Twitter is a form of SOCIAL Media – A Rant

Twitter overtook my love of Facebook  nearly two years ago. After being asked by lots of people for help I even run workshops and one to ones for people to get them cracking with it for their work. There are a couple of things I need to get off my chest though.

Automated tweets

Lately it has been brought to my attention that more (lazy/busy/far too important to interact) people are using automated tweets constantly. If you use Twitter youself you’ll notice the type of account. Endless repetition of the same posts, the same marketing messages over and over again. Yawn.

Now of course there are times when I will post something more than once but I don’t schedule for the same things to be repeated time and time again. I’ve seen accounts where there is hardly any interaction with anyone, just dry boring accounts that show no creativity or personality.

Followers for the sake of followers

There’s plenty of sites you can go on and add your Twitter handle so you get lots of followers (or false followers as I like to call them). Surely it’s better to have people following you because they are like-minded and interested in what you have to offer? I am much more likely to respect  genuinely organic accounts based on their ability to engage, interact and provide great content.  This applies for individuals, organisations, and businesses alike. Some do it really well, others not so much. Also if I tweet or follow someone, I don’t want an automated response. I don’t want a one size fits all direct message. I want a SOCIAL, friendly reply. You can’t do this if you automate all of your tweets at the beginning of a working week and just use it as tickbox marketing exercise.

Credit where credit’s due

If you see a tweet and like it, retweet and share it. Try and credit the account by using the RT facility, it’s a nice thing to do. Try not to steal other people’s ideas because that’s not very nice. If you want to make it more likely that someone will retweet you, try and keep your tweets to approximately 120 rather than the allowable 140 characters (depending on the length of your Twitter handle). You can work it out exactly if you count the characters in your Twitter handle and add 5 characters (RT plus two spaces and the colon that is added when you RT. So mine is 18).

RTspace@StaceInspire:space  = 18 characters

For example for someone to RT my tweets easily I know that I would have to keep to 122 characters.

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow the interesting people (sing to the tune of yellow brick road obv).

Follow accounts that interest you and people will follow you too if you are tweeting things they are interested in and content that is relevant to them. Don’t expect everyone to follow you back and don’t feel the need to follow everyone who follows you. You may not necessarily be interested in their content or vice versa.

TASBO – Twitter Anti-Social Behaviour Order

After the success (snigger) of Anti Social Behaviour Orders or ASBOs as they affectionately known, I would like to introduce TASBOs. Twitter Anti-Social Behaviour Orders. For the bores, for the over-automated accounts, for those that create an account and never interact at all unless they want to sell us something.

Ooh, that reminds me….If your Twitter needs a spring clean use Twitcleaner, it produces a report to tell you who is worth keeping and who it may be worth clicking on that unfollow button for. Nifty.

Stace’s final thought…

Schedule a few tweets if you wish but please, constant automation, repetition, unresponsiveness and anti- social behaviour should not be tolerated. Twitter is SOCIAL media. If you can’t be bothered to be sociable go away and use something else. It’s too good an opportunity to make some great connections both personally and professionally.

Here ends this evening’s Twittery rant…

Peace out tweeple.

Stace x

Follow me on Twitter @StaceInspire

Things you shouldn’t post on Facebook according to ME!

After reading this post from Jeff Bullas ‘Things you should not share on social media’

I’ve come up with some of my own in particular…

Things you shouldn’t post on Facebook according to ME!

ANY copy and paste statuses

Most are pointless, some are sickly, some are just a front for racism.

If you have something to say, say it in your own way. They’re like a modern version of a chain letter  trying to guilt trip you into posting it on.

Copy and paste this if you love your child/mother/father/brother/sister/nan/dog/cat etc etc.

Obviously if you don’t copy and paste it you are a cold heartless b*st*rd with no feelings. Erm… actually no. I love my family and friends very much. They know this because I am there for them and I also tell them.

Copy and paste this if you know anyone who has been affected by cancer/depression/the common cold etc.

I don’t want to sound unfeeling on this but if people truly give a sh*t about an issue then why not post up a  link to a site with information or ways you can donate to the charity? Why not write a note or blog to say why this issue is important to you and why you are raising awareness of it? I care rather too deeply for the plights of people in worse situations than myself. In no way do I think that copying and pasting something into my status will help anyone. Instead I work, share and promote the causes that are important to me.

Copy and paste this if, like me you’re a racist who can’t articulate your own words.

You know the ones. They usually involves some ridiculously inaccurate Daily Mail statistics about immigrants or how our NHS  is failing because of Polish people blah blah blah. If you have a valid agrument and have checked your sources fair enough but really, try harder or just don’t post anything at all. Failing that just change your profile picture to Hitler and be done with it.

Copy and paste this if you have no ability to think for yourselves. . . You get my gist.

Over-lol-ing

Now I like to laugh out loud in real life. The occasional typed lol is fine (although I am a haha-er myself) but WHY WHY WHY do people insist on using it as a punctuation? Rather than a full stop people type lol at the end of statuses or comments even when it does’t make ANY sense to whatsoever. LOL.

Just had gammon and chips for tea. LOL!

Took my car for an MOT. LOL.

Broke my leg today. LOL.

NOOOOOOO! Not LOL.

Minute details of pregnancy, childbirth, babies’ toilet habits….

I love babies, I love that some of my Facebook friends are happy to be pregnant. However, I do not need to hear about every symptom they experience from conception to birth. Even more so I don’t want to hear about placentas, the state of their child’s nappies when they do arrive, potty training fiascos or similar. The odd scan picture and a few pics after the birth for us to aaahhh at is cool. One of my Facebook friends would post a weekly picture of her little (VERY cute) baby boy and it was nice to see because you could see how he changed and it didn’t become boring as it was not complete timeline bombardment. Had she posted an update every time he had a poo that would be different!

Relationship issues

People who feel the need to live their whole relationship good and bad via Facebook. Warts and all (in fact I wouldn’t be at all surprised if people did post pics of their warts an’ all!). Now occasionally I may post a comment on my beloved’s Facebook and he on mine. Occasionally. If we want to tell each other we love each other we can do that at home. If we want a row we can use our voices to adequately convey our feelings. We do not feel the need for everyone on our friend’s list to know about it. OK so we do occasionally poke each other for fun too but that is also private!

Racism

A sure fire way to get unfriended. No more explanation needed.

Countdowns

42 days until I go on holiday – Repeated every day until said holiday.

Only 196 days until Christmas! I’m starting my shopping today.*smug face*  -  SAD! 

Wishing your life away

Urggh, Monday morning, roll on Friday.

Is it the weekend yet?

It nice to have things to look forward to but Facebook seems to be full of miserable people who just constantly wish their lives away. Live for the now. Yes Mondays can be rubbish but life’s what you make it. If EVERY week you just moan that it’s not the weekend then you need to be reviewing what you’re doing with your life. Get something mid week to look forward to, change your job, sort out your relationship, whatever. Embrace every day. Life’s too bleedin’ short. And if you’re having a bad day deal with it, get help from those you love but please, don’t bring us all down too!

Hangovers *yawn*and Booze Bores

It usually goes something like this…

Can’t wait to get wasted on Friday.

Having a few before we get to the pub.

Incohererent status full of typos.

Oohh why do I  feel so terrible.  I’m never drinking again.

REPEAT. Every week. Get a life or get some help.

So that’s my rant done for now. LOL. ; )

Stace x

 

My Scuzz TV iRock Playlist

Scuzz TV, the best music channel (because it plays proper music) had the great idea of viewers submitting playlists, the best to be played on the channnel.

I submitted 15 songs on the Scuzz TV Facebook page discussion tab that I thought would be great to hear back to back.

Create A Show On Scuzz iRock

I was chuffed to find out last night that my playlist had been picked and will be played next Saturday, 11th June at 9.00pm.

I found it on this TV schedule

So for those at you that may be interested, these are the songs that I picked…..

Machine head – Davidian
Sepultura – Roots Bloody Roots
Pantera- Cemetery Gates
System of a Down – Sugar
Slipknot – Spit It Out
Biohazard – How It Is
Metallica – One
Rammstein – Ich Will
Faith No More – Surprise You’re Dead
Hatebreed – Destroy Everything
Romeo Must Die- Defined By Enemies
Slayer- Bloodline
Unearth – Sanctity of Brothers
American Headcharge – Just So You Know
Skindred – Nobody

Scuzz TV  - Sky Channel 374 Saturday 11th June.

Watch, bang your head, singalong, bounce around!!

Stace x

Seven (plus one) of my fave people on Twitter

1) My Mom AKA Wendy AKA @wendy2918

Read her blog and follow her.

Wendy’s blog

When she gets round to writing a post they are usually very funny. When I grow up I’ll be as funny as my Mom.

Examples:

Mom on Lady Gaga – Why oh why oh why would you wear a telephone on your head?

Mom on Teenagers who walk in the road - One day if I can be sure I wouldn’t really give them too much pain or cause too much damage, could I not just ‘bump’ into them? Just once please can I? Promise I will only run them over gently.

Mom on personal safety - My Blackberry phone goes in my left cup and my slimline ipod goes in my right one.

2) My friend Ruth AKA @bintofsparkles

She follows some crazy people and likes to retweet lovely and funny things because she is both lovely and funny herself.

3) Another friend of mine Kate. AKA @allfivehorizons. I started my blog inspired (and helped) by her. She has a little human growing inside her now. Check her blog All Five Horizons.

4) A great bloke called Nigel Brunsdon AKA @injectingadvice and @Mannaz who has an excellent website called Injecting Advice who always includes me in his #followfriday shout outs as one of his imaginary friends.

5) Dr Evan Harris AKA @DrEvanHarris

Fights the fight for evidence based drug policy. Makes the other politicians look ridiculous by stating facts rather than tabloid fiction. Lost his seat in the Election which was a massive travesty. I got a tweet thanking me for stalking him. The equivalent of a celeb tweet for me, I was most excited.

6) Gary Delaney @GaryDelaney A comedian. Makes me laugh. As does his girlfriend @SarahMillican75.

Examples.

I used to play around with time machines when I was older.

Somehow it doesn’t seem right to eat reformed meats, not after they tried so hard to change.

Ah, shit, I once gave Naomi Campbell a blood orange, am I in trouble too?

7) Roadrunner Records AKA @RoadrunnerRecords originally enough. They have all the great bands on their label and their tweets keep me up to date on them all. Yeaaaaaahhh!

7 ( b) Ricky AKA Ranjit AKA @RanjitBhandal

(Because I have to stick to the magic seven otherwise my OCD tendencies will freak!)

My Robin, my right hand man at the DAAT. Doesn’t tweet often enough but should do and will do when I’ve nagged him enough about how useful it is for the drug world. For all your Bhangra/football/drugs/celebrity stalking needs. He follows Katie Price unfortunately though, much to my despair. Desperate to get a celeb tweet, I hope one day he does.   When I leave work next month to go completely freestyle (lance) with Inspire I may as well lose an arm. Or a leg. : (

Oh and I suppose you should follow me too @StaceInspire.

I feel a few more blogs about Twitter coming on so watch this space.

Tweety bye

Stace x

Stace on… the Telly

Well not actually me on the telly but me on the telly as in talking about it. One day I WILL be on the telly. I’m hoping for Top Gear presenter, replacing Louise on Something for the Weekend, or maybe the new Jeremy Kyle only less exploitative of poor thick people and not a tw*t.

Anywho,  I nicked this from http://deannap.tumblr.com/ Thanks!

Pick your five favourite TV shows (in no particular order) and answer the following questions. Don’t cheat!

1. Torchwood
   
2. The Mighty Boosh
3. Miranda
4. The IT Crowd
5. True Blood

Who’s your favourite character in 2?

Vince Noir. Played by Noel Fielding,  my future sailor husband.

What’s your favourite episode of 4?

Well it’s got to be the more recent Street Countdown.

What’s your favourite season of 5?

I’ve read the books but I’m only on Season Two of the show at the moment. However, I predict Season Three will be my favourite beacuse Alcide comes into it.  How shallow of me *sniggers and rubs thighs a la Vic Reeves*

How long have you watched 1?

When did it start? *Consults Wikipedia*…. 2006

How did you become interested in 3?

I liked her in other comedies and something about her manner makes me laugh very hard. You can  follow her on Twitter too @mermhart.  She’s currently writing the second series. Best scene was when she can’t cancel her gym membership and threatens to wee in the ball pool. I failed to find the clip. Brownie point  for whoever can.

Who’s your favourite actor in 4?

Richard Ayoade who plays Moss.  His facial expressions crack me up. He’s also Saboo in The Mighty Boosh, or for the purposes of this blogging malarkey, number 2.

Which show do you prefer? 1, 2, or 5?

Far too tough to call. I love them all in their own special way.

Which show have you seen more episodes of; 1 or 3

1 because there have been more episodes.

If you could be anyone from 4, who would you be?

I’d be Jen so I could work with Moss and Roy.

How would you kill off your favourite character in 1?

Owen was my favourite and he’s already been killed off

Would a 3/4 crossover work?

Oh yes, I’m sure it would.

Pair two characters in 1 that would make an unlikely, but strangely okay couple.

It’s pretty much anything goes at Torchwood anyway so any combo would work.

Has 5 inspired you in any way?

Yes. When I grow up I want to be a vampire and bite people.

Overall, which show has a better cast? 3 or 5?

5. True Blood, lots of  fit people.

Which has better theme music, 2 or 4?

True Blood- I wanna do bad things with you!

I must go now, got some telly to watch before the IT Crowd is on the telly and before I watch True Blood Season Two Episode 3 not exactly on the telly but on this here laptop. Then I’ll sleep so I can wake up and watch some telly.

Stacey Fielding Herveaux Hart x

Seven things that suck about Facebook

FDAs

Facebook Displays of Affection.

I love you.

I love you more.

I reaaalllly love you.

I love you so much.

Look how much we love each other. LOOK how much we love each other. Please look? Please?

Oh… they’ve split up now….

Political Views: BNP

Oh really? You feel the need to let people know you are an ignorant piece of sh*t? No probs, carry on…….Hitler was quite outspoken too apparently, never one to hide his views. Well done.

Copy and paste statuses

Horrible illness/child murder/current media bandwagon issue (delete as applicable). 93% of people on Facebook will not copy and paste this blah blah blah…

Does anyone really think that this makes any difference? If you really do  care about the issue just donate to the cause or do something positive about it. Write to your MP, protest, whatever,  just stop clogging up status updates with it.

See who has viewed your profile apps

They. Don’t. Work.

People who cheat at Scrabble

Please don’t play me. I hate cheats!  There is no point.

Teenagers with poor English (or even worse, older people)

Now some of the teenagers on my friends list are likely to also be my family but even so. Incorrect use of the English language is something that I cannot tolerate. Just try harder please. Get a dictionary if that will help.

Examples

wiv – It’s WITH

ent- I presume ain’t but I haven’t or have not would be better

ur – YOU ARE. Two words not two letters

av – HAVE

gd  – GOOD

agen – AGAIN

Don’t get me started on their, there and they’re, I’ll be here all night.

Alcohol

People who insist on telling everyone how drunk they are going to get on Friday night and then spend the weekend moaning about how depressed/hungover/ill they feel. Boring. What are you, 16??

I seem to have enjoyed this post quite a lot. This is annoying too Overuse of smiley faces. I like them though so if you have an issue with it  blog about it yourself.

Stace x

A tribute to my friend Anna

I had a rule that I would only add people I know personally to my Facebook friends. About 18 months ago I started playing a lot of Scrabble games with a girl called Anna. She lived in Manchester. After a while I added her as a friend. Anna was online a lot as she was in hospital because she had Cystic Fibrosis. It wasn’t something I knew too much about. When we were both online we’d talk on Chat and she’d tell me all about the different treatment she was having and let me know how her lungs were doing and also her weight. Being a bit silly like I am I would make her laugh and she would tell me off because it made her cough. She would tell me about her Mom and little sister, her friends and most of all her boyfriend Adam who stuck by her and made her so happy.

During her times in hospital she had to try and put on weight before they would let her home. As I am a foodie a lot of our conversations were about food. I would try and look out for high calorie food for her. She would always ask what I was cooking for dinner. We also had a running joke that one day she would come and stay in my spare room and it would be her feeding room. I would just cook for her and feed her up with loads of nice foods.  She was at her happiest when she was allowed home, or had the anticipation of knowing she may go home soon.  She had to fight a few times and each time she defied the doctors and pulled through. Such a fighter. I’m sure her spirit kept her going longer than most could.

On Saturdays we would be on Chat and we would watch the same TV programmes and talk about them. X Factor and that Wipeout game. Funny.

A few months before my 30th birthday she asked me what I would be doing for it. I said I wasn’t really looking forward to being 30 but I was trying to decide whether to just sit in a dark room and be depressed or have a fat party.  Anna said that she had told her Mom she wanted a 30th party whether she was there for it or not. She knew that there was a good chance that she would not make it that far. This conversation decided me. How stupid was it to be worried about being another year older. I realised we should just all be grateful to be here and healthy. I invited Anna of course, we knew she wouldn’t be well enough to come but I had a great night with my family and friends and she sent me a great card.

Despite being in and out of hospital (mostly in) for the time I knew her she was always good to talk to. Less negative and miserable than a lot of the people who post things on Facebook . She made me realise how people need to get a grip, not moan on about bad hair days or baggy eyes or hangovers as some do!! Sometimes she would get a bit down and then apologise! I would tell her off, she had the right to get a bit upset about it all.  I think she just wanted to keep everyone else happy and didn’t want to show that she was scared or unhappy. Most of the time I was just amazed that she could be so happy and positive when she was facing such unfairness.

On Friday 27th November 2009 I was out for the night and Anna left me a message on my Wall.

hi hun.. i need your feeding room soon, trying to eat but its hard work.. when i get out of here stacey’s feeding room is where i heading next! we need a chat soon lots of love xxx

I didn’t see it until I got home just before I went to sleep so I left replying until morning.

When I logged on in the morning I replied to her message. Her friend Kate then came online and told me that she had passed away in the night. She was 22 years old.

Although I knew that it could happen I was still shocked and I was also shocked at how incredibly gutted I was. The unfairness of it more than anything.

However, Anna would not want us moping around. She has such good friends and family and a great boyfriend and they all pulled together. It was Anna’s wish that pink balloons be released for her. On the day of her funeral I walked up the hill at Elmdon Park and released a balloon for her. I think she will have been watching.

Last week I had a message off Anna’s boyfriend Adam. Anna had left a box of things for different people. He had found a letter that she had written to me but he needed my address. He sent it on to me and I got it this morning.

She wrote me a lovely letter in a card saying how she was glad Scrabble had brought us together and how much I had cheered her up and made her laugh. She said she knew that if I was reading it that it meant she wasn’t with us anymore but that I should smile like this : ).  So I cried a bit and smiled too. Happy that she wanted to write to me and that I had made a little difference to her days (and Saturday nights!).

There is a donation page in Anna’s memory. If you can spare a couple of quid please do.

http://www.justgiving.com/Adam-Harris1

Anna, you are a star, thank you for all the smiles and laughs most of all the lesson that we should all cherish every moment and not sweat the little things.

I hope if you are reading this that you can learn from Anna too.

Keep smiling, like this

Peace, love, empathy

Stace x

Seven things that rock about Facebook

Keeping in touch with my close family and friends

Non-Facebookers may say why can’t you just speak on the phone or see them in person? Well I am busy and I will see people as much as I can in real life but I like to keep in touch in between these times as well.

Keeping in touch with my old friends and work mates

Some may be afar now or I may be unlikely to see them socially but I still quite like to speak to them and know that they are doing OK.

Scrabble

I’ve always loved Scrabble and when the application was added to Facebook it was very joyous. Come and play with me. Making words is cool.

Being nosy

I like to nose on what other people are up to. Pure and simple.

Silly Games

I am a sucker for them. At the moment it’s all about Cafe World,  Zoo World and My City Life. Past obsessions include Car IQ, Rollercoaster Kingdom, Farmville,  Farkle, Geo Challenge, ….you get the gist.

Promoting the business

As well as the website (shameless plugging below!)  having a Facebook page for Inspire has been really good for letting people know what we’re offering and for inviting people to our events etc.

http://www.facebook.com/InspireHealthandMind

http://www.inspirehealthandmind.co.uk

Status updates

Sometimes inane, sometimes funny, sometimes just good for the aforementioned nosey parker in me. They can also help you  to see how you can wheedle down your friends list, but then I am veering into ‘Seven things that suck about Facebook’ which will be coming soon.

Happy Friday everyone, I’m off to check my Zoo.

Peace, love, empathy,

Stace x