Tag Archives | Twitter

Hey Mikeyy! You're Making Twitter Miserable!

Posted by Harry McCracken on April 13, 2009 at 2:10 am

mikeyThis has not been a good weekend at Twitter, where a series of worms has been annoying the heck out of people by infecting their accounts and sending out fake tweets under their name. The first one promoted a Twitter-like site called StalkDaily; others make reference to Mikeyy, who’s supposedly StalkDaily’s 17-year-old proprietor and the perpetrator of at least some of the worms. Twitter says they’re on the case, but as I write this, the fraudulent Mikeyy-related Tweets are still coming fast and furious, including ones with links which, if clicked, infect the viewer:

Mikeyy Tweets

The attacks leverage a JavaScript cross-site scripting vulnerability, so you’re probably at risk no matter what browser and OS you use. Here’s some advice on avoiding the worm(s) and getting rid of them if you’ve been infected. (Sounds like the single most important piece of advice is to use Twitter via a third-party client like TweetDeck or Tweetie rather than at Twitter.com itself.)

If Mikeyy is real, is seventeen, and is behind these attacks, he’s like a lot of seventeen-year-olds I’ve known–really smart and really dumb at the same time. Here’s hoping he doesn’t get away with it. I’m not sure what the proper punishment is, but more and more, I think that the Internet needs some sort of virtual stockade to enable the painful public humiliation of those who screw it up for the rest of us:

stockade

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Is Twitter Overhyped? A Debate. (Please Join It!)

Posted by David Worthington and Harry McCracken on April 9, 2009 at 4:18 pm

T-Debate[A NOTE FROM HARRY: Introducing a new Technologizer feature–T-Debates! In this inaugural one, Dave Worthington and I have at it about the value of Twitter–he’s doubtful it has much at all, while I’m a Twitter optimist. But we’re mainly doing this in hopes that you’ll continue the conversation in comments, whatever your stance.]

David Worthington begins:

The Twitter fad is so oversaturated that someone has to say “enough already.” Twitter must either make money and prove that it has a viable purpose, or accept a fair market valuation to be acquired and become a part of something that’s more interesting.

There are times when Twitter is useful, and it unquestionably has millions of users who do like it. It is a handy tool for journalists who cover events, it helps companies and celebrities connect with people, and can wrap multiple parties into a conversation.

Beyond those few use cases, I question what’s the point? It solves a question that nobody asked, and feeds the narcissism that pervades our culture.

Twitter has been over extended and over used. George Stephanopoulos’s gimmicky Twitter “interview” with former U.S. Presidential candidate John McCain was especially pointless.

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Twitterers: Don't Expect Privacy When You Squat a Brand Name.

Posted by Ed Oswald on April 8, 2009 at 9:57 am

twitterlogoThere is a bit of hub-bub on the net right now over Twitter’s actions surrounding the release of contact information regarding an account that had been registered to the Skype brand name by a former employee of the company. Apparently, the VoIP provider found out that it couldn’t tweet under its own name because somebody already owned it.

The user id @skype was registered to Stephanie Robesky, a former employee of the company who is now with venture capital firm Atomico, started by the former Skype founders. According to her own account, while at the company she registered the name and told someone in marketing “who ignored her,” according to TechCrunch Europe.

Robesky then says she forgot about the account, and only was reminded of her ownership of the account when a Skype employee contacted her about the account. Twitter had released her contact information, which included an @skype.net email address, which obviously was no longer valid.

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Twitter Will Be Down a Lot More, Count On It.

Posted by Ed Oswald on April 7, 2009 at 8:27 pm

failwhale_smUs twitterers are used to seeing Mr. Failwhale. We’ll be getting accustomed to seeing him a lot more if the traffic statistics released by comScore late Tuesday are any indication. Traffic to the microblogging site has nearly doubled in just the past 60 days.

Worldwide, nearly 10 million unique visitors came to Twitter during the month of February, up from around 5 million in December 2008. Year over year, the service has registered a 700 percent increase in traffic, says comScore.

Some may think our youth are driving this growth as they seem to be the most apt to employ social networking tools. That is not true, says the firm. The majority of the growth in Twitter is being driven by the 25-54 age group, with the 45-54 segment the most likely to be visiting the site.

That may seem odd to many, but consider the rapid growth in twittering by professionals. It’s a pretty safe bet that most of these folks are above the age of 25, and many will likely be quite a bit beyond that.

comScore doesn’t have data ready for March yet, but it says it appears to be another “huge” month for Twitter.

Either way, the increased strain of more tweets is likely going to bring the failwhale around much more often. While the site has made some effort to improve capacity and its code, its no escaping the system was not built for the way users employ it (the company itself has admitted that fact).

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Coming May 31st: A Conference About Twitter for Business

Posted by Harry McCracken on April 6, 2009 at 9:58 am

TWTRCONI’m happy to report that Technologizer is helping Modern Media plan TWTRCON SF 09, a conference on how businesses can join the world of Twitter to make their customers happier, at San Francisco’s Hotel Nikko on May 31st. I’m happy about it because I think it’s a good idea–and I think it’s a good idea because…well, it was my idea.

Among the confirmed TWTRCON speakers are Porter Gale of Virgin America, Seth Greenberg of Intuit, DanceJam founder MC Hammer, Twitterville author Shel Israel, Silicon Valley renaissance man Dave McClure, and PR blogger Steve Rubel. The event is cohosted by Gina Smith and Modern Media’s Tonia Ries. And I’ll be there too, providing the official Twitter feed of the day’s doings.

I’m looking forward to attending the event, sharing ideas, meeting people, and–most of all–learning from it. If you’re going to be there, lemme know. And you can keep tabs on news about the conferencing by following @TWTRCON at Twitter.

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How Would You Market Windows?

Posted by Harry McCracken on April 6, 2009 at 12:22 am

Technologizer on TwitterOver in the comments on my post about Microsoft’s new “Giampaolo ad,” blogger/Microsoft employee Bob Caswell asked me how I’d market Windows. I didn’t give a full-blown answer–hey, I’m grateful that it’s not my problem. I was, however, inspired to pose the same question to my pals over on Twitter (where I’m @harrymccracken and a feed of all Technologizer stories is available at @technologizer). After the jump, you can see what they (and a Facebook friend or three) had to say.
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