Ignoring the fact that world is going to hell in the proverbial handcart, though, I’ve actually had rather a lot of fun (because that is obviously the MOST IMPORTANT THING). I’ve seen comedy; I’ve been to an awesome gig;I’ve been to the theatre and seen probably the most harrowing play I’ve ever seen, ever (actually, make that the second-most harrowing - this was probably worse); I’ve eaten some truly tremendous food; and I got to see a truly tremendous rapper live in a tiny venue. So, you know, I’m alright. Are you alright? I’m starting to worry.
Anyway, enough of this. Make yourself a cup of tea, settle down in a suitably confortable chair, and imagine my soothing, dulcet tones reading this out to you (and, if you like, imagine my malcoordinated body acting out every single video too. You pervert). You may want to get some biscuits too; this could take a while.
The rest of you, though, for whom it is NOT your month, will simply have to content yourselves with the following collection of webthings. Apart from The Man – for it is alwayshis month.
Alice Was A Lot Less Innocent Than Is Often Presumed
Contrary to what you may have feared, I AM NOT DEAD! Put away your wreaths, unveil your faces and break out the bunting, for Web Curios is BACK (I just tried doing a Google Image search for Web Curios – beautifully, several of the initial results are pictures of The Man. Hello, The Man!). Admittedly it’s only back for a week, as I am on HOLIDAY next Friday, but frankly you should be grateful for whatever you’re given at this stage.
In my absence, webmongs, I have seen things of which you can only dream. I have seen Slough and a Tesco’s so large that approaching it is like that opening bit in the first Star Wars film with the massive spaceship that goes on and on and on and (Slough FACT: there’s a pun in Slough town centre called the Wernham Hogg, named after the fictional company in The Office (which was of course set in Slough); I can’t work out whether this is a brilliant piece of self-satirisation or actually one of the saddest things ever, though I know which way I intuitively lean). I have been to Barcelona on a stag party, accompanied (amongst others) by a charming man known as ‘Big Sam’ who was recently cleared of common assault after breaking a man’s jaw on the fotball pitch (needless to say Big Sam and I didn’t really have much in common), where I danced to techno like a teenager and was thrown out of a nightclub (I came back in again 5 minutes later though). Oh, and I’ve done work as well, some of it actually not that bad.
Oh, and one last thing before I wang on about the internet and cats and stuff. I was reminded this week about the way in which Facebook is used as a tribute site when people die, particularly in the case of the young. This is, of course, perfectly fine. As someone who relatively recently had to administer the page of someone young who died, though, can I please point out that WHAT YOU WRITE MATTERS. I don’t mean to come across as stuffy (HEAVEN FORFEND) but I’m not entirely convinced that the term ‘RIP’ benefits from an exclamation mark (hey, kids, punctuation changes emphasis. You idiots) or indeed that a sad smiley is an adequate response to death. Just saying, like.
Ahem. Oh, and one last thing – Web Curios this week contains no Rebecca Black whatsoever. You can thank me in the comments.
One of a series of posters designed to commemorate the Fukushima earthquake. Click for more.
The answer of course, is no, it didn’t, although some mainstream commentators are getting a little excited about it. There’s no doubt that new media and digital channels like Twitter and Facebook certainly played an incredibly influential role in the events in Tunisia and in the downfall of President Mubarak, but a little perspective is probably needed.
Social media is invaluable as it offers a new spectrum of platforms, or channels, for communication with either local, regional or global networks. Not easily shut down and offering immediacy transparency and exchanges of information, it allows an easy flow of information, both good and bad.
Charlie Beckett, Director of the POLIS think tank at the LSE offers some words of wisdom on the subject here. He argues that when looking at the Middle East, social media could actually now be a really useful indicator, or even predictor, of political change. He also rejects the causal link arguing real important pre-conditions for any revolution will always be socio-economic.
Mr Twitter himself, Biz Stone, also argues that social media plays a supporting role but not a starring one. “How a revolution comes to be is a mystery to me. It’s important to credit the brave people that take chances to stand up to regimes. They’re the star. What I like to think of services like Twitter and other services is that it’s a kind of supporting role.”
As I write this piece, Colonel Gaddafi is now refusing to stand down in a defiant speech being shown live on Libyan state television (shown in UK thanks to the BBC!). So let the social networks in Tripoli play their role – but just please don’t call your next born ‘Facebook’.
I came across this piece of animation recently that I thought was worth sharing. It’s from my WPP cousins over at Ogilvy and is a clever ‘Jack & Jill’ story of the evolution of social media.
I thought some people might find it useful to share with colleagues, clients or friends and family who might still not quite ‘get it’ (*smiles and winks*)
I guess my main observation on this clip is that it focuses purely on advertising and its relationship with the consumer. The same could obviously be said for public relations and its engagement with commercial audiences, although of course the growth and development of social media has actually been more substantive than that, fundamentally adding a new spectrum of channels to how we all engage with each other, not just brands with consumers blah, blah, blah..
I wake up and one of the first things I usually check is Facebook to see who has done what and when around the world in the past 7hrs while I’ve been sleeping. I have an eclectic mix of friends including my partner, close friends, family, ex-partners work colleagues and just a smattering of friends-of-friends. Then there are my fan pages… ok, the pages ‘I Like’ I think they are called now, which include such a mix of music, drag queens from Ru Paul’s famous ‘Ru Paul’s Drag Race’, shops, magazines (like ValenciaCity), restaurants, cool pages (like CoolHunter) and travel!…. I don’t have thousands of friends, just the people I actually know, or have met. I’m a bit fastidious about my security settings and only allow my friends and network (Hill & Knowlton of course) to view my updates and uploaded pictures.
Then I worry about tweeting…. OMG! What can I possibly say in 140 characters that will be of interest to my pitiful 97 followers who have read my 1,113 tweets… or increase my sad following? (The stress increases one hundred fold when tweeting on behalf of the agency!) In fact I cheat a little and link my personal Foursquare and Facebook accounts to my twitter account so that there is at least an update a day! Even if it is only suggesting where I am eating, drinking or working out! … are you still with me? Sound familiar?
Then there is my LinkedIn account (which again I have linked to the wider H&K LinkedIn network). Should I link to my twitter and Facebook accounts so that my 131 immediate connections linked to my network of 5,048 connections get updated as and when I eat or work out? But then I would have to be a tad more professional in my wording and try to use casual text speak a little less that is acceptable on Facebook. Would they be interested? I doubt it. And then there is Dopplr for tracking my travelling. Should I link this to Facebook and Twitter too or does my Worldmate account that I think I have linked to my LinkedIn account do that already!? Read the rest of this entry »
Webmongs! In a show of MASSIVE DEFIANCE I am today saying XXXX XXX (use your nous and creativity to establish exactly which expletive I am masking behind those cunning Xs) to my workload and instead channeling all my energies into bringing you some stuff off the web. You hear that, The Man? YOU HEAR THAT???? Eh? Oh.
Strangely enough, The Man’s ambivalence to my defiance is pretty analogue to my feelings about the new toy for grown-ups which has been launched today (as an aside, may I just quote the ever-wonderful Saul Williams here and reference the conspiracy-theorists’ anti-Apple belief…”no one seems to recognize the symbols come to life / The bitten apple on the screen, and Jesus had a wife…”…JUST SAYING, is all) – for a full, unexpurgated viewpoint click here (WARNING – BAD WORDS).
For those of you, though, who are fully intending to line Steve Jobs’ pockets even further and sit about stroking your new i-pets to the appreciative breathy moans of your i-onanist colleagues, can I suggest that you all get the Scrabble app, which is the best thing I’ve yet seen on the iPad. Apart, actually, from a demo of the Telegraph’s forthcoming app, which looks very shiny indeed (it won’t actually make reading the news any better, but it will make it prettier – and that’s what counts, eh? I despair, I really do).
Anyway, enough bitter misanthropy. Or maybe not; we’ll see how we go.
Webmongs, I won’t lie to you – I am having what fat, sweaty policemen from 1970s detective shows would legitimately refer to as ‘a rough one’ (quite possibly whilst mopping their sweaty forehead with a gingham handkerchief – repeated attempts to find an image to accompany this phrase have proved fruitless, but I can now safely say that I do not recommend Googling “fat sweaty police chief” with Safe Search turned off).
Despite this, my dedication to bringing you the very best some stuff I found online this week continues unwavering. Not least because this post marks the 10th anniversary of this (in)glorious experiment in exactly how much rubbish one can get away with churning out in the name of ‘work’. That’s right – you’ve now had 10 weeks of this crap. It probably feels like longer.
To celebrate this momentous milestone, I would like to run a competition. That’s right, YOU CAN WIN A PRIZE. Just leave a comment at the bottom of this post, telling me something interesting. The person who posts the thing which I like best will win…a book. One of my books, to be precise (I’ll try and make an appropriate choice depending on who it is). I might even throw in some other stuff too, depending on what I’ve got knocking around at home.
I’ve just reread that – effectively what I’m offering you is a random choice of second-hand novel and possibly some other miscellaneous, used tat. This is a rubbish competition. Sorry.To make up for this, here’s some links and words:
Hello, webmongs. Happy Friday and all that. As I write, it’s 11:52am and it would appear that EVERYONE on the internet is watching the Beyonce / Lady Gaga lipstick-lesbian product placement extravaganza (otherwise known as the promo for new single ‘Telephone‘). I’m not, though. I am slaving over a hot keyboard to bring you a random, disconnected bunch of rubbish from the internets. SEE MY STAKHANOVITE DEDICATION AND WONDER.
I won’t lie to you, webmongs, it’s been a week of tribulations – who knew babyfaced pop-moppet Mark Owen even had a penis, let alone that he was sharing it with people who weren’t his partner? Shocking. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway, let’s get this thing started shall we? The sooner I crack on, the sooner I can start taking furtive sips from the bottle of advocaat I keep hidden under my desk.
SXSW and the ‘Check-In Wars’ – Ok, so ‘wars’ is maybe a little hyperbolic. Nonetheless. SXSW is a 9-day festival covering ‘interactive’, music and film, which takes place in Austin, Texas each year. Basically it’s a great big hipster / techy love-in, populated by the sort of people who only buy music that’s been endorsed by Pitchfork (full disclosure: I am a bit like that). The ‘interactive’ portion is all about new tech and innovation, and ‘features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders and an unbeatable line up of special programs showcasing the best new websites, video games and startup ideas the community has to offer’. Apparently.
Anyway, this year the pre-festival buzz has centred on the growing competition between Foursquare and Gowalla, the two companies currently dominating the world of location-based mobile apps. In the unlikely event that you are reading this and don’t know what they are, read this.
Given the fact that everyone in the Western world is likely to have a smartphone of sorts within the next 24 months, a lot of money is being wagered on location-based apps being the next big thing. This week, both the major playors announced new features – Foursquare plugging its analytics tools that will allow businesses to see who is checking in and when, meaning that they can better tailor their promotions to match their customers; and Gowalla integrating pictures and comments to its check-in service adding an extra layer of sociability to the platform. Whilst Foursquare’s currently winning in terms of users, it will be interesting to see the competition playing out over the next few months.
Oh, and you may not believe that these things are ever going to catch on with real people (ie those who aren’t Soho-dwelling generic media wankers), but the fact that Facebook is set to also allow users to share their location should give you pause for thought. This stuff will go mainstream, honest.
AOL Launches ‘Lifestream’ – Another big trend for the coming months that trendspotters (people with sharp haircuts, sharper glasses and dust where their souls should be) have been banging on about of late is convergence – that is, a move towards integrating your different online platforms and identities in order to make them easier to manage. We’ve already seen this with Facebook, MySpace,LinkedIn, etc, all allowing you to synch your status updates with your Twitter account – AOL’s ‘Lifestream’ is an attempt to create a standalone platform that integrates feeds from ALL your social networks into one place. It’s an interesting concept – not sure if AOL has the clout to make it stick, but again something else which we’ll see more of in coming months.
ANOTHER social app: Plancast – This is worth knowing about, if only because it’s an interesting proposition. Rather than an app that lets you share what you are doing now, Plancast is designed to help you share what you will be doing in the future – basically a social planner app. Really simple, but there’s a gap for exactly that sort of service right now.
Lewis Hamilton’s Secret Life – What do you think Lewis Hamilton does in his spare time? Discusses Baudrillard with his suspiciously transgender-looking girlfriend? Contemplates the theoretical beauty of Euler’s Identity? Stares into space as lonely tears course down his cheeks? Nope, none of those. What he in fact does, according to the new Alternate Reality Game for Reebok which launched this week, is recover stolen artworks like some sort of masculine Lara Croft. I’m frankly puzzled by both the backstory and mechanic for this – I’m a fan of ARGs, but this use of Lewis feels a bit bolted on, frankly, and I’m still unclear as to the link back to the brand.
Attach Digital Content to Barcodes – Bit hard to explain, this, but bear with me. This service allows you to attach digital content to any barcode – that means that if someone scans the barcode with their smartphone, having downloaded the StickyBits app, their phone will automatically take them to the webpage associated to that barcode. So, for example, you could link the Lady Gaga video mentioned all the way up there to the barcode on the CD single – meaning anyone who scanned the barcode with their iPhone could watch the video immediately. Now think about the fact that you can create your own unique barcodes, link them to whatever you want, print them out, stick them to things…the possibilities are huge, particularly for guerilla marketing campaigns.
Raising Awareness Of, And Funds For, he Homeless in NYC – a great piece of creative highlighting the plight of the homeless. As someone pointed out to me, though, it is horrendous that people are more likely to interact with a virtual homeless person than give money to a real one.
1) Last weekend the lead singer of one of my favourite bands, Sparklehorse, committed suicide. Mark Linkous was a very, very talented musician – here’s a small example of that talent:
2) To lighten the mood, watch as infinite teddybears invade Worthing sea front (by the amazing Cyriak):
