How to use Twitter @replies
Okay, I've had it with "Social Media Experts" being openly clueless about the way one of the main system of their field of expertise works. Let me explain to you how Twitter replies work, it's not rocket science.
Back in the days, @replies would simply be another tweet. The user you were replying to would see it appear in its @mention and the whole process was pretty much client-side. About two years ago, that changed. A lot of you "social media experts" apparently weren't around then. The way @replies work now is much better. When you @reply to a user, only that user will see it in its @mention tab, whether he follows you or not. Everyone else that follows you will not see it. That's a great implementation to avoid having your stream filled with customer service replies, among other things. The kicker here is that everyone that follows you and the user you're replying to will see it as well. It promotes discussion and people jumping in to comment on a "private discussion" you were having.
So please. If you want to reply to a specific user, the first thing in your tweet should be a @reply. Not a "Hi @user". Got it?
If you claim to be a social media expert, don't let anyone catch you doing this or this. Thanks.
Announcing MobileCamp Montreal 2011
The MobileCamp Montreal project idea arose right after PodCamp Montreal 2010. We thought the timing was a perfect fit with the current state of the mobile industry. So many questions are left unanswered simply because most people do not know who (or how) to ask. That’s why we decided it was time to have a gathering of mobile experts, enthusiasts and users so that we can give an overview of the current state of things, what the options are and what’s hot or not.
We are currently in the organizational stage of the project and there are lots of things left to figure out. We need volunteers - that's one thing we know for sure. Should you have interest, do not hesitate to contact us with what you think you can bring to the organization. Keep checking the site and MobileCamp Montreal's official Twitter account for updates!
Speaking at Podcamp Montreal 2010
Funny story. The PodCamp Montreal people had a full schedule when someone bailed, they put out a call for speakers. I answered, thinking it'd be cool to speak again (after I paid my ticket, too!!) I asked my boss, Martin Ouellette, and a friend, Sylvain Carle, to help me to populate a talk on Social Media titled "Does Social Media Really Exists?" which, interestingly, derived from a 2 minutes discussion at Commun's HQ. Bottom line is, I'm speaking at PodCamp Montreal with Martin Ouellete and Sylvain Carle, Sunday at 10:30. Don't miss it. They made a cool badge that's really too big and so to have it render properly I need to put some text in this article, but I really have nothing more to say about it. It's going to be a debate. If you're thinking of attending, bring your opinions and your voice, because you will be asked to stand up for what you believe in! Hopefully this is long enough...
Junkware on Android: How to Get Rid of It
This week was very interesting in the mobile world. Both David and Goliath were too busy dealing with their own bad press to worry about smacking each other in the face.
On Friday, Internet erupted with pretty serious accusations against Motorola and how they allegedly booby-trapped their Droid X, their flagship Android-powered superstar, so that no ROM hacking could be done whatsoever.. otherwise the device would pretty much self-destruct.
On the same day, Mark Milian from the LA Times wrote a piece on the inclusion of useless applications by carriers and the reasons behind it.
Absolutely Android put up an article titled "Why Motorola should be asked to leave the Open Handset Alliance", which maybe was a bit of an overreaction that we all shared at that point, but ended up somewhat appeased when Motorola "clarified" the situation. Yes, it's arguable.
Around the same time, Apple was in damage control mode with the iPhone 4 antenna fiasco leading up to the press conference on Friday, where Steve Jobs openly admitted he actually is considering refunds and is giving shit away to avoid a mutiny among his unholy horde. Apple. Giving back money and free shit. Because they fucked up.
It was definitely a very interesting week in the mobile world.
Marketers and SEO consultants: Give me a fucking break.
Alright, this will hit home to some of my readers, but fuck it, I won't stand for that shit. I work at a company that has as a main objective SEO, or in layman's terms, optimizing search results for a specific site or URL. I respect what they do as a company and as individuals, it's not my field and, even if I've judged it in the past, I made peace with it. While I do not approve some of the techniques which border blackhatness or ethical questionning, there's a market, there's a demand, and they provide the means to an end, which is perfectly fine. I've never done it for any of my sites, some of which had a million hits per month without SEO or advertising. I subscribe to the school of people who think that if you want good position in search engines, have a better product or a better content than the other guy -- but that's my personal take on it, and it's in no way profitable for anyone. All that to say that I understand the concept, I don't approve some of it, but I live with it and manage to respect people who do that for a living.
With that being said, one thing I won't fucking tolerate is people who I call friends commenting on my blog using SEO techniques. Fuck you. That's fucking insulting. This is my private blog, one that if you don't have anything to say, I want you to shut the fuck up. Don't pull that shit on me - I will ban your ass and not give one look back.
I'm not gonna make this a rant about SEO, the state of the web today, marketing or the company I work for. What had to be said has been said, and if you can't respect it, get the fuck out right this second.
Thank you.
Edit: wanted to add that after talking it over with the person in question, I hold no grudge and feel no animosity towards him.
