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Winnipeg Man Live-Tweeting Marriage Proposal

April 13, 2012 10:51 AM in News • 1 Comment

Mike Duerksen will be live-tweeting his marriage proposal to his girlfriend. (TWITTER)

Duerksen and "J." enjoy a breakfast at Stella's Cafe and Bakery on Friday -- their first stop of the day. (INSTAGR.AM)

A Winnipeg man is proposing to his girlfriend with the virtual eyes of Twitter on him today.

Mike Duerksen is live-tweeting his marriage proposal over the span of 12 hours to his girlfriend, simply referred to as “J.”

“Today, I’m proposing to my girlfriend,” Duerksen said in a tweet at about 8 a.m. on Friday. “I’ll be using the hashtag #MikeProposes. You can follow along!”

Throughout the day, Duerksen — a communications coordinator for a local non-profit organization — will be taking his girlfriend to eight locations that have significance to their relationship.

The day will end with a bonfire at around 8:30 p.m. at the place where Duerksen first asked her out.

“Now, to address a few questions: Yes, I’m aware it’s Friday the 13th. No, she’s not on twitter. Yes, I think she’ll say yes,” Duerksen said.

How will this all turn out? Follow along at #MikeProposes.

UPDATE: Congratulations, Mike!

Folks, she said yes! #MikeProposes

— Mike Duerksen (@mikeduerksen) April 14, 2012

Social Media Libel Cases on the Rise in the U.K.

August 30, 2011 07:40 AM in News • 0 Comments

Posted by Sarah Klein

Be mindful of what you tweet, you may end up in court.

According to new data released from UK-based law firm Sweet and Maxwell, the number of social media-related libel cases is on the rise. While still low, the number of cases in the UK jumped from three in 2008-09 to seven in 2009-10.

“The rise in defamation cases linked to the internet is inevitable if Internet users like bloggers or tweeters fail to put in place the same kind of pre-publication controls that traditional media uses,” said Korieh Duodu, a lawyer at the law firm, in a statement to Silicon.com.

Once defamatory content is posted on such sites, it’s hard to have it completely removed. Users can quickly retweet the message to their followers, potentially reaching tens of thousands of people in mere minutes.

Social media experts suggest enlisting the help of a digital monitoring service to inform you when your name has appeared online. An easy (and free) suggestion is Google Alerts. Signing up will alert you when someone has mentioned your name.

While defamation causes for words spewed online remain relatively low for the general public, celebrities and sports stars filed 11 cases in 2008-09, and 30 in 2009-10, according to Sweet and Maxwell.

Winnipeg Tweeps to Meet for Social Media Gathering

August 24, 2011 06:26 AM in News • 0 Comments

Local Twitter users will meet up tonight for Social Media Manitoba’s Hootup (Tweetup IV).

The frequent gatherings are a great way to meet Winnipeg Twitter users and put a face to some of the names in the city’s social media scene.

Tonight’s gathering will be held at 4Play Sports Bar, 323 Portage Avenue, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

At last check, nearly 60 people had RSVP’d to attend.

Competitive Tweeting — Newest ‘Sport’ at 2012 Olympics

July 28, 2011 07:45 AM in News • 0 Comments

Posted by Brian Schultz

The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games won’t only be competitive in-person, but also online.

The website for the Games has launched an interactive contest meant to pit competing country’s fans against each other.

The contest will seek to see which top 20 countries have the biggest online fan base based on tweets, YouTube videos and Flickr photos submitted.

Great Britain is currently in the lead with 20,000 tweets, followed by Brazil, the U.S., Canada and the Netherlands.

Fans can get involved by using the hashtag #1YearToGo while tweeting Olympic-related topics, followed by their three-letter country code.

The opening ceremony of the London Games is July 27, 2012.

Twitter Usage High Among Canadian Internet Users

July 14, 2011 07:48 AM in News • 1 Comment

Canadians love Twitter — that much is obvious. What became clear this week is exactly how much they love it.

According to a study conducted by BBM Analytics for CBC/Radio-Canada, Canadians’ Internet usage has grown rapidly over the last few years, including their involvement on social networking sites. English-speaking Twitter users averaged about 33.4 hours online a week, while francophones were at 23.8 hours.

The report suggests the average English Internet user was online 17.1 hours a week in the fall of 2010, up from 4.8 hours in 1997. Francophone numbers were also up — about 12.7 hours a week, up from 4.1 hours in 1997.

Other tidbits in the survey revealed the country’s heaviest Internet users are younger, live in Toronto or Montreal, have higher incomes or take public transit.

The increase in numbers is mainly attributed to the rise in smartphone and tablet use, along with the ability to consume more content online than ever before.

– With files from BBM.ca

Google’s +1 Button Receiving More Attention Than Tweet Button

July 10, 2011 07:25 AM in News • 0 Comments

A lot of talk this week regarding social media has been centred around Google+.

The new social network, that’s regarded as Facebook’s competition, has made some headway in its short period of time, but to Twitter’s disadvantage, not Facebook’s.

According to newly released statistics, Google’s +1 button has seen more use than Twitter’s ‘tweet’ button in the roughly one month it’s been available.

BrightEdge, an SEO platform provider, looked at 10,000 large websites and discovered 4.4% of them use the +1 button, compared to 3.4% using Twitter’s button.

However, compared to Facebook, Google and Twitter don’t match up when it comes to implementation across the Internet’s most popular sites.

The “Like” button, sometimes reading “Recommend,” is found on 20% of front pages for the same 10,000 websites that were surveyed.

Athletes Free to Tweet During 2012 Olympics

June 28, 2011 07:48 AM in News • 0 Comments

Athletes won’t have to fear any penalties while tweeting at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The Olympic Committee has set out guidelines for athletes to follow, but won’t completely ban them from using social media.

Among the guidelines are to use “first-person, diary-type formats,” stay away from vulgar language, and don’t report on events as a journalist would.

Athletes will also be allowed to upload photos when they tweet, but not audio or video from inside the venues. Doing any of the latter could earn an athlete a discharge from competing.

You can download the entire document outlining social media guidelines from Olympic.org. (PDF, 41 KB)

During the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, athletes could only blog. Back then, Twitter was relatively new and unfamiliar to the Olympic governing body.

News Café to Host ‘Social Media Day’ June 29

June 23, 2011 07:58 AM in News • 0 Comments

Social media mavens will be tweeting their hearts out during Social Media Day 2011 on June 29.

The Winnipeg Free Press Café at 237 McDermot Avenue will host the event from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Speakers for the afternoon include Free Press deputy editor online John White at 2:15 p.m., John McDonald of Canada’s Web Shop at 2:45 p.m., and Keith Bilous of ICUC Moderation Services at 3:15 p.m.

Those who can’t make it — as it is taking place during a weekday afternoon — can follow the chatter on Twitter under the hashtag #SMD2011.

Food and drinks will be served.

Facebook and Twitter Banned by Name in French Media

June 7, 2011 07:02 AM in News • 2 Comments

French television and radio personalities are now forbidden to say the words “Facebook” and “Twitter” unless they directly relate to a story.

The rule comes down from the CSA, France’s strict broadcasting authority.

French broadcasters will no longer be able to use phrases such as, “Follow us on Twitter,” or “Like us on Facebook.” The decree was handed down on May 27, and prohibits surreptitious advertising over the airwaves, unless the company in question has paid to have their name mentioned.

Social media advocates have spoken out on the ruling, saying the decree is outdated and shouldn’t apply in this day in age.

A spokesperson for the CSA told The Associated Press the decision is fair, and is a way of not giving Facebook or Twitter free press or favouritism, due to the other number of social networks on the Internet that are struggling for recognition.

French television broadcasters also regularly blur out logos and business names that are shown in the background of stories for the same reason.

Osama bin Laden’s Impact on the Web

May 3, 2011 07:39 AM in News • 0 Comments

How much of an impact did the death of Osama bin Laden have on the Internet late Sunday and into Monday? Quite the impact according to those who monitor such things.

A record 12.4 million tweets were being sent per hour after the news of Osama bin Laden's death broke. (TWITTER)

A record 12.4 million tweets were sent following the news of bin Laden’s death. Before President Barack Obama’s speech at 10 p.m. CT, users were sending 5,106 tweets per second, according to Twitter. Following the president’s remarks, 5,008 tweets were being sent per second.

The numbers aren’t surprising considering news of bin Laden’s death first broke on Twitter, followed by traditional TV media picking up the story several minutes later.

Keith Urbahn, the former chief of staff for former U.S. defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, was credited with sending out the first tweet about bin Laden’s death.

“So I’m told by a reputable person they have killed Osama Bin (sic) Laden. Hot Damn.,” the tweet from @keithurbahn read.

As for the Internet as a whole, service providers were sluggish to keep up with the fast pace of events unfolding on what would usually be a low period for online use.

A graph shows the number of Internet page views on Sunday night and early Monday morning follow the news of Osama bin Laden's death. (AKAMAI)

According to Akamai’s Net Usage Index, 4.1 million page views were tracked at about 10:30 p.m. CT on Sunday. The numbers symbolize a 28% increase in North America traffic, and a 24% increase globally.

Canadians Rank 6th in World for Twitter Use

April 28, 2011 07:42 AM in News • 0 Comments

Posted by Sarah Klein

Canadians seem to be Twitter addicts, according to new data.

Canadian usage on the social networking website — where users pound out 140-character messages one tweet at a time — is among the highest in the world.

Online tracking firm comScore Inc. says nearly one in five Canadians who use the Internet are also on Twitter (aged 15 and over).

Canada ranks sixth among other countries, with 18% of Canadians using the site.

The data also shows Canadians are the most frequent users of the professional networking site LinkedIn at 15.6%.

Local Twitter Users to Meet for a ‘Tweetup’ Tonight

April 27, 2011 07:18 AM in News • 0 Comments

A group of Winnipeg Twitter users will meet up tonight for the second Social Media Manitoba Tweetup.

About 50 people are confirmed for the event at 4Play Sports Bar at 323 Portage Avenue.

The group held a similar event a few months ago, which brought out a large gathering of local ‘tweeps,’ as they’re called.

Tonight’s tweetup begins at 5:30 p.m.

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