Elections and Twitter: The problem with laws witten in 1930

Our politicians were slow adopters of social media but they embraced it eventually and many Canadians rely on these communities as their primary source of news. But when online and broadcast media went dark during the required blackout period set by Elections Canada, just over 2,000 tweets were posted containing election results.

The Election Canada law was written in 1930 and is the only thing "stopping" people from tweeting about results in Atlantic Canada before polls close to its west.

I love this section of an Ottawa Citizen article about what Elections Canada will no doubt need to figure out before our next election.

So posting results on a website is taboo, but Elections Canada says it is OK to share them by email, phone call or even a Facebook message. Still sounds like transmitting to me. But it is forbidden to post the results to your Facebook profile or on your Twitter feed.

My question for Elections Canada is: What if your Facebook profile settings are private, or your Twitter account is locked, and only your chosen friends can see your updates? How is that really any different from email, where you self-select recipients of your message? What if you only have 10 Facebook friends? Does that really still count as transmitting according to Elections Canada? How many Twitter followers or Facebook friends do you need to have in order for it to count? Ten? Twenty? One hundred?

Alex and Luke - A social media road trip

I love this idea:

Alex and Luke set out from Toronto to see what would happen if they used the power of social media to explore North America.

Without a route or any predetermined idea of what they will see or do, they call on the communities behind the most popular social media websites to tell them where to go and what to see.

Their goal is to travel through every state, province and territory while documenting and sharing the experience through web videos and other Internet content available on their website.

They explore the gap between real-time relationships and online relationships. It is a true modern day road trip that collects and shares the travel experience with others.

To connect with online communities, regular polls are held on their home page. People connect in the following ways:

- Twitter: Where people vote and make suggestions (1,304 followers at my last visit);
- YouTube: Where people can vote and watch videos (2,241 channel views at my last visit);
- Gowalla: Where people can check in on destinations visited (383 stamps, 21 pins, 85 friends at my last visit); and
- Facebook Fan Page: Where people can interact with Alex and Luke and other followers (1,782 fans at my last visit).

YouTube and Twitter is loving Old Spice

Thanks @MattMcNama for sharing the recent frenzy on Twitter and YouTube about Old Spice....

I’m sure you’ve seen the Old Spice commercials that aired during last year’s Super Bowl, but I thought I would send you some of last week’s viral videos. They are a fantastic example of branded entertainment extending beyond the TV and onto the Internet.

http://realbusiness.co.uk/sales_and_marketing/old_spice_smashes_socialmedia_records
People on Twitter sent tweets to the Old Spice man, and the Old Spice man responded almost immediately with YouTube videos. It was a huge success and has made the character the most recognizable “branded entertainment character.”

Super Bowl commercial:


One of the many Twitter/YouTube videos posted within a few day period in response to tweeted questions:

Twitter: New Beat for Journalists?

In watching the Michael Jackson coverage yesterday surrounding his memorial, what I found interesting were the journalists at various news stations that were assigned to monitor and report on Twitter. Looks like there is a new journalism beat!

Journalists aspiring to covering this new area, however, need to work a little more on what's news and what isn't. Some reporters did this better than others.

I suppose a random tweet would be the same as a man-on-the-street (streeter) broadcast interview. But somehow, reading "MJ memorial is so...." to me just doesn't cut it as "in-depth perspective' or even "good colour".

I did think it was cool that Elizabeth Taylor tweeted about why she was not going to attend. No need for a press release. One line on twitter and the world new she would not attend to avoid the crowds and the media reported it with the same coverage as had she announced it in a press conference.

Reporters assigned to the 'Twitter beat' may want to know about Twitter trend tracker Twitscoop. Twitscoop created these visualizations of how quickly Jackson memorial-related tweets took over Twitter today:

Twitter 101

I am often asked what Twitter is and finally I have found an easy explanation that anyone can understand.



Now, read this article from Business Week: How Companies Use Twitter to Bolster Their Brands.

This is clearly not for all my clients but some may want to consider using Twitter to monitor and carefully respond to their customer base. We'll save using this proactively for another blog entry - political campaigns, event promotion.....