Twitter Trouble in Tottenham

Just a few days after I wrote a blog post about how social media was being blamed for gangs of youth descending on to Beech Road Festival in Chorlton, social media is now being blamed for fuelling the riots across London this weekend.

Headlines have included “Thugs use Twitter to call for copy cat riots across the UK” (Daily Express) and “How Technology fuelled Britain’s firsts 21^st century riot” (Daily Telegraph).

The Sun wrote about how “thugs used social network Twitter to orchestrate the Tottenham violence and incite others to join in”, while the Daily Mail described how “as the rioting escalated, trouble makers on Twitter seemed keen to orchestrate the violence bringing scores more people into the area”.

Social media is now the scapegoat for anything and everything. Do people honestly think that social media is to blame for these horrific events though? If Twitter and Facebook weren’t around, these people would still find a way of rounding up the troops and causing havoc, whether via text message or carrier pigeon.

Thugs use carrier pigeons to fuel naughtiness

Social Media: Respect the Beast

We’ve all heard a story or two about a teenager who, after being left home alone by their parents, has decided to hold a bit of a shindig and invite their friends via Facebook, leading to word of an adult-free party zone with booze and members of the opposite sex spreading across a ten mile radius.

The result? Swarms of revellers stampeding on the house and destroying it like a plague of locusts, causing much trauma and telling off for the naïve teenager who decided to announce the gathering on one of the most public mediums there is.

Now, social media is being blamed for Beech Road Festival, which is held annually in Chorlton, being “overrun by gangs of youths”. After the festival saw an unprecedented 20,000 people attend, who were blamed for littering and “urinating in gardens”, the organisers have decided not to run the event again next year.

An article in the MEN on the matter stated: “The organisers blamed publicity of the event on social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter for the overcrowding.”

Poor social media, always getting the blame.

The problem with social media seems to be that although everyone wants to use it to promote their event, product, service, company or self, many users aren’t prepared or equipped for when their online efforts actually work. When social media comes into its own and spreads a message further and wider than any other unpaid or traditional method could, what the hell are you supposed to do??

I’ve used social media in the past to promote events and campaigns on behalf of clients. My efforts have usually ended up with modest results and there has always been something in hindsight that I could have done to make a bigger and better impact. But then again, maybe it was better that I didn’t? I mean, I don’t know how on earth I would have coped if 20,000 uninvited people had turned up to a product launch, which we held down in London with a flavour-of-the-month celeb. The dozen or so paps were enough of a handful!

So should we blame social media when things get out of hand? No. Should we treat the beast with caution? Yes. Social media can be a very valuable tool, but users need to appreciate the potential strength of it. When social media is good, it’s very very good, but when it’s bad, it can be wicked.

Social media: The modern day Chinese whispers

These days, news spreads quicker than a bout of Chlamydia in Freshers’ Week. Unfortunately for some, it also means that rumours and inaccuracies spread just as quickly.

Only last week, Channel 4 news presenter Jon Snow was forced to apologise for regurgitating what appeared to be ‘news’ on Twitter that Piers Morgan had been suspended from his CNN show. It transpired that the tweet had been sent from a fake Twitter account and wasn’t actually true.

But this wasn’t the first, nor will it be the last, case of online Chinese whispers.

A few months ago, a tweet about a photo shoot taking place in central London raised the alarm that there was an actual gun man on the loose.

Stylist and fashion writer @candicebailey tweeted: “Street style shooting in Oxford Circus for ASOS and Diet Coke. Let me know if you’re around!!” Within a matter of minutes, Twitter was in a whirlwind of panic of this ‘shooting’ and people were reportedly told to stay indoors. And to make matters worse, all of this Twitter action was taking place at the same time a police training email, looking at a hypothetical gunman situation, was accidently leaked.

You can see how easy it is for gossip and rumours to spread on Twitter. I’ve got to admit that I once had my wrists slapped for tweeting something about someone which wasn’t technically quite correct…luckily there were no hard feelings though (after I grovelled for forgiveness , that is).

It’s just that the ‘retweet’ button is so easy to press! And then if you quote someone else talking about a story, it’s easy to edit it down so that it’s not revealing the whole story (we've only got 140 characters!!).

What’s more, there is a real feeling on Twitter and other social media channels that you’ve got to be the first person to know when something happens. Were you the first person in the world ever to find out that NOTW had shut down? Of course you were...you and a few thousand other Twitter users. There is an urge on social media to pass ‘news’ on as quickly as possible, to get it while it’s hot, a real life game of hot potato.

But where does the responsibility lie? Should people tweeting take more care to check their facts are straight before broadcasting them to the world? Or should it be up to the people reading tweets to take everything with a pinch of salt and not take every tweet as gospel?

I think this Reuters blog by Felix Salmon sums up the whole issue very well:

 “Twitter is more like a newsroom than a newspaper: it’s where you see news take shape. Rumors appear and die; stories come into focul people talk about what’s true and what’s false.”

What do you think? Should we all practise more caution when our curser hovers over that retweet button in the future?

Caitlin Moran Saves Lives

Yes, I know, quite a claim… But turns out the Times journalist and funny gal Caitlin Moran is making a huge impact on the lives of women up and down the country.

Last night, I went to see Caitlin talk about her latest book How To Be A Woman at Waterstones, Deansgate. I expected the evening to be entertaining, funny and inspiring – and all these boxes were ticked. What I didn’t expect was for the evening to be quite so humbling…

For those of you who don’t know, in her new book, Caitlin draws on her own experiences to highlight some of the issues that women face today. From intimate waxing to taking out a second mortgage to buy a designer handbag, from lap dancing clubs to the rise of the WAG, and from the reality of giving birth to the reality of abortions - Caitlin explores these subjects and encourages fellow females (and males) to look at them, question them and basically ask: WTF??

It appears the UK has been gagging for a book like this to come along. Many of Moran’s own stories and views echo the millions of murmurs, whispers and gossips of women all over the world. How to be a Woman is currently number five in Amazon’s bestselling list, and Moran told us last night that there is going to be a film, sitcom and second book to follow. Wowza, looks like the latest trend is a big fat dollop of feminism. Who’d a funked it?

Clearly, I wasn’t the only person at the event last night who found Moran’s book refreshing and entertaining. There was a real buzz and energy in the room, and much ROFL-ing ensued. However, it was the comments from a lady sat in the row in front of me that really put this book into perspective.

The lady was from the Pankhurst Centre, a women’s community centre based in Chorlton on Medlock, Manchester. She stood up and told Caitlin how much of a powerful tool her book was, not just for the staff who work there, but also for the women that they help.

Some of the women that the centre supports may be victims of sexual assault or domestic violence. Some of them may be homeless or addicted to drugs. Some of them may be facing debt, unemployment or family issues. Some may never have a strong female role model or the ability to stand up for themselves.

Regularly during workshops, someone from the Pankhurst Centre reads an extract from How to be a Woman to the rest of the team and visitors to the centre. The book provides a lot of discussion among the women about how certain issues relate to them and their experiences. With the help of Caitlin’s words, curses and humour, they are empowering the women that they support gain confidence, restore their self-respect and rebuild their lives.

Last night, the comments from the Pankhurst Centre worker sliced through me and I’m still thinking about them today. For me, Caitlin’s book was enjoyable and empowering, making me think things like: ‘YEH, why the hell should we spend twenty odd grand on a wedding and make ourselves look like porn stars??’, but thanks to the comments from some of the guests last night, it made me realise that, actually, this book is pretty much a life saver for some women out there.

Pulp: A Tweet Shot at Social Media

I’m not angry, I’m not upset, I’m just … disappointed.

As a Pulp fan, I’m very excited that the Sheffielders have once again joined forces to pump out their Brit pop belters across the world. I’ve signed up to the newsletter and am following them on Twitter in eager anticipation for when they announce some further UK tour dates (I have it on good authority that there will be at least one Sheffield date, which I’m determined to get tickets for).

But, alas, it is their presence on Twitter which fills me with disappointment.

Now, if you’re a social media user, then you don’t need me to tell you what a wonderful tool it is for people to interact and engage with others. One of the beautiful things about the likes of Twitter is that it allows us ‘mere mortals’ to speak directly to musicians, artists and bands without having to linger by back stage doors, stalking them. We can tell them that their new album is ‘sick’, gush over how amazing their gig was last night or offer them some constructive criticism on their terrible new album, all directly through our smartphone or laptop. We can praise and diss the rich and famous while multi-tasking – isn’t technology a wonderful thing?

Of course, that’s not to say that we should expect any sort of interaction back from them…they are after all busy people – and as someone who works in PR, I know only too well that many Twitter accounts will be handled by a publicist or marketing bod.

But there are certain levels of interaction that you may be forgiven to expect…

I’m clearly not the only Pulp fan out there who is excited about the reunion of the band and its current international tour. On last count, the @Pulp2011 had 8,615 followers and appeared on 253 lists. Pretty decent figures. Until you look at the other side of things, that is. At the time of writing this blog post, @Pulp2011 had tweeted only 41 times (its first tweet was 1st January 2011) and is following exactly zero people. Yes, zero. Nil, sip, zilch, nought.

Tweet tweet...Pulp is a selfish Twitter lover

As I’ve already alluded to, you wouldn’t necessarily expect a band like Pulp to interact and engage with every single one of its followers or every person who mentions them. However, I can’t help but think that this is a huge opportunity missed for the band in terms of social media.

Looking through the selection of tweets in its timeline, I strongly suspect there is a marketing person, manager, or parent/child/partner/roadie tweeting on behalf of the band. But whoever is responsible for the band’s social media, it is such a lacklustre attempt at using digital channels that it suggests that either they can’t be arsed, or they really just don’t ‘get’ social media.

What do you think? Are there any bands or musicians using social media who you think Pulp could learn a thing or two off?

PRs – be careful with your freebies

This article on the Vice website is hilarious. And a lesson to anyone in PR to be careful about what freebies they are giving to which journalists. Enjoy!

Condiment Conundrum

Of all the things to have become an issue from moving in with a boy, nothing could have prepared me for this. The smells, the piles of dirty pants, the cigarette butts in glasses, the fact that he uses all of my expensive shampoo and doesn’t understand why I get in a huff when he suggests I clean my hair with washing up liquid – all of these things I can handle. I had expected these challenges and been warned about them by my fellow double-X chromosome beings.

No, the biggest issue about moving in with a boy is far more difficult to cope with. Mainly because it is so bizarre. So surreal that even Dali would struggle to portray it accurately in a painting. And it is because of the surreal nature of it, which is why I could never have prepared myself mentally or emotionally for it.

The problem is – condiments.

I should have noticed the warning signs before. During the early loved up days when I would come round to his flat laden with Aldi 3p carrier bags brimming with cheap, continental delights which I would attempt to fashion into a culinary treat. I would purchase dressings for summer salads, Tabasco for Delia’s chicken jambalaya (or Gambalaya, as I like to call it after myself) and wholegrain mustard to sex up the potato part of bangers and mash.

A few days later I would return to his flat. And the condiments, bought only 48 hours earlier, would be gone. Vanished. The vessel would be sparse of content, apart from the congealed remains lingering around the lid.

My boyfriend, it appears, has a condiment compulsion – a habit for honey, a dependence on dips, an obsession with oils and a ridiculous reliance on relish.

Not a bottle of Heinz ketchup, nor a jar of cranberry jelly, or vessel of soy sauce can last more than a few days. But how, why?? Sure, I’ve noticed he tends to lay on the mayo thick across his side salad and drown his chips in tomato sauce – but I still can’t understand where it all goes. He must actually just sit there and drink the damn stuff.

Like any irrational irritation, my internal fury over the matter is unexplainable. But one thing is for sure, this can not continue. I am declaring a vinegar vendetta. SAVE OUR MAYO.