, and as long as that's the case this problem won't go away. Granted, the number of suckers out there are few and far between: a study from 2008 showed a 1:12.5 million success rate for email spam. This is only 0.00001%, but with enough volume you will make money from this.
Twitter has started making an effort to combat the problem, including introducing a filter that checks links for malware before allowing them onto the site. Facebook is likely pottering away at its own solutions as well, keen to nip this problem in the bud. But as fraudsters will remain inventive, we need to wise up and realise the friendly playgrounds of Facebook and Twitter are growing up, and they are no longer harmless.
Self-proclaimed "winner" Charlie Sheen managed to get himself a Guinness World Record for getting to one million Twitter followers within days of joining - and that was without saying anything.
It took Sheen just 25 hours and 17 minutes to reach a million followers after joining Twitter on 1 March, and the world has spent days waiting with baited breath for the troubled actor to open his mouth. But now that he has, we're sort of wishing he hadn't; apparently Sheen joined Twitter as it's a "cash cow".
Sheen has signed a deal to deliver product advertising on Twitter, according to the New York Post, and has already started posting pictures of himself holding things, presumably for money.
But we're too clever to fall for such tactics, aren't we? ... Apparently not. After Sheen posted the picture above, the California dairy making the chocolate milk in question was inundated with calls from potential customers.
"Born Small... Now Huge... Winning... Bring it..!", Sheen has written as his Twitter description, not entirely unfounded, it seems, judging from the responses. But at least the actor is not devoid of humour, having added one last phrase: "Unemployed winner...".
If you must, you can follow Charlie Sheen on Twitter here.
There are no surprises left for Sunday's Oscars ceremony, at least if Tweetbeat is to be believed.
This Twitter-scouring service has kept tabs on what everyone has been saying about the Oscars and the nominated films, and has gracefully shared with us who's set to win.
The King's Speech will win the Oscar for Best Picture, says Tweetbeat, as the film has the support of 31.4% of Twitter users. Next in line is The Social Network, followed by Black Swan, Inception and True Grit. Also up for Best Picture are The Fighter, 127 Days, Toy Story 3, Winter's Bone, and The Kids are Alright - but it seems this lot needn't bother showing up on Sunday.
Best Actress will go to Natalie Portman of Black Swan, Tweetbeat thinks, as she's way ahead of Nicole Kidman of Rabbit Hole, who's next in line in terms of audience support. Best Actor goes to go to Colin Firth of The King's Speech, again way ahead of the competition in the form of Jesse Eisenberg of The Social Network.
So tune in on Sunday to see whether Twitter really knows the answer to everything - or if it just seems that way.
"Just remembered messaging Alastair Campbell, drunk, at 2am on Friday, saying I wanted to see him dancing like a mongoose. Sigh." Say hello to Caitlin Moran, everyone. This casually fabulous tweet is the stuff that makes Twitter worthwhile in the midst of all the lunch updates and whining about buses.
When it launched back in 2006 it had 'fad' written all over it - after all, how could this trivia-exchange forum ever become relevant in any way? But now, five years later, Twitter is still here, with nearly two million new users signing up every week. Twitter proves the age-old truism: people like to talk.
From popular to influential
The list of the UK's most influential Twitter users from the "i" newspaper is a clever twist on the Twitter popularity contest - instead of telling us who is most followed or most prolific, it focuses on those whose output is most valued. The number of re-tweets was a key factor when compiling the list, as well as the tone used by others who discussed them.
Stephen Fry, comedian, TV presenter and in all rights a national treasure, features fourth on the list, trailing behind Eddie Izzard, Richard Bacon, and unexpectedly in the top spot, Sarah Brown. We needn't look further than to Fry's stream from this morning to catch a glimpse of the power awarded by a strong Twitter following; it seems every time Fry tweets a link, a server crashes. "Ok, so I've broken Harvard's website. How v Jesse Eisenberg of me. Oops. Their fault they asked me to tweet. Still feel like a clumsy bully," he tweeted this morning, after having suggested fans check out a link on the Harvard University website.
For a freelance journalist like myself, a little Twitter-natter is a nice little thing to have on in the background. Most of the people I follow are related to the media industry, so on a good day it can feel like one big office. In addition to talking shop, people talk about the weather, they ponder whether to have another biscuit, they complain about ill health - just like they would around the water-cooler.
To link or not to link
But what makes a Twitter user influential? The fact that Sarah Brown, wife of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, has the top spot, suggests Twitter is becoming more all-inclusive. Just as Facebook is increasingly filled with updates about gardening, babies and home improvement - the same is happening to Twitter; it's no longer just for the kids. But the good thing about Twitter is that the rules for who to follow are looser - Facebook puts you on the spot with its friend requests, whereas on Twitter there is no obligation to keep things mutual. This means you can un-follow those who bore you without getting too twitchy about it.
As illustrated by Stephen Fry's self-proclaimed "clumsy bully" moment this morning, a popular tweeter can draw followers' attention to causes, worthy or otherwise. This is probably my favourite thing about Twitter - when people I follow tweet links to good articles I probably wouldn't have become aware of otherwise. It can take a little while to identify those who will tweet exactly the links you are interested in though, but again, that's what the 'unfollow' button is for.
Getting personal
"For the first time in my working career, I'm beginning to get a sense of what people feel out there," broadcaster John Snow pointed out as he was getting drawn into the world of social networking. The notion that we can reach, and even influence, the people we admire, is compelling. Some companies are realising this and are searching for product complaints on Twitter and then swooping in to offer assistance, but on the downside, many celebrities on Twitter won't engage, or they have a PR doing their tweeting for them. As social media users can be very sensitive to any perceived meddling, tweeting only tour updates or press release soundbites is not the way to build a fanbase. As you'd expect from the woman hailed to be the UK's 'digital champion', Martha Lane Fox gets this. Although busy, she will often respond to tweets, and she may even offer up some personal information.
Getting personal seems to be a key element to building up a Twitter fanbase, but the key is to find a balance. I don't want to know when you go to bed every night, and knowing which restaurant you're in this very minute is borderlining on a little bit weird. Having said that, Twitter has had the curious effect of having made a lot pf people very trusting, giving up details of where they live and their travel plans for the world to see.
For some it looks like Twitter is even replacing the internal monologue, as they air seemingly every doubt and dilemma. Journalist Kate Spicer would moan daily about the stress of quitting smoking on Twitter, which made it even more amusing to follow the day she cracked. I couldn't help but laugh at her description of being drunk outside a pub at 1am, fag in hand. I'm not sure if Spicer managed to get back on the wagon, but next time she tweets a link I'll probably click it.
i, the Independent's spin-out newspaper, has presented the most influential tweeters in Britain. The top ten are as follows:
1. Sarah Brown (campaigner)
2. Richard Bacon (broadcaster)
3. Eddie Izzard (comedian)
4. Stephen Fry (comedian / national treasure)
5. Umair Haque (economist)
6. Russell Brand (comedian)
7. Tinchy Stryder (musician)
8= Hilary Alexander (fashion director)
8= Zee M Kane (technocrat)
10. Fearne Cotton (radio presenter)
A few surprises there, starting with Sarah Brown, Gordon Brown's wife, in the top spot. Possibly a new name for many is corporate strategist and blogger Umair Haque, ditto Zee M Kane, editor-in-chief at 'The Next Web'.
This is the first time ever that the most influential, rather than most followed, tweeters have been ranked. The i paper worked with PeerIndex to compile the list, basing the outcome on the number of re-tweets each person generated, and the language associated with their mentions.
'Five years ago, Twitter was regarded as a passing fad. Today it is a phenomenon, influencing world events and news stories in every sphere of life. This inaugural list recognises the power of Twitter and those with the most influence,' says Independent and i Editor-in-Chief Simon Kelner.
Boris Johnson is the highest-ranking politician (36=), followed by former MP Dr Evan Harris (66=), Tom Watson, Labour MP for West Bromwich East, (68) and John Prescott (93). Sally Bercow, wife of the Speaker of the House, is included at number 91.
Sir Alan Sugar (14=) beats rival Piers Morgan (61=), while model and business woman Katie Price is at number 88 (=). Tinchy Stryder (7) is the highest music entry, followed Lily Allen (36=) and Mark Ronson (97). Three out of five Dragon's Den presenters are included: Duncan Bannatyne (12=), Theo Paphitis (54=) and Peter Jones (77=).
The academic side is held up by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins (22=) and Tim Harford (20=) of The Undercover Economist / and the Financial Times. Sportsmen include cricketer Michael Vaughan (91) and footballer Rio Ferdinand (95).
This week we find out what the UK has been searching for in 2010, how to create your own iPhone web app, people buy 90million virtual items per day, Facebook fan gets to direct Vodafone online video, and why people befriend brands on social networks.
Via Sutrodigital
This week you may have heard that some of the world's most famous celebs have committed "Digital Death" and stopped posting on Twitter and Facebook profiles to raise awareness and money for World AIDS Day.
From December 1st celebs including Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Usher, and Elijah Wood, have sworn to give up their digital lives to rise money to help save millions of real lives affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India.
So if you are missing all the celeb twitter updates, go to buylife.org and make a donation....Now if only Justin Bieber would get off Twitter
Yesterday the longest running transfer saga in British history - Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas' move to his home town team Barcelona - finally reached its 
In my daily work of keeping on top of what's going on in the world of social media it is becoming apparent that the two biggest social networks, Twitter and Facebook, are becoming increasingly alike
From: Apple's no-nipples policy means fashion mags are censoring their iPad editions