Thursday, January 8, 2009

Top 10 Oddly Entertaining Twitter Moments

1. http://www.vimeo.com/1426538.
Actress Felecia Day of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Bring It On was in attendance at a Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog panel. She had a part in the internet musical, and the stars were in attendance to talk about the movie. When asked a question, however, Felecia appeared caught off guard -- then admitted she had been “twittering” under the table. Laughs ensued (come on, you know your mind went there too), and her reaction just makes you want to give her a hug... or two.
2. http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/01/twits-get-phish.html
First, let’s set the record straight: the Britney Spears and Barack Obama tweets sent out by a hacker – not so funny. However, while we do not in any way condone phishing of any type, the Bill O’Reilly “is gay” tweet just has to make even the diehard Fox News fan chuckle  – especially when you imagine the rage that inevitable followed .
3. http://mashable.com/2008/10/31/great-twitter-moments/
So a girl is on a date, thinking everything is going great. Conversation flows, laughs are shared and a follow-up is already planned. Since he mentioned he is a Twitterer, she logs on to thank him for an evening well spent – only to discover every time she got up from the table, he was tweeting about how, well, not great you are. Sound like a nightmare? It happened to Andrea (real name and Twitter ID withheld). Moral of the story? Aw, heck who cares… let’s just leave it at this: he's not going home to mother.
4. http://twitter.com/MeanBot
For those out of the loop, Twitter Bots are Twitter users that basically generate information, whether that be by request or just whenever it becomes available. There are Bots that give stock market updates, Bots remind you when you have an important meeting and Bots that tell you how much you should tip. But there is one that stands out from the pack – it is guaranteed to make you laugh (ok, or cringe). With the moniker of MeanBot, it should be no surprise that comments include“…is wondering: Why is it that most nudists are people you don't want to see naked” and “…has teeth that are so yellow that when she smiles the cars start to slow down.” Follow at your own risk.
5. http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2008/11/girl-in-your-shirt/
Girl in Your Shirt like the classier sister whole of the “getting tattoos of a company’s name for major moolah” craze. For as little as $75, Jenae will wear your company’s T-shirt, talk about your company, and create promotional postings for Twitter (as well as Flickr, YouTube and various others). While the idea might seem crazy, it has taken off like crazy – and even spawned some copycats (yes, Jason Sadler, we are talking about you). Getting paid to wear T-shirts might seem funny… but don’t you wish you had thought of that?
6. http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/12/getting-fired-at-yahoo-a-twitter-log-reprise
Instead of going out to the bars for three nights straight like some might do when fired, Ryan Kuder decided to make his experience enjoyable to others by tweeting about it. During a time most others would be maintaining a delicate balance between rage and fear, he released such gems as “On the plus side, my commute just got a lot shorter,” and “Thanks to everyone sending the positive tweets. I've got plenty of free time now so just let me know if you want to meet up for lunch.”
7. http://garyvaynerchuk.com/2008/04/02/april-3rd-2008-is-good-people-day-pass-it-on/
Here’s a trend with a heart: April 3, 2008 was deemed “Good People Day” by Internet celebrity Gary Vaynerchuk. He thought it was due time to give credit to those people who are important but might not get told they are appreciated. Gary told others to use various forms of social media (hello, Twitter!) to sing the praises of the great people in their lives. Using the idea that “we are the media,” he pushed others to take control – and that they did, as the day was a success. (Thanks to Doriano Carta at Mashable for this one! http://mashable.com/2008/12/19/twitter-2008/)
8. http://lordmatt.co.uk/item/1219/
The Lord Matt Borg is another attempt at a Twitter experiment, though this one is less game-oriented and more, shall we say, alter ego focused. Lord Matt (I kid you not) created this account to showcase how it works when you try to completely automate social networking profiles and responses. Matt hopes the Bot will eventually @reply and make sense, as well as be seen as fun and useful – much like himself, though less cool, of course. This is one experiment worth following.
9. http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/16/a-funny-moment-at-the-flickr-party-tonight/
Michael Arrington was @ a flickr party when Dan Farber, editor in chief of CNET, mentioned he recieved an e-mail saying his company bought another for $58 million. The report came from a post seen on Twitter and was definitely news to him, so he and others at the party began making some calls, sending e-mails and contacting people at Digg. The rumor was squashed, but it was enough to send the party into a downward spiral for a handful of people – and enough to bring some Twitter ridicule to the man who posted the rumor that sent shockwaves. (We will have some pity on the poor guy and leave him unnamed!)
10. http://colorwar2008.com/March 2008 brought about the launch of an experiment by Zefrank. The premise for Color Wars was simple: internet teams compete for prizes (a la color wars at summer camp – remember that?). Hundreds of teams formed, and games such a rap battle remixes and scavenger hunts quickly became all the rage. However, the sensation was short lived and chaos ensued – bringing an end to what might have been the supreme adult playground. (Thanks again, Gary! http://mashable.com/2008/12/19/twitter-2008/)