The December 2009 Cover of Vogue Italia

The cover of the December issue of Vogue Italia is a first of its sort.  It features a collage made by Stephen Meisel, of different models including Gisele Bundchen, Natalia Vodianova, Lara Stone, and Christy Turlington: not surprising figures to habitat the cover of Vogue or any other publication.  

But this one is a little different.  These pictures are taken via Twitpic, a popular photo sharing app on Twitter.  This application allows people to post photos from their phone, through the Twitter website, or through their API.  If you have a Twitter account, all you have to do is log in using your Twitter username and password.    

While out of the ordinary, the Vogue Italia cover isn’t really shocking to the fashion community.  It’s not the first time the magazine has featured technology as a focal point.  The January 2007 cover featured the rise of webcams and YouTube.  Plus many designers and consumers are using Twitter to converse about fashion, constantly introducing new ideas and styles.

Within the issue, Stephen Meisel, who renamed the Twitpics “Meiselpics,” displays a blurred picture of himself, and then writes to 20 models that he was going to send them some clothes and instructed them to photograph themselves.  This seems a bit shocking in a world of famed professional photography, but we can’t really be surprised considering the trend of technology and social media this year.  It is only appropriate that this year’s favorite social media platform, Twitter graces the final 2009 cover of Vogue Italia.  

Some of the inside photographs include tweets from the various models, including one from a pregnant Geisele Budchen, who twitpic-ed herself in lingerie, noting “Privacy is beautiful.”  A bit ironic that she’s discussing privacy while photographing herself in lingerie through a social media platform.

The January 2007 Cover of Vogue Italia

A study by Crowd Science, a tool for reviewing website traffic stats, showed results of where people tweet from most frequently and how often people use social networking sites from a mobile device while driving. Out of 718 respondents, the majority said they tweeted the most during work hours.

Now that may not be very surprising: we all know how work can drag on sometimes.  But the second most common place to tweet is a little more shocking: in the bathroom! Looks like there’s no need for that magazine rack; just provide a computer or a phone for your house guests.  Another place that struck me as interesting was Twitter usage during a religious service.

Here are the results of the Crowd Science study on Twitter:

Of course there are multiple uses for Twitter, plenty of which I’ve been covering: retail marketing, fighting crime, etc.  But one of the biggest uses seems to be pointless babble, among other uses discussed in this Penn Olson article, which categorizes the uses into six categories. The article includes a youtube video, but it may not work so here’s the video in case it doesn’t work on the website:

Not only do the results show that people spend a lot of time on Twitter doing meaningless things- there’s a bit of a fear factor. If people are spending time on social networking sites and texting while driving, often times it results in danger.  The frequently watched youtube video “Texting and Driving,” showing a very graphic accident in the U.K., reflects the problems involved with texting, or in this case, social networking.  

Please note: this video is very graphic and disturbing.

Mark Milian of the Los Angeles Times wrote an article questioning whether or not Avary was really tweeting from inside the Ventura County Jail as @avary, referring to himself as #34 (profile is now private).  As it turned out, he wasn’t. After a follow up investigation, The LA Times wrote a second article reporting that Avary was serving his time in a furlough program that allowed him to go to his job during the day and report back to the furlough facility at night and on weekends.  

Inmates in the program are not allowed to work at home, and it is unclear as to where Avary was working during the day.  It is also unclear when and why officials permitted Avary to enter the furlough program.  

As of Thanksgiving day, Avary is back in full-time custody at Ventura County Jail.  He tweeted on Thursday evening, “#34 is ‘rolled up’ to a higher security facility for exercising his first amendment rights. The truth he has discovered is too dangerous.”

What Avary was tweeting, about his life in prison, a life he made seem very difficult, wasn’t reality.  Perhaps he thought using Twitter to describe his life in prison would help get away with serving in the furlough program, but it backfired when Milian picked up the story.  I’d call it a win for Twitter and it’s accidental role in criminal surveillance.  

Here are some of Avary’s tweets:

The application features the ability to search the eHow database, offering over 1 million articles and videos.  Users can also access the “I Did This” section of eHow.com, and upload photos, videos and articles from their mobile device.  This is an application people can use anywhere, and upload articles from a destination or a class or anywhere they might come up with ideas for an eHow article- without needing a computer at hand!  

The downloading instructions are easy.  Users simply go to theAndroid Marketplace and search for the “eHow Android” and click install.  It can also be scanned, using the Android Barcode Scanner application, which can be downloaded on the Android Market.

Many news agencies and bloggers began following the co-called murder, and today the reported that dinner_guest updated his Twitter profile, changing his bio to “A fictional character born out of an artist’s mind. A meme experiment & analysis.”  Well, that’s a relief. The user turned out to be fictional: an artist’s imagination at work… at least we hope.

The incident brings up an important point though, what if this serial killer were real? What would Twitter management forces do?  One of the most debated concepts of social media is the censoring of news and the idea that amateur journalists are distributing news just as much as professional agencies.  So how does this information get policed?

For a little comic relief check out this video from Landline Tv about fictionalized Twitter Cops:

When I first thought about the concept, I wasn’t thinking about the literal term “policing,” I was thinking about what Twitter management would do in this scenario.  But then I came across an example of an arrest by police forces, some of you may have heard of in October, when an NYC activist Elliot Madison was arrested for “Criminal use of a communication facility”  (that facility being Twitter).

Here’s a video from Democracy Now War and Peace Report about the arrest.  It’s a long one, but the first few minutes summarize the charges and is then followed by an interview with Madison and his attorney.  

There really isn’t much monitoring of tweets right now, and that may or may not change (not without much debate).  But as seen in Madison’s case, police can apparently make arrests based on the use of social platforms such as Twitter: so be careful what you tweet.

This post will extend a touch beyond my normal Twitter and eHow updates, since the topic applies to multiple social media platforms.  Twitter  and Facebook seem to be the largest arenas for holiday marketing, since the number of users has skyrocketed in the past year or so, and many people rely on these media bases for news and networking.  Facebook, for example, has a fan page for practically every company or brand, most of which have thousands of followers.  Through this application, companies can update their customers on sales or message fans about product events, which is seen in the YouTube video below.  Companies can reach out to new fans by making their pages global and open to everyone on Facebook.  Customers can also send fan page suggestions to their friends, increasing the number of people the company reaches.  And it’s not only large brands like Target or Victoria’s Secret PINK that have pages.  One application called Promotions allows any business or agency to run promotions for their products that include formats like sweepstakes and prize giveaways, free coupons and contests.  All a company has to do is become a fan and then post their website or facebook page with a line about their product or what’s going on with their business at the moment.  Once again, social media pulls through with the ability for amateur marketing, just like Chris Anderson discusses in his book, The Long Tail.  

Create a Facebook page for your business here!

Twitter is another great tool for business marketing, and this year we’re going to see a whole lot of tweeting during the holidays.  For example, Best Buy created Twelpforce to offer technology advice to customers in tweet form.  This season, Best Buy plans on using Twelpforce to help customers decide what gifts to buy.  

In an article from Reuters, Starbucks’ vice president of brand, content and online was quoted, “This is going to be a really interesting holiday season with social media.  It just wasn’t this far along last holiday season.”  Companies like Starbucks will use Twitter to interact directly with customers and get feedback on products, events and ad campaigns. 

This holiday season, keep tabs on your favorite companies and brands by following them on their social media sites.  You’ll find lots of great savings, and you can give customer feedback to see your visions come through in their product lines!

http://twitter.com/twelpforce?s_kwcid=TC|9005|twelpforce||S|b|4447510275

This year’s Blog Action Day reached 18 million users, as 13, 541 blogs from 156 countries participated.  This online activity serves as just another example of how social media users can unite for special causes, in this case the most urgent cause facing our world today, and make a difference using a format that is accessible to everyone.

eHow offers numerous ways for users to embrace an effort to go green.  711 articles and videos explore different practices of conserving natural resources, which users can easily find by visiting the How To Directory index.  And it gets easier yet: the Go Green Page is a fantastic resources that directs users even further to climate change articles and videos organized by quick guides, updates and even additional web resources.  Article include guides on anything from how to make a college dorm green, to how to find green electronics.

Most users referenced an article from the LA Times Travel Section in their tweet, since the article directed people to use this hashtag.  It also recommended using the Twitter Search “Orionids.”  

While American Amateur Astronomers (or just plain star gazers) are making strides to connect to the public and share their experiences with other watchers, one British group has developed their Twitter usage to include video footage and photographs  in their meteor shower watching.  The Newbury Astronomical Society (NAS) has made Twitter a central part of their membership activities, using the social network as a form of communication between members, as well as the public.  The group succesfully tweeted their way through the Perseid meteor shower this summer, and has plans to tweet about two upcoming events: the 2nd Moonwatch at the end of October, and the Geminid meteor shower in December.  A great benefit is that enthusiasts can take questions, or simply have discussions over the Internet using Twitter.  It reminds me of some of the examples seen in Chris Anderson’s book “The Long Tail” we recently read.  Because of social media, amateur astronomers have access to display their thoughts and footage from the meteor shower now, not just professionals.  And anyone can view this footage.  You don’t have to be in a classroom, or at a space convention: you can simply sit at your computer and see everything- even if you missed the metorshower.  

This YouTube video illustrates exactly what the NAS is aiming to do, and Dr. Robert Massey from the Royal Astronomical Society explains how Twitter is a great format for discussing and showing footage of the meteor shower:

This very dramatized trailer created by Adrian West of the NAS acts like a movie preview for the two upcoming events that the society plans on covering through Twitter, where “Amateur astronomers and the public will join together” to “Share images, information and knowledge.”  If you can get over the Star Wars-Esc aspect of the trailer, it’s a great video for conveying exactly how Social Media sites like Twitter aid public awareness and knowledge:

The story was written by Jeff Wuorio, and appeared originally on CBS’ Moneywatch.com.  Wuorio explained that if you wade through all the crap, like Ashton Kutcher’s tweets on what he’s doing this instant, there’s a lot of really helpful ideas and people out tweeting away.  There’s also a lot of bargains…  now I’m listening.

Wuorio explained a few scenarios where people saved huge chunks of change on vacations, financing offers and cars, and then gave five tips to aid bargain hunters in their search on Twitter.  These include going directly to the source, that is, following businesses like JetBlue Airlines that routinely tweet about specials.  Another tip is to interact with friends, family members, and other Twitter users who share interests like traveling, or shop at the same grocery store even, who can share deals and finds.  The next tip is to let a website or service like CheapTweet or Fat Wallet scan through Twitter looking for the best deals for you.  These bloggers spend all their time doing this, so why not let them save you some time in search for your precious bargains? Another tip, more relevant to saving money solely on traveling is to follow a specific area.  The example Wuorio gives is to follow @BostonTweet, which recently updated information about free museums in Boston.  The final tip is to make Twitter use easy on yourself by organizing.  A useful tool is Tweet Deck, which is a free browser that manages groups, conversations and regulates Twitter spam.  

There’s a immense variety of great articles out there about specific ways people have saved money on Twitter.  One article I recently read in CN Traveler discusses how to save money on your next vacation airfare through Twitter- there are a ton of these ones. 

Compared to other social networking sites, Twitter has an advantage because it’s quick and easy for businesses to get the word out about specials and bargain products.  The true bargain hunters, like the woman in this YouTube video from NBC WLWT, will find the deals, with Twitter as their aid.  It doesn’t take much of an effort to do so yourself… so go ahead, save some money!

The intention of this group, which was formed by a user who just joined the eHow community yesterday, is to attract new readers to posts written by users that want to get their articles out there.  It also gives people a chance to see what sort of articles other users are reading and which ones they enjoyed (or didn’t).

In a blog post on the group site, one user wrote, “Let’s all promote each other!”  This is social networking at its finest: for eHow users to be able to promote their own work, and then read other articles and discuss them and recommend them to other users is the precise aim of the eHow social community, and with that, the goal of this group.