Rant – Page 4 – One Degree

Son of Tweets and Twits – Part Deux — The Sequel

Published January 5, 2009

Well this did it for me. I have been on Twitter – I guess since about Day One. Real early. Never really saw the value. Now I definitely don't.

Neither do any of you Canucks out there by the looks of it.

There are two Canadians in the Top 100 – A cute broadcasting Gal (Amber, I think.) I wasn't following her – the following cute girls makes me feel weird. Oh, and a Rob – who has a Blog directory. I was following him – but he didn't notice me. So all is cool!

What does this show?

We Canadians are a different sort. We don't do this self-promoting stuff very well. Even the classic self-promoters in Canada suck at this. I know we try, and for the record, God Bless all the little brainiacs out there in The Great White North trying to make a living being experts – but ya still aren't celebs. Paris, Britney and any one of the Jonas Brothers are way ahead. And so are the Top 100 Tweeters.
We are Canadians – who should really give a shit what we think anyway? There are only like 30 million of us? We are like a weird Ohio – with two languages.
No right minded Canadian would stoop to be the "King-O-tweets" Why she asks? 'Cause it is silly. Full stop. Canadians have – whether you like it or not – manners. Torontonians not so much obviously. Toronto is the Twitter capital of Canada – and as Canadians we are up there Twittering – but we sadly are not that glamorous (except Amber) nor exciting. I was going to give an exception – but there isn't one.
The folks in the Top 100 – and I scanned a bunch that I wasn't following – are just not real-world credible. Sorry. Yes, you are prolly wonderful folks. You are prolly terrific people. But you have no credentials. Have you worked anywhere? Have you done anything? Not that I can see. Publishing a Blog ain't the same as being published. Malcolm Gladwell – I consider an expert. Joe(sephine) Schmoe publishing stolen shit from all over the Net on how to be successful? Nyet.

Just cause ya have a Blog – doesn't make you credible.

2 Comments

Tweets and Twits

Published December 18, 2008

by Pete (the mose) Mosley

I just read a FaceBook post by Mitch Joel.

Mitch Joel: This sudden rash of bad marketing offers in reply emails when you start to follow certain people on Twitter is pretty sad (and bad).

I replied to Mitch and agree completely …

Pete Mosley: Watching all this Twittering is like a seeing a human without his/her skin. It's not pretty lookin' at all the gooey bits. Let alone the PR spins, obvious self promotion (Nominate ME!!!) and the "marketing" crapola. Plus, the 30 Tweets/30 minutes is just so not Cluetrain. They ain't tweets My Luv… me thinks they are cries for some well-needed therapy?

As y'all know, I am a Cluetrain guy. I have the rights and use the material in courses and lectures – and, I believe strongly in this wonderful thing we have called The Net. It is all about conversations.

I am watching – with great interest – Twitter; microblogging i.e. sending out updates and I noticed a couple of things ( I am researching this stuff for some clients and some talks I am preparing.)

Guy Kawasaki – yep, he is a stone-cold killer when it comes to all things Mac and Guerilla Marketing. However, if you are following Guy – like the 6 gazillion of us – he is using this Twitter thing as a self- promotional tool full stop. He calls it a weapon. Cluetrain states and quite rightly – "When did they turn marketing into a verb- with us as the object?"

He is non-stop all over us with his new AllTop.com site as well as his new book. Cool site fer sure. And I like his books – will probably get this one too. But OK we get it!!! Guy, you are becoming like a damn encyclopedia salesman. Hell, I know "trash and trinket" sales weasels that he makes look subtle! Take a smallish break Guy. We get it. Trust me, we get it. Ron Popeil would be embarrassed! Sometime ya have to know when you have made the sale. And when ya have to shut up!

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Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way: Why it is good to be Canadian (or Spanish) in 2008

Published August 7, 2008

By Joy Boyson

Spain is enjoying a great summer – winning the Euro Cup in late June, then Nadal’s Wimbledon victory in early July, plus Sastre’s Tour de France win at the end of July.

Meanwhile, over here in Canada, we’ve scored a string of victories as well – telecom victories. And the fans go wild over them.

For one, it looks like we’ll have several new mobile providers by as early as next fall. And generally, wherever and whenever competition flourishes, consumers benefit (until the industry reconsolidates again… but that’s another topic).

Secondly, all the rocking and rolling at incumbent BCE (branded as Bell Canada) promises Canadians some big changes. Privatization and plans for a “massive investment in broadband” as well as a “renewed focus on customer satisfaction and service” are cause for excitement.

Thirdly, (and this won’t seem like a big deal to those of you living in countries with “unlimited” data plans), after two weeks of customer complaints, incumbent Rogers Communications succumbed to criticism and dropped its data rate plans for the new Apple 3G iPhone.

What does this all add up to? A much more promising – and 21st century – media and communications landscape for Canadians.

A recent study found that Canadians expect to keep their current mobile phone for the next 3.5 years. The study claims “consumer inertia” as the cause, rather than contract impediments or a lack of better alternatives.

Likewise, most Canadians are only on their 3rd model of mobile phone while over in Hong Kong and the UK, consumers are already on their 6th model. Yet with each generation there is more innovation, more features and more creativity in the hardware, software, networks and usage.

“Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way” is a battle cry that Canadian mobile innovators should be shouting at the top of their lungs by now – especially since we have a noble and pioneering telecommunications legacy to uphold. Research in Motion (RIM), and the global success of the Blackberry, is but one feather in our nation’s telecom cap.

With Canada’s vastly dispersed population and various geographical challenges, telecom innovation quite literally connects this nation. We’re often culturally overshadowed in the mass media arena and our various hinterlands can be somewhat underserved. We rely on solid telecommunications to build and hold this country together. The sovereignty of our nation often dictates our rules and regulations on foreign ownership as well as those for distribution, licensing and royalty agreements.

Enter: User-Generated-Content (UGC).

The axiom of this article is that “Various handheld devices will inevitably operate as the primary portable connection to a media-rich Internet”.

The premise of this article is that “User-Generated-Content, and the accessibility of it, correlates directly with 21st century Customer Service and Satisfaction”.

Today, User-Generated-Content is king.

Accessing that content – anytime, anywhere – is the expectation.

Our text messages are UGC.

And we get very testy when people try to make us pay for our own
content. But while the EU Telecoms Commissioner is working on ways to
cap the roaming charges for international text messaging, Bell and
TELUS Mobility in Canada are facing a class-action lawsuit over
charging pre-paid customers 15 cents per incoming text. What’s not
working here?

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Category: Rant

Son of Tweets and Twits – Part Deux — The Sequel

Tweets and Twits

Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way: Why it is good to be Canadian (or Spanish) in 2008