Cher and Grover Norquist engaged in Twitter warfare
May 20, 2012 by admin
Filed under Twitter News
Cher is a household name. Grover Norquist is not.
Cher, the singer, actress, activist and gay icon, never holds back. She has often come under fire for her outspokenness, and her boldness is no different on Twitter, where she has more than 600,000 followers.
(LENNOX MCLENDON – AP)
Norquist is the conservative founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform. Political junkies and politicos know him, but the random man or woman on the street probably don’t. It’s almost a guarantee they would know Cher.
Cher and Norquist are in a Twitter tete-a-tete. Cher often mixes politics into her tweets, and that doesn’t sit so well with Norquist.
On May 3, Cher tweeted: “Whats the difference between Mitt Romney a Jellyfish??? NOTHING ! Whats the difference between Grover Norquist the Devil ?? SAME THING !”
Norquist, who only has 22,000 followers, responded Friday night: “Hi Cher. get some sleep.”
He clearly wants her attention. According to his tweet history, he hadn’t addressed her previously. Although on May 3, he did tweet a response to Bette Midler who asked: “The question is, who has damaged the country more, Karl Rove or Grover Norquist?”
Norquist replied, “Nice to hear from you Bette.”
(Cliff Owen – AP)
Twitter, what a strange invention. It connects fans to stars and stars to politicos with one press of the button. But a social network like Cher’s can also inform, and shape, the less-informed voter who might not follow every twist on the 2012 political trail.
On that same day, Cher tweeted, “Saw mitt Romney wife on tv(He Takes Her With him Everywhere He Goes..She’s like His MOMMIE)She was wearing 1000k TShirt,Lota $$ 4 a tshirt.”
Granted, Cher doesn’t consider grammar or punctuation when she tweets. But who cares? She’s Cher, not an English professor.
When a fan tweeted that he wished he knew more about politics so he could tweet with Cher, she recommended that he watch “The Daily Show,” Stephen Colbert and Rachel Maddow. She confessed in another tweet that she loves MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews.
In recent days, she has discussed Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, bullying, the Wisconsin election and Paul Ryan’s budget, along with a mix of Donna Summer and Studio 54 memories.
Like many stars, Cher has the ability to activate hundreds of thousands of fans – gay and straight – and the showbiz network to appear on any television show and discuss politics even if she is wearing sequins and wigs while doing so. That was the case in 2008 when she initially supported Hillary Clinton in the primaries before campaigning for Barack Obama in the general election. Someone like Cher can be a very high profile opponent to the GOP agenda.
It’s very tempting to have a trigger finger on social media and respond or retweet before thinking. For example, Norquist retweeted an insulting tweet about Roseanne Barr soon after he tweeted Cher. “Remember when you had friends and things to do on a Friday night? The 80′s are long gone…” the tweet stated.
But Barr had no time for Norquist on Saturday. She was engaged in a Twitter war with conservative pundit Michelle Malkin, who Cher has previously tweeted. Barr tweeted, “michelle, let’s have a beer-it might be fun-if you can keep it on the map-let’s do it-what do you say?”
A star’s influence shouldn’t be underestimated. Entertainers have a power that cannot be bought with ads, mailers or robo calls. They influence in a genuine manner, and their followers enjoy having a connection to a star via a tweet, especially if they get a direct response.
Norquist may want to think twice before engaging more stars, say, social media goddess Lady Gaga who recently recorded a duet with Cher. She has more than 24 million Twitter followers. Her fans, known as Little Monsters, are rabid and loyal to the point of obsession. If she tells them to vote or retweet, they will.
Will Obama win the election solely on Cher’s tweets? Of course not. But he very well could pick up some votes that he otherwise may not have. As anyone in politics knows, every vote counts.
Suzi Parker is an Arkansas-based political and cultural journalist and author of “Sex in the South: Unbuckling the Bible Belt.” Follow her on Twitter at @SuziParker
Article source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/post/cher-and-grover-norquist-engaged-in-twitter-warfare/2012/05/19/gIQARS4obU_blog.html
This day in history...
Powered By WPHistory
Lakers’ Blake, wife threatened on Twitter after Game 2 loss
May 20, 2012 by admin
Filed under Twitter News
Kobe Bryant takes to Twitter to criticize fans for threatening teammate Steve Blake.
(Getty Images)
NEW YORK — Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Blake and his wife received multiple online threats after he missed a big shot late in Game 2 of L.A.’s second-round playoff series with Oklahoma City.
Blake has contacted the Lakers’ security team about the threats, the backup point guard said Friday during shootaround for Game 3.
Blake barely missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer with about 3 seconds left in the Lakers’ 77-75 loss to the Thunder on Wednesday night. The third-seeded Lakers already had blown a seven-point lead in the final 2 minutes of regulation, and they fell into a 0-2 hole in the series.
“I let our security people know about it, and kind of kept a record of what was said just in case, but other than that, try not to make a big deal out of it,” Blake said.
Blake said he and his wife, Kristen, were besieged on Twitter by curses, threats and “people saying things I don’t even really want to repeat. It’s an unfortunate situation, but it’s the mental side of the game. You’ve got to be better than that.”
Blake rarely tweets, but his wife is a frequent user of social media. The family has three young children.
“I hope your family gets murdered,” read one post that Kristen Blake re-tweeted with the comment, “Wow.”
Blake was a Lakers hero when he hit a huge 3-pointer during a victory over Denver in Game 4 of the first round, and he scored 19 points in Los Angeles’ Game 7 victory over the Nuggets. The veteran guard was taken aback by the online vitriol directed at him for just one shot.
“It is the unfortunate side of pro sports,” said Blake, who won an NCAA title at Maryland. “Everyone is criticizing, and sometimes people cross the line. But you’ve got to move past it, be the positive person, and I think that’s the approach me and my wife are trying to take with it.”
Kristen Blake tweeted that she blocked 500 people from viewing her account. She tweeted Friday: “I am deeply grateful humbled by the outpouring of love, support, most of all prayers for our family in light of recent events-THANK YOU!”
Steve Blake said he isn’t worried about the threats affecting his three sons. The oldest, Zachary, is only 5 years old.
“They don’t know what Twitter is,” Blake said. “There’s nothing that will stop me from protecting my kids no matter what. We’ll move past it and take the positive approach no matter what.”
Article source: http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/19081865/lakers-blake-wife-threatened-on-twitter-after-game-2-loss
This day in history...
Powered By WPHistory
When Twitter Met Google and Ferrari Met Ford, Look What Happened
May 19, 2012 by admin
Filed under Twitter News
Graham Smith is a UK-based designer whose brand reversion project is an eye opening look at major brand logos. For the project, Smith fuses or reverse brand identities. Seen here, the effects of Twitter teaming up with Google, Ford with Ferrari, and Google with Yahoo.
You can see what happens if Google met Yahoo, right of screen. The others are below. The project is a long term one with about 100 logos on Smith’s Imjustcreative site so far. A couple of years ago I gave a presentation on how really clever brands are never just one thing, never represent one core emotion, but are good at capturing people in all kinds of moods. Smith’s reversioning project reminds me that brands need to get over themselves, just a little.
I saw these logos first on DesignTaxi. They have a subtle way of disturbing your assumptions about familiar objects.
Article source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/haydnshaughnessy/2012/05/19/when-twitter-met-google-and-ferrari-met-ford-look-what-happened/
This day in history...
Powered By WPHistory
The new manifest destiny is digital: American outward expansion moves into a …
May 19, 2012 by admin
Filed under Twitter News
AP National Writer
2:05 p.m. CDT, May 19, 2012
Article source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-bc-us--digitalmanifestdestiny,0,4477744.story
This day in history...
Powered By WPHistory
Osi’s LT Super Twitter offer rings hollow
May 19, 2012 by admin
Filed under Twitter News
Osi Umenyiora wants to help Lawrence Taylor get his bling back.
Sort of.
Big Blue’s defensive end took to Twitter (@OsiUmenyiora) Saturday morning with the following challenge:
Attn:All L.T, NYG, NFL FANS! If i get 1million followers, i will buy L.T’s ring back and give it to him. The 1,000,000th will give it to him
— Osi Umenyiora (@OsiUmenyiora) May 19, 2012
The ring the Giants legend and Hall of Fame linebacker earned for helping lead the franchise to Super Bowl XXV glory in 1991 is being auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Taylor, who gave the ring to his son Lawrence Taylor Jr., said earlier this week that he was unaware that his championship bling was being sold by SCP Auctions, but that he was “fine” with his son selling it.
The high bid as of Saturday afternoon was $108,378, with the auction set to close at 10 p.m. ET.
Courtesy SCP Auctions
Umenyiora, who now owns two Super Bowl rings of his own, dropped his initial demand in half a few hours later.
“Deadline is 10pm tonight for the auction for LT’S Ring! Im reducing it to 500,000!!!”
But considering the oft-disgruntled Giant had only 37,000 followers as of 1 p.m., it seems like he’s more interested in collected a few new followers for himself than he is with reuniting L.T. with his Super Bowl memento.
This day in history...
Powered By WPHistory
Champions League – Twitter users predict the winner
May 19, 2012 by admin
Filed under Twitter News
Sat, 19 May 14:02:00 2012
As the Twittosphere swells with talk of tonight’s Champions League final between Chelsea and Bayern Munich, we asked some the more prolific fans who they are backing to win.
- Champions League final build-up: LIVE
- Champions League final: LIVE at 7.45pm
- Bet on Football – Get £25 Free
Some of the more recognised football fan Tweeters were asked to give their view of the big match in Munich in partneship with Yahoo! Eurosport.
@DarrenArsenal1 in England, @Tarmasinov in Russia, @markingegno in Italy, @AlbertineG in France, @redrobbery in Germany and Spanish pair @martiperarnau and @Borja_Pardo are all involved in this special collaboration on Twitter with @YahooEurosport, and also encouraged to Tweet the hashtag #ChampionsEurosport.
And these are their views on tonight’s match…
@DarrenArsenal1 (United Kingdom, 27,779 followers)
“A lot of these players will be turning out for Chelsea for the last time in Munich. It’s their last chance and I think they’ll do it.”
@Tarmasinov (Russia, 734 followers)
“I predict Bayern to score a couple of goals, but I think Chelsea will also score. This is a final, so a scoreline bigger than 2-1 is unlikely. Bayern got less praise for beating Real Madrid than Chelsea did for beating Barcelona which could have an impact. So I will go for a 2-1 win for Bayern.”
@Borja_Pardo (Spain, 10,924 followers)
“Bayern are favourites because they are playing at their own stadium, while Chelsea have many suspensions. Nevertheless I feel Chelsea will win.”
@Martiperarnau (Spain, 29,743 followers)
“Bayern have scored in every home Champions League match they have played this season – but Chelsea have scored in every match! I predict a 1-1 draw and penalties.”
@Markingegno (Italy, 4,569 followers)
“I want Roberto Di Matteo to win the Champions League final after the FA Cup. Come on Chelsea!”
@AlbertineG (France, 1,654 followers)
“Bayern cannot afford to lose another final in three years, and also in their stadium. They must go for it and win.”
@Redrobbery (Germany, 3,443 followers)
“It’s a unique opportunity and the motivation will be extraordinary. The desire is strong. Bayern will win the final.”
Article source: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/19052012/58/champions-league-twitter-users-predict-winner.html
This day in history...
Powered By WPHistory
Facebook: Reaction in the Twittersphere
May 19, 2012 by admin
Filed under Twitter News
Why did Facebook go public? Twit-wisdom says: “because they couldn’t figure out privacy settings either.” You can always count on Twitter for active response to what’s going on on Facebook. And, boy, do people have jokes.
Starting with late-night comedian Conan O’Brien with his nod to the IPO: “Today, Facebook went public, just as MySpace’s last user went private.”
Another reference also beat up on Facebook’s predecessor. Thomas Towell wrote: “Facebook goes public; MySpace goes public urinal.”
Who needs Facebook stock? Not comedian Andy Borowitz, who said, “I don’t need to buy Facebook. I already bought http://Pets.com.” Aw, poor sock puppet.
There were comparisons of the extended delay in trading Friday morning to a couch-potato Christmas tradition. “Watching $FB UNCHANGED $38 since 9:30 this morning is the stock market equivalent to staring at the Yule Log on TV at Christmastime,” wrote Paul LaMonica on StockTwits.
There were also suggestions for other uses for the big bucks of Facebook. Buying Greece, a new network for Oprah and paying off the U.S. debt all were floated.
Not everyone is amused at Facebook’s trending in the Twitter timeline. Kasey Anderson has already grown weary, according to her Tweet at 9:28 a.m. “Woke up. 10:18 AM: Already tired of Facebook IPO.”
Some found the obsession a bit disconcerting.”The fetishization of Facebook stock is weirding me out and suggests to me something deeply off about our society,” wrote @nicholasstoller.
For others, social networking is akin to Fight Club. As Mike Spiegelman wrote: “Why is $FB trending? First rule of Twitter Club: We do not talk about Facebook.”
There was also a bit of humorous what-now floated. Box Chief Executive Aaron Levie asked, “Now that Facebook has IPOed, what are we supposed to talk about on the Internet?”
The best answer so far? Bacon.
RELATED:
Facebook stock stumbles in big public debut
Facebook sued by users for $15 billion over online tracking
‘Mayor of Wall Street’ not caught up in Facebook IPO frenzy
Follow Michelle Maltais on Google+, Facebook or Twitter
Article source: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tn-facebook-reaction-twitter-20120518,0,4516381.story
This day in history...
Powered By WPHistory
Lakers’ Blake, wife target of attacks on Twitter
May 19, 2012 by admin
Filed under Twitter News
The Associated Press
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Lakers guard Steve Blake and his wife received multiple online threats after he missed a big shot late in Game 2 of Los Angeles’ second-round playoff series with Oklahoma City.
FILE – This Dec. 27, 2011 file photo shows Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Blake, center, shooting between Utah Jazz forwards Paul Millsap, left, and Enes Kanter (0), of Turkey, during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles. Blake and his wife have been attacked online since he missed a possible game-winning 3-pointer against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo, File)
Blake has contacted the Lakers’ security team about the threats, the backup point guard said Friday during shootaround for Game 3.
Blake barely missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer with about 3 seconds left in the Lakers’ 77-75 loss to the Thunder on Wednesday night. The third-seeded Lakers already had blown a seven-point lead in the final 2 minutes of regulation, and they fell into a 0-2 hole in the series.
“I let our security people know about it, and kind of kept a record of what was said just in case, but other than that, try not to make a big deal out of it,” Blake said.
Blake said he and his wife, Kristen, were besieged on Twitter by curses, threats, and “people saying things I don’t even really want to repeat. It’s an unfortunate situation, but it’s the mental side of the game. You’ve got to be better than that.”
Blake rarely tweets, but his wife is a frequent user of social media. The family has three young children.
“I hope your family gets murdered,” read one post that Kristen Blake re-tweeted with the comment, “Wow.”
Lakers coach Mike Brown became visibly upset when asked about the abuse before Friday’s game, calling it “a doggone shame.” Brown is no stranger to vicious criticism after five years coaching the Cleveland Cavaliers and one season with the Lakers.
“Everybody has families. You don’t want to touch that,” Brown said. “That gets me emotional right there. I feel bad for him. … Steve is a tough guy.”
Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks concurred.
“Doesn’t make sense,” Brooks said. “It is an important game for both teams, but it’s not that important. It makes no sense.”
Blake was a Lakers hero when he hit a huge 3-pointer during a victory over Denver in Game 4 of the first round, and he scored a playoff career-high 19 points in Los Angeles’ Game 7 victory over the Nuggets.
The veteran guard was taken aback by the online vitriol directed at him for just one shot.
“It is the unfortunate side of pro sports,” said Blake, who won an NCAA title at Maryland. “Everyone is criticizing, and sometimes people cross the line. But you’ve got to move past it, be the positive person, and I think that’s the approach me and my wife are trying to take with it.”
Kristen Blake tweeted that she blocked 500 people from viewing her account. She tweeted Friday: “I am deeply grateful humbled by the outpouring of love, support, most of all prayers for our family in light of recent events-THANK YOU!”
Steve Blake said he isn’t worried about the threats affecting his three sons. The oldest, Zachary, is only 5 years old.
“They don’t know what Twitter is,” Blake said. “There’s nothing that will stop me from protecting my kids no matter what. We’ll move past it and take the positive approach no matter what.”
___
May 18, 2012 10:56 PM EDT
Copyright 2012, The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Article source: http://www.ajc.com/sports/lakers-blake-wife-target-1440399.html
This day in history...
Powered By WPHistory
Twitter predicts Facebook’s first closing day price
May 19, 2012 by admin
Filed under Twitter News
The Facebook IPO is off and running on the NASDAQ exchange. When the social network’s stock started trading under the ticker symbol FB just around 11:30 a.m. Eastern today, the first trades of the new stock came across at $42. About the same time, the crowd of prognosticators on Twitter were predicting the stock would end the day at $54.
That estimate comes from Facebookipodayclosingprice.com, a quick little hack put together by programmer James Proud and inspired by a suggestion tweeted by investor Chris Sacca.
As Facebook began trading, Proud’s site was predicting an average closing price of $54, based on 2,251 predictions on Twitter. At that price, Facebook would have a total market valuation of $148 billion. That would be a nice one-day bump of $44 billion from the announced opening price of $38 a share.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Eric Mack / CNET )
Among some of the notable predictions: Sacca himself predicts a closing price of $56, while John Perry Barlow of Grateful Dead and Electronic Frontier Foundation fame predicts the stock will close at a paltry $32. Ouch.
Within minutes of the start of trading, the price of Facebook began to fall. We shall see if the optimism of the Twitter crowd plays out or not over the next few hours.
CNET’s complete coverage: Facebook’s monster IPO
Related video:
Article source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57437110-1/twitter-predicts-facebooks-first-closing-day-price/
This day in history...
Powered By WPHistory
Tweeting TV: How Twitter Has Changed The Business Of Television
May 19, 2012 by admin
Filed under Twitter News
The TV networks officially announced their new programming slates for 2012-2013 at Upfronts in New York City this week. By the time they rolled their first look footage for advertisers and critics, the new series already had dedicated Twitter accounts set up, ready to interact with the shows’ first fans.
Social media has become such a huge part of the TV landscape that any network not securing a simple, memorable handle for their new shows is way behind. (Also, any network that lets a show title like “How to Live With Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life)” get approved is obviously not in the business of listening to their social media team. Good luck with that one, ABC!)
Check out the first looks at new shows from:
NBC | ABC | Fox | CBS | The CW
On an Upfronts call with journalists, ABC entertainment president Paul Lee stressed how important Twitter has become to the business of television, especially with the TV landscape growing. “There is no show now that doesn’t have a massive social media component, even before we launch it,” he said. “We get a sort of dashboard of a sense of excitement on the web before we even get to launch. It’s not just vital to the shows that are up and running — it’s vital to the launch.”
But the Twitter feeds aren’t just to promote new shows, new episodes and teasers — Lee went on to say what the networks get back from it: “We literally get feedback before, during and after launch. It is a critical tool for us to understand how our audience is responding to our shows.”
While metrics on the most popular shows on Twitter aren’t measured with an exact science just yet, it’s only a matter of time. The fact that every network now has a social media division says that TV executives realize the power of fan reactions, live conversations and making shows tweet-worthy.
There’s been a noticeable push to get stars interacting with their fans on Twitter, and Twitter even has celebrity outreach teams and “help” pages to get those TV stars and personalities started and in on the conversation in a smart way.
Their detailed analysis includes charts of Twitter activity around certain shows, before, during and after air:
Tweeting around TV follows a fairly predictable pattern: first, anticipatory Tweets appear 15-30 minutes before the show airs on the East Coast; then, the Tweets surge during the episode (with sharp spikes in response to surprises and reveals); finally, there’s another 15-30 minutes of post-show buzz and reaction.
Last year, The Hollywood Reporter wrote a piece about “The Voice” (or #TheVoice, as it were) and how it promoted the coaches’ Twitter feeds and the show’s hashtag, especially during big, buzz-worthy moments of each episode, to keep engagement (and ratings) up.
Twitter agrees that this is the best way to maximize your show’s exposure, saying:
Across networks and genres, when TV shows bring hashtags, accounts, or other Twitter elements into the broadcast itself, we see a direct and immediate increase in engagement on Twitter — anywhere from two to 10 times more tweets created while the shows air.
Sites like Trendrr TV and SocialGuide are designed to help users measure their impact and engagement with fans, but Twitter has a few helpful hints and guidelines for entertainment personalities who want to increase their Twitter presence. Their list includes: tweet in your own voice; use hashtags and @ mention other people you reference; live-tweet events; share special content, photos and videos; ask questions and reply to your followers; and give an insider perspective. After all, that’s why your fans are following you.
While each network has certain shows with more engaged audiences on Twitter, the social media teams all agreed that it doesn’t mean those shows are necessarily more “social-friendly” than others — it’s all about execution. To paraphrase one exec: Social viability is less about the type of show and more about how seamlessly it’s integrated into the show. There have been some really creative executions on both scripted and reality shows, not to mention news and talk shows. The big wins come when the social integrations feel authentic and organic to the core of the show.
So who comes out on top? And what are the most tweeted about shows at each network? “The Voice,” “Dancing With the Stars,” “Revenge,” “Glee,” “American Idol,” “Big Brother” and “The Vampire Diaries” seem to be winning the TV on Twitter game.
Click to Page 2 for a look at where they all stand, with perspective from the networks’ social gurus as well.
Follow Maggie Furlong on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/maggiefurlong
Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maggie-furlong/tv-networks-on-twitter_b_1525489.html
This day in history...
Powered By WPHistory
