I Have Twatted

WebNewser has compiled a complete list of Twitter lists containing information regarding the Ft. Hood Attack. We share this information with you not only so you can stay informed, but also to continue our look into the way society utilizes Twitter when news breaks.

Because Lists only became available last week this is certainly a new trend. However, The Austin-American Statesman created its own Twitter feed for the account (@FtHoodShootings), as well as a list. Here are a few more from the major news providers:

— New York Times: twitter.com/nytimes/fort-hood-shootings

— CNN: twitter.com/cnnbrk/fort-hood

— NBC's The Today Show: http://twitter.com/todayshow/forthood

— Los Angeles Times: http://twitter.com/LATimes/fort-hood-shootings

— Washington Post: twitter.com/washingtonpost/forthood

— Dallas Morning News: twitter.com/DallasCrime/fort-hood-shootings

— The Huffington Post: huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/05/fort-hood-shooting---live_n_347623.html

More: "There's a Twitter Feed for That: Ft. Hood Shootings"

The cable newsers and half the internet have turned coverage to the Ft. Hood Shootings, which as of this moment have taken the lives of at least seven people and have possibly wounded as many as thirty. The Austin Statesman is covering the story breathlessly, and about an hour ago set up a Twitter feed to manage the content. Stay up with the news at twitter.com/fthoodshootings.

More: "Cablers Cover Shooting at Fort Hood"

David Armano, man of our time, man of our town(s). He works for the formerly secret company Dachis Group (not Corporation, anymore), which "unlock[s] the value of social technologies for large corporate enterprises through Social Business Design." And junk. Also, they invent new words like 'pimplemented' — without even meaning to! Oh David, you silly man.

via Twitter

More: "Twitter Star David Armano Leaves Critical Mass"

There are people who suck at sharing their thoughts in 140 or fewer characters, and though we won't name any in particular, it's pretty obviously due to fear of something. Maybe these bad tweeters have reputations to uphold (something we'd know nothing about) or their minds are too focused on the ends instead of the means. Or they're just unfunny stupid jerks who can't put together a ramble-y, incoherent phrase. The point: Tracy Morgan should have a Twitter account. It's his fucking patriotic duty.

They say incoherence is the key to humor. No they don't. But in Morgan's case, it is, and he should share that with the rest of us, always. He probably has a cell phone, maybe even one that can download an application that would make using twitter supes ease (super easy). Whatever the case, please support the shit out of this cause (read: get behind it, ardently), and let's convince Tracy to get on it.

Twacy.org can help. Created by the OMGICU dude(s).

Um, here's one to write home about. Twitter's @trudy_campbell used the word "negroes" in a tweet. It's OK though, because she's like, from the days when it was OK to say things like that. Er, the days when people said things like that and other people didn't seem to mind or at least didn't mind out loud where other people could hear them minding.

But since we don't say things like that anymore it seems striking at first read. Ha ha, you might say, she's from the past. Wait, no she isn't — she's not even a person. However there is a person pretending to be her, and that person wrote "negroes" in a Tweet, and now the world is spinning wildly, might even fall off its axis.

I'm kidding that won't really happen. But this did happen and now everything is confusing again.

More: "The 5 Most Popular Types of (PR) Tweets"

Joe Ciarallo at PRNewser has put together a list of the 5 most popular types of PR Tweets. Though they're from PR pros, I've noticed some similarities when perusing my feeds. Here they are — click here for examples.

1) The "I'm hanging out or speaking with an important person/people" Tweet.

2) The "complaining" Tweet.

3) The "non-disclosure" Tweet.

4) The "overly excited" Tweet.

5) The "cat fight" Tweet.

More: "Brit Court Issues Writ via Twit"

A U.K. High Court judge redefined the term "you got served" by issuing what's being reported is the first-ever injunction via Twitter.

The target: an anonymous Tweeter who runs the micro-blog page www.twitter.com/blaneysblarney alleging that it was impersonating right-wing blogger Donal Blaney, the owner of UK firm Griffin Law.

In a statement to Reuters, Dr. Konstantinos Komaitis of Strathclyde University's law faculty says, "I think this is a landmark decision to issue a writ via Twitter. You are creating a precedent that people will be able to refer to. It only takes one litigant to open the path for others to follow."

This "landmark" case of course brings to light the numerous amount of Twitter impersonators that abound, but it'd be far-fetched to think that this will bring about broad, sweeping changes. At least we know Ashton is fo' real.

More: "AgencySpy's Secret to Social Media"

I got an email earlier asking me if I agreed with some cockamamie social media strategy. Part of it went like this:

"...our belief is that there is no problem combining brand messages with our personal spaces, as long as sensitivity and care are used."

My response grew into an idea that I talk about from time to time. Do you agree or disagree? Answer below:

Sort of — success in social media is hard to define and even harder to attain. That's because the brands that do it best express a certain air of humanity. For example, @aplusk. With the AgencySpy brand on Twitter, it's basically just me. I don't try to be likable — I just say whatever I would normally say and deal with the consequences later. Not every brand can do that, but in an age where bad press is the only legitimate kind, it makes sense to stumble and fall.

Think of it this way — most of the world's greatest, most helpful inventions (electricity, penicillin, rubber) were created by accident. Indeed, some people believe the world itself was created by accident. So, although a brand may try to strategize and fit their message into the preformed media channels that have pervaded/bombarded consumers with commercial messaging over the last 50 years, they can't plan when it comes to social media.

That's due to a number of things — the most important of which is human nature. We can tell when someone is being disingenuous. Another factor — social media requires an almost never ending stream of thought, which is most effective when one person is behind it. If a camel is a horse designed by committee, a bad social media strategy is one that uses the boots-on-the-ground-input/voice of more than one person. Sure, creating the strategy can be done by more than one person, but to get that real human feeling, you need one consistent voice, everyday. Read: don't be safe, be human.

At least — that's how we've grown our social media following. We don't do gimmicks, we just inform and entertain and act like ourselves. That's the secret.

I'm not a strategist. My job is to inform you, and with Twitter I broaden that to inform/entertain because no one wants to read advertising news all day. But at the same time it is my job to strengthen the AgencySpy brand, to solidify in your minds that we have something that no one else does. You know better than I do what that is, because you control how we're defined in your eyes. In that way, I am a strategist — but one that's very hands off. The only strategy is to keep chugging along, interacting, reporting, typing.

Don't believe that it's working? Just over a year ago we had 150 followers on Twitter. Today that's near 9,000. Who knows how many of those are bots or accounts that never get used. Fine. But considering AdAge has 35,000 and AdWeek has 12,000 I think we're doing OK.

Now, you might not think that's important, and I'd agree that it probably isn't a big deal. But what it does suggest is that in the Twitter space, we're 1/5 as relevant as AdAge and 3/4ths as relevant as AdWeek — and all I did to make that happen was share interesting links. Cost: $0.

Follow us on Twitter.

More: "We Hear: Draftfcb NY Behind Bad Taglines Tweeting?"

Hey all,

This is a message from AgencySpy. You may have noticed that we didn't use Twitter much today. It was sort of an experiment in paying attention that I wanted to take part in. It feels like it's been ages since I went to an event with just a pen and paper, rather than liveblogging it. Anyway, I took some notes today and hopefully I'll be able to pass them off as sentences.

That's about it — my reports from today's events are coming shortly. I will be back in full swing tomorrow, when Kiran will be covering the day's events.

More: "

While it has since been shut down, the infamous Bad Taglines Twitter feed is now rumored to be the handiwork of some merry prankster at DraftFCB New York.

A tipster tells us: "It appears that someone over at DRAFTFCB NY got in trouble over the twitter bad taglines. If you notice it has been deleted. Obviously someone at DFCB got a bit worried that their Kraft and Plan B clients may have been pissed at seeing what their agency thought of their brands."

We have yet to hear back from the DraftFCB camp with a yea or nay, but if you'd like to revisit some of the witty Twats (like the one above) in the meantime, Gawker still has them posted here.

Update: A DraftFCB "insider" has now offered us this reply: "...Several people from several agencies including our NY office brainstormed the idea for that Twitter feed in a bar. Needless to say, what sounded like a good idea over a few beers didn't quite pan out in the light of day. No surprise the page was taken down after less than a day."

More: "People Read What You Say on Twitter"