Here are a few Tweeps I think everyone should follow, some are from the UAE some aren't .
Most of these tweeple are either interesting, informative or fun... but it's just my opinion.
Follow them to find out why :) No hard feelings?
Media Tweeps:
So on Saturday morning I was browsing the net through my Blackberry, only to discover that I was mentioned in someone's tweet. Hopeing to God that it wasn't another one of those twitspams (Twitter spams ha-ha) that say something to the effect of " If your not making money out of Twitter click here" or " I can help you earn money through Twitter!", I clicked onto the button that would stop the incessant red light from blinking on my phone, accessed my Twitter through my BB App and saw the following:
Obviously I was still skeptical, so I clicked on to the link to find out if this daily thing even existed. AND IT DID! Whoppeeeee. Now I have to make sure I keep tweeting relevant articles and maybe I'll be a regular! (I'm @squashedruby btw incase you didnt't know.... follow me!)
It's interesting to see a newsletter that is purely a coallation of Twitter updates tailored towards media and the MENA area. If you know of any more of these types of newsletters , or the programs they use to collect the data please let me know! Maybe I'll make my own one day!
I was listening to some music (or whatever you want to call it, I like it so It's music to me) VIA YouTube.
I had been listening to a song by System of a Down (or SOAD) called Hypnotize (above). Now I LOVE SOAD because they always seem to have some sort of message in their music. The song in question, Hypnotize, is partly about the way people are controlled by the media. (There's a lot of Communism, mass suicide stuff going on too but lets ignore that for now - You can click on the title of the post for a link to the interpretation of the song)
The point is, it got me thinking that the concept of the Media is that it is akin to a controlling unseen being, Like George Orwell's Big brother character in "1984". (Now you know where the Big Brother reality TV show got their title from.)
There have always been debates on whether "Media" (Yes, it deserves a capital 'M' it is now an unseen entity) should be controlled or not (and many other arguments) and we all know that the U.A.E has a Semi-free media... with a couple of restrictions, like no nudity, or sexual acts, ....stuff like that. (I feel like I'm walking on eggshells in this post)
At university, i was thought two different things:
1. In your adverts, assume everyone is an idiot and simplify everything.
2. In your adverts, don't insult your audience by treating everyone like an idiot.
Obviously it gets a lot more complicated than that depending on what vehicle media you actually use (Print, broadcast, Internet....etc), and how much time you have (EX: More time in magazines , less on billboards) , and who your actually trying to talk to (EX: General consumers, or tech freaks) and several other factors. The message, the clients, the audience, the expected results, blah blah, blah.
As a result, I have tried to become "immune" to advertising ... however I've failed. I want Apple's , I want to wear the latest fashion, I want to have the coolest car, the latest phone, the latest diddybeats headphones, I want to been seen with the right colour of nail polish .......you get the drift.
So, as student of advertising I still get affected by all those messages bombarded at me. (Though I do try to resist). But sometimes I buy things because I appreciate the time and effort put into the whole campaign.
My question to all of you is this. Do you recognise when the Media is sending a message to you? Do you ever feel insulted by bad advertising? Do you feel like you have an uncontrollable urge to buy everything that is being advertised at the moment? (I'm not asking if you a shopaholic just asking how easily you feel you are affected by all the messages)
In short: Do you feel controlled by the Media? and who's doing the controlling? is the Media evil?
Here are some twitter facts thanks to marketingelf.com , or http://marketingelf.com/events/effective-social-media-techniques/
1.Focus on retweets
2.Don’t practice tweet poaching
3.70% of retweets contain a link
http://www.p2pnet.net/images/twwl.jpg
4.retweets with a hashtag are more likely to be retweeted
5.Retweet the classics – classic stories that hold up
6.Their highest tweet day is Wednesday
7.Retweet days are Monday & Wednesday
8.highest # of retweets are from 2:15pm to 3:30pm EST
9.#1 Twitter city is London
10.ABO – always be optimizing
11.troll friends of competitors – if they are following them then they may be interested in your content too
12.scout hashtag & trends
13.contest & giveaways are heavily retweeted
14.put tweet it buttons everywhere
15.Retweet buddies & ask them to do the same
16.RT’ers track them & thank them
17.Keep score and remember to retweet friends
18.one offs “payback” retweets at odd hours
19.Dell did $6.5 million on Twitter last year, so it is viable for sales
20.do some automated tweets, but click throughs are less
21.quick tricks = traffic
22.a little extra effort = quality traffic
23.Drive engagement:
bland- what did you think of Avatar?
Better – was Avatar overhyped?
Interesting stuff! I know it's difficult to remember all of this , and there's may more! You can check out the original blog posting by clicking on the title of the post , or the link at the top of this post.
I work at one of the coolest companies ever. A media company that focuses on tech and gaming, as well as movies. So I get to tinker with/play on/watch stuff before (or as soon as) it's publicly released. Which is totally AWESOME.
One of the coolest things about this place is that all my co-workers are what I called "The new cool", or computer and gaming enthusiasts. Yes , I know. Geeks and now the new cool. That's just how the world works now, and I want to be one of them.
Without them, we'd literally be living in the dark, washing with cold water...outdoors, living in the cold (or heat as is the case here), still writing letters and riding horses (which isn't too bad) , waiting days to hear from someone.. you get my drift.
Anyways, we were running around Dubai going to several meetings, and when we were done I automatically assumed we were going back to the office, when my boss starts driving us to Sahara Mall, Sharjah. Why? Because he heard that they were still selling the iPhone4 there. Alas, the iPhone4 was no more and all sold out and he would have to wait till stocks were replenished.
We had lunch, and he went off to hunt for the iPhone4... i think he went to all the malls in Dubai. Poor guy... it was sold out everywhere. (Two guys at work already have the iPhone4)
Now, looking at my pathetic un-smartphone, with its VGA camera and lack of multitasking abilities, I hate Steve Jobs for creating these awesome pieces of technology that have created a sort of class-tech distinction... Apple users VS OTHERs. There's a whole following, a cult if you will, of Apple owners, running around flaunting their gadgets.
Now, I want not ONLY the Macbook pro, but the iPad AND the iPhone4. I want EVERYTHING to do with apple.
Great for Social Media and Media in General. 
