PCM creative in action

Clean up the Twitter Fake Bots

New attention has be drawn to the numerous fake or spam twitter accounts that follow us. Yes they boost numbers but but they provide no value. Isn't it better to know everyone is listening or potentially listening? It was back in June 2011 that I wrote "Twitter Fly Swatter - TwitBlock" after I was looking in to ridding my followers of spam bots. It was TwitBlock by @TimWhitlock that identified and enabled me to block the culprits. This week Status people came on the scene, a tool to identify fakers with the headlines

• Facebook Has 44% Fake Followers; Twitter Has 33% - Mashable
• Obama Has Millions of Fake Twitter Followers [UPDATED] - Mashable
• Find Out How Many Fake Twitter Followers You Have With StatusPeople - Tech Crunch
• How many Twitter followers do they really have? - Guardian
• How many Twitter followers does Lady Gaga REALLY have? British firm promises to root out the 'spambots' that don't exist - Daily Mail

Quite some press coverage but lets get a little perspective. Bots boost your follow count, this is true. The relationships on Twitter of most importance are those with 'friends'. The ones you follow back. They read your Tweets and you read thier's. We don't control who follows us the only option if you want these bots to disappear is to block them. A twitter count inflated by fake, purchased followers and bots kids no one but your self. Running @pcmcreative through StatusPeople reveals I have 90% Good, 9% Inactive, 1% Fake. StatusPeople only analyses 1000 accounts, just a sample of your total following. Information is all well and good but what about the clean up. This is why I write this post. Social Media evolves all the time with new platforms, tools and services emerging suite of complimentary apps come together. Three apps I now have to verify the effectiveness of the Twitter accounts I own, run and maintain.

• TwitBlock - Finds Bots in fiends and followers - @pcmcreative 14 of 2543
• SocialBro - Excellent Twitter management tool including providing statistics about inactive followers - @pcmcreative has 112 inactive friends and 526 inactive followers.
• StatusPeople - New analytic tool to identify fake or bot accounts in your followers

The greater issue for me is my inactive friends. Many of them are Tweeters with the greatest of intentions but with no twitter passion. Some do ignite some just wait and watch. But I do know who many of them are. The other peeve is accounts with no custom avatar. What about your account? For more Twitter thoughts take a look at Twitterati, FibreCamp.tv's new twitter show with me and Phil Campbell.

Beyond the Barricades... I'm in here somewhere.

Dark times and dark skies. There has been quite a lot of rain recently and last night I lay in bed and listened as the rain began to fall. We all appreciate silence and I don't know about you but falling rain widens the silence in a way I find meditatively pleasing.

I'm not sure though I would have heard it that clearly of late as my internal dialogue has been screaming like a banshee and not in the most constructive of ways. My mind is not kind! It took a change of energy to realise just how out of control this had become and just how detrimental it been on my outlook.

Moving forward 'production like' is a kind of auto-pilot for me. Its only when I stop and look that I realise the wilderness I have consuming the world around me. I am extremely fortunate to have Dan, the heart of my world and a great friend living with us, Phil who together are the best friends ever. So I hide and withdraw ignoring the world and consequently friends beyond my barriers.

It's nothing new. Yet I come full circle eventually. I'm sure everyone has these cycles but the distress I inflict on myself reflecting on what the world around me thinks, if they even care is made all the worse my the inner insecurity I have dealt with my whole life.

So here I am again waking from a slumber, who knows the blurring of the seasons may have a part to play I do need light to thrive and the recent glorious bright spell when my straw hat came out rapidly desended in to the damp, dull, wet and unreliable spell we are experiences currently.

I don't intend to hide away and I guess me hiding away makes the external me seen even harsher and bossier than normal. Its important to reflect and remembers what being me is all about. I need to reach out and connect with the amazing people I meet so very regularly. Social media is the constant I felt I always lacked when I was on tour but now I see it in action I wonder if I'm an old dog that can't learn new tricks or maybe my state of being just stays the same. Its a great connector this World Wide Web but as I frequently nurse my workshops with... if you are good at something off line you'll master online too. Howerer struggle off line and on line is no easier. Many people find social media much easier than me. My strength is that I understand the landscape and its value when applied contextually and appropriately.

More and more I'm being drawn in to online audience engagement. The Arts where pay is low and funding is sparce. Did I not learn this working as a Stage Manager?

So people... friends, romans, counrtrymen! Why did I pick the arts in which to make a living? I enjoy working with creative spirits and innovating talents, which are often fragile and I seem to think that strength is a resource I have to provide. This leaves me so vunerable when I need support and I find it so hard to to ask. Why this post?

I have to re-establish an equilibrium. Show Time good... hunting for new new jobs dull. My independance is important I have always been self employed for tax purposed I'm not a natural business developer I am a natural freelancer.

I must pursue opportunies. These are not  unknown to me I just find it hard to do everything. Am I supose to be contacting you? Please get in touch. Events teams, do you need digital audience enegagement, on the ground, real time coverage posting to your website or online community presence? This is what I do. I get to know an audience. I'm just rubbish at telling people that! I never approach two projects the same. The fundementals are inhehent... digital coverage, but the audience and the client are alway fresh and unique in my approach and treatment of them. There may be cross overs from previous audiences too. I try to be a real part of who they are. So to end, returning to my dark skies I give alot of myself to my projects and finding like minded clients is key. There is a danger I get lost in digital so bring off line and on line together are important in my projects, but the rewards in the results for project success is worth it. I'm off to pursue those opportunities. Blogging is quite cathartic. Thanks for reading. Should I be working with you? 

 

Jubilee round up and reflection

Activities at PCM & FibreCamp seem to have been punctuated by the UK's Jubilee festivities. So I got out my little boat to join in the festivities. I had hoped to follow along on Twitter but although the tweets tumbled down my screen there was no officially curated stream. There was little engagement from the mainstream stream media in the wider social digital consciousness.

I was wondering if my twitter spiddy sense was a miss but it seems it wasn't only me who experienced this frustration. 

Why has the BBC chosen to leave Twitter out in the cold for Queen's Jubilee coverage? | The Drum po.st/k3YLiy

— Jamie Riddell (@jamieriddell) June 5, 2012

Why is there a need for a curated stream? I finally ended up tracking Jubilee, DiamondJubilee, Jubilee Nottingham, Jubilee Sneinton across Twitter and dipping in to ZeeBox on my iPad.

There was lots of shouting but no coherent conversation or chat.

I've returned from Audiences Europe's final "Extending the Margins" program event which was the international element of Rotterdam Festivals' Performing Arts Congress. FibreCamp's Phil Campbell has headed to the US taking a road trip from Tampa Florida to New York for Blog World Expo 2012.

'On the ground' is a phrase we both use when working on projects out of the Lace Market House office and studio. The aim and objective of these outings is to share an experience, offer a perspective to an event, capture it's essence and reflect on the content presented to stimulate engagement and generate interest. This is for both those who attend and those who did not. The collected media consequently provides a picture and record of the moments, people and presentations that took place 'On the Ground'

Why didn't people attend?

There are multiple reasons.

• Previous work commitments
• Lack of finances
• Alternative priorities
• Geographic or physical access ability
• Employment position
• Family

Social technologies and its resulting media published in real-time across digital channels such as Facebook, Twitter, or niche social network is relatively inexpensive and 'Extends the margin' of engagement exponentially, reaching an audience unprecedented prior to the emergence Of Social Media.

Mass media is lazy, passive with ease of access leading to consumer apathy. (ZeeBox is a great antidote to this with its related content links and twitter filter but there is no voice.) It is also expensive and it's production mechanism expensive. Comprehensive coverage be it mainstream production or our 'on the ground' insights require planning and preparation before the delivery of the experience.

That's what I'm thinking on.

Back to work tomorrow.

Who am I? - Let's get Following with Audiences Europe

Audiences Europe have recently taken me on team to provide social media and associated technologies support and advise. I always like to start by helping network members connect up existing tools and services with Twitter being one of the most accessible in terms of kicking of conversation and 'making new friends in the playground'. Audiences Europe have a Ning network where I have focused much of my time to date helping tweak and shape it in to platform project administrator Rich Hadley can be proud of, and in turn create content for. It's hugely important to feel proud of the network environment, blog look or website layout. Its a great motivator for creating content.

In the AEN discussion forum we exclaimed...Let's Get Following, inviting exisiting network members to post a little intro or just their Twitter name so others could follow them. This was my offering and a bit about my Twitter journey. As folk often ask me what I do this is alittle about who I am, which I think is what matters.

Hello, I'm @pcmcreative on Twitter

I have been a tweeter since late 2007 when I discovered I could maintain and develop connections beyond an event and project. The notion of a continued conversation day to day with like-minded people appealed to me. As a source of information it took a further 18 months before I thought to ask my Twitter network to answer a question I would normaly have 'googled' "What is the traditional gift for a 10th aniversary?" ie Cotton, Lace, Ruby etc. I got several responses infoming me it was aluminium. one suggesting a macbook coz its shell is milled aluminium and one declaring with a emoticon wink "Decree Nisi ;)" From here I knew Twitter was only going to get better.

I have been referred for work thought this 140 character mass messaging platform. Built audiences for online live theatre streams then spent the evening chatting though massaging to complete strangers who then become digital friends as they follow me on Twitter and begin to read my blog. I love it when months and in some cases now, years later I bump in to folk like seeing old friends yet quickly realising we have never met in the flesh before today.

Twitter is special.

This is my Twitter biog.

Social Media starlet, practitioner & consultant. @EquityUK campaigner for independent theatre artists. Slight nut. I love a good cuppa. @PCMprojects coordinator.

Sums me up professionally I guess as much as you can in 160 characters! As I recently discovered writing the Twitter biog for @audienceseurope it is quite an art, one I quite enjoy. Distilling the essence of an identity to create an impression in a single phrase. It's a great exercise.

What are your 160 characters?

What's your story?

Eye's on the prize? Notttuesday, Sept 2011

The presenatation from Oliver Emberton was live streamed to bambuser. Thank you to those who watched live, there were 25 of you and engaged in chat room banter. Thanks also to @PhilCampbell for curating and responding to chatter. Not bad for an iPhone4 with no external mic.

Posted pre-event...

I've initiated numerous hashtags in Twitter for events. They work very well for streamlining conversation and filtering participating twitter peeps. It is possible to track the reach of a hashtag using services like TweetReach but it is near impossible to determine how the twitter stream from an event is being engaged with by the active participants.

Are they picking up tweets as they whizz by in thier 'All friends" stream

There are so many application to access twitter with a mind bending array of different features how can I possible know if a stream is being watch in the way I am in good faith curating it?

I am heading off to a networking/meet up event tonight called NottTuesday and it has a tag which I check in to as the event approaches to get a feel for who is going to be attending. Are they also watching the tag or are they simply using it.

I created this poll to try and find out.

Posted this on Twitter and with the PollDaddy app on the ipad I'll poll the peeps tonight at the event. I'm leaving the poll open. As of the 15 Septmber only 4 had voted; a No, 2 Yes other and 1 Yes Tweetdeck collumn. I also created a saved search on Twitter for Notttuesday.

 

Integrity & Ethics pay off - I still believe.

From shopkeeper to B2B business – flowing motion

I don’t know too many small entrepreneurs who have a plan of action let alone show any solidarity with others.  @pcmcreative of Nottingham is an exception.

via flowingmotion.jojordan.org

When I first met Jo we talked about a Ning based social network for her village, Olney. Her policy research and her flowingmotion blog are for me highly informative if a little intellectual for my creative 'doing' brain and I learn so much about thought process from her. Yet another inspirational connection I made at MediaCamp Bucks and London. To read a comment in conclusion to a well thought out and considered blog post I am humbled to receive such praise. Thank you Jo.

Twitter Fly Swatter - TwitBlock

TwitBlock is a junk filter and bulk blocking tool for Twitter. It scans your followers for nuisance accounts and makes it easy to block them all in one place. You can also see who you're already blocking; something you can't do on twitter.com.

via twitblock.org

How many people follow you on Twitter? How many do you listen to? Friends and Followers, mutual friends, for so many it seems to be a numbers game. I have far more Twitter accounts than is healthy! Admittedly these are for business, clients or pet projects but yesterday I received a lot of what looked to be spam followers. Now my thinking in the past has been, well they won't be listening to anything I say but it's a follower. I had no intention of following these back but then I realised it dilutes the quality of my following. I have always been very proud that I can flick through my followers with a pretty good idea why I picked most of them up. Some I know, some I admire, some I want to meet, some I want to work with, many have attended events I have twitter curated and followed me from there and there are many good friends who I don't see half as much as I would like.

So... after manually reporting spammers last night I asked Google "who is a bot in my followers" and @timwhitlock's TwitBlock came top. 

It found 35 bots in 850+ followers and to my delight only 1 in my friends and that was one of my own pet project which was dormant! So... How about you?

The way I see it - part 2

Industry blogging, as a practitoner of social media it all gets a bit kalidascopic, inward looking.

I read about products, tools, services, platforms, people talking about those products, tools etc. Its the people talking about people I'm missing. I am not getting enough people stories, I'm interesting in personal practice. How do you used technology. When did technology stop being a tool to mastered but an entity to be absorbed? 'I know kunfoo' We know this brain dump matrix programimg of the brain is film fiction territory, But when did technology or items designated tech ie computers, games, phones enter your conscience and how did you assimilate that in to your world?

I found a photo recently of a time when 'tech' was not in my consciousness. I had an electric typewriter with floppy disc storage, the plastic square kind any how. Even then 'floppy 'disc' was a legacy word for a media type. There was Viynl, tape cassette, CD compact disc, dat tapes, minidisc and in the early 90's I still operated reel to reel tape! One thing in common, they are all storage mediums.

My working life was since graduation in 1994 with a degree in Theatre, Design & Technology, full off Technology it wasn't realy thought off as tech'nology' it was technical equipment. When did that spark ignite, when was the alchemical moment when the technical equipment became tech 'nology'? Is it connected with awe?

Was it when everything became computerised? Was when switches stopped being flicked, perhaps? Button pressing, fade sliders, the triggering of a direct mechanical response or verbal actions. Noting has changed cues are stil being acted upon.

Now a computer button is so removed from the action ultimately executed metaphysically is wide, yet the digital process is tiny, so fast but for some reason that matters to me, to my brain. As a multi-tasker I think I have processing power envy!

The way I see it - part 1

l find blogging a frustrating experience.

It's a transfer mechanisms, a cross posting method. Getting the content out of my thought buffer / memory cache on to / in to a blog post in text form hurts my head.

I like my notebooks. I like writing.

Here is why.

When I type I have to think of the keys I hit, the letters, line forms, the symbols that placed together form words, those words are the code that when interpreted by you the reader will decode, translate in your brain as a representation of the content, my idea that I encoded in to the text based storage media.

The stored media becomes a collective archive. We can all reference the same meterial. How do we translate / decode the data and store / remember stuff? That cross reference with previous archived material dictates the knowledge and recall quality.

Now that was a revelation to me and fingers crossed, it is a pivotal moment for my social media practice. I don't want to struggle to express myself. It's a frustration experienced by many dyslexics.

I use Livescribe. This post was written in a digitally enabled notebook using a computerised pen. The written text was uploaded to my Mac and passed through a convert to text programme providing me with the editable text that formed the foundation of this blog post.

Livescribe is stationary when did technology depart from being stationary and office supplies in the sense of work tools?

The way my mind works the awareness of the barrier between thought and expression has to be encoded by me. Pen to paper is a form of hand coding, freeform lines and swirls revealing as the pen passes across the page like a printer head. Thoughts to expression at the tip and flip of a pen. It doesn't exhaust me.

 

Mist, Rain, Zebra Print, Sharp Light,

Unfiltered reality?

How do your notate your world for recall?

How do you share it with others?

Social Media in practice

As I adventure and explore the web new tools, services and web 2.0 platforms emerge, evolve and disappear. Some platforms become firm favorites while others get superseded. It may be that new services provide better features, new features or more aesthetically pleasing environments to work within. User experience is as important as an audiences. It may be the discovery of a new medium is easier to update or enhances the reach and distribution of content. Take this blog for example. I love the Typepad platform. It is contained and very stable, it is also well established. Since creating my first post back in 2007 it has had a purpose, to document my practice and journey. I want it to be about my practice, a place to share my findings and a place to evaluate my progress. This also means I intend it to be read by a certain audience, those who are interested in what I am doing or want to know what I'm up to as a practitioner. I've never wanted it to be a news feed or a revenue generator. I do however want it to reflect my activity across the entire landscape of social media. I want to aggregate my highs and lows, my challenges and celebrations. This is my showcase. But currently it is rather neglected. This is my reflection.

This blog should

• Report my activities
• Review my progress
• Regale my milestones
• Renew my thinking

This blog should aggregate my activity. As my last post was in August it is at present and resounding failure! Failure is not to be reviled but learnt from and resolved through self discovery. I know I need to formally blog more but I enjoy the adventure, I enjoy the exploration, I love to share.

Where is CJ on the web? The side columns collate some of that activity.

I love AudioBoo. Since getting my iPhone 4 this audio blogging service has released me for my terror of typing text. It has an embeddable widget and can be seen in the column on the right. I can also embed individual 'Boos' in to posts. This is my latest at the time of writing this post.

Audioboo produces excellent quality audio recordings with out having to worry about bad hair days! After recording hit the publish button, take a photo to accompany the post, add a title, some contextual tags even a twitter hashtag before finishing with the save & upload button. AudioBoo autoposts to Twitter so I can share my interviews and personal musings immediately with my Twitter followers. Adding an event hashtag pushes the media to the hashtag stream too. Brilliant. I hope you can see why I love this platform.

AudioBoo also autoposts to Posterous.

I love Posterous. Blogging with nothing more than an email address. It also has a neat iPhone app. The email subject line is the post's title, the body text in the email becomes the blog post content and audio, video and image files can be attached just as you would into an email. Hit send and hey presto you are published. I tend to post event audio and photos there. No great insights just a record of the event for friends who were unable to attend to listen to. Its quick and simple. Posterous content does not feed in to this blog.

Gregg Fraley talks to January's Second Wednesday crowd

The link above is my Posterous post of Photos, Audio captured with LiveScribe and an intoductory sentance to the Second Wednesday event I attended. Posterous has autoposting abilities but I select to cross post manually to Twitter preventing AudioBoo and Posterous making identicle posts. Social Media echos are just so annoying!