I wrote recently about my fear that the ‘filter_level’ metadata contained within each Tweet could be used to forever silence the unwashed masses in favour of the celebrity, brand or “more important” individual. But has this already been happening within the very interfaces we use to digest our daily stream of fun, facts and fury?
Continue reading “40,000 followers gooood, 200 followers baaad!”
It’s been coming for a long time.
All the signs have been there.
An almost fanatical focus on emotionless numbers. The raw data. The money.
Gradually human beings were replaced with a new idol. This rabble, who did most of the working and paying and living and dying in the community, simply weren’t ‘high value’ enough. Everything was now about ‘influence’, and money talks where influence is concerned.
Today saw the final battle in what has been a protracted war between those who seek to make the world a better place and them… Those who see the world as a series of datum, as a means to sell. And it seems they have won.
Continue reading “14.02.2013 – The day Twitter died”
For most of us, Christmas is a time for giving. But for a small minority whose selfish actions make us all a little smaller, it is a time to take. And not simply take from those who perhaps enjoy too much, but from those who have very little to begin with. It is these individuals who broke into a charities headquarters during the night and stole Christmas from the struggling families of Merton.
For those of you concerned with the recent Twitterstorm surrounding libellous tweets, and those of you who seemingly struggle with the concepts of social media engagement, I have some simple, straightforward advice…
There is often a feeling that the Third Sector is inexorably doomed to chase the tail of the Private Sector when it comes to online innovation and best practice, but my recent conference experience and industry gut feeling tell me that when it comes to social media the worm has turned.
One of the key factors in this observation was the latest who’s who in social, the Social Brands 100. This year’s list contained an unprecedented number of charities (almost 25% of the Top 100) and the research undertaken led the custodians of this report to state that; “It was long thought that content was king. This was replaced by the mantra that curation is king. But our findings suggest a new idiom… Caring is King”
Charities are built upon caring and it is this foundation that is leading to the successes being seen within social media. Traditional business techniques are failing in the social world and after years of trying it seems that the Private Sector is finally waking up to this new way of working.
Continue reading “Caring is King! Third Sector leads the charge in the field of social.”
When people ask me about Twitter and say “What’s the point?”, I always reply with one word… Serendipity
Never has anything come along that has provided people with so many “happy accidents”. I have spoken about many of these pleasant surprises myself and met countless others who have experienced similar, but these events occur exactly how they are named.
These are not things that you can plan or schedule. Serendipity can’t be engineered. It is its very spontaneity that makes it so special.
This is the essence of Twitter.
It is all of human life, both good and bad. It can make you laugh, it can make you cry. It can tell you what someone has had for breakfast and then go off and change the very world in which we live.
Oh, and it can also solve a celebrities hat problem…
Continue reading “Mr @aRobertWebb, @MarieCurieUK and a Yellow Bowler Hat #lovemyhat”
So the time has come where I reach the end of my millinery social experiment. I have shared my experiences of wearing a hat for over four weeks and hope that you have enjoyed at least some part of it. My hat has become part of who I am and will remain firmly upon my head, but I might spare you all the constant updates.
I feel that I have learnt so much during this period, way beyond the simple day-to-day trials of the hat wearer. Things about myself and those around me. It has changed me. Maybe not fundamentally, but in lots of little ways.
Would I recommend you wear a hat? Absolutely!
Yes they’re a pain in the arse when it’s windy, they make your head sweat and it’s yet another thing to carry around. But, for the moment at least, when you wear one you feel special, you’re part of a select crowd of individuals and you’re VERY easy to spot in a crowd.
My only piece of advice would be this though. Jerry Jeff Walker speaks the absolute truth when he says “Life’s too short for cheap guitars”. If you decide to join the millinery revolution and get a hat, do yourself a favour and get a good one. I know of just the place.
You can follow my day to day adventures with ‘Indi’ at twitter.com/stuartwitts or via the hashtag #lovemyhat, and if you feel inspired to purchase your very own quality headpiece, visit bates-hats.com and don’t forget to tell them Indiana sent you 😉
As the great F. Scott Fitzgerald so succinctly said, this weeks defeat was not final.
I’m sure you are all aware of the severe drought conditions we experienced this week that has led to some of us in the country having to perform the ultimate sacrifice. I refer of course to the howling wind and driving rain that led me to begin this week hatless.
I know, I know. There are those of you out there doubting my commitment and even whispering “coward” behind my back. But the thought of trying to hang on to my hat, my umbrella and all the other paraphernalia that comes with the daily commute just seemed too much. How Dr. Jones ever managed to ride, jump and fight his way throughout the quadrilogy without ever losing is hat is a secret only the movie magicians know. Us mere mortals sadly have to resort to leaving it at home.
Luckily by Wednesday the weather abated and I was once again reunited with my fur felted friend. It was good to be together again. I had missed it dearly. This, what can only be described as, epiphany finally cemented the bond between myself and my hat.
This week also saw a truly wonderful meeting of minds (hats?) at the local eatery, when I was fortunate enough to catch up with my friend @lesanto and finally catch sight of his light grey Poet in the flesh (felt?). Yet another fine Bate’s creation confidently striding its way through the streets of London.
Amongst our many conversation topics was the inevitable looking forward to warmer weather and the need for alternatives to our current headgear. I see Panamas in our future 😉
You can follow my day to day adventures with ‘Indi’ at twitter.com/stuartwitts or via the hashtag #lovemyhat, and if you feel inspired to purchase your very own quality headpiece, visit bates-hats.com and don’t forget to tell them Indiana sent you 😉
It has finally happened. After just over one week of being a hat wearer the fears and insecurities have shrank away. As I leave the house each morning it seems perfectly natural to place the hat upon my head and stride off into the sunrise. It is now a part of who I am. It is becoming ‘normal’.
Don’t get me wrong, there are still odd occasions where I consciously choose not to wear my hat for fear of ridicule, but it has firmly become part of my work week wardrobe and reminds me of something Jean Luc said to me when I picked up my hat from Bates,
“You wouldn’t leave the house without your shoes. So why would you leave without your hat?”
This week also saw more acceptance as my hat got it’s first sweet taste of an April shower. It performed admirably, Phil had informed me that the ‘Indi’ was bullet-proof and he wasn’t wrong. I’ve even dropped it a few times, brushed off the dirt and carried on.
So I am coming to the end of my first week as a wearer of a hat and what a week it has been. A close friend has already decided to join the millinery renaissance and has purchased his very own hat from Bates. Another friend is almost certainly going to follow suit after we met for a beer on the South Bank and he got to fondle my ‘Indi’, and I also got to take the hat to the Olympic Stadium. But to kick off this post I’d like to talk about nerves.
Even in the great cosmopolitan city of London there aren’t that many people who choose to leave their homes in the morning with something upon their head and so it was with a sense of trepidation that I set off for work on that first day. Would I be met with confused stares? Muffled sniggers? Derisive laughter? Or maybe even actual vocal abuse?
Continue reading “Sweaty foreheads, people carriers and the Olympic Stadium… Week One #lovemyhat”
