LB's Rambles

Interesting Numbers for Twitter

Some of this could be categorized as "fascinating trivia," but the Guardian's Technology blog has some interesting, if somewhat random, numbers for Twitter. The figures are extracted from a speech by one of Twitter's senior engineers, Evan Weaver.

I think the most interesting factoid, because of what it tells me about Twitter's overall traffic numbers, is this one: only about 20% of the traffic to Twitter comes through the website. The rest comes from third party apps running on computers or on mobile devices such as smartphones. You might remember the fuss a couple of months back when Nielsen found that a huge percentage of Twitter users never came back to the website. This third party use might explain some of the discrepancy.

Also of interest, I think, is that the average Twitter user has 126 followers. I'm not sure exactly how that works out, given the number of super-Tweeters with hundreds of thousands of followers...but it does make those of us with a few hundred followers feel better.

Hat tip: MediaPost

"The Bloody Wood"

Our book review this week on the "Classic Mysteries" podcast is of "The Bloody Wood," by Michael Innes. Sir John Appleby, now Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, is a guest at a most peculiar house party. The hostess is terminally ill, her uncomfortable guests realize that she is unlikely to survive for long. She tells them that she wants to persuade her husband to remarry after her death, marrying another family member.

Soon enough there will be deaths, but the plot is not as simple and straightforward as it sounds - that's never the case, in an Innes mystery. There are quite a few unexpected plot twists as Appleby moves towards understanding - and resolving - the strange events in the book, and the story is told with Innes's usual wit and wordplay. It's most enjoyable. You can listen to the full review here, and - as always - you are invited to join me at www.classicmysteries.net to discuss this and other classics.

Don't Forget About LinkedIn

A great deal of the social networking talk these days focuses on Facebook and Twitter. But for professionals, particularly those looking for new opportunities and new jobs, it's wise never to forget LinkedIn. At PC World, C.G. Lynch has some excellent suggestions (from JibberJobber CEO Jason Alba) about how to avoid mistakes and improve your profile on LinkedIn.

News Bragging Rights: Here We Go Again

Once again, we've had a significant news event - the death of pop superstar Michael Jackson - that has resulted in incredible traffic for online news sites as well as mainstream media outlets.

For now, I'm less interested in discussing whether the Jackson coverage has been excessive, an argument that certainly could be made given the number of other significant events going on in the world: the turmoil and bloodshed in Iran, the legislative trainwrecks in Washington, etc.

But it is interesting to see, once again, the significant coverage role played by online media. Certainly, first word of Jackson's death was carried by AOL's gossip site TMZ - while the sites of most major news organizations were trying to be sure the story was confirmed before they put it out.

That's certainly a responsible position to take. As it happens, TMZ had the story right - but suppose it had been wrong? All the same, there's a good deal of commentary today on the usual post-report claims and jealousies. The crush of Jackson-related tweets was enough to cause major problems at Twitter, which circulated not only accurate reports but also unconfirmed (and later discredited) rumors about other performers, nor was it the only service to have problems. Some of the claims made by established media were, to put it kindly, a bit out of line, as Robin Wauters noted at TechCrunch.

Overall, I think I'd have to subscribe to the views offered by Catharine P. Taylor at BNET media - particularly her wider observations on what worked - and what didn't. We're likely to see a great many more analyses before we get through this tidal wave of coverage.

To Target or Not to Target?

There's an interesting article from eMarketer today on the subject of targeted advertising - or, as eMarketer puts it more politely, "personalized ads." As web technology makes it easier and easier for marketers to learn more about our surfing and buying habits, privacy advocates and ethicists have grappled with the question of whether marketers should be able to target ads to us.

Apparently, we're still fairly evenly split over the question of how comfortable we are with this kind of advertising. eMarketer cites a survey from Q Interactive that found 53% of web users would view an advertiser favorably if their ads were targeted to the users' interests. Other surveys cited by eMarketer, however, suggest that more than half the population are uncomfortable with advertisers using browing history as a basis for determining which ads to serve.

Unfortunately, it's not a simple matter. I would certainly rather see ads that might have some relevance to me and my needs; it does nobody any good, for example, to run big ads for a new car if I'm not remotely interested in buying one. But in order to target an ad, the advertiser has to know - at least in the aggregate - what kind of websites I've been using or what kind of online spending I have been doing - and that makes me nervous.

I'm not sure there's a solution yet...but I do think these new studies do a pretty good job of laying out the issues.

Longer Videos, Longer Attention Spans?

There's a very interesting note today on MediaPost's Video Insider blog. Tyler Willis, Director of Marketing for Involver says there's evidence that people are watching longer videos online - including longer video ads - than used to be the case.

Whether that really means people's attention spans are improving, that's a fairly important change. When I was advising clients about ground rules for creating their online videos, the key rule used to be: keep it short. Viewers, we were told, didn't care for videos longer than about five minutes. That's changing. More people are watching the long-form videos available through Hulu and other services. Willis says that they have indicated a willingness to watch longer - and fewer - video ads as well.

He cites the case of an advertiser whose 2-minute video was watched all the way through by more than 20% of its viewers. If that marks the beginning of a trend, it could have a significant impact on the kind of video ads we are offered - and our likelihood of viewing them.

You Know You're a Communicator...

In the communications business? Over at Ragan.com, Vic Morales has posted a list of ways to tell that you really are a communicator. Highly recommended (and some of the comments are worthwhile, too).

"The House Without A Key"

The audio review on this week's Classic Mysteries podcast is of Earl Derr Biggers' novel, "The House Without a Key," first published in 1925. It's the book which introduced the character of Charlie Chan, the Honolulu-based police detective. Of Chinese-Hawaiian ancestry, Charlie Chan went against most of the regrettable stereotypes of the period's crime novels. For those who are only familiar with the black-and-white Hollywood movies of the 1930s and 40s, Charlie Chan's wit and intelligence may come as a surprise - which was one of the reasons why Biggers created the character in the first place. It's also a thorougly enjoyable Golden Age classic.

You can listen to the full audio review here. And, by all means, please stop by www.classicmysteries.net for more discussion of this and other mysteries.

What Kind of User?

As we're on the verge of sliding into the weekend, I offer some self-knowledge today, courtesy of the Pew Internet and American Life Project. It's a quiz to figure out what kind of tech user you are. Click on over there and find out. It has me pegged as a "Digital Collaborator." Not sure whether that's good - I certainly hope it is...  ;-)

Hat tip: @blogworld via Twitter

Niche eMailing?

I have an elderly aunt who will be 97 this Fall. She is in excellent physical shape, not so great when it comes to memory or learning new things. Consequently, although she expresses an interest in watching the computer group that is active at her assisted-living facility, she really cannot use email or other online communications tools.

I guess "Niche emailing" is one way to describe some new products which try to provide a link between today's high-speed communications and a dwindling number of older people who simply are not, and can not be, comfortable with email or any of our other new communications technology advancements.

Time profiles a couple of services that bridge this gap - including one, Sunnygram, which actually prints out email messages and sends them off, regularly, via U. S. mail. I'll be looking into these as ways to help my aunt stay in touch with friends and relatives. I don't know how much of a long-term future companies like this can expect, but it seems to me that they really are fulfilling an existing need right now.