I found this article mentioned on Mashable. This information and process will allow you to see who Facebook thinks has the closest connections to you. This shows your historic activity with people on Facebook over time and orders all your friends by the amount that you stalk them. This data could also be effected by how often they stalk you as well. I would like to preserve this information so that everyone can learn the behind the scenes Facebook tracking that goes on. I pulled the Google cache version to get the article below. Also included are backup copies of the Javascript that is requesting information from Facebook’s first_degree.php file.

If you are coder / programmer and can make the data file you get from Facebook display a more user friendly view of their friends and First Degree Index rankings let me know! I’ll be messing with it the next few days to get it working as well. If this is properly working you’ll be able to see which friend’s Facebook is putting prominence to in your Facebook News Feed, associated rankings, values and tokens they have attached to them. This is a complete reverse engineering of Facebook’s feed algorithm. Very interesting stuff!

Latest UPDATE (easiest way to get this data):

First you need to get your Facebook Numeric ID. You can do that by visiting link #1 below. You’ll need your vanity name for Facebook. The next thing you’ll do is use link #2 to enter in your ID # into the URL to pull your entire First Degree relationships in order. There is a possibility that the output will give you an error because your Facebook is being accessed with HTTPS, if you see https://www.facebook.com then you’ll need to change your Secure Settings in Facebook. To do this go to this link and disable secure browsing: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=security

1. Get your Facebook Member ID # HERE
2. Get your Facebook First Degrees Data file HERE

Once you have your Facebook Data file you will have a lot of strings of data, the order of the people are the people that Facebook thinks you stalk the most. Each person is given an Index Ranking Number. Typically you have a very strong connection and stalk people that are in the NEGATIVE index numbering. For instance a -14.5230519 would be an incredibly high stalking rating. My high ones start at -1 and go from there. The higher the positive number the less of a First Degree’s connection that person and you have.

If you look beside people’s names they’ll have a field called tokens. If you take any of these words and put them in Facebook search it will bring up their Facebook profile.

My next task is to find something that will clean up this data for your easily and make it more readable in a pretty way.

Below is the original article & comments:

This entry was posted in Computer Science, Internet and tagged facebook, search results by Jeremy Keeshin. Bookmark the permalink.

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HP Warranty Scam

What is crazy about this is that I just purchased this PC on 1/10/2011 (the day of my Birthday) at Costco here in Overland Park, Kansas. Yes, I still have my receipt and no it wasn’t a used computer, it wasn’t a rebated computer and it wasn’t some refurbished computer either. This was a fresh brand new computer from Costco.

I decided to immediately take care of this and contact a support representative at HP through their HP Support Assistant program. I will post for your enjoyment and your consumer warning my conversation with the HP Support representative named Regina. One issue I found annoying right off was that each time you send a chat message you have click back into the window to chat. Incredibly minor but certainly a pain in the butt, who designed this chat?

Regina went on to tell me that I would have to mail in proof of purchase to HP in order to receive my full warranty. You can see in the information below from the chat all the information I have to include to HP to have them authorize my new warranty period. The problem is, when I purchased this computer I filled out all that information to register the computer with HP and my warranty.

How and why would my brand new computer already be activated? Well Regina told me it was because, and I quote: “The issue could be due to activation made by the Computer Center earlier. Do not worry, the issue is resolved, as we have a separate POP team to verify the entries and rectify it.” I was told that Regina and HP were sorry for the inconvenience of this issue. My response was: “It’s not inconvenience it’s theft and scandal. This is not something you can say sorry for. You’re a corporation ripping off thousands of customers a day. You’ll be exposed for the shit service company you are.” I’d say this smells like an HP Warranty Scam.

If HP Computer does this to every single customer, or heck even if they just do this to 10% of their customers do you realize how much money they’re saving? They could be saving millions in warranty repair and service issues. Just systematically reduce people’s warranty by 6 months and you save millions. Brilliant!

I was told by a guy named Brad on Twitter his opinion of this issue at this tweet: http://twitter.com/#!/Wopatoolie/status/29250149955932160 which stated “#SCAM your pc was returned to be fixed previously and replaced by hp w another one; typical ‘fix’ – reboot entire OS. return it.”

So this raises the question, what is my issue? Was my computer preused and then sold as new? Was it a refurbished computer? Is this standard HP Computer Center practice to pre-activate computers? All I know is that if this is even happening to 5% of customers only 20% of those customers are noticing or taking care of this issue. HP is counting on people being lazy or stupid and they save millions of dollars. I’m not sure what your idea of a scam is but I’d say this fits nicely into the corner of scandal and scam.

If you love HP and think I’m being harsh, feel free to comment and let me know about it. If you hate them and are being ripped off be sure to leave that as well.

In search for the keyphrase I thought I should rank for, I found this interesting conversation about extended HP Warranties and how HP rips people off with these, interesting enough for a good read if you plan on purchasing an HP Computer. You can read it here: http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware/How-can-you-get-HP-to-honor-its-warranty/m-p/402261

I will give HP props on this, at least they allow negative information to stay on their HP Forums. Maybe they’ll stop scamming people. I’ll update you on HP takes care of this issue after I’ve taken pictures, faxed copies, spent money, wasted my time and begged HP to give me the warranty that I’m owed. I paid nearly $1400 for a new desktop PC and have to spend more money and time now that I own it. Brilliant! I love big corporations and their red tape, scams and fine print.

If you would like to talk to HP directly in a public place and hold them accountable for any issues you’re having, feel free to talk to them on Twitter in a public setting at:
http://www.twitter.com/HP_PC

Read the HP Warranty Scam chat below:

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:07 PM] — Automatically generated message:
Your support request has been submitted and is in queue. Please wait momentarily while the system connects you with the next available support specialist.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:12 PM] — Automatically generated message:
You are now chatting with support specialist Regina S.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:12 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
Hi Regina

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:12 PM] — Regina S says:
Welcome to HP Total Care. My name is Regina. Please give me a few moments while I review your problem description details.

NOTE: For security reasons, PLEASE DO NOT send credit card information via chat

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:13 PM] — Regina S says:
Hi Joel, how are you doing today?

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:13 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
Not to bad.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:14 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
I’m submitting a Support Request because I just got a notification of our warranty and it makes no sense whatsoever. We have had this computer for 1 week, bought brand new from Costco.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:14 PM] — Regina S says:
Let me try my best to ensure we resolve this issue together so that you feel better.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:14 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
The warranty states it started on 7/16/2010 and ends 8/9/2012.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:14 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
I’d be very short of calling this a scam.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:14 PM] — Regina S says:
Do not worry, let me check the warranty status as per our record

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:15 PM] — Regina S says:
Please confirm if the serial number is MXX0270BFG

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:15 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
How do I confirm that?

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:15 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
I don’t know what the serial # is. Where do I find it?

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:16 PM] — Regina S says:
You can also press Ctrl + Alt + S (simultaneously) on the keyboard to get these information regarding your computer.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:16 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
I just saw that # on a sticker on the side of the computer.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:16 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
The serial # is correct.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:16 PM] — Regina S says:
Thank you for the confirmation

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:16 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
This chat is horrible. Once I send a message I have to click in the chat window again to continue sending another message.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:17 PM] — Regina S says:
I am sorry to know about your recent experience with the issue and the chat tool. HP values you as a customer and we would like to assist you. I will forward your feedback and suggestions to the concerned department.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:17 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
Thanks.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:18 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
And the warranty?

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:19 PM] — Regina S says:
Please provide me 3 minutes while I check the details

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:19 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
Ok.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:21 PM] — Regina S says:
Thank you for staying online

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:22 PM] — Regina S says:
May I know the date of purchase of PC?

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:22 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
Looking for the receipt.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:22 PM] — Regina S says:
Okay

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:24 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
January 10th, 2011 was the purchase date.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:24 PM] — Regina S says:
Thank you for the information

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:25 PM] — Regina S says:
Joel, as per the record the start date of warranty is 07/16/2010 and end date is 08/10/2012

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:25 PM] — Regina S says:
So, I request you to send the proof of purchase to our POP team

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:26 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
That’s fucking crazy. Scammy service.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:26 PM] — Regina S says:
I request you to fax or e-mail the proof of purchase (pop)/receipt. Please fax or e-mail the pop to the following options.
Fax: 1-800-563-4860
E-mail: hp.pop@mail.support.hp.com
NOTE: Hard Copy of the Receipt must be attached.
Along with the fax or e-mail, please include the following:
* Name of the owner:
* Phone Number:
* Physical Address:
* E-mail Address (Optional):
* HP Product Name:
* HP Product Number:
* HP Product Serial Number:

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:26 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
I’ll bury you on Twitter and make you look like the scam you are.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:26 PM] — Regina S says:

We will update your registration information within 48 business hours from the time the fax or e-mail is received and then process the order for parts/service.
NOTE: If you have e-mailed your proof of purchase, you will receive a notification once the update occurs. If you fax the request, no response is given. You will only be notified if there is a problem with the warranty.
Please accept my sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused to you in this regard.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:27 PM] — Regina S says:
Sorry for the inconvenience caused

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:27 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
It’s not inconvenience it’s theft and scandal. This is not something you can say sorry for. You’re a corporation ripping off thousands of customers a day. You’ll be exposed for the shit service company you are.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:29 PM] — Regina S says:
The issue could be due to activation made by the Computer Center earlier. Do not worry, the issue is resolved, as we have a separate POP team to verify the entries and rectify it

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:31 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
This issue is not resolved. You’re forcing me to take my valuable time to fax something, pay for the fax and send you information that I should not have to bother with. I bill at $35 an hour and this will take at least 2 hours. Nothing has been resolved you’re still ripping me off with my warranty until I prove to you that you’re scamming me. How many unsuspecting victims are either too stupid or too lazy to take care of their warranty like I have to do? This is what HP is counting on, customer lazyness or stupidity so that they can scam people out of their warranty. COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:32 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
What this also tells me is that my computer is not brand new and someone else was using my computer before I paid full price for it.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:35 PM] — Regina S says:
I understand your concern.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:36 PM] — Regina S says:
I do apologize for the situation you have been put in, but these are the things which don’t happen every time and I’ll make sure it won’t happen again by making a proper note and send to the concerned department

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:38 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
Don’t bother, I’ll let the whole world know with a blog post and daily scheduled tweeting to my 97,000 followers to reveal that HP is scamming US customers out of their warranty. I don’t need your help or scammy service. Tell that to the concerned department.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:39 PM] — Regina S says:
I understand how important your valuable time is. Let me help you take care of this problem in the best possible way. Please send the proof of purchase and we will make sure that these kinds of issues will not be repeated.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:41 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
I can take a Twitpic.com of the receipt and then it takes me less time. But that would be too easy for me. You’d rather me jump through hoops so that the probablity of me STILL getting scammed out of my warranty is higher. You’re not helping me, you’re scamming me. I’m the one that is helping myself.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:41 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
I’m done with this conversation now. Bye. You can enjoy the firestorm at http://www.twitter.com/webaddict

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:42 PM] — Regina S says:
Alright

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:42 PM] — Regina S says:
Please let me know if you need any more clarification

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:43 PM] — Regina S says:
I appreciate your efforts in resolving the issue by yourself.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:44 PM] — Regina S says:
Let’s hope things get better and everything gets resolved.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:44 PM] — Regina S says:
However, if you send the proof of purchase, we’ll go ahead and set things right for you immediately.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:45 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
Things can’t be resolved because me getting my warranty fixed is not the problem. It’s the scam you have going on with your warranty program. That’s the problem. Theft of warranty from thousands of unsuspecting customers. I’ll get my issue fixed, guaranteed.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:49 PM] — Regina S says:
As informed, we have a separate warranty rectification department. And, it is due to the activation issue and the PC is not used one, but it is just due to the activation that is done at the Authorized Computer center. However, this is not a theft or not scam. It is not a HP policy to scam the customer with the warranty program. HP provides a best service to the customers and we are here to assist you better.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:51 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
So HP sends every computer to an Authorized Computer center before they ship to the stores to make sure that they authorize the computer before it’s purchase date so that customers are scammed out of their warranty? Why would you activate my PC 6 months before anyone had purchased it? What is the reasoning behind that?

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:53 PM] — Regina S says:
It is not with all the PC getting activated, and we have a separate warranty maintenance department to verify the functionality of the PC etc and done for some genuine purpose. However, for more information, you can check with our Proof of Purchase department on this

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:57 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
What I’ve been told is that this computer was used, returned and then HP has now sold a used & repaired piece of shit to me for full price at Costco. Is this true?

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:58 PM] — Regina S says:
Joel, may I know from where you were given the above information?

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 12:59 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
From someone that had a similar experience with HP. They are sharing their nightmare story with me on Twitter @Wopatoolie

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 1:00 PM] — Regina S says:
Okay. In this case, for more information, I suggest you to contact our POP team, as they will provide you with all the details, why the warranty of the PC is pre-started before PC purchase or our phone support

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 1:01 PM] — Regina S says:
HP Phone Support :
1-800-474-6836 / 1-800-HPINVENT

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 1:02 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
So you want me to talk to someone that is trained in disceiving me into believing that there is some plausible reason that HP has stolen my warranty? I’m done talking with anyone from your company that is going to waste my time and cost me more money and headache. Instead, I’ll expose your scammy scheme. Have a good day!

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 1:07 PM] — Regina S says:
To get the proper and true information which is not done with the thought of reducing the actual warranty period, I suggest you to contact the concerned department, as we do not have much information on the warranty details, as we are dedicated to HP Desktop technical support team

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 1:09 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
Well I’m pleased to be speaking with someone that has not details on the warranty when the option I selected was for the HP Warranty. I see that your customer support is effecient and properly organized… wait, no it’s the opposite. This makes no sense. You don’t have to chat with me anymore. I’m just keeping this window open so I can copy all the statements you said into my blog post. Feel free to move on to the next customer.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 1:10 PM] — Regina S says:
Alright

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 1:10 PM] — Regina S says:
Is there any other technical issue related to HP Desktop I may assist you with today?

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 1:11 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
Am I talking to a robot? What I just said above would answer that question.

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 1:13 PM] — Regina S says:
It was a great experience and pleasure working with you. Hope, you have a nice weekend. Please make a note of activity id: 8761838 of this chat session for your reference

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 1:13 PM] — Regina S says:
Thank you for contacting HP Total Care Real-Time chat support. If you need further assistance, please contact us again at:

http://www.hp.com/support/chat

Chat support is available 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week.

Please take the time to register your HP product and the products Care Pack at:

Registration: http://www.register.hp.com

Care Pack registration: http://www.hp.com/go/hpcarepack/register

For information on keeping your HP and Compaq products up and running, please visit our Web site at:

http://www.hp.com/go/totalcare

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 1:13 PM] — Joel Mackey says:
That’s what she said!

[Sunday, January 23, 2011 1:17 PM] — Automatically generated message:
The support specialist has closed your support request.

Update as of January 25th, 2011:

I received a private DM from an HP Twitter account about 3 hours after Tweeting and posting this blog post: @MarkatHP that said “Hi Joel. I will personally look into the issue you had w warranty. What’s the best way to reach you?”

I responded with some contact information and Mark responded, “thx”

On January 24th, 2011 I received a phone call which I was unable to answer because I was at work and didn’t have time to talk with a support rep for hours about my warranty being automatically reduced. In the voicemail I was provided a case # of which was a different case # than what was provided to me above in the chat with the HP representative through online chat. I now have two case #’s with HP.

I called HP back January 24th, 2011 to speak with Keith at 5:30pm CST (their support office closes at 6pm PST (1 1/12 hours later than time called). I used his extension but he was busy talking with another customer. The gentleman I was talking to informed me I couldn’t speak with anyone but Keith and that Keith would call me back. I’m still waiting for another callback but I’ll need to wait until after work today to take the call or call them back.

Latest Update:

This post has got a lot of attention & definitely deserves an update. HP did finally contact me and work with me to correct my warranty. I was given a “warranty extension” on the warranty that was listed for my computer. The extension really gave me the warranty that I deserved when I purchased the HP Desktop. All told I spent multiple times on the phone with HP Support Reps, answered several calls, answered emails, signed papers that came in the mail and really went through a lot of hassle to get something I should have had up front. Did HP finally provide me the warranty that was supposed to be provided with my computer? Yes, on paper I have a full warranty now. I shouldn’t have had to go through all that.

I can also say that I do believe I probably got more attention than normal because I do have a lot of followers on Twitter. I also have quite a bit of knowledge of SEO and have had no problems ranking for HP Warranty Scam and HP Scam. This post will now always serve as a collection of unhappy customers with HP and their warranty services. As you can see there are more and more commenters below sharing their horror stories with HP Warranty Services.

My last laptop purchase was an ASUS due to my HP Warranty experience:

Would I buy and HP again? Possibly, but it will take a long time before I do. I just recently purchased a new laptop and I ended up getting an ASUS N53SV-XV1 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Silver Aluminum) and I’m really happy with it. ASUS service was quick, spot on, customer service is easy to deal with and I got extended warranty’s through Square Trade.

Great analysis on this subject from a Communications Consultant:

I had a comment left by a man named Tim Dawes which linked off to his website where he did a play by play analysis on how the customer and the customer service representative ran into issues. In my opinion, Tim did a great job of breaking down the situation and finding some flags and important points where the customer service problems could have been improved or done differently.

You can read more of Tim Dawes’s post titled: Joel Mackey’s HP Warranty Scam – Customer Service Script Gone Bad

I have to admit, here in America in the land of the lazy, when people call customer service they expect a bad experience. You expect long hold times, complicated menu’s and most of all, people expect to speak to a foreigner that calls himself Bob and tries to communicate with them on a local level. The reality is, people are fed up with this crap and the companies like HP will suffer as they “save costs” and dish up shit service to everyone with made up personalities and infinite circles of imaginery problem solving.

What I have been trained to do in America when calling customer service is to press 0 as many times as it takes, talk directly to supervisors and not the front line customer service rep and to get pissed off and yell at them. Sad but true, huh? I’ve been trained to be an asshole to get stuff done. What is the result? Short wait times, resolutions and instant connection to people that can actually solve the issue. Customer service is a joke in America anymore and if you want to get what you want, be prepared to, “fight for your right, to parrrrrrty.”

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Chevrolet Cobalt Turbocharged Coupe in Victory Red - MP3, MPG, Horsepower

Being a geek, a SEO guy (search engine optimization) I was tempted enough to pull my laptop over and type in the search keyphrase. Sure enough, “MP3, MPG, Horsepower” pulls up Chevy’s page featuring the Cobalt at #1 which you can find here.

But what has my wheels turning is the safety of allowing your brand to lie in the hands of an organic search on Google. I can assure you that I will most likely now rank for this keyword. If I were Ford Motor Company I could post a webpage with the Mustang which gets 31 MPG. If I were a disgruntled Chevrolet customer who had his car completely fall apart after the warranty was up I could post a blog post and tell everyone about it. I could piggy back on the marketing budget of Chevrolet to spread a negative message about them. Lucky enough for them, I’m not.

I doubt you will see this as a long term trend in marketing. It is just too dangerous and uncontrollable. However, I think it’s creative, cool and fun. Way to go Chevrolet. By the way… would you guys like to provide me a free Chevy Cobalt SS that is Turbocharged? I’d be more than happy to provide videos and how much fun I was having with it right here. <wink wink>

Peace, Love and Chicken Grease,
- webaddict

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Well, do you? I mean don’t get me wrong, Soccer is fantastic and I’m sure there are TONS of people that love it. But historically I don’t remember so much discussion, chatter and news media in your face coverage about soccer or the World Cup. My analysis below is going to prove to you something is seriously abnormal about the US news coverage of the World Cup.

I did do some research and have to admit, I’m a bit shocked to see the search term “soccer” is about as popular as “baseball”, <GASP>, what has come over you America? Must still be ticked off about the baseball strike, right? Still a Google search for “America’s Past Time” and guess what you get…Uh huh, Baseball!

So really nothing looks out of the ordinary looking at the previous graph from Google Insights. However, when you dig in to the World Cup Google Trends data you will notice two things that seem to pop out at you. One, already the term “World Cup” is trending higher in searches more than it ever has except in 2006 when the Germany World Cup was REALLY interesting for some reason or another.

The big one here though is the absolutely MASSIVE media coverage being given to the World Cup. Yes, yes, I know my Photoshop skills are worse than a 1st grader but I did my best, okay? See my pretty yellow arrow? That arrow is pointing to the secondary Google Trend that shows News / Media outlets pushing out drivel on the World Cup.

Now don’t worry, we aren’t done here yet. Let’s look at another media microscope tool to see the news volume, where it is, where it’s going and what is really going on here. Now we’re going to look at the News / Media outlets actual publication in Google’s News database that include the word “World Cup” from 1930 – 2010. This one is a little more telling as it does show a progressive climb of the media distribution. Instead of the World Cup Google Trends data above which shot up in a crazy way this year, this shows an even stair step build into the progressive trend.

A friend of mine on Twitter had this insightful theory as to why everyone is talking about the World Cup which I have to admit, I agree with.

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/searchguru/status/15966477314"]

Okay, I promise this is the last geeky trend graph we are digging into, thanks for sticking with me. What you are looking at below is the two search trends of “World Cup” and “Oil Spill.” Notice that they both spike at the same time. Coincidence? Maybe! This one possibly shows some type of correlation with the media wanting to talk about something else than the oil spill. I know, correlation not causation but you can comment about it and rip me apart, fair enough?

So there you have it. The truth is, I’m still clueless why everyone seems to care about the World Cup this year and the media is talking about it so much that it doesn’t even compare to the Superbowl or World Series. Something is up and it just may be that they need a new cash cow. Talk about the World Cup enough and maybe the ratings will increase?

On a typical day on Twitter I can usually ask a question and get anywhere from 10 – 30 responses. Tonight? The crickets were chirping. But I did have some great buddies and smart people respond. Here are the responses to my original tweet which will be posted first!

Please leave me a comment here and tell me if your fascination with the World Cup has increased and why you think the media is pushing it so hard!

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/webaddict/status/15966015904"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/ejw70/status/15966579662"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/d_Arc/status/15966667877"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/MichelleBatDell/status/15968800175"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/maximonos/status/15972679391"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/ssblackman/status/15972699284"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/Naughty_Jonny/status/15972755013"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/cindyoyo/status/15972821387"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/TrinaMb/status/15973357006"]

UPDATE: I wanted to add a quick note to let you know that all data and graphs above were obtained under United States data and analysis. Other country data was excluded except on the comparing Google Trend analysis of World Cup & Oil Spill!

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What is most tragic about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is that it could have been taken care of and addressed much sooner. When the tragedy first hit, BP Oil made some deceiving statements to locals. Cade Thomas, a fishing guide in Venice, worried that his livelihood will be destroyed. He said he did not know whether to blame the Coast Guard, the federal government or oil company BP PLC.

“They lied to us. They came out and said it was leaking 1,000 barrels when I think they knew it was more. And they weren’t proactive,” he said. “As soon as it blew up, they should have started wrapping it with booms.”

Government officials said the blown-out well 40 miles offshore is spewing five times as much oil into the water as originally estimated — about 5,000 barrels, or 200,000 gallons, a day. At that rate, the spill could eclipse the worst oil spill in U.S. history — the 11 million gallons that leaked from the grounded tanker Exxon Valdez in Alaska’s Prince William Sound in 1989 — in the three months it could take to drill a relief well and plug the gushing well 5,000 feet underwater on the sea floor.

It’s time to see BP take their revenues and pay for the lives & wildlife they have ruined. If you have wondered how much money they bring in and if they have the resources to take care of this problem look at these numbers: BP is one of the most powerful corporations operating in the United States. Its 2009 revenues of $327 billion are enough to rank BP as the third-largest corporation in the country. It spends aggressively to influence US policy and regulatory oversight.

Get on Twitter and tell @BP_America to take their billions and hold nothing back to fix this problem.

Please help by tweeting this tweet out on Twitter:
Let @BP_America know the #OilSpill is important to you http://bit.ly/BPoilspill

Peace, Love and Chicken Grease,
- webaddict

VIDEO: Obama says oil spill damage potentially ‘unprecedented’
The Oil Spill From Hell – Why Your Shrimp Will Be Ever More Expensive
Helpful interactive map: Tracking the oil spill day by day
Oil spill threatens Gulf region’s ecosystem and fishing, tourism and shipping industries
VIDEO: Dead Sea Turtles Washing Up Along Gulf Coast
Gulf oil spill: 23 dead sea turtles wash ashore in Mississippi
Louisiana oil slick puts wildlife at risk ‘for 30yrs’
World’s Most Endangered Sea Turtle Threatened by BP Oil Slick
Gulf Coast oil spill may take months to contain, officials say
BP reels as spill advances, fallout widens
Gulf oil spill could impact non-coastal songbirds
10 Things You Can Do to Help the Gulf Coast Clean the Oil Spill
Oil Spill Volunteers NEEDED Click For Info
BP Says Crews Make Progress Stemming Oil Leaks
Attention shoppers: Gulf spill could affect you
Infographic: The Size of the Oil Spill
Is Gulf oil rig disaster far worse than we’re being told?

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More confirmed sources of Michael Jackson’s Death (30 – 40 minutes after the 1st two):

Michael Jackson, 50, legendary ‘King of Pop’ dead in Los Angeles

Singer Michael Jackson dead at 50 (MSNBC)

Michael Jackson dies at 50 (USA Today)

Pop Legend Michael Jackson Dead at 50 (Fox News)

Great collection of stars and legends paying tribute to Michael Jackson through quotes on TV, Interviews and Twitter: The UK Independent

“I am absolutely devastated at this tragic and unexpected news,” said Quincy Jones, a longtime friend of Jackson’s and producer of his “Thriller” album. “For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don’t have the words. …… I’ve lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him.” – Quincy Jones

No matter what your personal feelings on Michael Jackson were as a person or about his run-ins with trouble, you cannot deny he was one of the best performers in the world. He redefined dance performance in combination with #1 hits time after time. The moonwalk is a classic. However, Michael Jackson defined and invented a long list of dance moves and made them mainstream. Michael Jackson took dancing to a magician mystery type level that will be emulated for eternity.

Beyond just the magician-like dancing Michael brought to the world, the inner music coming from his beatbox type of body and percussion producing rhythms also took the one-man band to a new level.

This page is in constant update mode. Please comment and let us know the best videos, interviews and stories you like about Michael Jackson and his career and we’ll add them.

Interviews

Young Michael Jackson Interview in 1972: Video Here

Videos

Michael Jackson – Thriller – MJJ Productions Inc: Video Here (watch in High Quality)

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I don’t think I’ll go as far as calling these celebrities or their managers snobs, they are just misinformed. Maybe they think it makes them seem more famous to not follow anyone. Maybe they are afraid of having an out of control twitterstream? It is very similar to putting on those celebrity shades and withdrawing from the world. If celebrities are worried about their twitterstream (which I’m sure they’re not) they could use a tool like TweetDeck or Seesmic Desktop to solve that problem. What celebrities are telling you when they don’t follow you is that they don’t care what you have to say. Who wants to be a fan of that? Send in your fan letter you worked so hard on and it goes straight to the trashcan?

Oprah Winfrey Follower Numbers / Ashton Kutcher Follower Numbers:

The trend is changing

Now the good news is there are some celebrities that are starting to get it. You should take screen shots of celebrities accounts that don’t follow anyone because soon you will most likely notice a large portion of them following people back. Why? They may not even do it to listen to you, but instead for pure competition and marketing. Let’s take a look at a managed celebrity account that is starting to follow thousands of people and another account that has shown a similar trend. Below you will find @BritneySpears and @JimmyEatWorld following stats from Twitterholic.com.

With the competition brutal due to Twitter going mainstream, celebrities are starting to clamor for more follows to be ranked higher in the overall Twitter follower rankings. When looking at the column data it is from left to right: Date, Followers, Following.

You can see the incremental amounts that were increased from a mere 1,000 people that the Britney Spears account was following to three days later an additional 9,000. The action of following an additional 9,000 people resulted in a follower jump of 23,837. However, the biggest monumental jump was when an additional 58,000 people were followed which increased the people following the Britney Spears account by 581,000 additional followers.

Another example is with the Jimmy Eat World account. You can see the direct relation from the point that when they started following thousands of people their account is directly effected in people following them. Obviously following 0 people the @JimmyEatWorld account wasn’t doing too well! Two months later after following 70k they have gained 106,000 additional followers. Do you see a trend?

As celebrities, corporations, TV shows and brands observe this trend most of them will fall in line and end up following back. If they don’t, they’ll be passed by other celebrities and identities that are willing to follow people back and allow a two way conversation.

Why will celebrities follow people for more followers?

I’m quite certain you can answer this yourself. However, I do know some people that don’t seem to get it. From a marketing perspective, if you were Britney Spears and you were releasing a new album would you like to tell 100,000 people about it every day or 1,000,000? If you are Ashton, it’s movies, if you are Oprah it’s your show, book club, magazine. You get the point, right?

Now obviously this method doesn’t just apply to celebrities. It applies to all Twitter users really. Let’s be honest about that, right? Corporations, Pizza Companies, Hosting Companies, you name it. If there’s a message to be given, this new trend will creep into every corner of Twitter. Essentially they will follow the leader.

One problem remains: Engagement

So one problem has been solved. From the article mentioned above by Brett Borders which has been retweeted nearly 900 times, you can see that the Twitter majority feels celebs should follow back. Problem solved, the trend is moving in that direction and should tend do so in the future. There is still a problem however. Most of these celebrity accounts still don’t get it. They don’t engage, they don’t talk to their fans, they don’t ask them questions, they don’t take polls, they don’t have contests or even acknowledge the existence of a fan. So one problem remains, while they may follow people, they still don’t communicate with them. I think there is a way to change this trend as well.

The solution?

The everyday folks on Twitter should support celebrities, brands, companies and organizations that have open communication with their followers. If people that use Twitter in a favorable way get more attention, responses, retweets and press than the people that shun their fans, eventually the tide will turn.

I have noticed a particular celebrity account on Twitter due to my friend Susan Elaine (@BuzzEdition) bringing it to my attention, that has shocked me more than once. The account is for the band Collective Soul and can be found at @collective_soul. What I find so simply amazing about these guys is that they actually respond to fans. They retweet fans tweets. They read blogs by users on Twitter. They make exclusive videos just for their Twitter fans. I could go on, but let me put it this way. These guys are extremely successful and have went Multi-Platinum 7 times in the U.S., 18 times in Canada with 7 #1 hits and guess what? They still treat every one of their fans as a person. Amazing huh?

Before they were even jumping in the Twitter pool, this band was participating in Social Media. They have a phone line where fans can call in and leave a message. They randomly call back fans and talk to them. Even more interesting and voyeuristic (just like Twitter) you can listen to the fans messages yourself. I have taken a quick recording of a few fans messages. Crazy huh? Social Media with a telephone.

After talking with @BuzzEdition and @Collective_Soul I got the news that they are launching a blog contest that’s giving away crazy prizes! It just proved to me that these guys truly do get Social Media. Allowing the fans, followers and bloggers to be apart of the party is a great interactive way to be real. I’m thinking that to prove to celebrities and big brands on Twitter that have decided to “broadcast” instead of interact they should be given a wake-up call. By participating in this blog contest a knod can be given to the celebrities that are doing things right in Social Media. Here are the details of the blog contest:

Collective Soul Blog Contest

These guys are giving out some awesome prizes for participation!

1st Prize: 2 Tickets to any show, 2 backstage passes, AUTOGRAPHED GUITAR and a copy of new album

2nd Prize: 2 Tickets, Autographed Guitar Pick and a Copy of the new Album

3rd Prize: Copy of New Album, Autographed Picture, Autographed Drumsticks & Guitar Pick

The first 10 entrants into the contest will receive an Autographed Picture in the mail!

How to Enter

Write a blog post talking about Collective Soul that includes the following things:

1. Include a link to the Collective Soul Twitter Account
http://www.twitter.com/collective_soul

2. Include a link to the Collective Soul Website / Blog
http://www.collectivesoul.com/blog/
or
http://www.collectivesoul.com/news/

3. Mention new tour starting in 2009
http://www.collectivesoul.com/live/

Once you’ve written your blog post leave a link to your blog post in the comment section below. This will add some traffic and a backlink to your blog. Also TWEET a message to @Collective_Soul on Twitter announcing your new blog post like:

I just entered the @Collective_Soul Blog Contest here: YOURURL

Collective Soul has agreed to Retweet your blog post to all of their fans! (Your 15 minutes of fame!)

How Collective Soul Chooses The Winners

The band will pick the top 10 entries out of the all the submissions. It’s recommended that you be creative and let people know how you feel about Collective Soul, their social media interaction, how their music has effected your life or any other creative way you want to present the band. The only requirements that you need to include in your blog post are listed above.

Once Collective Soul has chosen the top 10 entries the final Top 3 winners will be chosen by you! An online poll will be held on Twitter to allow you to vote for the final winner. The top 3 contestants will win the prizes in the order of their votes!

Terms and Conditions

The contest will end on June 15th at 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time. The Collective Soul band will then choose the winners and the online poll will start within a week.

Blog posts must be for public viewing and not private! (ie. MySpace Blogs can’t be seen by anyone but your friends)

Anyone suspected of rigging the votes in the poll will be removed and disqualified from the contest.

If you have any questions just send @Collective_Soul
a message on Twitter!

In Conclusion

I hope that gives you an idea of the coming trends of celebrities and gives you one way you can fight back. You can accelerate the trend by supporting the celebrities that will actually interact and engage on Twitter. In the end, if most celebrities adopt the trend, Twitter will be a better place to hang your hat.

Peace, Love and Chicken Grease,
- webaddict

If you like this article, Tweet this message to your Twitter stream.

RT @webaddict A celebrity that gets social media? I know shocking… http://bit.ly/twittercelebrity #sm #socialmedia

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I said the above paragraph due to some of the responses I received immediately after I sent out a tweet that simply said:

I’m so tired of seeing “Please RT”, “Please Retweet”, “PLZ RT.” PPL we understand U want UR crap RTed. Quit cramming it down our throats.

Well, so how do you think it went? LOL. Yes, I agree it was a little abrasive. I typically am a little abrasive, it’s one of my personality flaws that I have decided to embrace. But the reality is, in this world today, if your statements and opinions don’t stand out from all the lemmings you won’t be listened to and your point will not be delivered in a postage stamped letter.

Some people took my tweet personal and replied as if I sent it to only them. Others requested I take a break from the computer because I’m grumpy. I am not trying to attack anyone and yes, maybe I was a little grumpy, hehe, thanks for the suggestion Grandma. So here are the emotional replies or hey now replies.

LadySascha @webaddict woah. sorry about that. I didn’t realize I was offending =(

waltercolor @webaddict Mmmm.. We’ll not RT it, thus it would have been helpful that you express it in a more pedagogic way. Where is Twitter-etiquette ?

GrandmaGriner @webaddict Hey there!Good afternoon,UR a bit grumpy&may need 2 step away from computer 4 a moment! Just a grandma thought!SmileUgoFurther!

Okay, in order, let me address them. Dear Lady, I was not tweeting this directly at you and you weren’t offending me, just annoying me if you were repeatedly using, “Please retweet.” Don’t take me personal unless I send you a personal @ message and say something nice or rude. *hugs* to you Lady, didn’t mean for you to take it so personal. To you Walter, just “not” RTing the tweet does not solve the issue. I have seen this method spread from a set of core users to thousands of clueless Twitter users. Like I said before, while you don’t like my methods, if I would have been nicer and “cutesy” no one would have listened, thus useless. You ask where is Twitter-etiquette? Welcome to it, it’s here on my blog and I’m educating the masses what is highly annoying. To Grandma, you are probably right in some ways, thanks for the nice reminder.

These five tweeple got exactly the message I was getting at and described it well in their tweets:

kirstenwright @webaddict I couldn’t agree more. If you want it to get RT’ed, just have quality content!

kenGe @webaddict true, and if it is worthy it will be done. take out the RT saves on chars

iamkhayyam @webaddict I know, right? Every link out there begs for requoting. Ok, here’s one for you… Please create a beautiful day
iamkhayyam @webaddict My thing is this, are you asking or telling me to RT? Either way, IMO it’s treads a fine line of desperation and insecurity…
iamkhayyam @webaddict …do you not have faith in your content? If it’s good or pertinent, then it will get pushed forward regardless of begging

Lizz_A @webaddict I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Lizz_A @webaddict Furthermore, I find posters who constantly end tweets with ‘RT PLZ’ don’t have much interesting to say. Def nothing I want to RT.

BuzzEdition @webaddict I agree the “Please RT” syndrome is out of control, people should RT what they like & what their followers will find value in
BuzzEdition @webaddict And furthermore, if your tweet doesn’t get RTed, it should be a sign that U R not providing the value your followers R looking 4

The first message I got that seemed to sing to me like a Mozart masterpiece was from Kirsten. She really hit the nail on the head with simplicity and much nicer than me. You don’t have to get people to “Please Retweet” because if the content is interesting, good, moving or fantastic people will retweet it. If people don’t retweet it is time for you to reevaluate why your tweeting out junk no one wants to retweet and they only do if you beg for it.

Ken put out a great point that removing all this “Please Retweet” business saves on those precious 140 characters. This is very true and the reality is, when people retweet the “Please RT” tweets they often include all the begging garbage so the character wasting becomes viral.

Liz and Khayyam seem to pretty much share the same viewpoint. Khayyam speaks a lot of truth and has that edgy feel that I often portray in my words. Khayyam makes the point that it almost shows a bit of desperation and insecurity in a tweeter to use, “Please retweet.” After that, the message that Kirsten made was reaffirmed, “If it’s good or pertinent, then it will get pushed forward regardless of begging.” Bravo!

Susan, under the name BuzzEdition classified the “Please RT” game as a syndrome. Pretty funny because that is pretty much what it has turned into. Susan also pinned down the point that if your stuff isn’t getting retweeted there is a breakdown in communication between you and your followers. It’s very true, if your not getting retweets, replies, DMs and comments then you need to start thinking about how to better connect with your followers.

Now I got a couple tweets that came in saying that essentially they liked getting “Please Retweets” for one reason or another, let’s look at those:

SweetLeafApril @webaddict i think it’s a heck of a lot nicer to say “pls Rt” rather than just RT. (my 2 cents)

juliendorra @webaddict Some people tweet good things, and, from time to time, ask to push on a specific issue. I don’t have a problem with that.

Oh sweet April, I see your point, it is nicer for someone to say “PLZ RT” than just saying “RT.” However, in my experience I often don’t see people say just RT because it really resembles the RT used in an actual RT. With that said, I don’t think it’s nice at all. Please is an overused term in most instances. You see when someone is saying “PLZ RT” they aren’t really being polite, it’s just disguising self promotion and kutzpa for people that get all warm and fuzzy with these fake niceties. I just don’t understand how three more letters or an extra word makes a car salesman pitch seem any nicer. Frankly, I don’t buy it. Julie, you’re right, lots of people tweet good things… but here’s the deal, there’s something I’ve noticed. Most people that use “Please Retweet” use it chronically most of the time. I obviously wouldn’t have made such a strong statement if I only saw this method used once a week or so.

I received a message from the twerson making an interesting point that we should bring up. Make sure you comment and let me know what you think about this one!

chrisboutet @webaddict Hear, hear! http://twitter.com/chrisboutet/statuses/1664170144
chrisboutet Does adding “PLZ RT” actually result in more retweets than, say, writing interesting stuff? Think it comes off kinda desperate & sad. PLZ RT

I will shed some insight on this one. I have spoken to some people that are chronic, “Please Retweeters” before and some of them have told me that they do get more RTs than if they leave it off. I’m not so sure how much scientific testing was actually done but I will lend that to the, “Please Retweet” crowd. It would be cool to do a brief study on what got more tweets, a tweet with or without the dreaded promotion. The truth is though, each tweet is invariably different than another tweet, the time of day and the actual day. So for the testing to be as solid as possible a tweet would have to done on a Tuesday at 5:00pm PST and then done the following Tuesday at 5:00pm PST for the data to be comparable.

The rest of the messages I got were mostly in agreement or retweeting what I or some people replying to me actually said. Since I told everyone I’d include them if they @ replied me, I’m keeping my word. Here is everyone else that directly replied to me as of the time of writing this (in the order they were received):

littlebead @webaddict Agreed!!!

trishaj RT @webaddict: I’m so tired of seeing “Please RT”, “Please Retweet”, “PLZ RT.” PPL we understand U wnt UR crap RTed. Quit cramming it dn …

CriticalTodd @webaddict Thank you for that!

suikagirl1 @webaddict amen!

peteravalos @webaddict doesn’t it depend on the tweet? Please RT

trishaj @webaddict So funny and so true I had to RETWEET, lol!!!  ;)

calinazaret RT: @webaddict: I’m so tired of seeing “Please Retweet”, “PLZ RT.” PPL we understand U want UR crap RTed. Quit cramming it down our throats.
calinazaret @webaddict I agree. RT’d! lol

johnnyflower @webaddict hey dude, i, ah, i have this little favour, to ask? hehe…

louiebaur @webaddict Ok so you want me to retweet your comment about retweeting???

johnmcc @webaddict Totally agree. Or the worst of all, ending it just with ‘RT’!

assault @webaddict It’s interesting to me that very rarely does actual “content” get RT,  instead lists or roundups of other peoples content does.

Bubbalou RT: @webaddict: RT @kirstenwright: I couldn’t agree more. If you want it to get RT’ed, just have quality content!

RandyInman RT @webaddict:  I couldn’t agree more. If you want it to get RT’ed, just have quality content! [exactly! that is EXACTLY it.]

jdschultz RT @webaddict …tired of…”Please RT”, “Please Retweet”, “PLZ RT.”…we understand U want UR crap RTed. Quit cramming it down our throats.

achimbrueck Please, please RT RT @webaddict: I’m so tired of seeing “Please RT”, “Please Retweet”, “PLZ RT.” PPL we understand U want UR crap RTed.

derekbaird @webaddict re: RT’s spot on!

johnjambrose RT @webaddict: I’m so tired of seeing “Please RT”, “PLZ RT.” PPL we understand U want UR crap RTed. Quit cramming it down our throats. Irony

BuzzEdition @webaddict Well at least I’m getting my blog now *hugs*

tommytrc RT @BuzzEdition: @webaddict Well at least I’m getting my blog now *hugs*

ecopolitologist RT @BuzzEdition: @webaddict I agree the “Please RT” syndrome is out of control, people should RT what they like…

faithgoddess7 RT @BuzzEdition: @webaddict People should RT what they like & what their followers will find value in ***I Agree***

Paul_Holgorsen RT @faithgoddess7: RT @BuzzEdition: @webaddict People should RT what they like & what their followers will find value in ***I Agree***

creativejo RT @BuzzEdition: @webaddict I agree “Plse RT” syndrome is out of control, ppl shld RT what they like & what their followers find value in

HindsiteHealth @BuzzEdition @webaddict if someone says Please RT, I pretty much don’t. I’m ornery that way. (amber alerts etc, yes. quotes, no)

Well, I hope that inspires some of the chronic “Please Retweeters” to tone it down a little bit. It’s not that there is anything wrong with using “Please RT” every once in awhile, it’s just becoming an old worn out tire, like FollowFriday. If anything, it just seems crazy to say, “Please Retweet” because why wouldn’t you want us to retweet you? Of course you want that. Let’s just make an agreement, we will always KNOW that you want to be RTed and you don’t even have to tell us to! Just remember that if you say something stupid, slutty or horrifying to let us know, “PLZ DON’T RT.” Most things are pretty cool in moderation and silly promotional pushes and begging is ok if it’s a rare breed too.

By the way, now that you’ve reached the end of the post, can you PLEASE RETWEET this?

Peace, Love and Chicken Grease,
- webaddict

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We know you’re probably very upset. Please leave your condolences in the comments section for this well loved star. Rest in peace Kermit. Dang you, Miss Piggy!

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If you don’t know who Dave Winer is, you should. For a detailed explanation of who he is you can check out this Wikipedia entry or just hop on over to his blog homepage to get his bio. Two big accolades of Mr. Winer’s are pioneering the development of weblogs and syndication (RSS). With that said, you can also jump on over and read Mr. Winer’s blog post on why he feels the, “Retweet is stupid.”

Quoting Mr. Winer from the meat of his post he says:

A retweet is the same as voting up something on Digg or Reddit. It’s a piece of metadata about the tweet, and should be stored and displayed with the tweet. When you retweet something, none of the 140 characters should be used in saying that it’s a retweet and who it came from.

Now it’s very possible that Mr. Winer was not devaluing the power of the resyndication of information but was just saying that retweet information is wasting space in the confined 140 characters provided in Twitter. That is pretty much what the above quote says. However, there are some problems with what is said above and the comments this post spawned revealed that many people embraced the idea and feels that the retweet is pointless, spam and is inferior to social votes from sites like Mixx.com, Digg.com, StumbleUpon.com and many more.

From this Mixx comment thread there were these two comments that started my feeling for the need of a retort:

FROM MIXX ID: justiuli
Retweeting is pointless. It’s completely ridiculous. You only have to fill up 140 characters, and you don’t have the creativity to even come up with that. So, you fire up TweetDeck and hit the retweet button all day long. Uncreative and utterly pointless for anyone who’s not a pointless social media retard.

If I see a Twitter profile and it’s got nothing but retweets, I hit the magic “block” button. These people are pointless leeches, and usually have nothing of any interest to say: it’s all “OMG social media is so transgressive! I love Web 2.0 so much!” etc. Pointless crap.

FROM MIXX ID: cmcgill (Mixx Founder)
hate the retweet- but I suppose it is a way to “pass it on”

Now before I start to discuss my objections let me state that I have the utmost respect and admiration for Chris McGill, the founder of Mixx. He created a social news site that I have loved from day one and always look to for innovation in that niche of the social web. In regards to Dave Winer, who can’t admire him? He’s like a co-father of the Internet’s Web 2.0. Okay, credit given so here’s my take!

My comment on Mixx was this:

I’m disappointed in the views of my fellow Mixxers in their feeling that the “Retweet” is stupid. What it tells me is that most don’t understand it’s implication or point. While it certainly is the same as a Mixx Upvote, a Digg or a Stumble it’s so much more. The reason I think most of you think it’s stupid or pointless is because you are categorizing and compartmentalizing it in the same category as the voting system.

While a retweet is a vote, it’s also the syndication of information within seconds. If someone has a lot of followers on Twitter, they are respected to have a keen eye for good content, breaking information or a tight niche categorical focus on content. Instead of simply just voting, that content is then displayed to hundreds or thousands of eyes, minds and feeds within seconds.

So if you want my true opinion, I think a vote is more pointless or stupid than a retweet. It’s effect is much less substantial. It’s power limited. It’s butterfly effect small. Wake up and smell the revolution.

With all of that said, I absolutely love Mixx, which is why you see me here, voting away and commenting.

Mixx on buddies!

P.S. This comment thread and Mixx submission just may spawn a blog post from me. I think people need to be educated as to the real point of a retweet and what it really means instead of the explanation of “Firing up Tweetdeck and mindlessly spamming links along.” Keep your eyes open for my post and vote accordingly.

Update: I had pretty much finished this blog post and noticed a response from Chris McGill on Mixx where he makes an excellent point. I will put his quote below and see if I can address it.

Is a retweet just a vote like a Digg, Upvote or a Stumble?

Part of the answer is a definite yes. A retweet is simply a vote for an idea, piece of content, picture or blog post. These votes are aggregated by a growing number of sites like Tweetmeme.com, Popurls.com and Twitturls.com. So the representation of top content rising in a voting system is built out by these 3rd party websites and replicates most of the features of sites like Digg and Mixx.

With that said, besides just the voting system each retweet lends more power, syndication and traffic than a simple vote on a social news site. When you vote on a site like Digg and Mixx you have the potential to lend more traffic and exposure to that site if your vote helps it rise to top pages or the frontpage. If your vote doesn’t have that effect it was simply a nod of agreement and that’s about it. With Twitter, a retweet instantly offers hundreds if not thousands of people the chance to see the content as soon as it is retweeted. The power is multiplied by much more and then you have the chance of a retweet of a retweet which then build the viral syndication model even larger.

Is a retweet just mindless spamming of links?

This idea really gets me. I don’t see any relation to spam or mindless activity or laziness with this. Essentially when you retweet you are placing your authority, brand and credibility behind someones tweet, blog post, image or idea. The credibility factor is HUGE. There are many times when I will take a double-take and a closer look at an article because of WHO retweeted it. So the idea that it’s a waste to see “who” retweeted is way off too.

Niche / Trust / Categorization

Beyond just the idea of credibility, trust and authority there is the focus of niche content. There are many Twitter users that stay extremely true to the type of content they retweet. A good example of this is @mayhemstudios as about 80% of his tweeting and retweeting is focused on web design and graphic design. This compartmentalization of information is powerful in many ways and is slowly replacing or competing with RSS feeds. I have already heard from at least a hundred people that they have quit using RSS feeds and just use Twitter to aggregate their niche information they’re looking for by scanning their groups in Tweetdeck or their 3rd party client of choice.

Waste of 140 characters?

Where I will say that I do agree is that possibly the RT @username and the sometimes long list of this information can take away from the sparse amount of characters we already have to use in Twitter. It could be effective to have this information of who retweeted in a different way so that the 140 characters can be utilized for extra information such as a short opinion and hashtags.

Chris McGill’s reply to my comment on Mixx – he makes a great point!

@webaddict First of all- this is a great response and I completely appreciate where you are coming from. The downside for me is that it just fills my twitter stream with the same thing over and over again. A vote on the other hand just simply readjusts what I should be lookin at.

Clearly I am biased… and I am not a twitter power user. I’ll look for your blog post and seriously appreciate the perspective.

Twitter Stream same thing over and over?

In Mr. McGill’s reply comment he really does touch on a great point. There IS a problem with retweets when on Twitter. If something is hot or for some reason everyone decides to retweet it a lot one can find their Twitter Stream littered with the same tweet over and over as it’s retweeted by other users. The only solution I see to this is using a 3rd party client like Seesmic Desktop or TweetDeck. With these 3rd party apps you can setup Groups and filter in specific users you are monitoring. In my own groups I try to not add people that simply retweet people every time they tweet. I do find that if I see an article retweeted multiple times and I haven’t read it yet that I might be missing something and I better take a peak. With that said, the voting mechanism of social news sites certainly does solve this problem. Thanks for the reply Chris.

I hope this helps some who don’t see the value of the retweet as to why some people find it simply amazing. While I can vote for things, like them or comment on them in other social media spaces, I cannot present it to thousands of people and help drive traffic to amazing ideas and information like I can with retweeting on Twitter.

Please let me know what you agree and disagree with on this post. What do you like and dislike about retweets? Do you think they’re worthless too? Do you find yourself reading things because a certain person retweeted them?

Peace, Love and Chicken Grease,
- webaddict

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