In the early hours of Wednesday 16th May, 8,000 hand-made clay figures appeared around Manchester’s busiest streets, designed to reflect the rushed, early morning commutes made by those who were most likely to find them.

The public were encouraged to take away the figures for their own enjoyment and share their thoughts, films and photos online. As such, word spread very quickly on twitter of their existence, with many people tweeting pictures and details of their locations, so much so the hashtag #littleclaymen began trending.

The models, designed by artist Lawrence Epps were placed around the city as part of an exhibition, at the Future Everything festival at MOSI, which celebrates the latest developments in art, music and technology. Lawrence had previously created similar artwork in London and Stoke.

Whilst many had no idea about their existence and merely stumbled across this brilliant piece of the exhibition, many were actively on the hunt for them, following tweets from MOSI and FutureEverything as to their impending arrival on the streets. The response was incredible, urging workers to use their lunch breaks to scour areas in which they had been spotted, and taking them as desk mascots!

The little clay men succeeded in raising awareness of the festival, creating chatter and interest in the build up to the event.

It remains to be seen how successful the little clay men were in directly driving footfall. What they have accomplished, however, is successfully allowing the public to interact with the festival, taking it out of the confines of the museum and firing up the imagination of the public.

(Image courtesy of www.sykey.org)

I watched Kony 2012 over the weekend. The video posted on YouTube by US advocacy group Invisible Children, had been shared by many a friend on my Facebook wall during the past week, telling me to ‘just watch it’, so I did just that.

Fascinating piece of propaganda it is too. If you are not one of the 80 million + who has already viewed the 30 min long film on You Tube, here’s a brief synopsis:

Jason Russell visited Uganda 10 years ago and ever since has worked tirelessly to raise the profile of the LRA- a rebel group led by Joseph Kony responsible for the abduction of thousands of children to build his guerrilla army in central Africa. After setting up Invisible Children, Russell’s efforts were eventually acknowledged by the U.S. government who agreed to deploy special forces to support the Ugandan army in efforts to track down Kony so that he can be brought to justice. ‘Kony 2012’ was created in Russell’s own words to “make Kony famous”, citing that as long as people know who Joseph Kony is, the US will continue their military support in central Africa until he is found. The video says it will only be streamed for 2012.

Watching the video you are encouraged to make donations to the cause, buy a trackable bracelet and on April 20^th take part in an activity called ‘Blanket The Night’, in which we will all wake up in the morning to find our cities plastered with images of Kony.

What’s fascinating is how the whole episode is now escalating. Jason Russell has suffered from an incredibly public nervous breakdown in the midst of all the hype/ criticism. Meanwhile, Ugandan Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi has gone on the PR offensive using the same social media platforms stressing that Kony is no longer in the country, bizarrely tweeting celebs including Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, inviting them to visit.

Regardless of your political view, thoughts about the creator, and opinions on the cause, it’s an extraordinary story to follow and an astonishing demonstration of the power of social media. Jason Russell has literally got the world talking- who could have predicted to what effect?

It’s going to be very interesting to see what happens on April 20^th. I’ll be honest, I’m probably not going to make a donation, nor buy a bracelet, neither will I be getting up at 3am to stick a poster up in Beech Road park. But I am now aware who Kony is. Objective achieved.

Google+, remember that? It’s still there you know, although you are statistically less likely to know it if you’re a) not male or b) not a geek. It seems mad to suggest that with over 20m users the platform is not considered a popular social network, but with Facebook’s active users amounting to 800m and counting only a deluded Googler would dare declare Google + a contender for the world’s most popular social networking site..

What I’d like to suggest though is that Google has contributed hugely to our social experience, even those of you who aren’t aware of Google+.

Something Borrowed and Something New

Quite simply for every intelligent Google + feature that seems to get good feedback from the community Facebook has rolled out something similar.

So Google has circles to allow users to decide what information they see and where it’s inherently an intelligent privacy model too. To match this Facebook rolled out various features including a Subscribe button allows you to mute certain friends without them knowing (just as putting them in a ‘ignore’ circle on Google+) . Smart lists were introduced allowing a user to see a specific subset of their friends, typical circles on Google+ have been ‘friends’, ‘co-workers’, ‘In the neighbourhood’ and ‘College friends’ and these same subsets are the default smart lists on the new Facebook profile. Importantly the privacy model has changed. Privacy settings are now inline with each post allowing you to modify exactly who you share each post with- you’ll never guess where else this exists.  Google +? Yes. The company made privacy a fundamental cornerstone of its product ( I blogged about it here), I’m delighted that Facebook reacted.

Another feature to have been borrowed is improved image settings. Given how huge sharing photos is to the community (not least to brands) it was about time the presentation received a little attention. Images are larger and displayed at a higher resolution, mimicking Google+’s brilliant work on the photo front. Alongside geeks, Google+ is beloved by the photography community.

Facebook’s blog details each feature in an insightful blog, although there’s no mention of where the inspiration lies.

Adapt and Evolve

What I hope is that Facebook continues to borrow and consequently offer an improved service. How else can they progress if there isn’t a competitor? The impending timeline switch is coming soon and once the hubbub dies down it will be a welcome feature that allows users (and eventually brands) to tell a more complete story.

The latest Google+ feature is the creative kit which allows users to apply filters to their images and ‘auto-fix’ them. With the popularity of Instagram, Hipstomatic and the new Flickr app it can’t be too far away, it’s my bet it will be introduced by Christmas.

‘The Devil Wears Prada’ gave us an ‘unofficial’ hint as to what it would be like to work in the glossy fashion mecca that is Vogue, depicting scenes of backstabbing, designer clothes, bitching and beautiful people – Conde Nast may have thought that with the movie done and dusted, the public’s curiosity into the famously cut throat world of fashion had wained…. Then, along came @condeelevator!

The tweets claimed to be accounts of conversations overheard~ in the lift of Vogue’s HQ in New York sent out jus 36 tweets but managed to amass 68,485  followers (to date), all looking for an insight into the everyday life of the ridiculously stylish.

The tweets were hilariously entertaining, and whether they were real (which appears to be the case as they have stopped – before the fashion police could catch them!) or fabricated, in my movie-tinged mind, that is exactly how Vogue US is. “Woman #1 to Woman #2, holding an omelet: “What’s the occasion?” Woman #2: “…huh?” Woman #1: “I would need an occasion to eat that.”

A Conde Nast spokeswoman said in an statement to ABCNews.com ”We have no idea if this is real or made up and don’t know who is behind it but it certainly suggests that many people care a great deal about what happens at Conde Nast.”

Vogue’s reputation has survived untarnished by the 2006 movie, and the 2009 September issue documentary that depicted Anna Wintour as a bit of an ice queen (I love you Anna!), so I hardly think that this twitter insight would do them any harm, but nonetheless, @Condeelevator account has died a twitter death, with the last tweet stating “Girl or Guy #1 [in elevator alone]: This got really crazy. Love my job. Better stop. #sorry”

Hopefully that’s not the end… what I’d do to be a fashionable fly on that  elevator wall!

Google+’s system of sharing information is a refined (if not quite intuitive) and intelligent application of something we’ve been doing here at Democracy PR for some time: sharing the right information with the right people.

Whereas Facebook’s privacy settings are lax by default and continue to be until you adjust the settings, Google’s model of sharing permits us, encourages even, to share with the right people. Placing people into your private circles (no one but you is aware of which circle you put them into) allows you to define separate groups with whom you can share content. You may have circles for colleagues and friends (depending on how happy you are at work there may well be some crossover here!) or groups for distinct people; The boss, The wife and the kids maybe?

Share and Share a ‘Like’

Now, as an agency with real strength in social media we’re unsurprisingly well-versed in sharing carefully online. We’re all huge advocates of twitter in the office but unless we create two profiles, or more, it’s difficult to find one voice to manage all your followers. We introduced a hashtag, #dpr, to differentiate work and industry related tweets from all other stuff, be it reality t.v., rants about public transport or poor customer service, and nights out. While it doesn’t remedy the difficulties of managing a mix of followers it’s certainly a smarter way to manage the content on our twitter feed on the website.

The web is littered with stories of employees who have tweeted inappropriate messages due to a mix up between personal and professional profiles. Just as when a Red Cross social media specialist tweeted about getting drunk from the Red Cross account and the tweet exploded. Searching for the Red Cross Twitter account? You’ll likely see the negative story just as quickly as the twitter account on a Google search results page. To avoid any such confusion I am very careful about linking client accounts and my personal accounts to the same twitter client. I have opted to use twitter’s very own android app to manage clients and Hootsuite for my own tweeting!

Billy No-Mates

Facebook is similar and potentially more problematic. Using the platform as we do in several guises for various clients it would be difficult to use our normal public profiles to manage various profesional brand pages, instead we create separate professional identities to manage them. I masquerade online as a professional billy no-mates, but one that has still got his job.

That Google+ immediately solves these issues is a huge boon and furthermore demonstrates that the search giant has privacy at its core; or as a cynic might claim, realises that privacy is the key to users and therefore revenue. I’ve been trialling circles for over three weeks now and i’m really taken by the service and enthusiastic about the introduction of business accounts.

Is Rio Ferdinand the UK’s Ashton Kutcher? We know he’s got an app, it probably won’t be long ’til he gets a twitter client to match @aplusk

Whether it’s for Manchester United gossip, a mention in his ‘#ff aka follow ferdy’, a chance to win a free meal at his restaurant or a signed shirt giveaway I imagine he is the sole reason that thousands of people have signed up to Twitter.

Rio, @rioferdy5, is also credited with encouraging many of his Manchester United team mates, past and present, to sign up to the micro-blogging service and this has unquestionably generated headline news. A 2-hour appearance on Twitter from Darren Gibson, the headline-hitting Rooney saga (he offered out a fan) or the put downs of Piers Morgan and fellow footballer Robbie Savage.

I realise many of those in the creative industries will lament trivial gossip or footballers and ‘the like’ being on Twitter but I believe Rio’s account is a good example for other mainstream celebs to follow. He isn’t afraid to give his opinion, which is refreshing in a media-wary football landscape, encourages debate, and supports the United youth team.

Let’s hope that he ignores Sir Alex Ferguson’s advice and doesn’t go to a library and read a book instead!

——————update—————–

Perhaps I jinxed him but Rio has made a faux-pas to rival Wayne Rooney’s fan threat by sending a threatening message to a journalist! Oliver Holt, the Daily Mirro’s chief sports writer decalred that he received a furious meesage from Rio Ferdinand following criticism of him on Twitter.

I think it’s time I found myself a new role model in Twitter, Wayne Rooney?

Julia Donaldson, author of the bestselling children’s book ‘The Gruffalo’ explained in an interview with The Guardian over the weekend, how she has refused permission for her award winning title to be published as an eBook, citing that if every publication was available electronically this would add to the decline of ‘real books’.

Now I could sit here and give you are number of positive arguments about how the ebook is the next big thing (there are certainly some fans in this office) etc but really, there is one overriding issue.

Liz Thomson, editor of the website BookBrunch was also quoted “There’s a lot of stuff at the moment that we’re doing because we can. It’s a question of whether you can really add value to the story”. What she says here rings true, and highlights the importance of assessing what media is right for not only books, but indeed any brand/product/service, and not necessarily jumping on the bandwagon because everyone else is doing it.

Social/digital media IS for everyone, but choosing the right platform is fundamental, and some will deliver better than others depending on what message you are trying to get across.  Essentially it should not be seen as a replacement, but as an enhancement working in harmony with more traditional communications.

Spotify has recently been valued at $1bn following a recent drive for investment and for me it brings some sanity to the current digital media market that has seen big social media sites receive valuations that seem to be based on guesswork alone.

Happily Spotify bucks this trend as it seems to be well monetized. Guaranteeing no advertising ‘wastage’ and offering a unique mix of audio and visual formats are huge revenue-generating tools. Spotify also offer their premium service which allows users  to avoid ads thereby generating money from people wishing to avoid ads they generate money from!

Now while I’m a complete convert to twitter’s microblogging service I don’t understand where the revenue is! Yes there’s a huge reach, but will Promoted Tweets bring in the dough? Does twitter have a viable business model to explain its recent valuation of £6bn on this year’s predicted sales of just £67m?

Perhaps I shouldn’t worry and just thank my lucky stars that there are seemingly plenty of backers willing to pay big money.

Here’s a video that asks a similar question

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZRd-xX5zk0A (check out the rise of Groupon)

Maybe you disagree? I don’t pretend to be an expert on the subject so if you can show me the light then I welcome your comments below, but beware-i’m charging 10p per comment!

The FA have handed out their first charge over the use of twitter by a footballer. Disgruntled Liverpool player, Ryan Babel, tweeted a picture of Howard Webb the referee, who presided somewhat controversially over the FA Cup tie, wearing a Manchester United shirt following his team’s loss to the Red Devils.

What the incident demonstrates is the Football Association’s fear of twitter. The twittersphere was awash with posts about Howard Webb’s performance mostly hashtagged ‘MBE’, Manchester’s Best Employee, so Ryan Babel was merely echoing sentiments. I think that the FA has missed a trick; football stars recently have caused upset, distrust and hate in equal measure with news of affairs, greed and selfishness, footballers on the micro-blogging service remain the one accessible and likeable link between the paying fans and the players on the pitch. Rather than charge Babel they should have lauded him for great photoshop skills and let him off with a warning.

Robbie Savage and Rio Ferdinand present an interesting insight to a footballer’s life. Jokes and banter are crucial to keeping fans onside following a string of bad publicity stories for former favourites like Wayne Rooney and John Terry and poor performances by England. Lay out some guidelines by all means but don’t frighten stars into signing-off twitter.