With a design so sleek you’d be forgiven for finding it resist  fingertips from its glassy (and yes, sexy) exteria. Apple’s new iPad is best savoured, and welcomed, as a socially acceptable aesthetic experience. That, or I’m risking going all Nigella on you for nothing. Yes, it does look like an over-sized clipboard/iPhone hybrid. Trust me that doesn’t detract from its irresistibility. Even when in the hands of black-t-shirted Mr Jobs.

Here at Girlygeekdom we know/enjoy that new technology comes along in rather rapid succession. And just because somethings ‘new’ (and shiny) it doesn’t make it right. Sometimes its taken up with a flourish – recall if you will Nintendo’s first GameBoy. Other times the new toys disappoint – like the not so tasty LG Chocolate mobile phone. A device that promised to be all good taste, if not perform some sort of gadgetry performance akin to a gorgeous sugary high. In case you missed it, it didn’t.

Fast-forward four years and bring forth Apple’s iPad. Those of you familiar with the GG blog will know that I am a long-time Apple lover. I haven’t let this little state of affairs flavour this review, if anything it’s made me more critical. Apple have never paid me to write reviews, add commentary or (unlike Mr Fry) handed over new devices for free.  I won’t bore you with how I got hold of one, however, what I will let slip is that this was a stressful experience mediated by conversations that included ‘tracking’, ‘order’, ‘accepted’, ‘dispatched’, ‘delay’ and ‘somewhere’…

The somewhere is now here with me, as it has been for two weeks now. You won’t need to be told how to use the iPad. The design is explicitly sleek to promote the smooth stroking action required surf, explore, interact and, yes, even type. I ordered mine with an accompanying keyboard. That particular aid attachment is still experiencing some of the above adventures of the iPad – as in ‘dispatched’, ‘delayed’ and ‘not here’… A review on that addition WHEN it gets here.

Another brief reference to Mr Fry, do download his new FryPaper application and marvel at the book-like experience of page-turns amidst, as always, his best of wit and social commentary. Then open the Winnie The Pooh adventures for more of the same and shamelessly indulge your child/ish side. Better yet, borrow some children and invite them to discover their own amusement amongst Pooh and his friends.  IF this were a Marks and Spencer advertisement it would go something like this, (adopts mockish snobbery eloquence): This isn’t any old application; this is an iPad application.

Continuing with the foodie theme, if it’s the hardware that’s your thing then imagine Apple did this: ‘We took a pound of creamery butter, wrapped it in 12 different kind of sugar, covered it in rich chocolate, poured over sprinkles…’ (cue Homer Simpson salivation). Proof that the finest technology IS about the function, AND its staying power is secure where the emphasis is on the attention to detail, design and interaction. Accessories for your iPad are still rather thin on the ground, for now we’ll just have to carry on with a rather strategic BIG ass pocket fashion forward.

There are guaffs amongst some iPad onlookers; ‘what on earth do you want an oversized iPhone for?’ Yes, well sit these nay-sayers down – as I did over the weekend – and watch the minutes spin punctated by the ooh’s and aah’s of appreciation. Mr Jobs your new congregation is waiting in the wings.

I am aware, so far, that I haven’t really relayed any of the functionality of the iPad to you dear reader. My reasoning is thus, you do not need to be told the ‘how’ you are going to enjoy the caressing of the iPad and wonder at its digital image resolution – which is truly superb by the way. You may need to justify ‘why’, but this is between you, Steve Jobs and your bank manager. As is the ‘when’.  The ‘where’ I can supply you with: Everywhere. So let us assume that you’re already partly convinced by the drama, hype and beauty of the product and have been equally curious/captivated by the ‘buzz’ and reams of commentary that has accompanied The Launch and been persistent ever since. What next? You want to know what you can actually do with your iPad.

So let us now turn to the Top Five Finest (and free) iPad Applications
Hit me with music – So sings Mr B. Marley. Hit me indeed. But, whats that? You have no musical training. For shame, well may I recommend that you download the Red Fish app. This ones from the French – so it’s got to be good. Red Fish is based on the website Poisson Rogue and theirs is a FreshPlanet liscenced game with a learning edge. No! don’t fall asleep– this IS for game play and not for boring lessons. Red Fish makes the most of iPad design engaging nimble fingers to compose music – oh, you can also count, read and spell… blah, blah, blah – But it’s the music composition – via the touch piano – to get you twinkling that is a marvel of adept cultural experience. Marvel at your quick fingered-ness. If you don’t others will, as I rather discovered on a longish train journey London to York last week. The two hours flew by. I didn’t get the carriage singing, but I was swaying in a good way.

Next up, calling all dedicated bloggers: Of equal composition potential is the WordPress iPad application. Like me, if you’ve ever been frustrated with on-the-go blogging via your not-so-smart phone, content management is has progressed to become a better experience. I hesitate to use the word ‘delight’ because this app. has a long way to go.  The edit mode isn’t as slick as it could be, but you can experience the admiring intakes of breath and gasps of your fellow commuters/public audience as you make a pretence of looking very-important amid the smooth-ish interplay of blog updates. I’m including this app. in the TopFive because I do write and publish all the time and WordPress usually caters for all eventualities.  HOWEVER, the iPad is yet to have all the WordPress functionality without the jerks and jolts of testing/maddening tiny screens and timed out network connections. So an enthusiastic huzzah to potential, and a im/patient wait for updates. Overall, this is mostly a joy, not a frustration.

True iPad beauty comes from its captivating visualisation. In short, how any image comes to appear so striking. In terms of app’s there are two favourites here.

First up is The Guardian’s Eyewitness app. full-colour compelling news photography. Great for intricate detail, people watching and sensory overload exposure. Particularly effective are the series of crowds. I like to play my own version of ‘where’s Wally’ in the crowd images and to stay informed with present events. An app. that is smart and distracting. Perfect.

Second up, and for all those Chemists out there, The Elements. For all those not into your chemical symbols marvel at the periodic table up close and personal. Play God; you can flick, rotate by 360 degrees and scrutinise each one. The geek in me adores this app. For the true geek initiated (and if you’ve your Avatar 3D glasses still to hand) you can experience each element in glorified 3D. A must-app. for the attention to detail focused – and creative criminal mastermind wanting to get creative with Kryptonite.

Finally for that all essential status updating you want to squeeze out of any day and turn mediocre what ya doing into melodrama there is Tweetdeck. This is THE multipurpose and rather lush looking Twitter app. IF you haven’t experience the virtues of split column updates load this onto your iPad/iPhone/desktop – there’s a version for all. Master at the flows of information that skim beneath your fingertip touch. Now it is even easier to Follow and ditch fellow Twitter-er’s. This feels sleek. It looks incredible, with big wonderful buttons that bring out the nostalgic ‘can I press that button?’ Science Museum child in me. Happy happy happy.

The best app. of all? Why those admiring stares and gasps of intrigue as you’ve the power of the web at your fingertips. And no, you can’t touch mine.

About Dr Mariann Hardey

I hold the position of Lecturer in Social Media Marketing at Durham Business School. I also spend too much time enjoying social technologies, media+ stuff. That'll make me a Geek then. And a gal.

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In the burgeoning efforts of Them to get Us to vote, we have in recent times seen an upsurge in political campaigning vi Facebook Groups, Fan Pages; the less than tactful Twitter’s; and a blog-off between the main parties. Much has been noted in previous elections about voter apathy (today is your last day to register to vote btw). However, little has been said on the real models of persuasion that successfully get in on the voting act.

At this stage, we have gone from a two-horse race, to a three-horse stampede. And it seems media does have a part to play. After last weeks broadcast podium pouncing around, and if the media and polls are to be believed, Clegg has secured a rather successful increase in political profile as the friendly face who is actually for change.

For the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (don’t worry this is just the briefest of brief mentions) his notion of social capital (where capital represents a form of knowledge) was understood through key cultural and economic influences for the transmission of information. Increasingly social media has a role – for the Barack elect it became a naturalisation and part of the process, and for those who want  your vote a well placed tweet could represent a serious method by which to secure your support.

One way to understand this sharpening of socially networked tools is by the amplification of some points of interest over others. For instance, it would be too hard/ too much to ask for Gordan Brown @DowningStreet to tweet in detail his latest policy re. Healthcare. Equally no one would be interested in joining a Facebook Group that published the full extent of any Government reform/s. *yawn* Instead the public interest piqued in the shortbite. These are the scaled down snapshots of information whether limited to 140characters or a Wall Post. Accordingly then, our knowledge becomes tit bits to decide on a tick box.
Is this to the degradation of informed political knowledge? Or to be applauded in raising interest in political happenings?…

Related, in other news this week, we’re under a cloud of ash. Rory-Cellan-Jones (he of BBC and Guardian fame) has published about the use of Twitter and social media to #getmehome for those stranded away by the volcanic activities over in Iceland. Aid is also updated via @DowningStreet and @foreignoffice who have been keeping Followers updated with the not-happenings in relation to travel.

Seemingly then, our social networks have started to serve as a useful way to strategically get together with others, for a trip home, to see what the elect is up to, or to find out which political sway friends may hold. I’ve already received six invites this morning informing me that Mr/MsX are supporting red, yellow or blue.  And so as various pools of information get increasingly buzzy – although it is quiet what with no planes being in the air – one message is LOUD and clear, and that is the impact of social media heralds these modern times. If only to get you from Calais to home in time to register to vote.

About Dr Mariann Hardey

I hold the position of Lecturer in Social Media Marketing at Durham Business School. I also spend too much time enjoying social technologies, media+ stuff. That'll make me a Geek then. And a gal.

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If you haven’t already seen it, and you should, in her latest song and video with Beyonce’, the Lady (is) GaGa Telephone complains,

…

you knew that I was free.
And now you won’t stop calling me;
I’m kinda busy.

Stop callin’, stop callin’,
I don’t wanna think anymore!
I left my hand and my heart on the dance floor.
Stop callin’, stop callin’,
I don’t wanna talk anymore!
I left my hand and my heart on the dance floor

Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh…
Stop telephonin’ me!
Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh…
I’m busy!
Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh…
Stop telephonin’ me!
Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh…

One of the great hallmark of the wired-up-age is the ability to know when poeple are free and to connect in all manner of styles from flakey Facebook to laboured LinkedIn. We can join as many networks as we wish in the time it takes to put toast in the toaster and say ‘Lady GaGa’.  It’s when the going gets tough – all that social noise – that things start to deteriorate.

Stop telephonin’ me!
Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh…

Take heed though friends, there is a delicate social balance that needs to be weighed – as the Daily Shame reported this week when fears of ‘slippery patches’ caused by the greased wheels of invasive (Tory) politics threatened to grind to a halt the (I am perfect) mumsnet website.

What with the World, and the World’s political other half, tweeting and Facebooking by far the trickiest and most controversial series of social hoops to jump through this spring will be: Acceptable Avoidance (AA).  The message being, when it comes to updates, should we as the e-elect audience even be listening?

e-politics – the political presence of parties, leaders, MPs, and, increasingly, their wives – is this elections potential hole in one in terms of drumming up interest. Or potential sink hole. Actually ‘hole’ doesn’t even begin to reveal half the various pitfalls that will swallow up some of the political treats in store when it comes to the run up to May. In that for every connected politician most of their constituent and voting public are not. They are off doing something much more interesting.  AA you all.

It’s time for change. Does this extend to political engagement? Most of us have the networks and are already logged on in some form or other to Facebook, to Twitter…  So why is there resistance to the attempts made by politicians to connect? ‘too forced’; ‘boring’. What do you mean they’re not really a friend on Facebook? And compared to other recent political feats – Obama’s electoral social media presence, for instance, has been herald as key to his success and the increased voting behaviour amongst the particularly hard to reach public quarters, which was taken up with gusto both in the States and worldwide – making ‘friends’ with our politicians is similarly undemanding.

So why recoil? – insert gagging sound here. e-politics has already captured the media hungry imagination.  The e-election has been front page news for most of the press this week, with Wednesday’s Guardian’s G2 dedicating considerable pages to election domination, and Debrah Orr’s neatly observed column on Thursday that noted with dry and caustic wit the pinpointing of politics now more towards women voters with all that ‘sucking up to mumsnet’.

I suspect that already there may be a voters fatigue, bought about by lapses from half-buried memories of ‘new’ and ‘change’ already in the political vocabulary looooooooooong before the present situation.  Rmember when voting, especially women’s right to vote, was a symbol of rebellion, liberation and erstwhile hope.  And not to do with the possible tweeting from Twitter. Of course, the moment Mr Brown tweets ‘real answers for real issues’ I might pay attention.

So the potential for AA is something that is not entirely without its advantages.  I cannot honestly propose a complete disconnect from all the political noise – surely that would be shooting myself in the foot – rather than political relief?  With this in mind may I present some political trouble-shooting for our socially naïve MPs out there who may be proposing to tweet it:

1. No self-congratulation please.  With that level of smugness, the update you were hoping for as ‘off the cuff’ and ‘clever’ becomes obvious spin and I won’t follow you anymore.
2. You need to contrast politically charged updates with something more personal.  One should be, ‘blah this agenda *yawn*’ (and we should care for this update, even if it is boring), followed by another, ‘I like what such and such is wearing, that puts me in mind for debonair debate and raking out my moat’.
3. Do not go with the temptation to tweet/update every political announcement.  That’s not interesting, or informative, that’s annoying and doesn’t have the right impact. This will result in your being deleted from my feed.
4. Take a leaf out of Boris Johnson’s (@MayorOfLondon) book and look for something visual to post: shaking hands with the good ol constituents; a moment of emotive engagement – if you can shed a tear then this will gain you at least five votes; an image from inside one of your home/s. Fancy.
5. Finally, nothing semi-naked.

Oh, and don’t forget to vote, especially the NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR FUTURE LEADERS AWARD

We promise not to tweet it.

About Dr Mariann Hardey

I hold the position of Lecturer in Social Media Marketing at Durham Business School. I also spend too much time enjoying social technologies, media+ stuff. That'll make me a Geek then. And a gal.

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The Reading project – oh don’t *yawn* until you’ve read it.

The pleasure of all reading is doubled when one lives with another who shares the same books.

Katherine Mansfield quotes

Friday, 26 March 2010 will be a special day. An Italian led project, Leggere, leggere, leggere! will celebrate the first day of Read, read, read! For this experience, everyone is invited to buy a book and then simply to give it to a stranger.

So far momentum has been rapido amongst the Italians and I wanted to bring the day to an international level via GirlyGeekdom.  A project in progress, visit Leggere, leggere, leggere! Event page on Facebook (already near 50, 000 people have replied) and for more information visit Alberto Schiariti (creator) official website. OK so all in Italian, but now that you know about the ethos of the day, why not join in and give a favourite book to a stranger.

Why? Because you can and it will make the commute to work less boring. Read, read, read! is to encourage creative connections and to take delight in the moment.

And what will I be sharing?… Quite appropriately; Albert Camus, The Stranger does fall nicely into this category. But is a tad heavy. So lets go with Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers. Hefty in volume (poor stranger) but delightful; fearless, original and word-perfect.

So stay tuned… as the best is yet to come!!!

About Dr Mariann Hardey

I hold the position of Lecturer in Social Media Marketing at Durham Business School. I also spend too much time enjoying social technologies, media+ stuff. That'll make me a Geek then. And a gal.

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Once upon a time, back in the 5^th Century Anno Domini (AD), Attila the Hun was Leader of the Barbarian Hordes and ruler of the Hunnic Empire.  The man was a savage. He brought death and destruction upon the remaining vestiges of the Roman Empire, and was feared as a Demonic Leader to the extent that he was considered ‘ungodly’ even amongst his own men. He was the sort of the leader that lived up to his reputation as ‘The Scourge of God’ and, if we believe, feasted on the blood of the fallen – eating two of his sons and serving up one of his wives to his children.

Anyway, that is the onlinehisotrycommunity (and others) version. Re-visiting this period many individuals have laid down their own versions of the story as historical fact and character representation of the events. In short, they articulate a history through the manner of drama and the savagery of consequent, with Hun’s ruthless barbarity, violence and cruelty at the heart of the narrative.  We put the blood and guts centre and this holds our attention. Well it made history more captivating when I was behind a school desk.

Today, there is the opportunity to recreate an apparent self-history. An autobiography that is broadcast as historic fact.  And who really knows the truth?

This Friday, Digital Storytelling ’10, supported by the BBC College of Journalism, sees a coming together of the ‘storytellers’ (journalists, technology experts, commentators, bloggers, you(?), me); as digital media makes collective stories, histories and connections possible. This event aims to answer: How do we create better stories using digital media?…

And so, before the event, I get to speculate and reflect a little…

Everyday, unprovoked, we put on a performance in front of one another.  We constantly recreate our history.  Even two years ago, it would have mattered less if Twitter, Facebook etc. were left aside from connections. And certainly from meetups, geekups and conference breakouts. Now, such digital media are increasingly key; for business, for personal lives and for personality. Digital Storytelling ’10 shares this perspective – where the narrative takes central stage and I’m intrigued to find out how much of this means that we can never create or ever capture the entire story.

Human communication has not be deadened by the internet, if anything the web has enabled us to make more noise and to communicate simultaneously in any number of streams.  In the past, we had finite platforms and positions, now we have a multitude of technologies with even greater social outlets.  There has been much voiced about the paradigm shift (see O’Reilly and expert others for more); overall things are getting faster, and are affected by the slightness of touch where, even in 140 characters, one person’s expression can quickly become a cacophony of voices that extends worldwide and become deafening.  Everything from Britney’s breakdown/s to Haiti support.

To be up to date; you can read blogs – like this one - and (shameless self-promotion) this one.  You can check tweet updates. You can gain mild amusement from Facebook updates/feeds/postings. You may even occasionally read something in a newspaper, or watch it on the news.  But what is the real take away message? And who is in control? You? The BIG Them?

For who is to say who or what is real. To return to my historic snapshot, who was Attila the Hun? The one who was known to friends, to family, to his followers (not yet on Twitter). Perhaps he really was a man of violence who has faded into history forever to be portrayed as a loathsome character?  Today, only our imagination serves to recreate the man, the events, and the savagery; in the same way that we seek to recreate ourselves and the stories of others.

We are the storytellers and storytelling is to be forever rewritten. Again. And again…

About Dr Mariann Hardey

I hold the position of Lecturer in Social Media Marketing at Durham Business School. I also spend too much time enjoying social technologies, media+ stuff. That'll make me a Geek then. And a gal.

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I’m going to make a bold statement here. We are influenced by what other people want; By what other people have. And, thus, set our standards (accordingly) by what we do not have, but what would improve our lives if only we could get it. Oh, and I bet you haven’t booked your summer holiday yet.

To focus discussion on the can of worms I’ve opened up; let us in our near Spring daze gaze wistfully toward the summer and our attempts at summer holidaying. According to the latest findings from GfK Ascent-MI, their data reveals, in a survey of 15,000 travellers, that 75% used reviews; comments of blogs; user review sites before committing to their holiday destination. In our household, when it was made ‘my responsibility’ to book the summer holiday rather than seek out Mr Thom Cook, I opted to use my (or rather others) nouse, and make decisions based only on the reviews and comments of others. Easy. ‘Job done’ I heard myself confidently utter as the rest of the household left me to it one Sunday morning.

Yes, not so easy it turns out.  When Thom Cook does it for you, you know where to go and who to blame if things go wrong.  Plus part of the sales patter is to convince you to not only part with £s for sun, sea and sand, but to push you into the right direction for what it is that you want.  Times  have changed dramatically from the package deals of the 1980/90s; although you can still do all boozed up and nowhere (special) to go if that is your thing. Relying on others choices and experiences is, however, a minefield.  Once you have narrowed down the ‘where’ (as in which part of the world) you prefer to go, then you disappear into the cross-fire of review commentary and cleverly staged PR ‘independent’ reveals. Not that I’m suggesting for one second that some of the reviews may not be as entirely without push advertisement as they would suggest… Make of that what you will. TripAd/visor.

On the (VERY) rare occasion that you do spot a genuine gem: that perfect compliment of just enough positive reviews, but not so many that it looks staged, and not so many that the destination will be a mecca for other folk searching for precisely the same set of a criteria as yourself; then you can simply book it. Can’t you?

Over the past few weeks I have tried the above course of action.  I found (finally) the place to go. Then assisted myself in the provision of cheap flights, transfers and all within windows (pop up and metaphorical) of opportunity that were most suited to our plans.  Perfect.  What I am finding myself questioning is the implications for such shifts in my rather emotive and aesthetic sensibilities for the perfect holiday jaunt.  That (could/should) reflect the transformation of our ethical dispositions and horizons. One departure is that when booking so independently there comes a point when you are suffocating in information. In this instance, knowledge is not power, rather more reason to procrastinate in order to make sure things will be ‘perfect’. Suddenly I am expert in all manner of world-wide located holiday offerings, and can even recall some of the local statistics for flora, fauna, religion, as well as the more traditional data on temperature, rainfall criteria.

I’ve decided that the ultimate challenge is not deciding where to go, that is relatively straight-forward. Rather, it is the condition of the information that is changing and influencing our expectations. In this case about how to have a holiday, and what we may (reasonably) expect such expectations to deliver.  For what could be a more  modern experience than drowning before you even get to your destination?…

I just want a site that says; if you can’t get what you want, click here...

About Dr Mariann Hardey

I hold the position of Lecturer in Social Media Marketing at Durham Business School. I also spend too much time enjoying social technologies, media+ stuff. That'll make me a Geek then. And a gal.

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Happy? with the Web I mean. Because it strikes me we are not.

The social web, or as its latest incantation with Charles Leadbeater’s optimistically pitched ‘cloud collaboration’, encourages; speed, sharing, communication, views, discussions… So far, so happy.

And yet this week I share much with Hadely Freeman’s frustrations in The Guardian who has grappled with the social density (heavy on the dense) of Facebook Groups that invite you to support: The Sausage Roll!, or Cheryl Cole!, or Reading with your eyes open! (OK that last one I made up, but I bet if I launched such a group…)  these groups are distinct from the Web 1.0 newsgroup forums, but invite the same styled FlameWar mentality.  I am unconvinced (unless truly radical) that the Group/s you may/may not belong on social networks really maketh the wo/man.  What is ‘new’ is the eagerness, nay almost glee, with which individuals will make their opinions Known. With a capital ‘K’. Some responses are short of hysterical outbursts, others are tempered with less than subtle threats (if you must just view any of the Jon Venables Facebook Groups that have been doing the rounds this week).  Perhaps such outbursts have something to do with the instantaneous need for gratification and/or frustration felt when encountering ‘difficulty’ or another opinion.

The latest research from bizreport speculates that individuals are experiencing increasing levels of ‘web stress’ and that concentration levels drop by 50% during ‘negative consumer’ choices.  Whilst the run of social networks will have it that everyone knows everything about everybody and this IS a good thing. It seems that such networking could have the run of us.  We can easily lose composure and stare agog, open-mouthed which only adds to our aggravation that we MUST level not only at the screen, but broadcast this to others – hence the Join my Group invites.  In terms of decision-making process things appear to be getting more stressful. More social platforms to log into, more data to recall, more people to connect, lead to a more frenetic lifestyle?…

Currently I’m talking to the Digital Isolates, those who have made the choice to log-out, switch –off and opt-out. Permanently. ‘So I don’t have a mobile phone; what of it?!’ is just one response that I have come across.  Does such a re-social ordering to deliberately distance integration to the point of not ‘being networked’ reveal a personal ‘failure’ or represent a distinct ‘accomplishment’?…

According to James Harkin (who he? Author of Cybubia: the dangerous idea that’s changing how we live and who we are) things can easily spiral downwards into a negative loop; with individuals happy to shout out reactive comments, roll their digital sleeves up and get into the scrum of mocking and sardonic tweets.  They, the non-digital are outside of ‘web-stress’, are they living the easy life. They never experience the negative feedback of a disappointed online consumer purchase, or re-acquaintance with a ‘long-lost’ friend, or flippance to the point of rudeness.  Instead, we scrabble around for attention in the increasing noise of riotous information.  The same ‘noise’ has emerged as a breeding ground for vicious lynch mob mentality.  The brevity required for ‘proper’ engagement to Join a Group on Facebook and post comment, or to send an update to Twitter have revealed an unrestrained almost goading sting in the tail of collaboration cheerfulness.

At this point we could turn from the ‘good’ and helpful approach, to pushback with bad and unpleasant feedback.  The anger spewed by those wanting to ‘lynch’ Venables or ‘ram a fist’ at the Facebook Killer are just two examples of this kind of appalling engagement.  Being pulled by others to enjoy the freedom of choice and speech is just one of the wonders of the web. To use it for backbiting and viciousness feels like a bad use of time that shades into over-punctuated nonsense(!)!!!! Oh, and it makes you unhappy.

image: elena_kalis_alice_in_wonderland_series_yatzer

About Dr Mariann Hardey

I hold the position of Lecturer in Social Media Marketing at Durham Business School. I also spend too much time enjoying social technologies, media+ stuff. That'll make me a Geek then. And a gal.

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In the wings looms heavily a general election. You hadn’t noticed? No they kept that one quiet. This week I’ve been asked by the BBC to comment on Politicians using social media to up their poitical appeal. In short, they’re trying, but it’s mainly spin that’s being spun.

Dependent on your p.o.v. this is either a breath of fresh air for political vigour, against what is traditionally dry political rigour, or to have politicians tweeting is just a complete waste of time…  With the power and influence of good broadcast media in, what media commentator Charlie Brooker calls ‘decline‘ (and I respect Charlie a lot, so thing must be on a knife edge. Well you have only to look at the ‘entertainment’ for a Saturday night) then the real time and live updates of Twitter and Facebook could be just what this election needs to ‘sexy’ it up a bit. Ok, a LOT.  And as a long time lover of social media (and one of the first recruits to Facebook and with only 2 friends. I was cool) it is easy to see the attraction of tools that allow for broadcast to the masses. Even if these masses seem mostly disinterested with any tweeting attempts that are not backed up by the wives of the electoral elite. @SarahBrown and @MichelleWorks as the respective Mrs Gordon Brown and Mrs Barack Obama update with poise, wit and prose and have already bettered any of the dry political text that their husbands tweet.

So far by the leaders of the political parties there has been limited (success) social media engagement. Nick Clegg for the Lib Dems can be found answering Your questions posted from Facebook. See that Facebook. He is so down with the yoff of today, logged on and totally listening. Listen you can even hear Big Ben striking the hour in the background from the H to the of to the C (House of Commons).  Of equal social media presence is David Cameron, who can be viewed on YouTube in answer to questions from @loudmouthman (how appropriate. *cough* set up *cough*). This  makes Cameron appear even cooler than Clegg. He’s using Twitter. Wow! even yoff shy away from that! Uber networked Cameron!

Then there’s Gordon. Who hasn’t answered anyone with any social media flamboyencey, but does have a Head of Digital Communications, Mark Flanagan, whose job description also includes being @DowningStreet the official tweeting channel of Number10.

Err, cool.

So far it is Clegg in my book who wins the which political party is the tweetest contest, with one of his peers tweeting the following,

See that, he has peers on Twitter too, but then Phil Willis should be tweeting as he is Chairman of the House of Commons Science & Technology Select Committee. I bet he has an iPhone too.

So Facebook or Twitter; Tory, LibDem or Labour: Which is it to be? To help you choose I will be arranging the very best and the very worse of the political updates to come: Critically following every social media output for political meaning, deconstructing each frame for hidden meaning and gaining knowledge from the wave of public dis/interest.

In all likelihood such presence will not affect the election in either way (yes, come on we know this is a two horse race). Non of the parties has Obama’s charisma or Nicholas Sarkozy’s designer wife. They do, however, have the power to lurk ominously on the social media side-lines waiting to pounce with the perfect update that will sway your vote. In the run up I am sure that Brown, Cameron and Clegg will reveal something about what they may stand for, perhaps there will even be an invite to tweet live at the TV electoral debate – where the spin promises to be a bleak as Britains credit outlook.

About Dr Mariann Hardey

I hold the position of Lecturer in Social Media Marketing at Durham Business School. I also spend too much time enjoying social technologies, media+ stuff. That'll make me a Geek then. And a gal.

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To create a Profile on a social network site is to capture a part of yourself and be prepared to bare this to the world (wide web).  Such exposure comes with its risks. When 32 year old Peter Chapman was arrested in October 2009 for the kidnap, rape and murder of seventeen years young Ashleigh Hall, the rights to ‘privacy’ and ‘protection’ became key issues again.

Quick to point blame, the Media prefer to place a finger firmly at Facebook. Facebook’s strategy of ownership of your data where – ANYTHING – that you upload, publish, tag, share, write, delete etc. on the site is, by rights, theirs.  Logic would follow then, that it is their responsibility to keep users ‘safe’ and protect the wider public at large (us) by the tracking and surveillance of accounts etc. Here, Facebook have a cunning get out of jail free clause: 1. they own your data; 2. they do not own you. Which equates to it being Your responsibility to make sure that Your account is safe and any subsequent information treated accordingly.  In effect, if anything goes wrong it’s your fault, you have no right to data/information. Delete your rights. Delete safety. Delete trust. Delete Me.

We live, and increasingly for the younger generation who are growing up ‘on the web’ and with technology, in an information age.  When we upload, download, share, tag and tweet we are forever in the public arena. In the most spied country in the world, even ‘offline’ we are under surveillance with an estimated 4.2million CCTV cameras recording over 80% of our lives outside of our homes.

Whose responsibility is it then to safeguard us? To keep from harm other teenagers who, like young Ashleigh Hall, just want to connect to friends. From this perspective technology is a bittersweet pill. GREAT! for sustaining and cultivating connections. CRAP! for protecting personal rights or keeping us safe from harm. And at its absolute worse putting us potentially in the way of new social risks.  It is unrealistic to propose a social network lock down. Web profiles can reveal (and also hide) so much.  This would be a darkness falling on personal freedoms at the loss of the flow and expression of social information. Many of those incidental connections simply would not be possible without the freedom to create Profiles, send requests, respond and grow with our networks.  In this way it’s a personal and public autobiography that we have control of. BUT with predators like Chapman there will always be a threat.

Since the case came to light, nearly every Media headline has made specific reference to Facebook. Twittown have published an interesting article, unveiling the ‘who’s to blame’; from Facebook, to parents, to Government and finally back to Us. In one article we turn a full circle. From Facebook’s defence who have ownership of your information, but not your actions – so any action is your responsibiliy. You. The buck stops here.

About Dr Mariann Hardey

I hold the position of Lecturer in Social Media Marketing at Durham Business School. I also spend too much time enjoying social technologies, media+ stuff. That'll make me a Geek then. And a gal.

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Who/what will be 2010s key influencer’s? In the run up to the General Election maybe it will be the highs (and no doubt lows) of politics and politicians. This time we have political ‘news’ and ‘views’ via their Twitter feeds. Here’s the crunch. First are we really that interested in what they tweet? @StephenFry certainly fell foul of public disinterest and despite being one of the ‘most influential’ peeps on Twitter, his updates were labelled as ‘boring’ and he as ‘inconsequential’. What flies in eyes of political appeal is that They (the politicians) stand already on the side of being ‘boring’ and no doubt ‘inconsequential’. Thus, for them, there is less pressure to be like Fry and remain witty and charming in 140-characters. Charmed. We are not. Nosey. Perhaps.
As the election unfolds, will ‘social networks’ be the 21st century version of canvassing and door-knocking. COULD our Facebook and Twitter feeds be facing potential political meltdown/fatigue in the run up to voting?
Already the House of Commons has debated the use of tweets…Perhaps the advice for any politician thinking of tweeting to raise their profile is to use a disclaimer;

‘These are my views. If you don’t like them, I have others.’

Look AWAY now…

In the main if politicians tweet, to whom are they intending to hook anyway? Certainly not the floating votes of the ‘yoff of today’ who view Twitter as something for ‘old folk’ and ‘housewives’ who like to follow Phillip Schofield, @Schofe, as one such individual of yoff persuasion reminded me over the weekend. Nor the hard at work blue collar workers who ‘wouldn’t waste time’ with ‘that rubbish’. Perhaps then the Twitter is best served as a journo dream to capture political spin and gaffs by those who think they are communicating with interested masses, but really their politically loaded updates fail to fuel interest. Unless it comes with a TwitPic and that secretary…
BUT, there has been some Politwit success and even political savvy displayed by Government. @SarahBrown10 has already charmed mumsnet and has 1,118,548 Followers (+1 more (me) as of this morning) on Twitter. @DowningStreet, the ‘official’ Twitter channel for the PMs office also has its fair share with 1,738,961 Followers.

Does Mr Brown tweet? Unlikely. Instead Mark Flanagan, Head of Digital Communications is also Head of Tweeting.
Last year, @SarahBrown and @DowningStreet showed much needed public support to the NHS when they joined a Twitter campaign defending our pbulic health service from attacks by US Republicans in their criticism of President Barack Obama’s American healthcare reforms (@BarackObama who also incidently has a Twitter feed. As does his wife, @MichelleNews). Twitter crashed with the volume of messages for the #welovethenhs campaign, with @SarahBrown stating “#welovethenhs — more than we can say”.

Tweeting. Not a complete waste of energy for politicians. But only if done with poise, wit, charm and underscores political principles. Everything politicians are famed for finding hardest to employ.In relation to politicians on Twitter, perhaps this is what Groucho Marx foresaw when he uttered,

“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies.”

As Twitter continues to herald the era of short, swift and rapid-fire communication, no doubt we will see more revelations tweeted out and repeated through the media. On the one hand, this tweeting will create and sustain noise in the love-hate relationship between politics, the public and the press. On the other, it may just get us to (change(?)) votes.

Tweet on.

About Dr Mariann Hardey

I hold the position of Lecturer in Social Media Marketing at Durham Business School. I also spend too much time enjoying social technologies, media+ stuff. That'll make me a Geek then. And a gal.

Web | More Posts (80)