Internet Culture from London… and beyond
The origins of Twitter?
I got thinking about Twitter today (hat tip to Simon D.) and started doing some research about its origins – I came across both this interview and this photo by Jack Dorsey.
Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?
Reading the Twitter homepage, made me think about the different tools I have used to stay in touch with my friends and family over the years:
- I used to be a heavy MSN Messenger user when I moved to the UK – the status bar allowed me to let my family and friends know what I was up to
- In early 2000, texting revolutionised the way we used mobile phones. Updating your friends of your wherebouts had never been easier!
- Then came MySpace and Facebook; both have status bars, a nice easy way to update dozens of people at the same time
- And then came Twitter, asking a simple question, what are you doing?
This timeline (and time-consuming exercise!) has made me realise that Twitter is in fact, a repackaged MSN Messenger Windows Live Messenger.
The way we communicate and need to communitate is radically changing… I wonder what Maslow would think about that 
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Checking in on Social Media in the US is a completely different story…
about 2 months ago - 2 comments
During my recent trip to NYC, I couldn’t help but notice how much more mainstream Social Media is in the USA. As Adam pointed out in his recent 10 Foursquare secrets worth making public post, Foursquare [and other services] is much advanced than it is in London. Here are a few interesting things I spotted
Interview with a Flickr user: meet Paola Cermak
about 2 months ago - 2 comments
A few months ago, I blogged about falling out of love with Flickr, as I felt Yahoo! had failed to keep up with the rapidly changing social media landscape, and Flickr users’ needs (no Twitter/Facebook integration, lack of innovations within the platform, no status updates but to name a few). I am a huge fan
A brand engaged with me the other day…
about 3 months ago - 2 comments
As a consumer, I recommend and even occasionally express my discontent about brands via Twitter or my blog. As a social media pro, I spend most of my days managing online presences for other brands, engaging with both fans and detractors. And the other day, for the first in absolutely ages, a brand engaged with
Facebook: what does your profile picture say about you?
about 5 months ago - 2 comments
I’ve been busy in the last couple of weeks , hence the lack of blogging but here’s a quick one for the road – the credit goes to @jetube for this According to Nico, girls have only use four different types of Facebook profile pics and coming to think of it, his analysis is pretty
Customer service 2.0 – Easyjet
about 7 months ago - 3 comments
I had a bit of an epic journey attempting to travel back to Lyon for the festive season today. I missed my 5AM train to Gatwick, jumped on a taxi and arrived at the airport only to be informed that my Easyjet flight was delayed. Armed with a good book and a very large cup
Latest viral game on Facebook – Miss Fighter
about 7 months ago - 2 comments
I am not a gamer, but I do enjoy good old fashioned 2D games now and again. I had a lot of fun playing Hot Dog Bush earlier this this year, when Bush was ‘kicked out’ of the White House. The latest game hotting things up in France, is Miss Fighter, a simple 2D game
The Socialisation of TV Advertising
about 8 months ago - 3 comments
TV is becoming increasingly social. As Neil points out, Twitter went into complete overdrive over the X-Factor last Sunday following Lucie Jones’ shock eviction, with 8 out of the top 10 Twitter trending topics being X-Factor related*. I got rid of my TV when I moved in my flat last year; my flat is on
Adventures in Twitterland… (bring back the link love)
about 9 months ago - 2 comments
Funny things often happen in Twitterland… Today’s randomness definitely got me LOLing away behind my screen… Back in the old days, bloggers used to link back to one another other as a sign of appreciation, and an effective way of sharing content. Linking back also helped increase our Page Rank and Technorati authority; we (bloggers)
Bloggers, #LBM, Havana and a Twitter Treasure Hunt
about 9 months ago - 2 comments
Last week’s London Bloggers meet up was sponsored by Havana who managed spice our lives up by bringing a piece of Cuba to London. Thanks again guys for the delicious Mojitos and the lovely night! Havana an exciting piece of news they’d like to share with you hence the blog post… Havana Cultura, a global
New shiny social networking site – meet Foursquare
about 9 months ago - 3 comments
So yes, Foursquare is now available in London, and with it are all the badge-unlocking, social-drinking, night-life infesting, mobile gaming experiences our American friends have been experiencing for the better part of a year. It’s actually the kind of thing I was hoping Nokia and Dopplr would come up with following Dopplr’s acquisition… For those
about 1 year ago
I remember in 1998/99ish, before texting had really taken off – you had to pay extra on, I think, one-2-one (remember them?)! haha!
I also remember someone saying on Twitter recently:
3 years ago I sent you a birthday card, 2 years ago I sent you a text, a year ago I left you a message on Facebook. This year, I’ve sent you a message on Twitter.
Times are indeed a’changing. Wonder what we’ll be doing this time next year?
about 1 year ago
It’s amazing how quickly we get used to new forms of communication. Twitter is so new, yet if you asked me, I’d probably say I’ve been using it for five years or so. Will we be still using it five years from now?
about 1 year ago
Michael – oh yes, I remember one-to-one! I feel old that you mention them
BTW, I love that Twitter quote… not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing…
Michal – I am truly addicted to Twitter… and I think it’s here to stay… for the foreseeable future anyway
about 1 year ago
Ha, ha – I think I’m also showing the first signs of addiction, although the fact that they disabled sms updates means most of my ‘converted’ friends (i.e. people who didn’t use Twitter until I made them to) abandoned the service (or at least don’t update that often).