What if I told you of a magical place where you can see Toledo in a way you’ve never imagined, where photography enthusiasts try to capture Toledo as it has never been shared before? This special magical place is actually an app for smartphones and the next evolution of social media called Instagram.

Where Twitter shares your words and thoughts with the world, Instagram visually shares your life.

According to the Instagram website, Instagram is “a fast, beautiful and fun way to share your photos with friends and family” but its simple concept has evolved into a global phenomenon. Instagram is a free application for your smartphone that allows you to take pictures and use numerous and simple filters that can give your photo a vintage feel. After taking the picture and deciding what filter to use comes the social part. You can share this new picture with any of your social networks — Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. You can geotag the exact location it was shot and you can #tag the photo in any way you wish people to see/find it. You could keep all of your photos private, but what’s the fun in that?

.

If you are like me and love to be visually stimulated, Instagram will become your new pastime. The social part of Instagram allows you to search for anything you wish to see, from cities like New York or London to events like Hurricane #Isaac or the #RNC. Once you learn Instagram’s language by deciphering its “tagging,” the way pictures are labeled, you will master the new medium. You can search “Toledo,” “ToledoMudHens” the “ToledoZoo” or anything else you can dream of. The contrasts between Toledo, Ohio and Toledo, Spain alone are worth it.

As of Aug. 30, there were more than 19,800 pictures tagged with the word #Toledo. Some of the pictures shared could hang on any art gallery’s wall, but the artist is choosing to share his or her vision via Instagram. I’ve lived 95 percent of my life in Toledo and was reminded of how beautiful our city can be.

One of the features of Instagram is the ability to “follow” your favorite photographers, whether it be your BFF, a celeb or some random Instagram pro. A couple of the best local Instagrammers are Eric Shanteau, 34, (hobbes2485) and Ben Morales 32, (benmorales), they deserve a “follow.” These two take Hallmark quality pictures of Northwest Ohio, of places we have seen over and over but never like this. Their optimistic vision of our area will brighten your day.

Toledo Free Press (toledofreepress) recently signed up and debuted in a big way by sharing some Navy Week pictures shot on the USS De Wert by Managing Editor Sarah Ottney. The 50-plus pictures really gave a sense of what of a Navy boat ride down the Maumee would feel like.

Great tags to use are:

#Toledo, #ToledoOhio #Sylvania, #Maumee, #Perrysburg, #ToledoMudHens, #ToledoWalleye, #UTRockets, #ToledoZoo, #ToledoMuseumOfArt, #ToledoArtMuseum, #ToledoFinest, #ToledoFail.

If you would like to share your picture with Toledo Free Press, please tag the photo with #TFP or #ToledoFreePress and we will find it.

Instagram is another opportunity for Toledo to open our doors to the world and show what a tremendous place it is to call home or do business.

Find Jeremy Baumhower on Instagram @jeremybaumhower.

Tags: Facebook, Instagram, Jeremy Baumhower, Tumblr, Twitter

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 30th, 2012 at 3:46 pm and is filed under Arts and Life, Media Watch.
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Every now and then, I like to stretch my creative legs a little bit here in this column, as anyone who read last week’s piece (the acclaimed and sure-to-be-award-winning “Cereal? Killer,” still available on toledofreepress.com, hint hint, wink wink) will tell you.

About a month ago, I got an idea for a piece on weird, humorous rules that could be added to modern sports. But why simply write these ideas under my own name, I wondered? Wouldn’t it be more fun, and more fun to read, if these suggestions came from a fictional reader of my column, something like the God of modern columnists Mike Royko used to do?

I came up with a suitably ridiculous name: Brock Rocklaw. I’d publish the supposed “comment from a fan” without further explanation. I figured Brock’s points were so ludicrous, and his style of writing so outlandish, that to the average reader it’d be pretty clear it was just me playing a character.

I submitted the piece to my editor-in-chief Michael Miller, thinking that this might be the first of many columns featuring this alter-ego. But then, I heard back — Michael wasn’t sure folks would know it was a satire. I told him that was no problem, that I’d rework it and submit it again later.

I gotta be honest — I was a bit frustrated. I mean, come on, “Brock Rocklaw?” A bizarre letter arguing that the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game should count? How could anyone take that seriously?

Then, on June 20, a CBS press release came across the wire. And now, I get it.

See, CBS has come to believe that ABC’s new reality series, “The Glass House,” is a pretty blatant rip-off of their long-running “Big Brother.” They have even filed suit in an effort to get an injunction to keep the show off the air, which has thus far been denied. So, CBS decided to take a different tack — a satirical one.

They put out a notice announcing a new show “That Owes Its Concept and Execution to Nobody at All” — “Dancing on the Stars.” The release touted this “exciting and completely original” new show, where “moderately famous and sort of well-known people you almost recognize compete for big prizes by dancing on the graves of Hollywood’s most iconic and beloved stars of stage and screen.”

The release quoted imaginary employees stressing how this show had been “completely developed by the people at CBS independent of any other programming on the air,” then tentatively announced another great new show, “Postmodern Family.” The closing line noted “people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”

Bizarre? Sure. Funny? I thought so. But clearly satirical, right? I mean, come on, no one could possibly take this release seriously — it practically bursts at the seams with double entendre and wise-ass remarks. It’s obviously not real, right?

Then I started seeing the reaction. Tons of folks on social networking sites posting links and expressing outrage — real outrage — that CBS would dare to host a dancing show on stars’ graves. How sick, they proclaimed! And these were not just the kind of folks who fall for an Onion headline, either — these were intelligent folks, people who I follow and respect an amazing amount, who seemed to take the release entirely at face value.

And I thought, “Thank goodness Michael didn’t run Brock Rocklaw.”

In the hours since everyone grew to understand what the “Dancing on the Stars” thing was all about, many defended their reaction, noting that it was an actual press release, it wasn’t funny anyway and the state of modern reality TV is so ludicrous that who would put it past them?

Okay, maybe it wasn’t funny to you. Matter of personal opinion. But reading the whole piece, it’s so clear that it’s a joke, it practically smacks you in the face. So what happened?

Personally, I blame Twitter. Well, no, not just Twitter, but the whole Internet culture that we live in. See, in this modern age of social media, we can share our thoughts on everything immediately — heck, the faster the better.

So when folks catch wind of something, they can post their reactions and express their outrage right away, without taking the time to consider whether they actually should get outraged. Tons of ‘Net commenters hear about something, skim the source (if they do any reading at all) and announce their anger without delay. I admit, I’m as guilty of it as anyone.

So the satirists, folks who help bring life a delightful twist of variety, have to be more and more careful, lest their words be taken at face value. The expectation that your audience will take the time to get the joke goes out the window. Subtlety becomes a casualty of the war of information. The soul of wit dies just a little more with each passing second.

And Brock Rocklaw sits dormant, waiting for his time to come. Someday, my friend. Someday.

Tags: Jeff McGinnis, Pop Goes the Culture, satire, Twitter

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 28th, 2012 at 3:00 pm and is filed under Arts and Life, Pop Goes the Culture, Star.
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Oops, he did it again … last week, Rush Limbaugh created a media firestorm by referring to Sandra Fluke, a woman who testified in front of Congress about insurance companies and birth control mandates, as a “slut” and “prostitute.” Limbaugh then double-downed the following day when he suggested Fluke make a sex tape, “if taxpayers are going to pay for her birth control.”

Limbaugh has apologized but a reported 35 businesses have pulled their advertisements/money and two radio stations have dropped his show. In my career, I have been involved with a couple of these boycotts, so I have learned how they happen and where they go wrong. So I wanted to offer you the “boycott blueprint” for any media comments that offend you in the future.

1. Just cause: The most important thing in executing a boycott is the reason for the boycott. What has been said that has motivated you to leap into action? Who did it offend/hurt and why was it said? Limbaugh’s recent comments are the perfect just cause.

2. Organize: Once you have the reason, it’s time to find others who are equally offended by the host’s statements. To find offended parties one may want to use Facebook or Twitter.  Once your initial group is formed, it’s time to talk to bigger groups who would be offended — churches, political parties, unions, etc. Professional tip: The larger the group, the faster and easier the boycott will be. Getting multiple groups will increase the speed of this process.

3. Contact the station: You are organized and motivated; now it’s time to convey your anger toward the persons in charge at the radio/TV station. When asking for a meeting, make sure that all station higher-ups are in attendance. The No. 1 solution immediately and almost always offered is an on-air apology. In certain cases, management may agree with your just cause and suspend the host(s) for the comments. If the local management fails to meet your needs, contact the corporate offices, ask for titles like regional vice presidents, program directors, etc. Professional tip: Apologies and suspensions often boost ratings for the show and the station. If all you wanted was an apology or suspension, please stop reading.

4. Listen: If your concerns are not addressed to your satisfaction, start jotting down every company who advertises, locally and nationally, on the offending program. Holding a sign outside the station may get your group television coverage, but going after the advertising money is the crucial element. TV and radio stations are businesses first, and they need advertising money to operate. Solely boycotting the station always backfires, because it generates interest and interest translates into ratings. Boycotting the companies that advertise on the station is the most efficient way for your group’s message of discontent to be heard and acted upon (although there is a risk — one prominent Limbaugh advertiser, Carbonite, has seen its stock plunge dramatically since it announced it left Limbaugh’s show).

5. Contact sponsors: Once you know who’s advertising, the next step is to reach out to the person actually responsible for making the advertising decisions for each company. Inform the decision-makers of what happened and how your group has been handled, treating them like a future partner. Encourage them to reach out to the media entity and express their concerns. They may offer to remove their advertising from the show, but that means the station will reschedule their commercials, making its money during another program. Professional tip: Please remember to treat the advertisers with the greatest amount of respect, as they have done nothing wrong but marketed their businesses on the offensive show.

6. Contact media: Now that you’re organized and have given notice to the advertising businesses, it is the time to take your case to the public via the local media. News releases should be sent to every media entity stating the history of what happened and your group’s intentions. Ask for the public’s help with phone calls, emails, tweets and Facebook.

7. Take it national: If the above steps have not yet worked, taking the story national often will help.

8. Update: Here’s another crucial step: keeping the public notified of your success and momentum.  Constantly update the public as to what businesses have pulled their advertising, etc. You may want to start a Twitter #Hashtag like #StopRush.

9. Warning — Do not fail: If you fail to get the show removed, you may have inadvertently crowned a new king. Nothing breeds ratings success like controversy and outrage. Rappers are often judged by how many bullets they have survived; the same goes for local media.

Limbaugh’s ratings will be through the roof if he survives this latest controversy, as people are tuning in to hear what he will say next. That’s why TV/radio personalities say such controversial things — to generate interest, which equals ratings. There is a fine line between what’s accepted and what’s not. The broadcaster who can toe the free speech line the longest will be the richest as well.

When you cross the line, as many feel Limbaugh did, you face what he’s facing now.

Jeremy Baumhower tweets @jeremytheproduc.

Tags: Facebook, Jeremy Baumhower, Media Watch, Rush Limbaugh, Sandra Fluke, Twitter

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 8th, 2012 at 7:25 pm and is filed under Community, Media, Media Watch.
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As the Toledo Walleye practiced for the upcoming hockey season, Nathan Steinmetz was busy getting the word out via Twitter, Facebook and smartphone applications.

Steinmetz, manager of online marketing and ticket sales for the Walleye, said the team has become an industry leader for social media usage.

With more than 28,000 Facebook fans, the Walleye have the most fans of any team in the ECHL. With about 2,900 Twitter followers, they come in second behind the Cincinnati Cyclones.

“It seems like I get a couple calls a month from different minor league teams asking where we are and what our strategy is,” Steinmetz said.

Nathan Steinmetz

More than 1,000 fans have downloaded the free Walleye application for iPhones, released in January, which features stats, a roster and promotional info, Steinmetz said. WCWA 1230 is also a part of the iheartradio app, allowing fans to listen to games on their smartphones. Steinmetz is currently working on an application for Droid phones, although it won’t be ready for the start of the season. He expects a mobile version of the Walleye website to be available by the time the first puck drops.

“The one thing we’re looking to release by start of season is the mobile version of the site. So basically, when people visit the Walleye on mobile it’s formatted for their device and allows for easier navigation,” Steinmetz said.

Steinmetz is also in the process of planning a Social Media Night, slated for March 23. At last year’s event, fans were able to see their tweets displayed on the screen overhead and participate in trivia games and contests.

“It was neat last year. We had hundreds and hundreds of posts on our Twitter and Facebook page,” Steinmetz said.

Steinmetz typically crafts about three to four Facebook posts per day, including promotional offers, questions for fans and videos, such as recent time-lapse footage of the ice rink being filled.

“A lot of thought goes into what goes in there and what goes out there,” Steinmetz said.

During games, the Walleye rely more on Twitter than Facebook. Typically, Jason Griffin, director of public and media relations for the Walleye, or a member of his team tweet from the press box. Facebook and Twitter have also become a means for fans to express their opinions, whether it’s about a play or a song or a food item at the game.

“It can be positive and it can be negative, but we’re just happy they’re talking about the team,” Steinmetz said. “In the past, we have taken fans’ opinions into account in terms of promotion and music played at the game.”

Joe Napoli, president and general manager of the Walleye, agreed, saying the team welcomes comments from fans.

“Social media has certainly changed the way we are able to communicate with our fans and maybe, more importantly, how they can communicate with us,” Napoli said in an email. “We thoroughly enjoy that unique interaction with our fans and some of their suggestions have been implemented in order to enrich the experience of coming to a game.”

Social media also allows the front office team to notify fans of changes in events when there’s no time to put out an advertisement.

Social media has become a major part of both the Walleye and the Mud Hens’ promotions.

“Compared to other teams, we were pretty early to adopt the technology,” Steinmetz said, noting the Walleye Twitter and Facebook pages went up around late 2008. “It’s hard to believe it’s only been a few years and how big a chunk of the marketing efforts it has become.”

The Mud Hens have nearly 45,000 Facebook fans and almost 7,000 Twitter followers, Steinmetz said. More than 11 million fans viewed the Mud Hens’ Facebook page in 2010, while about 6 million viewed the Walleye page. However, Steinmetz and Griffin noted hockey fans are more interactive with social media even though they’re outnumbered.

“Given the intensity of hockey, a lot of our fans are a little more vocal on social media,” Griffin said. “The nature of the game of baseball is a little more laid-back with a longer season.”

Steinmetz agreed.

“With Walleye, there’s a lot more passion,” he said. “The fans are more invested in the teams and organization and they really like to talk about it. We’ve even seen some fans who have kind of met each other through social media and now they go to games together and hang out together.”

Tags: Facebook, Nathan Steinmetz, Toledo Walleye, Twitter, WCWA

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 13th, 2011 at 10:44 am and is filed under Star, Walleye hockey.
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Meet my new super best friends: Kim-BenEzekial Cortez, Daryl Martin, HoNszx Mae, Aukos D Jirachivanant, Stefan Grozdanov Petrov, Udeshi Wijesiri, Dexter Mas, Nur Hafizah Mohd Zin, Klajdi Xhemali, Kristi Kristuli, Emant Eleister, Novz Dizon, Apple Grace Tecson and, of course, Tantra Druglord.

I recently set up a Facebook fan page — “How to create a fan page and transfer admin when I leave my company” — to test functionality. Into the honey pot of a very nonexciting page landed my new super best friends.

Why would this group of Facebook friends have any interest in liking my lonesome fan page? Probably, they are very likely interested in harvesting my personal info — wall posts, friendships, photos and demographic information.

So consider that if you’re busy grubbing 933 social media followers you probably have inadvertently selected more than a few like Kim-BenEzekial Cortez.

Spambot or bimbot?

Is Kim-BenEzekial Cortez real or just a spambot created to harvest personal info from her friends (and their friends)? Kim-BenEzekial Cortez appears to be a mutation of a few public personas mashed into one. There are multiple Ben Ezekials in the United Kingdom, including a prominent distance runner. Creating spambots with fragments of real people adds a dollop of legitimacy to a Facebook friend request.

You may have also experienced bimbots — very attractive profile photos of people that have amazingly similar tastes in books and music. These profiles are set up by spammers to exploit holes in Facebook’s architecture and your personal profile. If you confirm the friend request the profile scrapes your personal information, while you end up asking yourself, “How do I not remember this person as attending my very large high school?”

What’s the real motive of these Facebook profiles, besides general creepiness?

An amusing byproduct is the many influential tech, media and political types who accept friend requests from attractive people and bots they don’t know. Amazing how strong a celebrity’s need for affirmation can be.

Curious if you’ve been friended by a bot? Be safe by simply sending a hello message, which you can do on Facebook without adding this person as a friend.

True security is in actually knowing your neighbors. Build a strong social media core by asking this question with every friend or follower request: Can we share enough valuable information to mutually benefit each other?

If you can’t answer that question in the affirmative then resist the urge to win that social media prize of I-have-more-friends-than-you.

Curious case of Nicole Bally

Henry Copeland in BlogAds continues to track the mysterious Facebook profile of Nicole Bally, who has racked up Facebook friends like Sean Parker, Arianna Huffington, Dana Milbank, Camille Paglia, Curtis Sliwa and Jimmy Wales with merely an attractive profile photo. Bally’s profile contains no content or conversation and merely accepts friend requests. Great job if you can get it.

Don’t laugh. You may be sharing way too much with strangers, too.

I’m charmed that my new super best friends want to like my Facebook fan test page. The page was created to test transferring administrator ability (Facebook has since allowed this functionality). Now when the original creator of a business fan page is downsized or moves on, other administrators can jump right in.

But Tantra, Apple and especially Kim-BenEzekial Cortez are steadfast. They’re not going anywhere. They’ve stuck with me for the potential opportunity to add delicious spam to my Facebook page. I appreciate their interest, but I’ll pass.

Kevin Cesarz is director of social media and Web project manager at Thread Marketing Group in Maumee (www.threadgroup.com). He also helps create storytelling content for MrElshMedia (www.mrelshmedia.com). Find more ideas about social media at klcesarz.wordpress.com/.

Tags: Facebook, Kevin Cesarz, Twitter

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 25th, 2011 at 3:36 pm and is filed under I Scream Social, Toledo Business Link.
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Toledo I would like you to meet Twitter and Twitter say hello to Toledo. Although you may have heard of each other before, I think a formal introduction is needed. Twitter is the evolution of Facebook and MySpace and is considered the next great thing. It is a website/concept that allows anyone in the world to send a message that contains 140 characters or less aka ‘tweet” to anyone wanting to hear it. Sorry to my East Side friends… there is a letter “W” in the word ,so no need to send the children out of the room.

The importance of Twitter and Toledo is how it is untapped, it can be molded any way you want it. Twitter is online and most phones have an app for it. If you love news first like Amy Winehouse’s passing or the Oslo shooting, Twitter has it first. If you are passionate about music, sports, comedy or commentary… Twitter has them all. Twitter has something for everyone in NorthWest Ohio from the Justin Bieber fan to the Extreme Couponer, even Pope Benedict tweets.

What could Twitter mean for Toledo? If I owned a business here, I would sign up today. Twitter if used properly, will take your business to any level you desire. It’s free marketing!!! You can reach millions of people worldwide with basically a text message. You can attach your website to the tweet and send people a coupon if desired. You must first get “followers”. Followers are people who receive your tweets. Businesses spends tens of thousands of dollars to get their message in front of people, Twitter does it every second.

Toledo is known best for its strong blue collar history, we are not known for leading the charge in technology. With Twitter we change that perception. To make an immediate impact on Twitter start hash-tagging (#) every tweet with the word Toledo — so it looks like #Toledo. The hashtag is used to add a subject keyword to your tweet. So if you love the #DetroitTigers all you would have to do is click on #DetroitTigers and you would see all tweets containing the #hashtag. The Hashtag is key to all business!!! This is the way to reach new people, especially the ones you are trying to target. If you have a limited number of followers and do not hashtag your tweet, you will only be tweeting to your followers..add a hashtag reach some more.

Twitter Tips for Businesses

Do Not Tweet too much: A Couple of times of days is plenty.

Make it entertaining, current or relate-able: Sending out boring Tweets will prove a waste of time.

Example of a boring Tweet: Come in this week and get $5.00 off a haircut.

Better Tweet for same Message: Who needs a Justin Bieber makeover? (insert shortened website link here) #toledo

Create great Twitter Only promotions/sales/coupons:

Ask every customer to “follow” you on Twitter, for every new ‘follower’ send them a DM (Direct Message) Coupon. DM is Twitter’s version of email. You can ONLY DM those who #Follow you.

There are many great local people and businesses to follow from the Toledo Mud Hens to the Free Press. I follow a Mexican Restaurant @LaFiestaMaumee which has five followers but sends great Tweet specials everyday. They could easily improve their reach by following any of the above mentioned tips. I am going to test my Twitter theory with @RouenCollision who is looking for new ways to reach current and new customers. I will keep you updated.

As of now Toledo has only dabbled in Twitter. Toledo’s usage of twitter can be watched and utilized by visiting trendsmap.com. You can also see and compare how much clout you have on Twitter and Facebook by visiting on Klout.com.

To get started go to Twitter.com and sign up. If you send me a Tweet @jeremytheproduc (my Twitter handle) I will send you a link to secret web page filled with great people and businesses to follow here in Northwest Ohio and worldwide.

For that special Page…

Thanks for the Twitter Shout Out!!

Here are people and businesses for you to ‘follow’ in NW Ohio

@tonypackos

@mudhens

@ToledoWalleye

@UToledo

@ToledoMuseum

@ToledoZoo

@ToledoSymphony

@ToledoFreePress

Local Personalities

@crystalbowersox

@jeremytheproduc (me)

@chryspeterson

@LeeConklin

@jeffnthemorning his partner @r8dioTIM

@andrewzonline

@sarahegarty

Jeremy Baumhower is a media expert who writes and produces for morning radio shows across the country. Follow him on Twitter @jeremytheproduc.

Tags: Jeremy Baumhower, Media Watch, Twitter

This entry was posted on Friday, August 5th, 2011 at 8:00 am and is filed under Arts and Life, Media Watch.
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It is the nature of this business that people can make a major impact in a brief time. It is also the nature of this business that people move on as quickly as they arrive.

As we say goodbye to Lisa Renee Ward, one of our greatest collaborators, we struggle with emotions of pride for her career ascent and concern for the changes her leaving will cause.

When it launched in early 2005, one of the first things Toledo Free Press established was a relationship with local blogs. We recognized that a great deal of important information and commentary was being posted and published on local sites, and worked to involve the operators of such blogs and sites as ToledoTalk, SwampBubbles and Ward’s GlassCityJungle.

Ward led the way with a weekly feature, “Blog it, Toledo,” which discussed new and influential blogs and local websites. Eventually, her unrivaled institutional knowledge of local politics put her in a fact-checker role here at Toledo Free Press. She then began a weekly column, “Shredding the Curtain,” which provided the city’s best in-depth reporting on city government, and she most recently has served as our Web Editor, helping us keep pace on our website, on Facebook and on Twitter.

Ward has accepted a full-time job within city government, which creates instant and legion conflicts with our newsgathering process. It was quickly agreed that she should no longer serve Toledo Free Press in any capacity; the decision took seconds, but the ramifications will last a very long time.

There are people who begin as co-workers and evolve into trusted friends and advisers. For myself and Editor in Chief Michael S. Miller, Ward has been a true partner and confidant, one with unwavering ethics and an opposing political view that has broadened our viewpoints and our pages of opinion. We are happy and proud for her as she begins a new life, but we will greatly miss her contributions to our ongoing experiment.

Thank you, Lisa Renee, and best of luck with your onward and upward career steps.

Thomas F. Pounds is president and publisher of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Contact him at tpounds@toledofreepress.com.

Tags: Facebook, Glass City Jungle, Lisa Renee Ward, Michael S. Miller, Publisher's Statement, SwampBubbles, Toledo Free Press, ToledoTalk, Tom Pounds, Twitter

This entry was posted on Friday, July 29th, 2011 at 12:00 am and is filed under Opinion, Publisher's Statement.
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Golf has been all about Hi-Tech for many years. Low compression, soft feel, golf balls that explode off of a 460cc, high MOI, WMD with light weight, composite graphite shaft that produces more swing speed, a higher launch angle and less spin for extra carry and distance. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda. The newest and hottest technology, by far, is Twitter and it doesn’t even cost a dime, no $499.99 price tag. Even the worst weekend hacker can chat up Hank Haney, Paul Azinger even Rory McIlroy on your home computer or smart phone.

With the explosion of the social media phenomena the newest hi-tech advancement for golf freaks is Twitter. It seems that Twitter connects nearly everyone in the golf world. In fact Ian Poulter and Stewart Cink are in a tight race for the most followers or Tweeps. Poulter has 1,210,038 but Stewie Cink is currently the leader in the clubhouse, however, with 1,210,205 followers. That’s right I didn’t stutter, they have over 1 million followers, each. And you thought you were the only crazy golf nut out there.

Twitter offers anything from swing tip advice from Hank Haney to up to the minute news flashes from Tiger Woods. That’s right ”The” Tiger Woods. He announces everything via his website and twitter. You can get up to the second news that ESPN, the Golf Channel, or other sports news media receive about tournament scoring, updates or even Eldrick, himself. Follow the LPGA, PGA, Ladies and Mens European Tour, or Golf Channel announcers such as, Brandel Chamblee, Frank Nobilo, and Rich Lerner for golf news and analysis. It’s inter-active, you can even chat them up, in 140 characters or less.

If you like to talk about golf 24/7/365 and are looking for others to chat with, Twitter is for you. There is always someone on Twitter that will chat, argue, or discuss any golf topic that meets your fancy. Enhance your viewing pleasure by twittering with other golf fanatics while watching golf on TV. Make fun of the announcers, share the joy of an amazing golf shot just pulled off by one of the professionals, or ruminate over the 13 shots that John Daly just took on the par 4.

If you decide to join golf’s newest hi-tech phenomenon, jump on Twitter, follow me, and give me a shout out @tolohgolfr. I’ll be there. I’m hooked.

View more articles and golf tips from Fred at: www.toledoohiogolflessons.com

Tags: Fred Altvater, Golf, The Back 9, Twitter

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 9th, 2011 at 11:14 am and is filed under Sports, The Back 9.
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A hacker breached the Ohio House speaker’s Twitter account and sent out tweets that made it appear the Republican was supporting liberal causes, a spokesman for the House Republican Caucus said June 2.

Other phony posts show Speaker William Batchelder appearing to criticize Republican Gov. John Kasich or promote former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, caucus spokesman Mike Dittoe said.

Dittoe told The Columbus Dispatch on Wednesday that someone who follows Batchelder on Twitter and a staff member noticed the tweets Monday night. He said that while the GOP legal counsel worked with the company to eliminate the tweets, staff members shut the account down.

Meanwhile, Batchelder told reporters that he didn’t even know he had a Twitter account. He said he wouldn’t be doing any more of “this twittering.”

“Why do I have a device like that? I can’t play it,” said the Republican from Medina in northeast Ohio.

The account is maintained by caucus staffers and is a valuable way to get information out, Dittoe said. He expects to restart the account.

“We just want to make sure we are following all the proper security protocols before we do,” he said.

Aside from the latest breach, Dittoe said, the House Republican staff earlier this year worked with Twitter to have a fake Batchelder account shut down.

“We are continuing to work with Twitter to ensure that matters like this don’t happen again,” Dittoe said.

The reported breach comes amid media coverage surrounding a lewd photo sent from the Twitter account of U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat from New York. Weiner said a hacker used his Twitter account to post the photo. The photo showed a man’s bulging underpants.

Dittoe said he realized that the hacker’s tweets had become a problem when he saw a tweet in the speaker’s account Tuesday from the liberal group ProgressOhio.

That tweet said: “Wow!! Suddenly Bill Batchelder supports” and went on to list various liberal groups and causes, and a link to the fake tweets, Dittoe said.

ProgressOhio did not know at the time that the tweets on Batchelder’s account were inaccurate, and “that’s why we were so surprised,” the group’s executive, Brian Rothenberg said June 2.

Fake Twitter and Facebook profiles are not uncommon in politics. Mayor Mike Bell had someone posing as him on Twitter in May. That account has since been suspended. Twitter allows for parody accounts to exist, but profile information must make it clear that the creator of the account is not actually the same person or entity as the subject of the parody.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tags: General Assembly, Government, Internet, Mayor Mike Bell, Ohio, Toledo, Twitter, William Batchelder

This entry was posted on Friday, June 3rd, 2011 at 7:46 pm and is filed under Community, Government.
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Where were you when you discovered the big news event?

On Sept. 11, 2001, I heard a report on the BBC via National Public Radio that an aircraft had crashed into the World Trade Center. Odd?

Moments later I casually walked into a department store and then stopped in front of a wall of display TVs. That wall of repeating images of the burning building is still etched into my brain. Something shattering was occurring. Television and radio led with the first words and images.

How did you discover the breaking news story of Osama bin Laden’s death?

Can’t sleep, must tweet

A tsunami of tweets began careening toward the highest traffic period ever for Twitter based upon one single tweet on Sunday night. IT consultant Sohaib Athar in Abbottabad, Pakistan was having trouble getting to sleep with all the helicopter noise near his house. Athar tweeted that perhaps a ‘flyswatter’ could tame the nearby noise. He then noted a loud explosion and then speculation, rumors, anticipation and commentary began cascading through Twitter averaging a scorching 3,440 tweets per second. Athar’s single opening tweet produced a new-found status as a source and 100,000 Twitter followers within a few days.

Former Navy Reserve intel officer Keith Urbahn then tweeted “that bin Laden had been killed,” a nugget that produced a record-shattering 5,106 tweets per second according to a Twitter spokesperson.

Look back at YouTube video of Sunday baseball between the Mets and Phillies and notice how many fans in their stadium seats were looking down at their smartphones and not up at the action on the field.

If you were not watching baseball or cable news you might have been alerted by a Tweet, SMS message or other alert on your mobile device. News organizations were playing catch-up.

Unscheduled viral events

Consider that events like the Royal Wedding, which peaked at 3,966 tweets per second and the Super Bowl (3,000 tweets per second) had held previous traffic records were scheduled events.

The bin Laden event was unexpected and not on any editorial calendar. There was no ‘helicopter assault on bin Laden’s hideout’ scheduled on May 1. These extraordinary numbers were produced by information seekers and content curators sharing and repeating the best intel and highlighting the best sources for more updates.

So that funny little social media tool with only 140 characters was the fire starter to a massive story. Where were you when bin Laden’s death was first tweeted?

Social Media Breakfast Toledo

Want to learn more about social media? John Hondroulis will speak about QR codes (matrix barcodes used for marketing) at the next Social Media Breakfast Toledo event (May 21) in Holland. SMB Toledo is a free event series that combines education, networking and breakfast for social media fans, entrepreneurs, small business owners, and non-profits. Find out more at SMB Toledo’s Facebook page.

Kevin Cesarz is the Director of Social Media and Web Project Manager at Thread Marketing Group in Maumee (www.threadgroup.com). He writes about social media and content strategy on his blog i scream social (klcesarz.wordpress.com).

Tags: I Scream Social, Kevin Cesarz, Osama Bin Laden, Twitter

This entry was posted on Friday, May 6th, 2011 at 7:24 am and is filed under I Scream Social, Toledo Business Link.
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