Tommy Vallier from Kingston, where I lived for almost five months, talks about a great idea of local hashtags to make local tweets even more searchable and relevant:
It’s been hard, though, because while big events have dedicated hashtags, smaller going-ons never do.
Because long hashtags don’t make sense thanks to Twitter’s 140 character limit, and over-general hashtags like #singapore would generate too much noise, Tommy suggested breaking up Kingston the same way Canada Post does, by postal code.
Kingston and Singapore have a lot in common. We’re both very small (although Singapore’s population is something like 45x on the same landmass), and we’re quite easily broken up into zones. The problem with hashtags like #sgtweetup and #smbsg and #openroom is that they can only be found by people who know what they’re looking for. The chance of serendiptous discovery is slim to none.
So what if we added in hyper-local hashtagging? Districts like #amk or #cck are too local (I feel) and too limiting (what’s the hashtag for Simei?). Perhaps the answer is in separating it into 5 parts:
#sgn - north
#sgs - south
#sge - east
#sgw - west
#sgc - central
An extra four characters to keep it short and sweet and easy to add on. Of course this isn’t fullproof (I don’t know where I’d put Sengkang), but if we imagine the rough outline of where the MRT trains go, we could possibly give a close to subjective hashtag to add more relevance to our tweets.
What do the Tweeters in Singapore think? Too troublesome? No one cares about local tweets? Or would it help tell you more about events, traffic, weather, news etc? I want to know what you think.
Singapore’s “first ever” Tweetup (#sgtweetup) happened tonight at Geek Terminal, and I say “first ever” because Claudia and Kelvin already had a Tweet Tuesday sometime back, and even though it wasn’t branded as a tweetup, make no mistake, it was.
Even before reaching the event, I got updates via Twitter about models appearing for some Supermodelme tv thing and alarm bells already went off: Is this a social media event or an event gathering social media people with a hidden agenda? Evidently, it was the second, and from the tweets, people didn’t like it.
Also, on the way there, I saw the following tweets with no relevance to the event (but using the #sgtweetup hashtag) from the event venue and one of the organisers. Hashtag hijack?
Hashtag Hijack
Within ten minutes of entering the premises, I had these “models” handing me their namecards, followed by the real world equivalent of “kthxbai” as they moved on in search of the next person to hand out their namecard to.
Let me borrow a picture from Ingrid’s post to illustrate what happened:
Model Namecards
And if you check out their profiles on Twitter, you’ll find that the models have no pictures, no tweets or one tweet, almost as if they were handed their Twitter accounts just prior to the event to capitalise on it.
Model Twitter
Model Twitter
Let me just say that such “shady” event organising really makes social media take a step backwards. In a world where we’re all asking for more transparency and more authenticity, there is no room for hidden agendas to “taint” the impression of such events. As I said on Twitter, it’s not about the models, it’s that having a hidden agenda of using a tweetup to push and broadcast a commercial entity is repulsive.
Just as a closing point, I’ve been feeling for awhile that local social media events need to change. It’s all fine and good that anyone and everyone can organise a tweetup or impromptu meeting, but I think we need to focus on building up events with credibility, where people know what they’re getting into, and can make informed decisions. Events where you appear and have a curveball thrown at you…. not so much.
What do you think about the “first ever” tweetup? Is there a space for social media shilling at events? Are there too many events?
Edit: Because word is going around about the organiser @CarlGriffith not knowing about the models and that the event venue sprung it last minute, I don’t know what went on but 8 hours before the event, Andrew Peters, listed as an administrator for the event, posts the following on Facebook:
Surprise
Now maybe the models weren’t the surprise, or the admins didn’t communicate to each other, I don’t know. But it reads that way to me. I didn’t actually say Carl personally was at fault, the issue is that as a whole the shill leaves a bad impression.
[Full disclosure: I am on the team for Social Media Breakfast | Singapore and obviously being a local social media event organiser and social media enthusiast, I do have a vested interest in how the public perceives and reacts to social media events.]
It’s been three weeks but the next episode of The GennY Podcast is finally here! Full disclosure: This was actually our first recording, but we felt that the episode we released first was better suited to be our first, introductory podcast. Coincidentally, some topics actually touch on what was said at Social Media Breakfast | Singapore 6, but in slightly more detail.
Once again, this episode was brought to you by the same people behind episode 1 (Krisandro, myself, Dorothy, Yin and Yinqi), but we hope to shake that up for subsequent episodes.
GennY Episode 2 Team
The show notes:
00:00 - Daryl starts us off - introductions all round
00:55 - Yin starts us off on the topic: How can we get traditional companies to start slowly on the social media path?
01:35 - Social media allows you to know what your consumer wants, what trends they’re picking up, and hence customise your communications/marketing
03:02 - Why don’t companies go where their audience is?
05:42 - Is there a perceived credibility problem with social media?
06:48 - How well received would brands be on Plurk?
07:50 - Maybe if they talked about things other than just selling, they might be better received.
08:31 - No messages from unknown faces please!
11:46 - Should employees reach out from their own identity, or create one aligned with a company?
13:02 - “Dear All” = Fail
15:03 - How about Facebook Groups?
15:39 - Facebook Groups more as personality “labels” rather than a communication channel
16:40 - Maybe Facebook Groups would work if the creators made an effort to communicate to the group
16:47 - But this can be overdone too
18:20 - Is this an intrinsic problem because Facebook Groups have no RSS?
1) No one seems to really know what responsible participation means. Does it mean different things depending on context? For example, does “responsible participation” take on different manifestations in a B2C context as contrasted with a public-sector context?
2) Responsible participation, regardless of the context, needs to be two-way. I’m astounded at the sentiment on one side of the fence that calls for, or demands responsible participation, without even being engaged and participating themselves in the first place. Reciprocity is a global norm, no?
John collecting opinions
As a side note, I had a subsequent class visit to Edelman the following week, and the topic of discussion was “Crisis communication”. Before any of us could bring up the Wal-Mart example, the speaker brought it up first as an example of how they had to deal with it and it’s nice to see them openly acknowledge past mistakes and use them as a learning experience.
All in all, it seems like Edelman is genuinely trying to tap into the community to aid them in their social media efforts and this is only the first of such discussions. I’m looking forward to see what comes next.
Wow I have to say even after doing this for a year (well technically eight months because I was away for a bit), today’s Social Media Breakfast | Singapore was really challenging.
A lot of it had to do with physical constraints. The space was a little odd, the sound wasn’t as good as we’d like, but the truth is, we signed off on that. I signed off on that. I knew that venue being long might have been an issue, but thought the main venue of having it in Tangs would be a nice trade off. Well, and I guess we weren’t expecting that many people (I think we hit 100 this time).
In all honesty, I see or hear the negative feedback, and sometimes it’s tough to take. Not because it’s untrue, but because I’m the type of person who wants things to succeed. But I think at the end of the day, it’s a learning process for all of us. We all have day jobs (or school), we don’t have a lot of money, but we make the best out of things. And I think it’s always encouraging for me to see familiar (and unfamiliar) faces make the effort to come down even for a little while, and tell us they appreciate the effort.
I’ve been watching the development of the social media scene in Singapore for awhile now, and I am more convinced than ever that the direction we’re taking is the right one. It’s about community. And relationships. And partnerships. And a community who will tell you what sucked because they want things to be better.
And we will be. Because we’re not motivated by money, or “fame” or what have you. We do it for passion. A lot of problems can be solved by charging, and getting money. Or making the event invitation only. But knowledge is never meant to be horded, but shared with as many people as possible, taking both the good and the bad of that decision.
I want to particularly thank the people who donated money to us. You know I opened the donation “box” at the end of the night, and I saw $3 in coins in there. I don’t know if it was from one person or a few. But the point is, even in recessionary times like this, you felt that what we’re doing is important or valuable enough to drop your change in and keep us going. So thank you.
Lots of data from the registration form that I’m going to look at soon. If you have the time, fill up the feedback form! It’ll help us greatly.
Finally, if you do have feedback about the event (not related to the venue and sound because we know that already), please comment here, or if you feel it needs to be private, drop me a mail directly at uniquefrequency [AT} gmail *dot* com.
Last week I got a Facebook message to sign an online petition against bringing in whale sharks as part of the Marine Life Park at the integrated resort by Resorts World Sentosa. For non-Singaporeans, Sentosa is an entertainment island that is a huge tourist attraction. Apparently whale sharks just don’t live well in captivity, and people are showing concern by signing this petition which apparently has over 4,000 people to date.
By the end of the week, an email reply was sent out (understandably it was a mass email because they were replying to more than 3,000 people) stating that they are listening to the concerns, but the whale sharks were part of the initial proposal years ago, and they are “bound to deliver the integrity of the bid”, which I guess is understandable. On top of that, they referred everyone in the mailing list to their website (which has a full copy of the letter) to keep up to date with developments with the whale sharks.
I personally think this is a pretty good move, but is it enough? Given that the petition was executed online, and that at least some of us got involved via Facebook, it suggests that the audience involved is at the very least, internet-savvy. While Resorts World Sentosa has chosen the right medium to engage (email and a website), I do wonder if other alternatives could enhance this.
If they have to bring in the whale sharks because of the proposal, the next best thing would be to continually assure the public that they are well looked after, right? So how about:
A blog with regular updates on steps taken to give first priority to the whale sharks’ welfare
A YouTube channel to visually show how they are taken of, with interviews with different people (the care givers, audiences, management etc) to talk about the different ways in which they are taking care of the whale sharks
A Facebook group to interact with concerned people and serve as a point to upload pictures, links etc and keep everyone informed
Basically, do everything possible to create a “Whale Shark Welfare” media channel that would be impossible to miss and that could really help their public image. Will they? Why wouldn’t they?
On Tuesday, I checked my Feedburner account and was pleasantly surprised to see this:
RSS Subscribers
It’s taken me 14 months since January of 2008, but it’s finally happened. I suppose 100 doesn’t sound like much to many, but the idea that there are 100 people in the world who are interested enough in what I have to say that they want the content delivered straight to them really makes me feel fulfilled.
If you’re curious to find out how you can get the latest content delivered to you instead of bookmarking and returning to this page, check out this handy guide for help.
Let’s hope the journey to 200 subscribers will be as fulfilling, and happen in a shorter amount of time!
If you’ve been following me on Twitter or Plurk, you may have gathered hints about a podcast coming your way.
Well, it’s here! It’s called Genny (pronounced Jenny - you have Krisandro to thank for the name) and the deal behind the podcast is that we decided to just get a handful of people from Generation Y in Singapore, and just really talk about what’s going on. Sometimes it’ll be about social media, sometimes it won’t be.
First, let me introduce the people in this podcast:
GennY Episode 1 Team
Krisandro, myself, Dorothy, Yin and Yinqi make up the people behind this episode, but it’s a revolving team and the voices will change from time to time, depending on who’s available to record the show. (Big thanks to Ingrid for putting together the graphic!)
As our first episode goes, this is pretty raw because we just sat in a room and talked into a laptop (Anyone wants to sponsor us proper podcast equipment?), but I hope you enjoy it anyway. It can only get better.
The show notes:
00:00 - Krisandro starts us off - introductions all round
00:53 - The topic: How is Gen Y different in the work force?
01:28 - Will Gen Y mindset change during the recession?
02:26 - Gen Y has no qualms with changing jobs, even in a recession
03:39 - Perhaps Gen Y feels there isn’t enough recognition at work
05:08 - Did the media influence Gen Y’s outlook on life?
07:56 - How is Gen Y different outside the workspace in peer-to-peer interactions?
09:57 - How does online interaction affect offline interaction?
10:51 - Krisandro claims he’s 19
11:01 - Are there different norms that apply online and offline?
11:58 - Maybe it’s easier for us to verify if people are weirdos online
15:10 - Blooper!
Please check out the podcast here and give us your feedback! If you’d like us to cover a certain topic, just drop a message in the comments. Thanks for your support!
This data (though I do have some questions about it which I will blog about tomorrow) seems to validate what I’ve been feeling intuitively over the last six months or so. If I had to point to reasons, I have broadly speaking, two:
1) Twitter failed us
Looking back, my very first post on my switch to Plurk was on the 3rd of June, 2008. The blog post even leads with
Twitter’s downtime over the last couple of months has really pissed off a lot of people, most of all me.
With that timeframe in mind, let’s look at Hitwise’s research:
Plurk vs Twitter Visits
The image clearly shows the surge in visits occurs somewhere around the 28th of June. A reasonable enough time for a technology to diffuse down the adoption curve.
2) Localisation and Intimacy
When I first wrote about the switch to Plurk I had four main reasons:
Now that I’ve been using Plurk for awhile, these reasons have compressed into two: intense localisation and intimacy. My theory is Singaporeans don’t need the wide reaches of Twitter. Because of our relatively smaller size as a country, we’re used to smaller interactions, which is perfect for what Plurk achieves. I think most people have less than 100 friends, which makes following easy. This is different from the Twitter “power users” in the US, as following 5,000 friends on Plurk would probably literally send someone insane.
The second theory is that by nature of Plurk consisting of small, threaded, intimate conversations, it lends itself naturally to a very high level of localisation. When you join Plurk and realise the Singaporean users are talking about local places, local weather, the movie releases in Singapore and what’s on television, it has a much more relevant feel than Twitter (were you on Twitter during the recent Superbowl?) and as a result presents a very, very low barrier to entry.
Recently a few people from SMU joined Plurk, and while I would never have imagined them on Twitter, I think Plurk works perfectly, especially when there are friends you know using the service already.
In closing, I think Singaporeans are terribly practical, and have no issues with community migration on a small scale (let’s not talk about migrating 500 friends on Facebook). The first factor, Twitter failing, led to the search for an alternative. What many of us found, is the second factor - a level of relevancy and community that Twitter did not offer. In short, the new application provided a better alternative, and most of us have never looked back.
If you’re a Plurk user in Singapore, do you agree? How about if you’re a die-hard Twitter user? Let’s hear it!
Just about a month ago, I got an email from Ryan Paugh, community manager at Brazen Careerist to join their community. It was a great personalised message, telling me how painless it would be to sign up, and that it would be a great place to meet other Gen Y bloggers and that I could always go to him if I had any questions. A great welcoming email.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I saw fellow bloggers Meg Roberts and Corvida Raven and figured it should be pretty cool.
After creating my profile, I submitted a load of stuff and had problems with getting my info saved, so I decided to leave it. Within a couple of days I got an email from Dan Healy letting me know I should update my rss feed so that I could pipe my recent activity to Brazen. So I did. Soon after, I got a blog post featured on the site. Although I’ve been caught up in exams and traveling after that, Brazen has been high on my Google Reader priorities and I try to comment and participate as much as I can.
Why am I blogging about this? Firstly, to share a new connection to a community that I have discovered (or rather, discovered me), which I enjoy very much and more importantly, to tell you why this matters.
One of the links I shared a couple of weeks ago was how to establish a community’s culture, with points like communicating with members, recognising positive contribution as heavily weighted actions that work. If you read my experience with Brazen, you can be sure that these elements were definitely part of it.
If you’re a company hearing lots about this “community” buzzword, learn something from this case study. Community does not equate to sending people mails saying “hi my site is the coolest ever, come join it”. And leaving the site to rot after getting 20,000 people to join it doesn’t make it a success either. If you can’t come to terms with this and aren’t going to be bothered to spend the effort, Don’t bother.
Do you have similar case studies and/or experiences to share? Are you on Brazen Careerist too? Drop me a comment!
