It's that time of year again and people are in the Christmas spirit and celebrating the end of the year. Last year I did a list of the most popular post from this blog and I thought I would continue that theme this year. It's been an eventful year with Coalition Govenments, oil slicks, student protests, WikiLeaks revelations, lots of #uksnow and much more.

As for me I have grown my Twitter following to over 1,200 followers this year which is a significant milestone. It indicates people liked my content and what I've been saying which means a lot. In April I redesigned this blog and in September I launched the NiteGlow Sphere website which puts all my online presences in one place. As part of this I also launched a SoundCloud page to showcase my tunes, a MixCloud page for my DJ mixes, a Tumblr blog for various pictures/contents, and a Posterous page for other random thoughts. 13 October 2010 marked two years since NiteGlow came into existence so this was yet another milestone.

Of course, I have more plans for 2011 too namely the addition of NiteGlowTV but can't say too much about that at the moment!

So without further ado here are the most popular posts of 2010:

1. Asperger's Syndrome - The Untold Story Of Forgotten People: This post became the most popular post on this blog just hours after it was posted which gives an indication of how the issues it deals with have resonated with people. It gained 7 retweets on Twitter and 30 shares on Facebook and continues to get lots of traffic even now. It is also interesting to note that Google Zeitgeist 2010 ranked 'aspergers' as the third most searched for health related query which indicates growing awareness around the subject. High profile cases such as that of Gary McKinnon (who has AS) have also helped.

2. Life In The Slipstream: This post deals with Facebook's growing dominance, the digital divide and the growth of the social stream online. Increasingly it is a stream or now maybe a torrent (no pun intended!) of information which can be confusing to navigate or regulate.

3. Bristol Twestival Was A Blast: In March I helped organise and PR the Bristol Twestival charity event in aid of Concern Worldwide. It was publicised all over the local press and publications with lots of coverage and chatter online. I was very happy in getting the BBC to cover the story too. It was great to work with local people and businesses to make the event the success it was. We raised over £5,600 for Concern Worldwide exceeding all expectations! I am definitely looking forward to our next event... :)

4. The Internet: A network of networks and a culture of cultures: This is a post about the growing online communities and the connections between them. The internet is place where cultures and ideas are continually being mixed and melded.

5. Information Activism: A WikiLeaks Outlook: Unless you have been living under a rock you cannot fail to have heard about WikiLeaks. Here I talk about what Julian Assange calls 'Information Activism' and what it might mean for the media landscape and governments around the world. Since this post was written there have been many more developments as we have seen! I also wrote another post here after the release of the cables and Julian Assange's arrest.

6. Defining Social Media: It is very difficult to actually define Social Media for many reasons mostly because it means different things to different people and it such a new evolving phenomenon. This post shines a further lite on these issues.

7. Social Media And Hiphop - The Great Analogy: As a Hiphop fan of many years I have often noticed the similarities between Hiphop and Social Media. From ghetto stories, to bling-bling, to wack mcs and player haterz, this post has it all!

8. The Online Gold Rush - A Great Wild West Story: This is a lite-hearted post comparing large tech/online companies such as Google, Apple and Facebook to no-good outlaw cowboy posses from the Wild West in search of online gold and the American Dream! Need I say more?!? ;)

9. Has Facebook Sold Out Your Privacy?: There has been much talk and criticism of Facebook's handling of its users' privacy this year. I take a more in-depth look at the issues that matter and why they are important for all users to be aware of as they share more information on Facebook.

10. I don't need to be qualified to be a human being!: This post was influenced and inspired by @ChrisBrogan's excellent keynote on Social Media which I attended at the Likeminds event on 26th February 2010. Often businesses are all about numbers when it comes to Social Media strategies but what matters most is the human touch and making people feel special. In fact even dogs understand this! ;)

Finishing Thoughts.....

That about wraps it up for another year! It's all flown so quickly. I'd like to give a big shout out to my readers and Twitter followers! I've had some great conversations with the Bristol tweeps especially.

There is much more NiteGlow content and discussion planned for 2011 so look forward to 'engaging' as they say in the biz! lol!

It just remains me for to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and whatever you do #KeepShining ;)

A while back I wrote a blog on WikiLeaks talking about the changing media landscape and the implication of information activism. A lot has happened since then with the release of the cables and the arrest of Julian Assange.

It seems to me that governments around the world have not woken up to the fact that media landscape has changed. WikiLeaks is an example of this shifting landscape.

It is seems the powers that be have done everything they could to prevent these stories coming out but to no avail. As predicted the charges against Julian Assange have been resurrected and he has now been arrested in London.

All the authorities have succeeded in doing is fanning the fire and most probably make things worse for themselves. With Julian Assange arrested there is now a real cause to fight for and a symbol of the oppression of free speech. The reality is that whatever they may do they cannot stop evolution and people's growing curiosity about these affairs.

The nature of the internet and Social Media means that information can find its way into the public domain very quickly. This is not something that is likely to change whatever happens to WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. The only option is that governments get used to the new world where more people have a voice and better still embrace it.

Today is the start of the Hindu festival of Diwali. It is a festival of lite and hope so it is of great significance to me. This is something that everyone can share in.... :) So #KeepShining..

Back in April 2009 I wrote a blog about Asperger's Syndrome / Autism and how it could also be viewed as a special ability rather than a disability in certain environments. At that time I was helping out with an Asperger's Volunteer Group and had been shocked with how isolated, unrecognised and unvalued the people felt there. These people all had very valuable skills but were not being given a chance to shine. The blog post I wrote back then has now become the most popular post on this blog so it was only right I do a follow up.

It is real injustice that society does not respect people who communicate and see the world differently. It could be argued that this is in fact some sort of discrimination on the same level as race or gender. If gender or race discrimination occurs then something can be done and there are laws in place to prevent this from happening. However, you can't stop people discriminating or in some case maliciously targeting people who communicate differently or do not understand social dynamics in the same way.

This sort of prejudice and ignorance goes widely unrecognised and ignored leaving perpetrators to roam free as they choose. The people on the receiving end feel isolated and get next to no support from anyone. Indeed in many cases there is literally no place to turn for people with Asperger's Syndrome.

People with Asperger's Syndrome are often looked upon as being blunt, awkward and socially dysfunctional, however, I would argue that it is in fact people's attitudes in general society that are the biggest factor. 'Normal' people or neuro-typicals (NT) just don't have the awareness (or possibly in some cases the intelligence) to realise that there are people other than them who have a different neurological make-up and hence communicate and view the world differently.

People with Asperger's Syndrome have a wide array of positive skills that are almost never recognised as I talked about in my previous post on this subject.

In the worst case scenario some vindictive people exploit their position when they recognise that a person has AS traits and take to bullying and mocking them for being different.

In my eyes this is no different to racism, homophobia, class discrimination or sexism. Why can't society respect people of a different neurological make-up? These people are human beings and should be treated as such....

On this day two years ago NiteGlow came into existence. I remember the day vividly as it was a cold autumn evening and I had just returned from work. I sat at the computer and thought 'let me create something'...

I could see how many progressions there were in the Social Media and the Online world I wanted to be a part of it and explore the new possibilities. I knew the journey I was going to take might be a rocky one and would certainly be a step into the unknown. It all started off with Twitter and this Blog. In fact this was my first tweet! Lol!

The story started here with my first blog post. The blog looked a little different then to what it looks like now. A year and a half later I redesigned the blog (no social media backlashes ensued!). This year has seen a lot new additions to the NiteGlow presence and there are more on the way too. In May of this year I launched a Soundcloud page to showcase my Drum'n'Bass and Dubstep demos. Most recently I have launched NiteGlow Sphere which amalgamates all the NiteGlow presences in one place.

Since the blog's creation there has been the ups and downs but I've met some great people along the way and had some great conversations online and in person. I doubt I would have come into contact with these people without Social Media and Blogging.

It's been an eventful couple of years and we have seen empires rise and fall in the new evolving media landscape. The start of the economic crisis brought hard times for all but the evolution of new media during this time has challenged the older traditional mindsets. It's been very uncomfortable for many in the media industry especially journalists and PRs.

We have also witnessed some incredible and harrowing things from aftermath of the Mumbai attacks (I went to India not long afterwards) to the news of Barack Obama's presidential victory in US. How could we forget the scandal of the #iranelection and the role Social Media played in telling that story?

The pot-shots between Apple, Google and Microsoft go on. Facebook continues to grow in popularity to the size of a small country. Many news stories break on Twitter first before anywhere else.

It's a crazy world out there but I always look to the future and new people I will meet on the way....

Peace out!

Many have discussed different definitions of Social Media, however, I want to shine more lite on our approaches to defining it. In my view there is no one definition that explains what Social Media is. This is because if you try and define what it is you also define what it isn't.

Seeing as Social Media is evolving, the definitions we had of it last year may not be the definitions we have of it now. This is because the new evolution brings with it new possiblities of communication.

From working the field I have observed this over time. I remember some of the earlier campaigns were like taking a shot in the dark. The question of ROI and measurable results was very hazy at that time. As things have progressed the use of Social Media has sky-rocketed. The people already on there got much better and more new people picked up the Social Media thread. There is more lite on how to measure the effectiveness of Social Media campaigns.

I also noticed something interesting over the last few years too. There has been a drop in the term 'social networking'. Twitter's VP even said recently that Twitter was not a 'social networking' site. and it was more about sharing news and information. Social Media has become the recognised term people use but I can remember a time when neither of these terms existed.

In truth as I see it, Social Media (or Social Networking) is what you make it. Everyone is an individual and uses it for different objectives. Businesses have different goals and markets in mind. Big brands will have to use Social Media differently to smaller ones. The personalisation and customisation of Social Media means people have a mind-boggling array of options to reach their targets. However, the uniting factors are sharing, engaging in conversation, collaboration and a sense of community. As you may notice these are hardly new concepts!

We must be careful in defining what Social Media is for all people at all times as we still do not totally understand the how far this definition can go. Definitions, while being convenient, can be limiting and can skew your perception to a smaller range of possibilities.

Wikileaks and its founder, ex-hacker Julian Assange, have been yet again thrust into the limelite today. The site has been behind as string of revelations about the war in Afghanistan and Mr Assange describes himself as an 'Information Activist'. I have been wondering to myself what he means by this so I thought I would look into the topic further.

The path Mr Assange has chosen is a risky one as he found out today when he faced a rape charge. According to the Telegraph and other news outlets the Pentagon have been 'pleading' with him not release 15,000 more classified files on the Afghan war on grounds of national security and compromising military operations. Mr Assange has stayed resolute his principles saying that he still intends to release the files. His rape charge has now been overturned by Swedish authorities but some may ponder that this was just a convenient and feeble attempt to undermine his credibility. It may even have been an act of desperation by certain organisations who did not want the information to come out. At any rate I am not convinced that it would have made any difference even if he had been convicted of such a crime. The information that is about to come out is will most likely shake things up again whatever happens.

I recently watched a Ted talk where Mr Assange described why the world needs sites like Wikileaks. In his eyes the current way the media is dealling with situations like conflicts is inadequate and the internet gives a many new ways to share and disseminate information.

Wikileaks is a site that many have been following with great interest. It is certainly having an effect on the way journalism is done with most of the Wikileaks revelations making big news in the traditional media outlets.

Mr Assange argues it is necessary that such information be made accessible in the public sphere in order that people may make an informed decision on what is going on. In a world where we are saturated by new information it is information itself that is becoming the key commodity. Crucially, the right information at the right time and disseminated in the right way to the right influential audiences can have a dramatic effect on public opinion and in turn potentially effect political factors.

Mr Assange seems to be driven by a strong sense of morality and argues that information he is making available is not any surprise to those on the front line of the conflict. Furthermore, it is actually something that they live with day-to-day. He is also finding himself friends and empathisers to his cause. Outspoken American documentary film-maker, Michael Moore, has said he would assist with the legal case against Wikileaks source Army SPC Bradley Manning. Wikileaks servers are now to be run by Sweden's Pirate Party which is due to run in national elections next month.

It is clear to me that Wikileaks is having some sort of impact and information activism is something that is likely to further change the media landscape.

I have not written in a blog post in a while so I thought I would get back into the swing of things. Rest assured I have still been busy. Sometimes it is good to take a step back once in a while. If you follow me Twitter you may have noticed that I now have over 1000 followers. This is quite an important milestone but I always like to keep things in perspective.

I remember several years ago on MySpace how people would try and just get as many friends as possible thinking that was the way to get popular and recognised but it soon devalued the whole experience. I think many have learned from the mistakes of the past and times have changed a lot since then. I definitely believe in quality over quantity.

When the blog and the Twitter page came into existence a couple of years back I could not of predicted exactly where it would lead. Along the way I have been able to explore the online social space and evolve with it. I have also met some really interesting people in real-life too! So it isn't just about talking online.

As far as this blog goes I am looking to continue to approach different issues and perspectives as well as engage with others. I am planning to expand the online social presence further but that is the subject for another post. If you haven't already, please feel free to check out some of my tunes on my SoundCloud page. Even if you're not into Drum'n'bass or Dubstep you should still give them a listen... :)

One thing I would really like to encourage is comments on my blog too. I really value your input and I look as the blog posts I write as just the starting point to more discussion. At the end of the day everything that is going on is a big learning curve for everyone...

The internet is often described as not just a network but a network of networks. Over the last 10 years we have seen it change and evolve at an incredible rate. Alongside this a new internet culture has emerged and there is increasing melding of it with more mainstream culture.

The catalyst for this is, of course, (surprise, surprise!) social media! While online communities have existed for a long time on the internet, they had an almost silo-like existence with limited contact with other communities.

With social media those online communities or cultures are more easily able to communicate with each other crossing national, social, political and other boundaries. This is creating a new culture of cultures in which more cross-fertilisation of people and ideas occurs. Social media is also impacting the way news is reported and consumed. The online social media communities are all potential publishers and news gatherers. Interesting and engaging news can be shared within communities and across communities with ease in real-time.

Ideas and news are generated and evolve at a lightening quick pace. They are shared between individuals, communities and wider communities of communities. It is even possible now to observe social graphs of connnections for yet more insight. Of course there are some closed communities and countries that may not like this new openness (think about the trouble Google has had in China and the recent blocking of Facebook in Pakistan). However, they may find it increasingly difficult to maintain a 'walled-garden' approach in the future. When you get on to the global stage the shear number of people and connections are staggering. It is not possible for one government or other entity to completely control the internet for their own interests.

In my eyes, this new emerging global culture of cultures is the quite possibly the next stage in our evolution but it is currently still in an embryonic stage. As communities and cultures increase their interaction with each other maybe we might actually realise and more greatly appreciate that we all have one fundamental thing in common - we are all human..

The launch of iPad in the UK has caused lots of hysteria today with queues at Apple shops up and down the country. With every new piece of technology we are always told how it will revolutionise everything we do from business to personal life.

It generally stems around how much faster we can do everything and how we can be seen as cutting-edge or 'down with the kru' by our peer group. However, is having everything quicker and more readily accessible more valuable to your life experience or is it all just hype?

I think that technology and social networking can help up to a certain point and you can gain a great deal. Sooner or later though, you will hit the law of diminishing returns. At this point life experience is orientated in such a way that new technology or funky web apps will not really enhance it significantly. Furthermore, it may actually facilitate new inventive ways of you being lazy!

Ordering a pizza is as easy as going to the special app on your smartphone or other device. You don't even have to call the pizza company and speak to a human being any more! Having everything in the palm of your hand is a consumer's dream! It always sounds funky and fresh but isn't that just ego? Everything is available at a touch of screen. I find myself starting to get impatient with things if they don't work the way I expect. I then try and think to myself that there was a time when I never know such technology existed let alone know how to use it!

With new gizmos like the iPad are we heading to a future where we control our entire life through a technological box of tricks? If so we may end up no different then a bunch of spoiled technological brats! I am not sure that is a future I want....

The last few posts have been music related so I thought I would continue that theme a while longer. As you may have noticed from my twitter bio, I dabble in some Drum'n'bass and Dubstep production here and there. I have written a couple of posts on Drum'n'bass in the past but never really talked about what I've been up to music wise...

Well here's you chance to find out! I have decided to showcase some of my best demo tunes on SoundCloud and as part of this blog. This will yet add another dimension to the NiteGlow experience.

I should point out that none have tunes have ever been released before and are not signed to any record labels at the moment (hint, hint!).

Even if Drum'n'Bass/Dubstep isn't your thing I hope you'll still give it a listen. I produce stuff to get wider audiences interested too...

Without further ado here is the first Glowtune called 'Cascade'. It's a nice mellow summer roller for all y'all! As always I would love to hear what you think.....

Cascade by NiteGlow

Picture by deviantArt

Prominent digital thinker Jonathan Akwue described a great analogy in his keynote speech at the Likeminds conference in Exeter a couple of months back. What is going on social media is very similar to the formation of the Hip hop culture of the 80s onwards.

He talked about social media as a sort of remix culture where content from many different places is combined and distributed.

It also potentially gives people who were previously voiceless a voice. He also made the point that when such people are given a voice we need to be ready to hear what they have to say and we might not like it!

I wanted to take this analogy further as I see a lot of similarities. For instance, take the issue of 'so-called self appointed social media gurus'; these are the equivalent of 'wack mcs' who jack other people's lyrics to make a quick buck. There is an unwritten rule in social media which is similar to hiphop and it goes a l'tle sumthin' like this:

"Keep it real! Aint no room for fake mcs!"

The social media story for someone starting out can often seem like a classic 'rag-to-riches' story where you go from nothing to making it big. Many a Hip hop video has been known to have MCs sporting jewellry, other bling-bling, women and talking about they became ghetto superstars! It all sounds a bit like Notorious BIG's tune 'Juicy'. How true this reality is always a matter of debate though.

Then there are the 'haters'. These are people who's main agenda is to rip your reputation to shreds and show you the maximum disrepect possible. These people may be jealous competitors or people who just do not like you. The internet and social media has many playa haters who hate seeing others with talent rise and shine brite. Whether it is hating on individual or company brand. They love stir things up and get a attention!

Eminem dealt with a MC playa hater very well in his battle rap at the end of 8 Mile by disarming the other MC 'disses' before he had a chance to use them. (if you are easily offended by explicit language please do not click link and watch video). Eminem knows the other MC will try and bring up his background. Eminem shrewdly disarms this and shows up the other MC and his crew.

When it came to the other MC's turn to take centre stage with his rap he has absolutely nothing to say. You often have to be as sharp-witted as Eminem is when protecting a companies online reputation or just generally dealing with haters online in real-time!

Ultimately good social media and Hip hop is definitely about 'being fresh', keeping it real', 'coming with your own style' and 'not biting other people's rhymes'! These are all things the late rapper Guru from Gang Starr always did very well! Social media could learn a lot from him...

RIP Guru....

The third election TV debate in Birmingham last night did not fail to disappoint. This is even inspite of much talk during the day being about Gordon Brown's lose 'bigot' comments.

It was another well fought debate this time with more focus on economic issues as well as immigration. Gordon Brown did look a bit visibly rattled given the day's events. There was a lot of political point scoring between him and David Cameron. Brown brought up a lot of economic arguments but most seemed to be avoiding impending financial doom.

David Cameron was having a bit of difficulty in answering questions on immigration and other economic issues. At one point he could not even answer a simple yes / no question on his immigration policy.

Nick Clegg was of course trying to be the 'voice of reason' between the political point scoring of the other two. However, his policy on immigration came under attack. The others said his policy of the effective legalising and integration of thousands of illegal immigrants was sending out the wrong message to others who would try to get into the UK illegally. Nick Clegg pointed out that it was an issue that was not going to disappear and had to be dealt with immediately.

What happens over the next week is anyones guess but what is certain that Google searches in the UK for 'hung parliament' have overtaken searches for 'Britney Spears'. I don't think that has happened before!

Last week Facebook unveiled it's new Open Graph API. What this means is that other websites will gain the ability to customise your web experience more easily using your data from Facebook.

For instance, if you have logged into Facebook and then went to another website which used the new Graph API you would find the website more customised and personalised to your tastes. This is the next stage in Facebook's plan is to 'socialise' the web. Facebook aims to be the first port of call when you open your browser and they also want the websites you visit afterwards to have customised content based your usage of Facebook.

Is this a good or bad thing for users?

The jury is still out on that one! Facebook has been transparent in their explanation of what is happening and their plan for a Social Graph. However, do people or even Facebook themselves or other companies involved really understand the consequences of such an action?

Facebook's rise to dominance has seen its user-base grow to over 400 million. It is now in a unique position to attempt such a bold feat as 'socialising' the web. Thanks to its continued popularity Facebook has a massive amount of user data which up till now has been used for social adverts and applications within Facebook.

I am sure other companies have been dying to harness the power of this. Not least of these is Microsoft now who want to offer their Office Software as social web apps. This means you might soon be logging into Facebook in order to use Word or Excel online!

However, there are privacy issues that go along with this. Lots of people have trusted Facebook with private and personal data and to be seen as exploiting this could be disasterous.

From a user's perspective Facebook will argue that this will enhance your experience of the web and make it more personalised. Of course we will have the chance to opt of this new development but how many people will understand the intricacies what the social graph could mean for them. We should ask ourselves is this something we really want and are we willing to be just swept along with the tide? Are we happy about other companies using our data for their research? Facebook can certainly see the benefits and will shout to the hills about it but can we?

Maybe you have all the information and customisation you need right now and do not need anything else....

As viewers of the 2nd UK election TV debate last night will know, it was well fought by all parties but Nick Clegg has continued to hold his own.

This is all amid accusation's of Nazi slurs from the Daily Mail and a predictable yet unsubstantial attack from the Sun. I woke yesterday to the sound of the #nickcleggsfault hashtag on Twitter which became trending across the world as UK tweeps responded in their own ironic way to these stories.

The TV Debate saw Nick Clegg quite literally take centre stage as they discussed hot topics like global affairs, immigration and the economy. David Cameron and Gordon Brown did seem more engaged and passionate. They are now obviously taking the Lib Dem threat seriously now

It is almost impossible to believe that just over 3 months ago Mr Clegg was relatively unknown but is now taking so much of the lime-light.

It was nice they came to good ole Brizzle for it too! I was thinking of dropping by the venue myself on the way home but there were police and baracades everywhere as you might expect.

Anyway I am looking forward to seeing how this story unfolds....

When we are not not looking to the skies for volcanic ash we are talking about a UK election which has taken a slightly different tack. Since the TV debate polls of a certain Mr Clegg of the Liberal Democrats have soured so high that even the mighty Eyjafjallajokull could not hold him back.

Nick's debate performance was certainly a force to be reckoned with as he successfully tapped into many people's growing mistrust of politics as a whole. However, there was not much expected of him when he entered the debate. He was the underdog and just had to wait for Brown and Cameron to have a predictable slanging match. It was then a matter of pointing out how annoying they were and how the Lib Dems would somehow be less annoying. That being said he did come across much more honest and transparent and this has paid dividends. Who would have thought it? Being straight-up with people is the way to win support! This is very refreshing for British politics and by no means rocket science.

Since my previous post the figures have changed slightly too. The number of Twitter followers are as follows (excuse the pun!):

Conservative - 27,397 (increase of 1458)
Liberal Democrats - 15,128 (increase of 2698)
Labour - 14,825 (increase of 777)

While the Tories are still in the lead here the Lib Dems have seen the biggest increase in their number of followers. They have also overtaken Labour since the debate.

The Google searches of each party leader's name also shed more light on what is going on.

Searches for "Nick Clegg" have skyrocketed on Google since the debate. The Tories and Labour have a very similar number of searches but both are dropping.

It is clear that Nick Clegg is the 'boy wonder' right now but for how long. The other parties are now looking to deconstruct Lib Dem policies to regain ground. This means Nick Clegg will now be in the limelight and under much more scrutiny. Whatever, happens though he has certainly made a statement and a hung parliament looks like a distinct possibility.

I think it is quite clear that social media is going to be a significant factor that shapes this UK election whether it is Labour, Conservative or the Liberal Democrats.

With the respective manifesto launch it will be a challenge to get the message out especially to first-time voters. For the major parties, social media has become essential tool to target new audiences who may have been previously disaffected or disinterested in politics.

This is the first time that social media will play a part in a UK Election and no-one knows exactly how this will play out. It is all uncharted territory. I imagine many of their strategies are based upon what happened in the US Election of 2008. The Obama campaign certainly was a solid case study but times have changed a lot since then. Both social media and people's experience of it have evolved so no-one can really predict what will happen. Businesses are now taking social media more seriously and it is an almost indispensible tool for the personal lives of many.

With that in mind here are some interesting election social media figures.....

At the time of writing the number of followers for each party on Twitter are:

Conservative - 25,939
Labour - 14,048
Liberal Democrats - 12,430

However if you look at number of YouTube views of main party videos the figures are as follows:

Labour - 'Labour Manifesto 2010: A future fair for all' posted (posted 11/04/10)- 41,226
Conservative - 'An Invitation to join the government of Britain' (posted 13/04/10)- 26,989
Liberal Democrats - David Laws: Election 2010 Manifesto Launch (posted 14/04/10) - 187

This provides interesting snap-shot of what is going on social media wise for each of the parties but by no means the big picture. What the future holds is anyone's guess. I anticipate lots of twists and turns in the coming weeks.

As I recall, the US election between Obama and McCain became a mudslinging match before the end. Remember that guy 'Joe the Plumber'? However, Obama was very successful in getting his messages out on social media and it is beyond doubt that it played big part in his election win. Also it was his positive messages like 'change' were the ones that seemed to resonate most with the voters. This is something that I am sure Mr Cameron has been somewhat influenced by in his campaign, 'vote for change'.

As with US election we are seeing a fair bit of mudslinging here in the UK regarding tax, National Insurance and other policies. It is a shame that election politics all to often is about rubbishing opposing parties policies rather than focusing on actual value they could add to the country.

UK politics has been thrown in the deep end with the social media world. It will be interesting to see what effect it has in the coming weeks as the election hits fever pitch...

Thanks to all who came down for Bristol Twestival at the Tunnels last thursday nite! It was packed out and went down a storm. The performances by the Reacharounds and Phantom Limb were something to remember. We raised £ 5,612 for Concern Worldwide! We look forward to the next one. If you couldn't make it down see the photo slideshow below and the video of Phantom Limb to get some vibes about what it was like....

Shout outs to the following for helping making the nite what it was:

@dan_martin, @reeb1981, @samdownie, @jaywilliamspr, @gdyer, @prbristolblog and @jamesainsworth

Also great to meet:
Anna Kirby @atkirby, Stephen Gardner @stephengatbjs, Ben Park @benparkbjs and Chris Taylor @glowgadgets(thanks for the entertaining rapping and comedy!)

Fundraising update: #bristwestival has raised £5,617!! Third most money raised by a UK city and 11th most in the world!

As many of you know by now I have been helping organising Bristol Twestival. Twestival is a charity event that will take place this Thursday 25th March in 200+ cities across the world in aid of Concern. Concern organises worldwide projects to reduce suffering and end extreme poverty. The event is organised over Twitter though you don't have to be on Twitter to go!

The Bristol event will take place at the Tunnels. It features music from soul and R&B band Phantom Limb and Bristol cover band the Reacharounds. There will also be a raffle with an extensive variety of prizes as well as goody bags.

I hear an England shirt signed by the David Beckham and a House of Commons bottle of whisky signed by the prime minister are up for grabs too!

More info is available on the Bristol Twestival Website, Twitter or Facebook Fan Page. We have already sold over 120 tickets and are chasing a £3000 target so your support is much appreciated. We would love to see you down there.

For those reading from outside Bristol, have a look out for a local event wherever you are!

It looks to be a great nite - I can't wait! :)

UPDATE!
NEW RAFFLE PRIZE: Room hire for 30 +free buffet at brizwalkabout 's new bar Rewind during England's 1st World Cup game! Worth £300!

It's official then! Facebook is bigger than Google now in the US. The lead is miniscule at the moment but the trend of Facebook's growth over the last couple of months seems to be an undeniable indicator of a further movement in this direction.

But what does this all mean for us? There is a now a battle on between Google and Facebook. Both sites want to be your starting point for the experience of the web. While Google provides a highly efficient way of searching the net more are turning to social recommendations on Facebook. Social media can also put you in more direct contact with experts online where you can gain the information you require

Early guises of the internet were of static sites that did not change but this evolved into more dynamic web-content. It is now going one step further towards a continuous social streams of information. Facebook is currently capitalising on this while Google seems to be still coming up with ideas. Google's first proper venture into Social Networking, Buzz, was met with lots of privacy concerns which they are still trying to iron out.

For us digital life will be case of surfing and manoeuring around the online social slipstream which no-one person can really control or regulate entirely. While this is good for sharing information it can lead to a state of information overload. People may walk around with a smartphone in one hand and iPad in the other in a permanently distracted state. One big problem about all this is that you cannot easily switch off or disconnect easily especially with mobile web. Another is the issue of a growing digital divide between people who can afford the internet and take it for granted and those who do not have access. There may be many that are left behind while others rush ahead.

On the positive side, however, the possiblity for creating new communities that span the globe is immense though this must be handled with responsibility and care. It has implications for all parts of society from politics, to media, to business, to interpersonal relationships. Authenticity, transparency and trust are becoming vital commodities that hold all of this together.

For my part I hope that the sharing and collaborative aspects of online communities will far outweigh any downsides and we are moving from the darkness to a brite new world.

Social communities and the slipstream will be what we make it so we should strive to make it as positive and inclusive as possible.

@Chrisbrogan's speech at Likeminds last friday was very insightful to have witnessed in person (please see previous blog post for more on my trip to Likeminds). However, I have just watched the video of it again on his blog only to gain yet more insight.

It is strange the aspects you may miss the first time round but the second time I really tried to understand what Chris was trying to communicate about running successful social media campaigns.

In my mind it was all about being a human being and making others feel special. If you do not have this all the marketing, IT, online, social media knowledge in the world will not be enough to compensate for it.

Being human is not something you learn or have to study to be but it is something you have. It is amazing the amount of people in business and society at large have lost touch with this. Often people buy into the social role they play and think that is all they are.

In fact maybe you do not have to be human. My friend has a dog and she is a little over-enthusiastic to say the least! What she does do very well however, is pick up on people's emotions around here very well. She is very responsive to these and because of this she makes the people around her feel special.

I had a really wacky thought! If it was possible to train a dog to do social media campaigns she would probably be quite good at them!

Anyway going back to Chris Brogan... It is great to have high-profile people like him to remind us of the basic fact of human connectedness. We definitely need more of it!

I am always fascinated with wide diverse sets of people I seem to be meeting from Twitter. Each has their own passions, interests and reasons for using it. You never quite know what you are going to get!

It is very weird meeting people you have been used to seeing as avatar bouncing down your screen. This was certainly the case recently in the Likeminds event I went to in Exeter on last Friday which featured some high profile social media speakers and bloggers.

Twitter was the main weapon of choice there and I found it to be a very good leveller between lots of different types of people. Often in the case of such events you almost feel a barrier between the audience and the speakers. Each attendee was even provided a sticker of their Twitter avatar instead of name badge.

I realised this event was very different as I met @chrisbrogan (a President of the US company New Marketing Labs and Influential Blogger) outside the venue. I had been reading his blog for a while as he is very much a social media thought-leader at the moment. It was really something to meet him in person and I soon realised how down-to-earth he was. In true British style I asked him how he was finding the cold weather and he told me it was much worse in Chicago where he had flown from!

The event itself featured a multitude of speakers from right across the spectrum of social media. Chris Brogan was the headline speaker for the event and the one everyone was eargerly anticipating. He did not disappoint though I wished he could have been on for longer. While others focused on specific strategies and tactics Chris focused on the underlying aspect of human connection and making people feel special.

One of my other favourite speakers was Olivier Blanchard @thebrandbuilder. He spoke and on how to intergrate social media into businesses and the challenges on the way. I was lucky enough to talk to him at the end of the event too. He seemed to have an answer for every question I had even the toughies!

I ended up staying the after party too even though I was supposed to come back to good old Bristol. I am very glad I did. I meet some very interesting people from PR people, to bloggers, to enthusiasts, to journalists, to business owners as well as having a beer with Olivier and Chris!

Gone are the days when social networking was just sitting at a computer sending messages. As we move into a real-time environment online communities are soon becoming real-world communities.

This has been quite clearly brought home to me when attending a regular social media event in Bristol called Brrism. What interested me about the event is that it is all organised through social media and is all about social media. I have met some very interesting people there and had some great discussions. What I realised is that coming from an Online PR/Social Media work environment I had a certain way that I viewed and used social media both for myself and my clients. I soon realised that that my methods for using social media were not the only ones. Customisability means everyone uses social media to meet their own specific needs and hence they have completely different perceptions of it.

However, one common theme that keeps coming up is the concept of sharing ideas and community. It is interesting to see how Brrism has developed since its inception last year. There is still a long way to go and I often feel that we are like kids again trying to establish ourselves in a group. New community formation takes time and I know there will be more challenges along the way.

Social media has also been powerful tool for charities. Since the Haiti earthquake charities have successfully utilised social media in getting messages out and forming supportive online communities.

I have mentioned Twestival on this blog before in reference to this as it is an excellent example. Following a successful event last year there is an event on 25 March 2010. The Twestival event will be is global affair where events are to take place in big cities around the world. This year it will be in aid of Concern which is looking to rebuild the education infrastructure in Haiti.

The entire event is organised using social media (namely Twitter) and online communities. It has created real-world impact though these channels.

It is obvious to me that charities are an area where the community and sharing ethos of social media can really come into its element.


If you are in the Bristol area definitely check out Bristwestival which is Bristol's offering. It features live music, a raffle, goodie bags and other wonderful things all in aid of charity. It takes place on 25 March at the Tunnels and tickets cost £5. See below for more details and book tickets here.

Whether you are single or not the most romantic day in the calendar may prove a challenging time to say the least.

Singletons quite often find this is a dark and gloomy time where they are constantly reminded how single they are and how single they may well be in he future. For gals the only retreat may be lazing around in their pyjamas watching Bridget Jones for the seventeenth time. For the guys it may be found in firing up that games console for yet another seven hour marathon of Call Of Duty 4 or Pro Evo.

Singletons are barely able to take a single step without constant reminders of the day of romance whether it is special offers in shops /restaurants or messages from the 'loved up' media. TV or Radio during this time is a definite no-no. The daunting day arrives and the only mail they have received is a couple of bank statements and the annual heart-shaped card from Mum (which is very much appreciated but does not really count). This all leads singletons to a near murderous frenzy in which they have been known to wander the streets dispensing with all happy couples in their way.

While singletons are made to feel bad about a situation they may not have control over, it is not a bed of roses for couples either. When with someone Valentine's Day always seems to bring with it a big expectation to do something very special. This is in no small part down to the endless 'rom-coms' and other Hollywood movie magic. Partners may now wish to be spoilt with fine wines, foods, cards and gifts before being ushered upstairs to a love suite where they will be covered in red petals before a ravishing night of Valentines passion.

Failure to live up to such expectations could potentially spell imminent doom for any relationship. A box of Quality Street and a half-price bouquet from the nearest petrol station simply may not cut the mustard these days.

However, there are some people for which Valentine's is always a lovely affair. They are the businesses be they restaurants, card manufacturers, florists and others which provide us with our obligatory love gifts. For card manufacturers Valentine's Day is the best day for card sales after Christmas. Florists have been know to double sometimes triple their prices over the romantic period. It all seems quite cheeky really.

Anyway I am sure Saint Valentine had the best of intentions when he created his day. Unfortunately reality does not always live up to ideals.

What comes to mind when you think of the Wild West? Gun totting outlaw gangs, cowboys, stern sheriffs, musky saloons, desperate land and gold rushes....

This all sounds like America of the 1800s which is the era in which TV shows like HBO's Deadwood are set.

Strange as it sounds, however, this world is not a million miles away from cyberspace. Online businesses are in a constant state of one-upmanship and bravado similar to rival cowboy outfits. The online world transcends international boundaries so legal issues can become very confused leading to an almost lawless environment where byte-tottin' gangs run wild looking for gold.

For instance, Steve Jobs' comments about Google and Adobe are the perfect example of an old style bar-room rant. I could imagine him in the Wild West with all his Apple cohorts heckling his Google and Adobe counterparts on the other side of the bar.

"You darn two-bit Google hoodlums!" or

"You lazy Adobe go-fo-nuthins!" he would probably say.

I guess he would also be jumping around with an iPad in one hand and a glass of the strongest whiskey possible in the other. Google's Brin, Page and Schmidt would be sitting in the corner of the bar grumbling to themselves in multi-coloured Stetson hats emblazoned with the words 'Don't be evil'.

Of course the weapons of the online era are not guns but hardware, web apps and online business models and there is much money (gold) to be made. Google is looking to bring some law and order with its evolving web apps and advertising models but recently stepped on rival turf with the announcement of the Nexus One phone.

This was treated as an act of disrespect by Apple and a challenge to Apple's successful iPhone. Apple wants to make it clear that it 'runs the town' as far hardware goes and when you split you will split Apple's way. However, there is now talk of a gPad to rival Apple's iPad and this will only cause more unrest in the town.

Apple have also been increasing unhappy with the Adobe outfit. In their eyes they seem to be just an unreliable bunch of layabouts that spend all day in the saloon drinking whisky.

Of course there is also the Microsoft outfit too and they have been there for a long time. They used to 'run the town' pretty much outright once. Unfortunately, the Google outfit appeared from over the hill just over ten years ago and since then they have been muscling in all the rackets in the town. From operating systems, email and office applications Microsoft found themselves losing ground and have precious gold taken away from them. They have not been happy but struck back at the very heart of the Google outfit with the Bing search engine.

Over the hill there is a new town being built and a new gold rush. Two big outfits have emerged namely Twitter and Facebook. They have started making a lot of noise in their saloons too but this is the subject for another online Wild West tale.

This all makes for some interesting outlaw rivalries and whatever happens the online gold rush is here to stay. Only time will tell who gets to be sheriff (if one appears) but in the meantime there will be plenty of interesting bar-room brawls to follow this year in the Wild West of cyberspace.

The New Year has brought the UK a flurry of snow which has yet again brought everything to a standstill! At the moment I am blogging to you from a snow bunker on the east of Bristol UK and the only communication with outside world is the internet - namely Twitter and this blog.

I have made sure I have enough food and beer to last me another 72 hours. After then I don't know what I will do! AHHH, Outside everything is cold and white!

Anyway I wanted to share with you some snow photos from around Bristol courtesy of my Twitter followers.

Queen Square, Bristol by @SallyanneHowell


A snow-woman by @lisariemers


Blizzard in BS5 by @Souterain

These have really brightened my day in the snow bunker. Keep the communications running. It is all we can do for now!