10 Billionth Tweet Was a Private Tweet
The 10 billionth tweet on Twitter was a private tweet so most of us will never ever find out what it was. How sad. The tweet preceeding the 10 billionth tweets was written by @lelamarques. There about 50 million tweets a day now according to a Twitter blog entry so in a few years we will have to 100 billionth tweet to look forward. Sure hope it is not a private tweet.
Hollywood Reportersays William Shatner has landed the starring role in a comedy based on the Twitter account, @shitmydadsays.
The casting of Shatner lifts the contingency on CBS' multicamera family comedy project based on the Twitter account, which has enlisted more than 1.16 million followers since launching in August and has made its creator, Justin Halpern, an Internet star.
The pilot, executive produced by "Will & Grace" creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, was originally set up at CBS with a script commitment in November. Now, with Shatner on board, it has been greenlighted to pilot.
Halpern co-penned the script with Patrick Schumacker. Halpern and Schumacker co-exec produce the Warner Bros. TV-produced project whose title is expected to change if it goes to series.
On the amusing Twitter account, a young man posts the funny stuff his 74-year-old dad says. The Twitter account has over 1 million followers. It is also one of the top ten most followed Twitter accounts. There are not many Twitter accounts you could build a sitcom around, but this particular Twitter account should work, especially with Shatner as the father.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has launched a Twitter account, @PressSec. His first tweet reads, "Learning about "the twitter" - easing into this with first tweet - any tips?"
The Twitter account's bio says "An official WH twitter account. Comments & messages received through official WH pages are subject to the PRA and may be archived."
The launch of the Press Secretary Twitter account comes shortly after news that Obama administration is seeking a Social Networks Manager to manage the President's Facebook, Twitter and MySpace accounts.
Super Bowl XLIV now has its own official Twitter hashtag, #SB44. The NFL has set up a webpage that aggregates tweets and Flickr photos tagged with #SB44. The site notes that the content submitted by Twitter and Flickr users for the application is not edited, fact-checked or screened by the NFL before it is posted. Expect the pace of the #SB44 tweets to pick up as gameday nears. The NFL also has a Twitter account, @nfl.
Those looking for Twitter followers and/or attention at parties or clubs might try these Twitter stockings. The stockings are sold here on Etsy. The stockings might get more followers if they had your Twitter username but that wouldn't be very subtle. Not that these are subtle.
"We're rolling out local trends to 1 percent of users today, but we'll share more information when it reaches a larger audience hopefully sometime next week. We'll keep you posted when that happens."
Twitter trends have been a feature that is unique to Twitter. Twitter is able to offer the feature which provides a real-time look at what is going on in the world. The local trends will take this feature and apply it to specific cities, towns and regions. Only 15 U.S. cities are supported by local Twitter trends so far but that is likely to change.
The easiest way to understand VEVO is that it is to music videos what Hulu is to TV shows: a corporate (in this case record labels) founded, ad-supported way to aggregate and serve up videos on the Web. Instead of having to wade through all the user-made junk on YouTube to find the real, high-grade and high-quality music videos, VEVO's channel features only label or artist-produced videos, with great sound and video quality (though not HD yet).
Vevo really does appear to dominate the music videos on YouTube. Most of the official professional music videos on YouTube now seem to be from Vevo. They also have embedding turned on which helps them dramatically increase views. A lot of music publisher stupidly turn off embedding.
The BBC reports that Fede Alvarez, a Uruguay producer, landed a $30 million contract for a Hollywood film because of his YouTube movie that cost just $300 to make. Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, Evil Dead) is sponsoring the Youtuber.
A producer from Uruguay who uploaded a short film to YouTube in November 2009 has been offered a $30m (£18.6m) contract to make a Hollywood film.
The movie will be sponsored by director Sam Raimi, whose credits include the Spiderman and Evil Dead films.
Fede Alvarez's short film "Ataque de Panico!" (Panic Attack!) featured giant robots invading and destroying Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.
When you watch the short film you will see why he landed a movie deal. The film is very impressive for its $300 budget. Take a look:
But for every link there are dozens of sites that outright steal our content with no attribution. Not just spam blogs, even the NYTimes does it. This isn't a copyright issue - the stories are rewritten by actual people. But it's far cheaper to simply take the news and rewrite it - if you can get away with it - than to hire people who do actual journalism. Over time, it becomes a competitive tax that is difficult to bear.
But even then, companies like ours can find a way to compete.
So what really scares me? It's the rise of fast food content that will surely, over time, destroy the mom and pop operations that hand craft their content today. It's the rise of cheap, disposable content on a mass scale, force fed to us by the portals and search engines.
Michael Arrington is absolutely right that this is on the rise. There are new companies emerging that are hiring lots and lots of writers very cheaply to produce tons and tons of content. It probably isn't a coincidence that these companies have emerged during a recession when many people are looking for a way to increase their income.
The search engines will certainly point people toward some of this content. Not all of the content these companies create will be bad but some of it is bound to be. This shouldn't mean the end of original hand crafted content but these mass content producers will certainly increase the competition that content creators face. There are ways around it. Social media tools like Twitter and Facebook can point readers to the higher quality posts and articles. If bloggers will link to each other more like they did in the early days of blogging that it will help too. This should, in theory, help weight the better written content above the subpar content.
Twilf: Tweep I'd Like to Follow
Mashable reports that the word "Twilf" has entered Twitter Vernacular thanks to an episode of Current's Super News. In the cartoon Sarah Palin is referred to as a Twilf. The word has a more wholesome meaning then you might think. The Urban Dictionary says Twilf is a "Tweep I'd like to follow." The problem with Sarah Palin being a Twilf is she hasn't been twittering lately. Here is the crazy Current cartoon where the word twilf comes up.
Facebook Status Update About Pancakes Clears Suspect
A 19-year-old New York City robbery suspect was exonerated thanks to his Facebook page. The Facebook page contained a status update that was posted 1 minute before the robbery occurred. The man asked his girlfriend about the location of his pancakes in the update. Facebook status can be updated from anywhere (and by anyone with access to the account) but police say the update was made by the suspect at a computer at his father's apartment. The AP says the case is thought to the first where defense lawyers have used Facebook to establish a person's innocence.
Britney Spears Twitter Account Hacked Again
Britney Spears' Twitter account, @britneyspears, was hacked for at least the third time today. A downside to having a high profile Twitter acount is that hack attempts are more likely. Britney's account is the 2nd most followed and the 8th most listed. Unlike in the past when hackers have taken over groups of high profile accounts Britney's Twitter appears to have been the sole target. The hackers tried to make it seem as if Britney is a Satan worshipper.
Britney's web team - which has its own list now on Twitter - tweeted the following apology.
Mashable 
VentureBeat 
