Happy New Year! Congratulations to those of you who made it through the festivities without any bloodshed. We thought about giving something back to our Twitter followers to kick off 2010 — but we pepper them with giveaways throughout the year. Instead, we asked them for help as we stumble into the new dawn of 2010. We sent them 20 Questions and they’ve variously sent us their snarkiest, wittiest, blarniest answers — in 140 characters or less. If you’ve ever wondered what the hell crowdsourcing really is: behold the phenomenon in action.
1. Where are the best fish and chips near you?
@tobiasziegler: One block away from the best park near me. Perfect.
@dfg77: Just down the back lane. West’s Seafood in East Albury.
@KingsTribune: Elwood Fish & Chippery + take away refreshing ales + short walk to beach = awesome summer evening.
@frombecca: Ocean Foods on Lyons Road, Drummoyne — fresh + tasty, great variety, won local awards.
2. Will this be your first tweeted festive season?
@kedgie: Nope, I tweeted last year, between festivities.
@levis517: Well, I was an active Twitterer during Diwali a few months ago, but I didn’t actually tweet ABOUT it.
3. Followers: quantity or quality?
@tammois: Quality, obviously. It’s about engaging with communities of interest, feeding passions. I block neocons, bots & shameless market researchers.
@KingsTribune: The only time I want quantity over quality is when I open my bank statement.
@fortunegrey: Talking followers at Xmas seems oddly appropriate — I’m happy both ways, if someone decides to follow my tweets, they’re quality in my book.
4. What is your favourite season-appropriate song?
@nomesmessenger: Tom Waits — Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis.
@bronska1: This one.
@dfg77: John Williamson — Special Girl (Don’t you lattebelt arseholes judge me.)
@fooderati: El Michels Affair — Shimmy Shimmy Ya.
@kedgie: I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus.
@newsflake: Christmas music is the soundtrack to 5 of the 7 circles of Hell.
5. Will social media technology play any role in your celebrations of the New Year?
@bronska1: Yes, I plan to tweet about Richard Wilkins and announce his death while he’s talking on TV.
@KingsTribune: No. Will be in an internet and phone free house on the coast. Like a holiday in a time machine.
6. Have you made any New Year’s Resolutions?
@newsflake: Of course. How else will I self-flagellate for the rest of the year?
@lyndenbarber: Yes — not to repeat 2009’s Epic Resolution Fail
@tammois: Sure, same one every year. "This year I will help change the world." #RIOT
7. Does MC Hammer have a future beyond Twitter?
@tobiasziegler: No. Young MC and Tone Loc are the future.
@eventmechanics: MC Hammer is the future anterior of an already forgotten future, so, no.
@nomesmessenger: Naturally, after #tightsarenotpants, #hammerpants will make a comeback.
8. We’re emerging from the Noughties. What should we call the decade ahead?
@gn0sis: I think we should go back to Jazz era type decade names. "The Swinging Tens" sounds good.
@tobiasziegler: The Tobbies. I will totally pwn this decade.
@tammois: I suppose it’s the twentyteens, which will surely be shortened to something like the Twenteens, maybe even Twitteens.
@bondles9: I’d like to live in the Onesies. I have a sinking feeling that we’ll end up pretending 2010–12 didn’t exist and calling them the "teens".
9. It’s New Years Day. Kevin Rudd has managed to issue a surprise energy consumption decree. Not only has he discovered some constitutional wormhole which has allowed him to impose heavy taxes on big polluters, he’s giving householders a tough choice. A 30 per cent reduction in home electricity or water usage. Which do you choose?
@gn0sis: Water. I try to use that sparingly anyway. I just need the computer on all the time, sorry environment.
@kymtje: Water. Showering with a friend is a totally legitimate hobby.
@jason_a_w: Water. I’m happy to drink and/or bathe in beer.
@eventmechanics: Reduction of what? Consumption or the cost? Water for consumption, electricity for the bill.
@tammois: Water, ‘cos the tax on polluters should force the end of coal reliance & increase of renewables anyway. Btw, we use 250L/day for 5ppl. #youcantoo
10. In 140 characters or less, what is the future of journalism?
@nomesmessenger: BAHAHAHAHAHAHA oh wait, no no, yes BAHAHAHAH.
@dfg77: Public broadcasting and hyperlocal community blogging.
@eventmechanics: Niche-orientated, enthusiast-driven, node-based meshworks of expert critique and user derived observation and know-how, where brands exist across a number of platforms and function as enablers of connection.
@newsflake: Isn’t that why we follow @jay_rosenNYU?
11. What is the hashtag you love to hate?
@tobiasziegler: #slopposition — my own invention, which I sorely wish wasn’t required so often.
@lyndenbarber: #Copenhagen. Should read #Clusterf*ck.
@kymtje: #justsayin — sums up all the delightful flippancy that drew me to twitter in the first place.
@kedgie: #q&a when I’m not watching it.
12. Who should be tweeting?
@kymtje: Former High Court Justice Michael Kirby. And Muammar Gaddafi.
@levis517: Jon Stewart, natch. Everyone else is secondary.
@jason_a_w: Obama’s pretty slack.
13. Slip, slop, or slap?
@newsflake: Who? Because I’d totally slap Janet Albrechtsen or Miranda or Andrew …
@bondles9: "Slip" is by far the most intriguing of those words.
14. Is Twitter over?
@philch: Not until Conroy blacklists it.
@KingsTribune: Better bloody not be. I only discovered it a few months ago.
@frombecca: "We’ve only just begun …" My opinion — Twitter is THE best of current communities, but who knows what the future holds?
@tobiasziegler: No. Twitter is conversation — I can’t see it being over as long as people want to talk to other people.
15. If the Walkleys had a best tweeter category, who would you nominate?
@kedgie: @Jason_a_w. He gives good links.
@fatzombie: @stokely: ass-kicker for socmed and all-round genius.
@bronska1: @FakeBennyHinn.
@newsflake: Given that Tracy Grimshaw won one for interviewing I’d say it’s the Walkleys not Twitter that’s over.
@tammois: Seems kinda sycophantic in this context to say @rod3000, but there it is.
16. What song would you nominate for inclusion on our hotly anticipated compilation album Twitter: The Soundtrack?
@daiskmeliadorn: Something by ADHDJ
@fooderati: Elvis Presley — A Little Less Conversation.
@philch: Guided By Voices — Gold Star For Robot Boy.
@jason_a_w: Hank Williams — "Your Cheatin’ Heart".
17. Who is your favourite tweep?
@bondles9: I don’t like "Tweep". Can’t we just call each other "Twits"?
@fooderati: @blues_junkie, aka Franz Scheurer. Funny, interactive, knowledgeable, eclectic, hooked up. Swiss.
@fortunegrey: It’s not so much the specific tweeters, but the back and forth collective flow of ideas. It’s all about scenes/community, you know?
@KingsTribune: Put @firstdogonmoon and @chaslicc in a blender and you would have the perfect tweeter. And some icky bits left over.
18. What is the best thing you have discovered via Twitter?
@jason_a_w: Discretion is the better part of social media.
@kedgie: A whole raft of people who also find themselves inexplicably awake late on work nights.
@nomesmessenger: The amount of idiots that exist and can’t spell.
@tammois: That my resignation email to the uni council was leaked to Crikey. Also, salami day with @tomatom, & cool stuff every day!
@frombecca: PEOPLE. I’ve made lots of new friends with similar passions + interests, met new people with whom to share ideas + collaborate.
19. If you ran Twitter, what business model would you use to make it profitable?
@ColesOnline: If I knew, I would.
@dfg77: I’d ask Microsoft for perpetual buckets of cash, just so that I didn’t sell to Google.
@KingsTribune: Amazon style "you might be interested in" based on tweets and followers — but it would have to be done intelligently. Not every bloke over 40 needs erectile dysfunction devices.
20. What have you said on Twitter that you would never say IRL?
@newsflake: Totes lolz OMG. Oh. No. Wait.
@tammois: Given it should really be the other way around (think: archive), nothing. #notasstupidasyouthinkIam
@kymtje: IRL. And other acronymious travesties. Or is that twitvesties?
@levis517: something along the lines of "asdsghkgjksagdlaghksd".
@fooderati: I’m better looking in real life (er, that was a joke).
Big thanks to: @tobiasziegler, @nomesmessenger, @bronska1, @baldpom, @ColesOnline, @fatzombie, @newsflake, @bondles9, @dfg77, @tammois, @lyndenbarber, @kymtje, @KingsTribune, @eventmechanics, @fortunegrey, @levis517, @fooderati, @frombecca, @philch, @jason_a_w and @kedgie.
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