bad banana blog

Twitter Job Hustle

 

Here's how two young creatives in the Netherlands, Bas van de Poel and Daan van Dam, used Twitter to land a prized agency job for the summer. Nice going.

An Interview with Twitter CEO Dick Costolo

I’ll be heading to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity next week on behalf of Cannes Centrale (where you can follow along, whether you're going or not). To get myself ready to walk into the world’s most creative lion’s den, so to speak, I asked a few of my friends if they’d chat with me about the State of Creativity in 2011.

Next up: Dick Costolo, CEO of Twitter.

There’s been some recent discussion about social media making us all a little dumber. I’m not smart enough to know what that means. But I do know there’s a difference between knowing stuff and creating stuff. Is social networking making us more or less creative?

I’ll give the same answer I gave to the Bill Keller (at the time, Executive Editor of the New York Times) tweet, “#Twittermakesusstupid. Discuss.” My response was a paraphrase of the Marshall McLuhan quote: “It is the framework that changes with each new technology, not just the picture in the frame.”

Twitter and other social media make us no less dumb or smart than any other technology or communication platform or service. Twitter allows us all to converse efficiently around the events in our lives and the important thoughts and interests in our lives. These can be deep and meaningful conversations or they can be silly, childish conversations. It’s not the technology that drives us down either path.

I know a lot of wildly creative people who have eagerly embraced Twitter. I have my theories as to why. What are yours?

A few comedians I know have commented that Twitter forces them to be great editors and really keep their material “tight.” They have frequently told me that they will write a tweet that’s longer than 140 characters, and when they get it down to 140 or less, they realize it’s a lot better; that the simpler version is funnier.

Your theories are probably better than mine. It is also probably the case that Twitter makes it easy to be creative in fragments, which is the way in which many creative people work.

Twitter Explained

I know a lot of people just don't get Twitter. If that includes you, perhaps this Commoncraft video will help explain what Twitter is and why it appeals to some of us. Personally, I value Twitter for a variety of reasons, some of which are explained in the video. But here's a professional reason. Oftentimes, when I'm percolating on an idea or two, I'll jump into my Twitter stream and just see what happens. While my subconscious continues to chug along, I scan various tweets, click through to links, see what other people are doing and thinking about, and then WHAM! A word, a phrase, a thought spins my brain into a totally new direction. Over the past year, I can think of quite a few ideas directly generated or made better through this use of Twitter. I'm talking client work, not just creative play. As a person who must create on deadline, one of my jobs is to keep my radar up for any source of inspiration. Right now, Twitter is one of my favorite tools for doing so.
    Of course, if you're going to take from Twitter, you better be prepared to add something. I find that aspect of Twitter creatively stimulating, as well. Already on Twitter? Please feel free to add me.

Video via Greg Verdino.

Facebooked

This past week, Facebook began allowing brands to create their own pages. (Previously, you had to be a real live human being to have a Facebook page.) So if you just happen to be a real, live human being on Facebook, here's your chance to show the world that you're a fan of Pepsi or Starbucks or, dare I say, even this humble blog. In the case of Pepsi or Starbucks, you'll be providing Facebook with marketing information that will be used to sell you even more Pepsi soda or Starbucks coffee. In the case of this blog, however, there is nothing to sell and no money to be made for Facebook (or anyone else, for that matter). So signing up as a fan is not only a symbolic show of support for this blog, it could even be construed as sticking it to those money-hungry, privacy invading Facebook folks. Right?

Talk About Viral

At last, science has developed a way to graphically show you how much sex you missed out on in high school.
    The above map, published in Discover, was created by researchers at the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University. It represents eighteen months of hookups at a typical high school.
    Yeah, I'm not entirely sure what the visual means exactly. I assume the blue dots are football players and the pink dots are cheerleaders. And that giant white empty spot in the middle are high school kids who blog.
    Here's why I think this is interesting.
    The world is a lot more connected than most people realize. The researchers in this project were surprised to discover that more than a quarter of the school's students were sexually connected to each other. The online world, while much larger, is no doubt surprisingly connected in a similar, although slightly less stimulating, manner. If you created a map of social media, the lines would represent online conversations. The dots would represent bloggers, consumers, and businesses smart enough to join the fray.
    Ironically, the white space in the middle would represent the people too busy to go online because they're having so much sex.

An Open Source Short Story?

Editing film not your thing? Then collaborate with others to write a short story on Ficlets. Write your own little story, then let others add new beginnings and endings. Or add your own twist to someone else's story. Should make for a lot of semi-sensical plot twists and unnecessarily abrupt turns. Hey, maybe this is how Lost is being written.

An Open Source Film?

Open source is the future, I guess. Even in the world of advertising and entertainment. Someday soon, Coke will provide us with raw footage and ask us to cut our own commercials for them. Maybe the next Friday the 13th movie will be made by fans from parts of other Friday the 13th movies. It might be pretty good, too (or just as bad, depending on how you look at it).
    So get your editing skills in shape by participating in Stray Cinema's open source film project. Download the raw film footage. Craft your own narrative. Then edit to your heart's content (links to free editing software can be found on the site). You upload a two-minute sample of your film, people vote on their favorites, and in true open source fashion, the best ideas win. Three winners will get to edit their complete film and present it at a London screening.
    You have until June 21 to submit your film sample.
    When it comes to creativity, limits can be very liberating. Check out the films already submitted. It's amazing how many different ideas can come from the same pool of footage.

Via Thoughtspurs.

Kids Love the Twitter

I must say, I'm strangely addicted to Twitter. Check it out for yourself. It's so simple it really stands out in the world of social media. Feel free to compare your life to mine. It will make you feel really good about yourself.