Just read this great piece in the New York Times about how Republican candidates have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon during the campaign for nomination. It’ll be surprising to anyone who still thought that Obama and the Democrats have cornered social media. But not if you saw this stat in A Twitter Year.
Further proof that anyone’s Twitter account can be hacked, as the Huffington Post found last night. Racist and homophobic tweets were sent out by the miscreants, but some of the account’s followers (judging by the comments above) were more amused than fooled.
If you want to make your account more (if not completely) hack-proof, make sure it’s set to always use HTTPS. But if the worst happens, you’re in good company: even @barackobama got back hacked in 2009.
Belatedly: here’s me talking about “A Twitter Year” on NPR’s All Things Considered on New Year’s Eve.
Holy tweets, Batman! I was blown away when Beyonce rubbing her pregnant belly at the MTV VMAs smashed the tweets per second record with an incredible 8,868.
But now, we have a new record. And it’s taken a bit of a leap…
A Twitter Year on Sky News, December 10th 2011
@katebussmann’s twinterview with @Riotcleanup
Hello @Riotcleanup, are you ready for our chat? #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann Ready whenever you are.
@Riotcleanup You’ve done very few interviews and asked me not to say your real name today – can you share your reasons why? #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann At its peak there were tens of thousands of people involved with many clean up projects across the uk. This twitter feed…
@KateBussmann …was simply acting as an aggregator for all of the information spread through the hashtag. I was the human version of…
@KateBussmann … annoying twitter bots that RT too often. I felt it needed a human to check information was correct and informative. but…
@KateBussmann … riotcleanup was the sum on many parts, thousands of whom are anon also
@Riotcleanup What was your personal experience of the riots? Where were you when they were happening? #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann I was on a bus on Kingsland Road in london when the rioting spread beyond Tottenham. I spent a couple of hours in the pub…
@KateBussmann watching it all go down on television. A good friend of mine was stuck in Clapham and I was using the #londonriots tag…
@KateBussmann along with many others to spread information. I continued to follow the tag throughout the night to see activity.
@Riotcleanup During the riots, most people watching the news were angry or scared – what made you decide to do something? #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann At around 1am I saw tweets from @sophontrack and @artistsmakers in regards to helping to clear up some of the mess.
@KateBussmann I could see that many others were willing but the times and locations were varying. As a result I thought it best to
@KateBussmann try and organise a central feed so the information of meeting points was accurate and that we had strength in numbers
@KateBussmann I heard that Zee and Co (a clothing shop at the top of my road) was looted and saw the damage. It was hard to watch…
@KateBussmann independent business suffer, especially harrowing were the scenes in croydon and hackney. Many felt compelled to see if we
@KateBussmann could lend a hand to help them get back on their feet. It wasn’t until a week later that any longer term feelings sank in
@Riotcleanup Do you know how many people turned out to help with the cleanup? #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann The Bow meeting point where I started had about 35. We got the bus to Hackney where there were around 300. Many of us
RT @Riotcleanup: @KateBussmann then moved on to join the area around Clapham Junction where at it’s peak I wou… (cont)
deck.ly/~hPums
RT @Riotcleanup: @KateBussmann However a lot of the work took place outside of the first day on the street… (cont)
deck.ly/~mBk3c
@Riotcleanup You got such an overwhelmingly positive reaction to what you were doing - what was it like for you? #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann It was a mixture of sadness (many left homeless and had property destroyed) and a positivity for… #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann …the future. My personal belief is that people coming together have strength and power. Collectively we… #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann … have great influence. The efficiency of the local councils and the enthusiasm and passion of the… #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann … people who supported every element of the clean up, gave me hope. Not just for a quick clean but also… #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann for the idea that passionate people can make a difference and that democracy stems from a collective ‘we’ #twinterview2011
Its hard to articulate in 140 characters! @KateBussmann #twinterview2011
@Riotcleanup There’s been a lot of discussion lately abt the causes of the riots (
http://bit.ly/orohQI) - what’s your take? #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann I have always tried to keep this feed a-political as it involves people of many beliefs and viewpoints. #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann However it is clear that questions need to be asked and it is good to see an on going dialogue… #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann … These events and ALL parties involved must be consulted with respect and treated with dignity if… #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann … positive steps forward are to be taken. #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann The streets may be clean but the underlying issues must not be swept under the carpet. #twinterview2011
@Riotcleanup Did you have a sense of the power of Twitter before you got involved? #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann I think twitter is fantastic as it allows the easy spread of information and provides an ability to quickly.. #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann …organise. My first experience of this (as a voyeur) was watching the events in Iran. Then followed… #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann … the Arab spring uprisings. It’s hard to dismiss the power of twitter in those events. #twinterview2011
@Riotcleanup There was criticism that it was mainly white & middle class - what’s your response? #twinterview2011 /cc @signsofrevolt
@KateBussmann In a way its a fair criticism. I overheard someone in battersea saying that it was mostly Actors… #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann Musicians and Students, as they were the only folk who didn’t have to be at work on a weekday morning #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann However come lunchtime the mixture of people was very different as many came out on lunchbreaks… #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann Its also very important to acknowledge the work of the Tottenham support centre ran by the Salvation army… #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann The people visiting this centre were from all ages and backgrounds and was staffed by many locals #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann It is also hard to tell who donated to the fantastic #helpsiva and #keepaaroncutting campaigns #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann The media focus was on the first day of sweeping but many worked incredibly hard for months after #twinterview2011
@Riotcleanup This is a debate that’s going to run & run… Thanks for talking to me, it’s been really interesting #twinterview2011
Praise for A TWITTER YEAR
‘If you’re already a member of the Twitterati, it’s a hilarious romp through the social networking site’s 140-character stars; if you’re a tweeting novice, consider this a passport to know-it-all status’ Easy Living
‘The perfect gift for the Twitter addict in your life’ Red
‘The story of 2011, told in tweets’ Sunday Times
‘The best hosts leave some smart reading material by the side of the guest bed, for insomniacs or early risers. What could be better – and funnier – than … the clever cataloguing of the past 12 months through the eyes of Twitter?’ Independent
If you’ve already got a copy of A Twitter Year, you’ll be familiar lots of the stories and stats coming out in Twitter’s own #yearinreview. One that was new to me: the fact that #Egypt was the top trending topic of 2011.
(Check out UK Twitter’s blog for a list of British personalities who trended this year - and an honorable mention of my book!)
@KateBussmann’s Interview with @ReallyVirtual
Just waiting for @ReallyVirtual to log on for this week’s #twinterview2011…
To see his famous tweets from the night US Navy Seals killed Osama bin Laden, click here:
bit.ly/msT747 #twinterview2011
About to answer questions with @KateBussmann for her book using the #twinterview2011 tag. Sorry in advance for the tweet overload :-)
@ReallyVirtual Hi Sohaib, thanks for speaking to me. You didn’t do many interviews about it at the time – how come? #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann #twinterview2011 With a 100+ interviews requests, a coffeeshop to run and my software projects, it was really hard for me then
@ReallyVirtual Has anyone tried to buy the film rights to your story? Who would you like to play you? #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann #twinterview2011 I wish they don’t make a film out of it, it is worth a chapter in a book, max, not a 1.5 hour movie for sure.
@KateBussmann #twinterview2011 There were a few agents who wanted me to let them pitch for a book on my behalf, but I didn’t pursue it.
@KateBussmann There *was* a long documentary on the OBL incident made in Australia, I heard somebody looking like me played me in it.
@ReallyVirtual You went from 751 followers to over 100,000 in just 5 days. Was that a blessing or a curse? #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann I haven’t tried to monetize or market myself using my twitter followers, so it is a small curse… #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann …as most of my opinionated tweets bring me a lot of tweet flames these days #twinterview2011
@ReallyVirtual You moved to Abbottabad from Lahore for a quieter life – do you regret that now? Has the town been affected? #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann No I don’t regret that at all, Abbottabad is very peaceful and laidback, it went back to normal in a few days #twinterview2011
@ReallyVirtual What was the reaction in Abbottabad when everyone found out Osama bin Laden had been there? #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann The local reaction was a mixture of disbelief and anger at the foreign unauthorized intervention #twinterview2011
@ReallyVirtual Were locals skeptical that he was really dead? Do you think the US should have released proof? #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann Yes, most of the locals didn’t believe about OBL’s death and wanted proof. If it can be done with Qaddafi… #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann it could have been done with Osama too. #twinterview2011
@ReallyVirtual How has your life change after all of this? What were the best and worst things about it? #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann I am still catching up with answering my emails that have piled up, the worst thing was the time wasted #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann the only major difference that it has made so far is the invitation to the #SXSW12 panel with @myersnews #twinterview2011
@ReallyVirtual My last question (so you can get back to that inbox…): do you ever wish you didn’t tweet about it? #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann No I don’t. It has been an interesting experience to observe and interact with the media pros up close #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann .. and I have made a bunch of new friends in the last six months #twinterview2011
@ReallyVirtual Thanks Sohaib, great talking to you! #twinterview2011
@KateBussmann Thanks, I hope I’ll get a copy of your book when it is published :-) #twinterview2011
