Our families count! LGBT people are deserving and have the right to be counted
and the Census WILL count same-sex marriages & partnerships. Be certain you fill out the 2010 Census form and visit Our Families Count for more information! Also, visit their Twitter or Facebook pages.
Archive for March, 2010
Grindr
For all you iPhone and iTouch users out there who are fans of (or at least familiar with) the Grindr app, it is no longer in the Apple App Store. I noticed early this afternoon via Joe.My.God that people were reporting that the Gay Social App known as Grindr was no longer in the App Store. I went to take a look myself and indeed “Grindr” or the paid “Grindr X” are neither in the app store any longer. The app is still functional for those using it but no longer available for download. Is this an act of homophobia on Apple’s part? Why would the app have been pulled? There is no further information on the Grindr website, Twitter feed, or Facebook page. Joel Simkhai, founder of Grindr, has issued no statement as of yet.
Update: Grindr is once again available for download in the iTunes App Store. So the question now is was it a publicity stunt?
Queerty.com is reporting that Joel Simkhai has contacted them stating “Error on my part. Should be back up by EOD today.”.
Lt. Dan Choi and Kathy Griffin at DADT Rally
After being arrested for handcuffing himself to the perimeter fence of the White House following the rally organized by the HRC with spokesperson, comedienne Kathy Griffin, Lt. Dan Choi tells Newsweek that he feels betrayed by the Human Rights Campaign and Kathy Griffin.
“When I heard Kathy Griffin was going to be a spokeswoman for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, I wondered about that. I have great respect for her as an advocate. But if [the Human Rights Campaign] thinks that having a rally at Freedom Plaza with a comedienne is the right approach, I have to wonder. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is not a joking matter to me. To be at Freedom Plaza and not at the White House or Congress? Who are they trying to influence? I felt like they were just trying to speak to themselves. If that’s the best the lobbying groups and HRC can do, then I don’t know how these powerful groups are supposed to represent our community. Kathy Griffin and [HRC president] Joe Solmonese said they would march with me to the White House but didn’t. I feel so betrayed by them.”
Neal Wiser (@nealwiser) wrote a fantastic article titled “How To Unfollow On Twitter With Class” and 
considering that I myself have landed in hot water more than once for unfollowing one person or another it may be time to remind the Twitterverse that when or if someone unfollows you it is for their own reasons. The action of unfollowing can be done many ways but I personally choose not to make a show out of it and just leave it be. Perhaps it’s because I would not take it personally were someone to unfollow me because I understand that it is an open forum and not everyone will like or agree with what I have to say and I would hate for anyone to feel they HAVE to follow me to spare my feelings.
I suggest reading “How To Unfollow On Twitter With Class” to perhaps help gain the understanding that to unfollow someone is a choice we all have and should never be afraid to exercise in fear of adverse reactions. I’ve included the most important part of the post below…the steps to unfollow with class:
How To Unfollow With Class
So, you need to unfollow a large number, if not all, of those whom you are following. Here’s how you do it, with class.
- Establish a Following Policy.
All you need is a simple statement of why you will, or will not, follow someone. While some feel any policy is too much, I’ve found having a Following Policy allows me to both clarify what I want to get out of the relationship and allows me to set some “ground rules.” I’ve written previously about establishing a Following Policy here on Twitip. Also, you can use my personal Following Policy as an example. - Ask yourself why you are cutting yourself off from your Followers.
Following is a relationship with a real person, especially if that person follows you back. As such, you should have a good reason for unfollowing because you are cutting yourself off. While that person can still reach you through “@” messages, you will miss everything else they tweet. - Know the risks.
Beware; some people may think less of you and even think that you aren’t organized enough to handle something as simple as following. This could even hurt your career if someone you unfollow is a coworker, client, etc. - Decide how deep you want to cut.
Do you want to cut out everyone, or just select groups of people? Try trimming first before going nuclear. - Decide whom to tell.
While you should tell everyone, there are several tiers of people you must make sure to tell.
- Your Closest Followers
- Your Friends & Family
- Your Co-workers & Clients
- Your Fans
- Clearly explain why you are unfollowing.
Keep things in perspective. You are not breaking up with a “significant other.” The best notifications are short and to the point, unlike this post
. However, it’s still a relationship and a clear message shows that you respect your followers and reduces the chance that you will damage that relationship. Just realize that some Followers will be offended no matter what you do. It’s unfortunate, but it’s reality. - Decide which Channels you want to use for notifications.
If you are unfollowing from a specific platform, notify people on that platform. Writing on someone’s Facebook wall that you’re unfollowing them in Twitter will only cause confusion (and may make you look stupid). You can also send an email to specific, important followers such as an employer, client or family member. But remember, whatever channel you choose, don’t assume that everyone will see the notification. Expect that most won’t.
There are many fans of various Twitter clients but HootSuite seems to be a very clear choice for many Social Media/Marketing professionals. A good portion of “Tweeting” is done on the fly and those of us that are iPhone users may (or may not) have been utilizing the new HootSuite iPhone application.
The current functionality does allow the user to copy a URL from Safari then paste it into a tweet and use the ow.ly shrinking button to shrink the URL so it can be tracked using Hootsuite; what it does not provide is a Safari bookmarklet for easier URL shortening straight from the iPhone’s browser. I have figured out a way to do just that and would love to share the process for those interested. There are a few steps and it’s really not overly complicated.
1) Make sure you have added Hootsuite’s “Hootlet” to your browser of choice on your PC, laptop, etc. & make sure you are logged into HootSuite.
2) Once added, right click the “Hootlet” and from the menu choose Properties.
3) You will see in the Location field the address used for the Hootlet. Copy the entire string and email it to yourself so you can access it from your iPhone.
4) Open the email with the java string from your iPhone and copy the entire address then open Safari. From Safari, open HootSuite’s homepage.
5) Bookmark the page (this will only be a placekeeper)
6) After you have added the HootSuite bookmark choose “Edit” from the Safari bookmark menu. Change the Bookmarklet name to “Hootlet” (to avoid confusion), delete the current URL and paste the java string you copied previously into the address line. Tap Done to save.
At this point the bookmarklet is complete so let’s test it:
1) Open a new page in Safari on your iPhone and navigate to any site you’d like.
2) From the site you navigated to, tap the bookmark icon in Safari and choose your newly created “Hootlet”
3) This will open a new page (you may need to log in the first time using your HootSuite credentials) that looks just like the typical “Hootlet” “Create New Message” window.
4) Make any adjustments you want, choose the social network to update and send.
This will allow the iPhone users of Hootsuite to streamline the entire process of posting from Safari.
Feel free to let me know if you have any questions!
You don’t have to use Twitter to know what it is. You may not necessarily understand how it works, but to at least have a basic knowledge of it’s function. In January 2010 nearly 75,000,000 people worldwide visited Twitter.com. These numbers, per comScore account for 1,100% growth in a year. In other words multiplying yourself eleven times in twelve months; I would consider that expansive growth.
The United States makes up one-third of the Twitter user base at around 23,500,000 visitors. These numbers are for those individuals visiting and making use of Twitter.com alone. When you add in all the tweets from the various clients there are about 50 million tweets sent a day.
How does this relate to business one might ask. My focus, being that I generally write on nightlife and entertainment, is on bars, clubs and restaurants. If your establishment does not have a Twitter account…GET ONE! That’s the first step, which it seems a good number of establishments do. Once you have your account set up, use it; tweet daily and tweet often. Many businesses have a dedicated person employed simply to handle their Twitter account/Facebook page(s). This is free advertising and the name of the game is brand recognition.
As a nightlife establishment, getting your events, specials, etc out to your key demographic is paramount. Plus, out of town visitors will access the feed also and will drive your numbers. A key aspect to this equation is employ an individual who is not only familiar with social media but knows all the tricks to utilizing it. Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare are the tools that can be mastered to bring the bodies and help make an establishment more successful (plus they are all free).
