You are what you Tweet: 2011 in review

Frugal Dad has put together the results of what Twitter users have spent the last year discussing – the results being a mixture of both interesting… and downright depressing.

On the one hand we’re pretty good at using the social site to spread news such as the political pressure in Egypt, the devastation of Japan’s earthquake and Bin Laden’s raid. However, it seems we still play into the hands of the celebrity culture, preferring to spread news of Beyonce’s baby bump, Rebecca Black’s musical genius and Justin Bieber’s latest hairstyle.

What does that say about us? I guess it says quite a lot about not only the way we share and what we like to talk about, but also the user base of Twitter. It’s easy to think that Twitter seems much more mature and ‘grown up’ in comparison to Facebook, but Twitter still has a large amount of active young users, both below 18 and in the 18-25 demographic. And evidently, they’re pretty good at sharing news. (Yes, other demographics no doubt shared news about celebrities too, but it’s pretty likely that many of Justin Bieber’s biggest fans sit pretty closely to the younger Twitter demographic.)

So, do the results below surprise you? Do you feel like more of the people you follow talk Tsunami or world news?
(Click read more to view infographic)

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5 top video games online campaigns of 2011

So here’s a list of some of the video games campaigns of the year that I really enjoyed. They all encorporate an element of social media and online activity – which is why I’ve picked them! They are by no means a definitive list, just some of the campaigns that really caught me eye. Let me know if you agree or know of some I’ve missed out that you’d like to recommend!

5. Gears of War 3

Anyone who’s played the GOW series will know just how special this final game was; sending off our Delta squad heroes – whom have been with us through gore, bro-mance and some pretty emotion scenes – into the distopian sunset. The GOW is a particularly interesting series, a trilogy that started with little social activity leading to the final episode that made the most of online tools to ensure it’s success.

Gears of War 3 gave its online fans much to keep themselves occupied and engaged in the run up to the COG last stand, from an online led campaign to decide the fate of our final recruit from the Carmine family, to fans getting a say in which maps made the final cut in the multiplayer maps and beta codes being released online to those lucky enough to gets their hands on them (like me!). The final game was hyped and promoted well online and the final product didn’t disappoint – I’m sure there weren’t many dry eyes from hardcore fans by the end of this game!

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2012 PR Graduate Schemes

Ben Cotton produced a fantastic post this month on the 2012 PR graduate schemes. So if you’re looking for a job after graduating this year, why not check out the list collated by Ben below and be sure to check out his blog and recommended posts below for more information and tips.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been researching and speaking to industry colleagues in order to create this years list of 2012 PR Graduate Schemes.

Despite growth stalling in the wider economy, it’s great to see the PR industry in rude health (judging by the number of grad schemes that is). The list is broadly the same size as previous years and as we’ve come to expect, it is predominantly made up of the larger, international agencies with London offices.

This years list makes one thing abundantly clear. Whilst final year students will be acclimatising to their most important year at university and thinking about dissertations, the race for a graduate PR job has already begun.

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Skyrim live action trailer looks pretty awesome

Turning games into live action mini-movies seems to be all the rage at the moment, from the incredible fan-made Operation Kingfish to PlayStation’s “Michael“. Now Bethesda Software have released their own for the upcoming RPG epic, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

I’ve played a few RPGs before, but never the ‘The Elder Scrolls’ series, mainly because RPGs have the tendency of sucking away too many hours of one’s life. However, a certain HBO title may have changed that for me, and perhaps many others too.

November’s Edge issue made a very valid point in their Skyrim feature; HBO’s Game of Thrones has opened up the mythical world of fantasy to a much larger audience. ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ may have once been the ‘geek bible’, but now that the action packed, sexy HBO adaptation has burst onto our screens, the book series has been catapulted on to the best selling charts. As a result, fantasy has become more socially acceptable, from the violent, horrible White Walkers, to birth of fire-breathing dragons and the brave Sers that fight them.

So a game like Skyrim gives players the chance to experience a whole new level of these fantasy worlds usually confined to books and TV shows, allowing them to living their very own fantasy story. The Bethesda stands at both Gamescom and Paris Games Show seemed full of gamers doing just that, but how about the more casual gamers, not shelling out to attend games shows?

I suppose only the sales figures will tell, but they certainly have one customer right here, eagarly awaiting the release thanks to the hunger for adventure that the talented George R. R Martin has created.

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Guest post: Using social media to land your dream job

Ben cotton works at Edelman and blogs at the fantastic Social Web Thing, a must RSS subscribe for any PR student or young practitioner who wants tips on getting into the industry and advice from professionals. Here, Ben shares more insider knowledge on how to use social media tools to get that dream job.

In previous generations, a small number of people would hear about and apply for jobs, but the web has revolutionised the employability process, and now anyone with Internet access is a potential rival. The Internet has made the job market more competitive, but social media offers the greatest opportunities to showcase creativity, stand-out and land a job.

However, most people submit a CV consisting of two pieces of paper when applying for a job, rather than taking a risk. Convention should not stop people turning a document that is functional, rather than engaging into something truly memorable.

This post looks at practical tips and innovative examples of people who have used social media to land their dream job. Continue reading

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Gamescom, Köln – what a week!

Last month I was lucky enough to attend Gamescom 2011 along with the rest of the Sony Ericsson XperiaTM PLAY team, to help out on the XperiaTM PLAY booth (which looked awesome!).
Being the resident Wolfstar geek (every company needs one!) means I’ve had the chance to work on the PLAY account from the start. It’s more then I ever could have hoped for on my internship year, with it being an amazingly fast paced and exciting account and totally focused around one of my own interests; the video games industry.

Still a man’s world?

Whenever the topic arises in conversation, I usually get a funny look when I say I’m into gaming, People assume I must mean on the Wii playing fitness games (which admittedly I do) or on a more female orientated game like The Sims (again, guilty), so they are yet again surprised when I explain it’s more the action and shooter games that I put my hours into.

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Gears of War 3 Beta stats

I’m a sucker for a good infographic and a stat addict, so naturally I enjoyed this :)

I managed to get hold of a Gears 3 Beta code when it was still up, though I was seriously rusty from spending too much time on other shooters like COD. However, it looks like it’s set to be an amazing online game and hopefully we’ll see an epic finish to the trilogy - I can’t wait! Continue reading

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Videos from Gamescom

Doing onsite videoing and editing for Sony Ericsson at Gamescom meant I got the chance to meet some really nice people and see some cool stuff! The indie developers were all really awesome and we’ll no doubt being seeing more amazing stuff from them in years to come! Here’s some of the best bits in chronological order :)

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Portal IRL

Another cool indie viral. Portal would probably make an awesome full movie if someone decided to make one.

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Dubstep + Big Guns = What’s not to like?

Saw this video on the YouTube homepage, wow! Amazing editing and a fun idea, this is why I love indie filmakers. Check out the guys from Corridor Digital and share the love!

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