TechWire

How many people really use Twitter for Irish political debate?

Is Twitter overblown as a mass medium? An analysis of Irish Twitter users indicates that there may be far fewer people using the medium for political discussion than has been commonly portrayed.

A Dublin-based research company, Knexsy, analysed tweets over seven days (October 20th to October 26th) to try and gauge the scale of commentary relating to the Irish presidential election on Twitter.

The company measured three ‘hashtag’ topics: #aras11 (the tag most commonly used in discussions about the election), #vinb (used for discussions relating to TV3’s Tonight With Vincent Browne programme) and #rtefl (used for discussions relating to RTE’s The Frontline programme).

The company found that there were 10,200 individual accounts that used the #aras11 hashtag between October 20th and October 26th. It also found that there were just over 60,000 tweets using the same hashtag in the same period.

10,200 people over a seven-day period is a relatively tiny number of people. It is equal to about 0.5 per cent of the national population and is a small fraction of the million people who, for example, buy a newspaper (or several newspapers) over the same seven-day period.

Knexsy also found that the number of individual accounts using the #vinb and #rtefl tags was less than 10,200. And it found that there was a “high incidence” of individual accounts using both #aras11 and either #vinb or #rtefl.

In other words, there were probably no more than 15,000 people engaging in discussions about the presidency using those tags.

This does not, of course, mean that the only people discussing the presidential contest were using those tags. Nor does it mean that the reach of those discussions was confined to 10,200 people or 15,000 people -- it is possible that many more people passively engaged with those discussions by reading tweets instead of writing them.

But it also opens the possibility that there really are not that many people tweeting at all.

Officially, Twitter does not disclose how many Irish user-accounts it has. But a conservative estimate would be at least 250,000 (more likely closer to 350,000 or even 400,000).

Those who laud Twitter’s influence say that it is not the overall numbers, but the profile of the users that gives Twitter its power. Editors, journalists, celebrities and other ‘influencers’ are fascinated by the medium and use it every day. Broadcast media, in particular, are enthralled by its detail.

There certainly could not have been a more effective demonstration of this than last Monday’s Frontline programme, when a tweet read out by Pat Kenny (about a press conference purportedly to be given by a Fianna Fail donor) set about a process that may cost Sean Gallagher the presidency.

Nevertheless, Knexsy’s analysis is timely and welcome. Maybe it’s time we reconsidered how important -- or not -- Twitter is to the national debate.

Why can't Irish education produce a Nobel laureate?

It's sad. There is little or no debate about quality in third-level education. It's all about access and free fees.

For example, how many patents do we file? How many world-class scholars do we produce? Any Nobel laureates? (And no, neither Seamus Heaney nor Brian Friel are products of the Irish education system.) How many students from abroad aspire to come to an Irish university as opposed to a British, American, French or Belgian one?

Think this doesn't matter? Tell me this, then: what university did Mark Zuckerberg go to? (Yes, that would be the guy who's increasing employment from 300 to 400 in his Dublin office.) Think someone from an Irish university is likely to found a world-beating company based on the creative/innovative environment there?

The lack of any interest in this area of Irish education -- both from political parties or from our 'sophisticated electorate' -- is a shame. But it probably reflects voters' priorities accurately. Ireland is not really ambitious. Sure, we're 'well-educated' compared to Romania and Albania. But we're not compared to Holland, Belgium and Denmark. And that doesn't even bother us: we're still kind of proud that we're not really poor and scraping and bowing before someone.

So a 'debate' on education is purely about fees and classroom sizes; it's not about producing world-class scholars, innovators or thinkers; it's about making sure middle-income people can afford two cars and two holidays because they've no third-level fees.  It's also about staving off illiteracy. (Reducing illiteracy is a proper goal, but surely not the totality of an education policy.)

What a shame.

Anyhow, here are four basic questions (to keep it simple) about education, technology (the broadband one I'm throwing in just because I'm curious) and industry I have for political parties. In a truly developed country, there would be someone running for office who would feel it's worth their while having genuine answers to these questions.

Education

1. How are colleges to improve standards (recruit top people, attract best students, create the best research) without the reintroduction of student fees or additional exchequer funding?

Avoiding-the-question answer: "We need a system that provides access to all, regardless of background." [Access to education is a different issue.]

2. At a more general level, Irish third level institutions currently trail their counterparts in leading European and US cities in innovation and achievement. Is this of concern and, if so, how can it be reversed?

Avoiding-the-question answer: "Education is a key human right for all Irish citizens. If elected, we intend to ensure that Irish students have the best facilities possible." [That wasn't the question.]

Broadband

3. Eircom wants the state to help fund a new fibre network. Do you intend to do that? (Note: that's a spending commitment.) If not, do you have a plan (or any thoughts whatsoever) on how high speed broadband should be rolled out nationally outside urban centres?

Avoiding-the-question answer: "It is our intention to ensure that all citizens have access to modern communications. [Our party] will end the digital divide." [99% of citizens already have access to modern communications, final 1% next year. That wasn't the question asked.]

Industrial priorities

4. If elected, what kind of industry development would you prioritise, and how?

Avoiding-the-question answer: "The first question we have to answer is how to get our 400,000 people working again, And that's *our* priority." [Complete avoidance of question.]

 

Meet the Monaghan lass with 345,000 Twitter followers

Thought you knew Ireland's most followed Twitter account? No, it's not Dara O'Briain (289,000 followers) or The Script (216,000 followers) or Jedward (150,000 followers). It's not even Cormac Moylan (see below on this blog).

In fact, it's Monaghan-based Sinead Duffy.

Wait a minute -- Sinead who?

Sinead Duffy is a lifecoach (with her own company, Great Minds) who has set up the mother of all Twitter accounts. Called Greatest Quotes, it's an auto-tweeting feed of... greatest quotes. Astonishingly, Greatest Quotes is growing by 10,000 followers per week. That's almost as much as Ashton Kutcher.

Ah, you think -- that's a bit of a swizz. Sure, just set up a few RSS feeds and let it take off; that's not a real account.

Think again. Because of this account, Duffy is getting business online. And it's cash upfront. "I coach select overseas clients via Skype and charge through Paypal," she tells me. "It's mostly through Twitter that potential clients find me."

Who's laughing now?

Here's a Q&A I did with Duffy on the account, her business and her plans.

How long have you been tweeting?
I've tweeted since April 2009. Initially I used Twitter to increase traffic to my website, gain profile, generate awareness about my business and ultimately increase sales. Since then I've grown an extensive mailing list, changed how I do business and generated several revenue streams.  

What kind of growth have you seen along the way? As in, how many new followers do you get a month?
Presently, my following is increasing by almost 50,000 new followers per month. This compares to approximately 1,500 new followers per month this time last year. I project that this account will grow to a million followers this year.

Do you have any idea what percentage of your account's following is Irish? Would it even be 10%?
Less than 10% of my followers are Irish.

Why do you think your account has garnered so many follwers?
Greatest Quotes is successful for many reasons. For a start, followers get exactly what they expect. That means quotes and not social interaction, retweets or aggressive marketing. I carefully select quotes that I feel will resonate with people.  The feedback that I receive clearly indicates that they do. The carefully selected quotes are regular, short, concise and resonate with followers. There is no hard sell and bogus marketing like many Twitter accounts.

How much time do you have to spend on this Twitter account every day?
I invested a great deal of time at the outset selecting material, scheduling times and managing time lines. Now the account is automatically managed.  I spend one day per month maintaining this. I also reply to all direct messages once per week and follow up on emails, opportunities, bookings, meetings, negotiations and so on.

Do companies ever approach you to try and get you to tweet about stuff? If so, have you ever done them the favour?
Yes, I am constantly being approached by business owners and network marketers with business opportunities. Business-owners who know and understand Twitter realise that having 330,000 followers is like having a shop window where 330,000 people pass by on a regular basis. It is important to maintain the trust of followers so the introduction of third party products on the site must be carefully evaluated.

Does your large Twitter following translate into good business? If so, much? Have you won any significant business because of it?
My Twitter presence has opened up lots of opportunities for me. I have huge traffic spending to my website each week and people contacting me with requests. It's mostly through Twitter that potential clients find me. I coach select overseas clients via Skype and charge through Paypal.

What's next for you, business-wise?
I am currently working on developing interactive software to sell online. The Twitter following provides a ready made target audience to market that software. Translating the following into a constant revenue stream is a challenge, but once perfected, the possibilities to earn substantial revenues are very real. We are no longer limited by location, currencies or time differences.

 

Why Steve Jobs doesn't have the same right to privacy as the rest of us

Steve Jobs, the corporate world's most important chief executive, has taken medical leave from Apple for the second time in two years.

Today, he circulated this email:

Team,

At my request, the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health. I will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for all of Apple’s day to day operations. I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011.

I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy.

Steve

So that's that, yes? Just leave the man alone and let him get on with whatever is ailing him, right?

Wrong. Apple is the second biggest company in the world. Expecting investors not to enquire as to the nature of Jobs' health concerns is like asking an audience to overlook David Letterman's absence from the David Letterman Show.

Is Jobs out for a month? For 3 months? For good?

Sure, Apple has Tim Cook and Jonathan Ive, but no-one is under any illusions: Apple is the success it is because of Steve Jobs. And him alone.

A counter-argument might be: "why should investors have a right to know? If they're so worried, just sell the stock."

But Jobs uses the press ruthlessly to suit Apple's purposes. So asking it not to enquire as to the cause of his absence of the world's most important chief executive is just nuts.

Tech bits 'n' pieces, Monday January 17th

Check out this extensive list of tweeting Irish journalists (arranged by publication/broadcaster) by @Ondaboos. Very handy for PR and marketing folks, I'd imagine. Also worth checking out @garethoconnor's media lists.

Looking for a deal on an iPhone 4? The 3 Store in Dun Laoghaire (no link, as offer not online) has em for €100. But it's a 2-year contract at €40 per month.

There's a couple of good Irish law blogs out there. Like Rossa McMahon's A Clatter Of Law and TJ McIntyre's IT Law In Ireland.

Want to start a fight on Twitter or a blog? Here are the rules (says TechCrunch).

Facebook apps can now obtain your phone number and home address. (But only if you consent.)

Bloggers: sick of writing 'for free'? Seeking Alpha "pays $10 per 1,000 views".  (WSJ link)

Facebook beats mobile for teens (and other bits)

Damien Mulley has conducted a survey among 101 teenagers on their mobile and digital habits. It throws up some interesting trends. For example, more teens use Facebook than phone calls to contact mates on their mobile. (The Irish Times takes a slightly different tone in its coverage of the survey here.) Also, Meteor is cited as having almost half the teen market, with Nokia being the most common handset (though iPhone is "most desired). Both of these statistics are probably as much to do with parents and budgets than individual preferences.

What happens to your digital accounts when you die? That's what iDeparted.com is for. Mainly Twitter and Facebook, but also blogs.

Related: the blog of David Stewart, a much-missed Irish journalistic colleague, is still up. The last entry was written two weeks before he died, in 2006. Bit macabre.

A well-argued piece on why slashing 'fair-use' data allowances (as mobile operators are currently doing) isn't 'fair'.

Argos has (for once) a decent clearance sale on TVs. 32-inch 1080p Samsung sets for €300. (In its Santry, Dublin, store anyway.)

Live long and prosper. And do you come here often? Trekkie dating site.

Hacker translates DUP websites into Irish.

A first glimpse of Rupert Murdoch's new iPad newspaper. Not so promising.

Sky shelves its Irish broadband plans (for now)

It seems that Sky has nixed its plans to introduce broadband into the Irish market.

For the time being, at least. The satellite broadcaster, which has a broadband service in Britain, had been telling its customers for some time that a broadband launch was on the way. But it has recently changed its tune with punters, citing "differences" in the Irish market. Here's the Irish office's official word on the matter:

"Sky successfully launched broadband and telephony services to its British customers over 4 years ago. We would like to do the same in Ireland but there are a number of differences between the UK and Irish marketplaces. Sky continues to explore opportunities to launch broadband and telephony services in Ireland".

Decoded, this means that we'll be lucky to see a launch by the summer, if at all this year. Whether or not this news will come as a disappointment to anyone is unclear, as the service would, most likely, have simply been a rebadged Eircom product. And with 100Mbs services now in the market, 1Mbs satellite broadband isn't exactly a compelling prospect.

Other bits 'n' bytes...

Pay attention Leaving Cert students: good guide to Hamlet resources on Rathfarnham SCC's excellent education blog.

Anyone tried Volta.ie's movie download/rental/streaming service? Some good Irish films up there.

Rumours are getting stronger that the next iPhone update will include wifi hotspot capability.

Sometimes telcos do listen: Britain's T-Mobile has backed down (partially) after punters complained about its monthly data cap being reduced from to 500MB.

My colleague, David McWilliams, loves making up words. The latest one: bankocracy.

January's car market isn't doing too badly, it seems. There are at least 2,500 cars sold in Dublin (alone) in the first two weeks of the month. (As this pic shows.)

An A-Z of social media jargon

Think you have what it takes to be a social media player? If not, here are a few terms (alphabetically arranged) that will get you going. (Thanks to folks on Twitter who threw in a few suggestions.)

Centric: anything can be '-centric.' Go ahead, try it. You're in sales? That's great, you're now customer-centric. Call Liveline much? That'll make you media-centric. Use Facebook a few times each week? Wow, you're a web-centric kind of guy (or gal).

Cloud: nothing is outside the cloud. If you're a taximan with an email address, don't worry: your business is 'in the cloud'. And there's no way it's all going to end with SkyNet.

Conversation: Twitter isn't a micro-blogging service or a chat forum. It's a 'Conversation' (the capital 'C' is important). If you have a point to make, you don't sign in and start spouting way. You 'join the Conversation'. With a latte.

Curation: if you don't have much to say yourself, don't worry: copy and paste what others are saying. This is a new, valuable service all on its own called 'curation'. It's easy to do (but is highly skillful also, got that?).

Engagement: instead of answering, replying, emailing or talking to someone, 'engage' with them. If you think that's splitting hairs, you're just not a true social media pro.

Facebooking: Americans have taught us that there is no noun on earth that cannot be verbisised.

Friending: like Facebooking, friending is now widespread. Definitely not to be confused with mating, though.

FTW: the term 'for the win' or 'FTW' may sound like someone made it up as a meme (cf below) to see how far it would travel. But it is a sign of true Twitter authenticity. To be used at least once every 15 tweets.

Killer: remember when 'cool' was the corporate adverb of choice? Well that's no longer cool. Last year, an official handover ceremony took place. Killer is now the killer term.

Like: "I liked that store." No, that doesn't mean that I appreciated it, it means that I clicked the thumbs-up symbol on that store's Facebook page.

Meme: US political pundits used to create (and slavishly follow) conversation 'memes', or talking points. For us in social media world, it's the amusing joke (or trend) du jour. Often accompanied with a picture. Or a hashtag (on Twitter).

Organic: you may have thought organic was a little mass-produced at this point. Although not as killer (cf above) a term as before, organic still has solid roots in our social media lingo.

Pivot: what used to be a technical financial term is now coming at us, full-on. The pivot of this sentence just occurred eight words ago.

Simple: "Okay guys, we're not looking for layered here, we're looking for Simple." (I have cyanide pills, if anyone wants any.)

Smart: according to surveys, the word 'smart' was used 19,780 times by government ministers in 2010. And that was just in the week before Christmas. Smart can now unashamedly be used to describe anything (at all) that has even the whiff of an internet link to it.

Solutions: an oldie but a goodie. Die-hard users (men in their late 40s and 50s) are keeping this one alive as their 'cyberspace offerings' migrate onto 'their Facebook'.

Social: whatever it is you produce or offer, it is nothing -- NOTHING -- if it does not have a 'social' element to it. Forget about old-fashioned concepts such as profitability, company yields and such nonsense. If you can get an unemployed web designer to 'like' (cf above) your page (or better still, become a 'fan'), that's the only thing that matters.

The Gen: farewell, 'what's the story?' and 'what's the scoop?'. Hello, 'what's the gen?'.

By the way, you score extra points if you can string a few terms together. Go ahead, try it: cloud-centric curation. Organic friending solutions. Smart social engagement. Just remember to keep a straight face: you could secure €1.2 million in seed funding from some mug.

Got any more suggestions?

Daily tech notes...

 
With the cold weather possibly on the way back, be warned: Apple won't fix your broken iPhone if you use it below zero degrees celsius.

Speaking of smartphones and data allowances, got a Windows 7 phone? If so, better check it's not sending out between 30-50MB per day without you knowing. That's 1GB in 20 days, possibly leading to data bill misery.

Facebook is making its "new" profile layout compulsory, starting today. Hey, if it helps the company's stock price...

Notice an increase in your spam? You're not alone. Spam has rocketed in January, according to experts. And it's mainly down to one Russian botnet, Rustock (responsible for up to 50% of all world spam at its peak).

Nintendo: upcoming 3DS "might be harmful" to kids' eyes but, apparently, "is not dangerous".

My SBP colleague, Dick O'Brien, interviewed Ciaran Crean, co-founder of Mick's Garage. That company is going a bomb.

The first cinema-release movie coming out shot entirely on iPhones. By Oldboy's acclaimed director, Park Chan-Wook, no less.

Know what turns most people off eco-friendly hybrid cars? Their boring looks and design. The new Toyota Prius range, for example.

The first wannabe porn game for Microsoft's Xbox 360 Kinect. Can't see this one getting released.

Even before any of us have gotten Gingerbread yet, Android has a new mobile OS on the make: 2.4 'Ice Cream'. (Like hurricanes, they name each updated OS alphabetically, it seems.)

Anyone else think Pat Rabbitte bears even a slight resemblance to Angry Birds?

The Cork lad with 165,000 Twitter followers

Thought David McWilliams was a big cheese on 'Irish Twitter' with his 17,000 followers?

Meet Cork-based youngster Cormac Moylan. A consultant with his own company, Moylan is the owner of @MacTrast, a Twitter account with an astonishing 165,000 followers (and just two accounts followed). Although not the biggest following on 'Irish Twitter' (see the celebrity lists here), the scale of the following is an unbelievably powerful platform to help launch a young business onto the next level.

So how did he do it? What can he use it for? I asked Cormac a few questions about how it was done and what he plans to do with it this year.

How long have you been tweeting?
I started tweeting from my personal account in mid 2008. I setup @mactrast (up to 4 months ago it was called @mactweeter but I changed names) on the 12th of November at 2.04PM. The first tweet was a very insightful "setting up my Twitter account" tweet.

What kind of growth have you seen along the way? As in, how many new followers do you get a month?
In November the account grew by 4,842 followers. On average I get approximately 184 new followers each day.

Do you have any idea what percentage of your MacTrast following is Irish? Would it even be 10%?
Irish followers make up fewer than 2% of the total. The UK and US account for approximately 55% of all followers.

Did you deliberately pick Apple as a topic to tweet about?
Yes. As I got more into using Twitter I began using RSS less and less to keep up to date about Apple and other tech news. To compensate for this I created a few Twitter accounts and I set them to private so that only I could follow them, I then configured the accounts to tweet news stories each hour. I basically began using Twitter as my RSS reader. It worked a charm. So much so, in fact, that I thought others might benefit from following the accounts too. I removed the privacy and the @mactrast account took off. It completely grew organically. I watched the follower count go from 1 to 20 in a week and I was chuffed. I watched it jump to 1,000 a few weeks later and was amazed.

Do you think that the reason your MacTrast account has so many followers is that it is about Apple-related news, how-tos and other stuff?
The account has so many followers because Apple users are fanatics. They're loud, they like to show off, and they swarm on Apple news. This resulted in the account going viral through retweets. My followers have helped to make @MacTrast [one of] the most popular sources for Apple news on Twitter.

How much time do you have to spend on the MacTrast account every day?
Zero. It's 100% automatic. The account syndicates content from a few handpicked Apple blogs that post amazing content. I check in every now and then to glimpse at the retweets and replies and maybe post a link but I don't have to spend any time on the account in order for it to be active.
 
Do companies ever approach you to try and get you to tweet about stuff? If so, have you ever done them the favour?
All the time. If the product is good I will tweet about it. @MacTrast is a traffic machine. A mention on the account could easily result in a ten fold increase in traffic for a website.

Does the large Twitter following translate into good business for your consultancy? If so, much? Have you won any significant business because of it?
I don't offer any services from the account. It's a pet project that grew legs.

What’s next for you, business-wise?
I'm investigating a few opportunities that can leverage the full potential of the account and offer something that is unique to the 165,000 followers. At the moment I am not earning a penny from the account. All that will change in 2011.

Facebook shares, anyone?

In tomorrow's paper, I'm writing about how the hoo-haa over Facebook's $50 billion valuation is leading to a flurry of heightened social media valuations and funding announcements. In other words, we have a good old-fashioned bubble on our hands.

But did you know that you can buy Facebook shares today? It's done on the grey market, through online platforms such as Sharespost.

In fact, you can buy Facebook shares in an auction this Monday. Because this is the email I just got from Sharespost (and no, it's not fraudulent spam):

"We thought you might be interested in the auction of the shares of Facebook Common Stock our affiliated broker dealer will be having on Monday, January 10th.

There will be a minimum of 175,000 shares of Facebook Class B Common stock committed for sale at the auction. The reserve price will be $27.00 and the auction will be conducted on a sealed bid basis. Buyers at the auction will be prequalified by the broker dealer in advance and will purchase through a single investment vehicle, such that each Seller will contract only with this single entity. Further information about this offering will be sent to you on Monday, January 10th."

That reserve price of $27 is far lower than the $40 to $60 that the stock is currently trading at on Sharespost. Nevertheless it's almost 30% higher than the reserve on the last Facebook stock auction in December.

Obviously a lot of people are trying to buy shares (which are given to Facebook employees through options, including staff at the company's Dublin headquarters) in advance of an expected IPO.

Although Facebook is definitely not a puff of smoke -- the WSJ has reported that it made a $355 million profit for the first 9 months of 2010 -- I would be very wary of investing in such a hyped company.

Irish tech companies to watch in 2011

2010 was a good year for Irish tech.

Not because of any breakthrough companies or deals (of which there were few), but because of the continuing evolution of Irish companies towards creating something meaningful and original. (This hasn't  been in our DNA for at least 50 years, in which time the emphasis by parents, schools, colleges and society has been to join the professional, agricultural, marketing or developer classes rather than creative industrial activity.)

A few Irish entrepreneurs are starting to create benchmarks that, I believe, will bring Irish tech onto a new level in 2011.

Here are two companies, in particular, to watch.

1. Jerry Kennelly/Tweak.com
The Kerryman who created a stock photo service (Stockbyte) and then sold it for €110 million is back with a superb new online service. Tweak.com is a DIY marketing design service, allowing users to create their own flyers, posters, pamphlets and other sales materials. But this is no micro-business platform. Currently in beta, it's a slick, thoroughly professional job. It's the kind of standard that Apple would give you if they entered this space. Kennelly is thought to have invested over $10 million in the service and it really, really shows. This will threaten design companies and up the standard of sales and marketing design, generally.

2. Datahug
This could be a massive year for Connor Murphy and Ray Smith, the two Irish youngfellas who came back from the US and Australia, realising they had an idea that could really tempt large professional firms. Their beta service analyses incoming and outgoing company emails, IMs, IP calls and other corporate communication. It then divines which relationships are really crucial to the company. For example, it gives strong indications of which people in which other companies are the key contacts that are associated with getting deals moving. Done right, this software is worth megabucks.

ps in yesterday's paper, I offered 10 predictions about what was going to happen in the tech world, generally, in 2011.

Why we should sell the naming rights to Irish public places and utilties

It is time to start selling the naming rights to national landmarks and infrastructure to raise cash. Public streets, parks, utilities and buildings should be available for branding purposes.

We should start with Dublin Airport. If the DAA was to receive an offer of, say, €100m from an international firm -- Visa, Nestle or someone like that -- for five or ten years of naming rights, they should be allowed to accept that offer. (The airport would hence be known as Dublin-Visa Airport.) Similarly, if a company such as Renault or Toyota offered €10 million for five years' naming rights of the M50, the National Roads Authority should be allowed to accept that.

Sure, people would object. Until you dangle a little money in front of them. Then they could have the choice: take the money away and revert to the old name ('Dublin Airport', 'the M50') or keep the cash and live with the new names. Guess which option the Irish people would take?

Of course, part of the deal would require the Irish media coming on board. In particular, this would mean name-checking the sponsor each and every time the asset was discussed on air and in print. But that shouldn't be a problem, judging by how easily (and cheaply: a few private tours and tickets did the job) the mass media were bought with regard to the 'Aviva' stadium.

And if individual media outlets don't play ball? Simple: no VIP flight lounge access or Westlink passes for them. Just as there might have been no concert tickets available to music hacks who dared to continue referring to the Point Depot, instead of the 'O2'.

And if certain individuals object, in the way that they did in reference to Lansdowne Road constantly being referred to as 'the Aviva'? Simple: we dismiss them as being 'against Irish sport' and retarding 'progress'. That seems to work.

So it's time to get on with the great Irish naming-rights sale.

I once thought that selling the naming rights to national cultural and sporting focus points (such as our national stadia) was vulgar and lacking in dignity or class. I naively thought that self-respecting media pundits might take tradition and cultural legacy more seriously than a few euro from the highest bidder.

But that former version of me was living in the wrong country. Yes, we all mention Aviva three times a day, now. But look at the money we got from it! Cha-ching!

It is time to leverage our assets while we still can.

Breaking news, death and Twitter

Today was a very, very sad day for Irish broadcasting. Gerry Ryan died. His colleagues are devastated. The public are shocked.

I met him a number of times. He was colourful and sometimes very generous. He'll be greatly missed.

The overwhelming sensation in all of this will be sadness. Even still, I'd like to briefly look an issue in relation to media coverage. Today, a few questions have arisen as to when Twitter should bow out of news generation out of respect or sensitivity.

Ryan's death is a case in point: should any mention of the issue have been avoided until a confirmation was issued from 'official sources'? (In this case, 'official sources' means RTE, the Garda Siochana or Ryan's family.)

I don't think so. Gerry Ryan was a very famous, very influential Irish broadcaster. It is fair to say that he was iconic. His untimely death is a massive shock. It is also a jolting piece of news. And that news spread to thousands of people within minutes.

Still, say Twitter critics, until it is confirmed, a story is simply a 'rumour'. Sometimes that is the case. I don't believe that this was the case today. There were simply too many people who knew of it at an early stage. Here is how the news unfolded, earlier today.

-- Gerry Ryan's body was found in his apartment around lunchtime today.

-- Soon after 1pm, several people from the scene of the tragedy started to text and call friends about it.

-- By 1.45pm, I had calls from two separate people on the issue, one of whom had been at the scene. At 2.15pm. I got a text from a third person. I then called a friend in RTE: he said that it was true.

-- I went onto Twitter. I said that I had heard of something that had happened to Gerry Ryan. At this point, it was "unconfirmed". This was because I did not have a statement from RTE, the Garda or his family: no-one did.

-- At about 2.30pm, Miriam O'Callaghan tweeted that the news of Ryan's death was true: "Tragically it is true. So terribly shocking and sad. Life is just too cruel sometimes. RIP." (Miriam has since deleted this tweet, presumably on grounds of sensitivity to a colleague.) Even still, the news was "unconfirmed" (Miriam is not an authority on the subject).

-- The next media organisations to report Ryan's death, still unconfirmed, were The Examiner and Newstalk. Subsequently, Larry Gogan began to talk about it on air on RTE. Then Derek Mooney. But still it was unconfirmed.

-- Finally, at about 4pm, RTE put out a statement on the matter.

The Irish media -- Twitter's greatest critics -- are masters in the art of running stories that they are confident about, but which have not yet been officially confirmed.

It seems odd that Twitter isn't credited to act in the same way.

This is how you apologise for an email marketing campaign you screwed up

Boingo got it wrong with a new email campaign. Thankfully, its founder and CEO knows how to apologise. I just got this in my email inbox. (A shorter apology is also on the company website's front page.)

Let me start this off with a big, fat apology.

We’re deeply sorry (and more than a little embarrassed) about any email you received over the weekend that included a database dump in the beginning and a message that your Unlimited account has been canceled and converted to AsYouGo status.

Please be assured that there’s been no change to your account. If it was Unlimited, it still is. If it was AsYouGo, it still is. If it was closed, it still is. The email was meant for internal testing only; the system basically decided otherwise and erroneously sent the test template to a large pool of our customers.

Please disregard these emails and accept our humblest apologies. If you would like additional details, please check our blog “The Hotspot”, which we will continue to update as we gather more information.

Thanks so much for your understanding during this awkward moment in email marketing history. We would never intentionally inconvenience you in any way and strive every day to deliver the best in customer service.

Please let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.

Sincerely,

Dave Hagan
President and CEO
Boingo Wireless
boingo.com