Archive for the ‘Activism’ Category

[This is a follow-up post to "Foursquare Stalkers Go IRL."]

I usually don’t post my Foursquare location until after I leave. At dinner we decided to dine-in instead of takeout but by then the post was out and also over to Twitter.

As we waited for my salmon on brown rice plate, the cashier spoke my name into the microphone.

I never thought not to pick up the phone. Foursquare was fresh on my mind since I had recently written a blog post on PleaseRobMe.com, the stalker-enabler site.

As I went to the phone I figured someone was playing a prank and I would see this through. I didn’t recognize the voice on the phone that immediately started calling me “the biggest [insert homophobic language]“. There was nothing funny about that and the voice was even, as if he had done the same thing a dozen times earlier that night. I could tell from the stupid questions he was asking that he was trying to offend me, but still keep me on the line. I figured he was getting his jollies by recording the conversation so I hung up.

That evening I tried to figure out who it was and started closing up accounts and blocking people. My list grew longer and longer as I became more paranoid. Was it the PleaseRobMe guys, pissed because I linked to their Whois information on my blog post, exposing their address? Was it the Mayor of the place I visited, warning me off of his territory? I didn’t know.

The next morning I started some serious searching on Google and Twitter. Eventually I searched for “called me Foursquare” and found someone else who had the same thing happen to him. I kept digging and a reply to his tweet led to this PhoneLosers.com post. The site users had been stalking several people using Foursquare, Twitter, and Facebook and posting about their exploits.

After looking through their site, I didn’t find my name on it so I couldn’t positively tell if they were the ones calling, but I was 99% sure. It was the same thing they did to the other guy. I figured the caller didn’t get enough satisfaction from my hanging up so he never posted to the site and went on to harass someone else.

Energy is very important to me. I’m very careful about the kind of energy I let into my life. After doing more research on the PhoneLosers site members, I saw some seriously creepy stuff so I left it and didn’t tweet about it or post about it for several days. It wasn’t until I told some people about it at a tweetup that I decided to review the site again.

They were now stalking dozens of people.

I felt bad that I hadn’t exposed the site earlier but I can’t do anything about the past. There is only the now and I’m acting now by working to close their juvenile operation.

I love our online community. I love playing in it and oversharing. And won’t let some loser site piss in my paddling pool without making waves of my own.

Related Posts
* Foursquare Stalkers Go IRL
* New Site Aims To Scare Foursquare Users – PleaseRobMe.com
* Are We All Asking to Be Robbed? (Mashable)

Will these self-identified stalkers ruin your cyber community? Or will we ban these bullies from our playground?

A site called PhoneLosers.com has been stalking dozens of people using Foursquare, Twitter search, and Facebook. Supposedly, their main goal is to prank people and get them to post about them or the event.

This is part of the PhoneLosers.com forum post by someone named RBCP (appears to also be @rbcp on Twitter), urging people to stalk Foursquare users:

Make a new thread in this board for each person you stalk. If that gets out of hand, we’ll figure out a different way to organize it. It would be cool to include a phone call with your stalking, but I guess a transcript would work too. Most Twitterers are such attention whores that they’ll post about being stalked too. Or they might Facebook it, so check their Facebooks too and post their reactions in the thread you create. – RBCP

The name on the Whois listing for PhoneLosers.com lists a “Brad Carter” as the domain registrant.

There’s also a @PhoneLosers Twitter account and it shamelessly tweeted out:

Stalking people on FourSquare is fun! Come and listen to the sound clips at http://www.phonelosers.com/index.php?board=61.0 – @phonelosers

I have emailed Foursquare, GoDaddy (the domain host), and Twitter so they are aware of the situation and can take action.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) were decided upon by 191 countries in 2000. With only 5 years to go, 8 top filmmakers got together to mobilize others into action. They created 8 short videos which were compiled into the feature film “8.” Each of the short stories focuses on one of the MDGs which are:

1) Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger
2) Achieving universal primary education
3) Promoting gender equality
4) Reducing child mortality
5) Improving maternal health
6) Combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7) Ensuring environmental sustainability
8) Creating global partnerships for development

I spent a week at the United Nations in 2002 so I have a very personal connection to this mission and hope to become more involved.

You can find out more about the project by visiting NoTimeLeft.org and by viewing the videos on YouTube.

I was particularly taken with the way the global partnership and develpment video was created. The story was directed by Wim Wenders and is below.

Twitter has changed it’s Suggested User section list by creating 20 user categories.

This change was made to introduce new Twitter users to a broader base and group them by interest/categories.

Josh Elman from Twitter explains in the Official Twitter Blog:

Today we’re making the first of many changes here to help people ease into the twitterverse by finding and following accounts that interest them.

A Golden Ticket?

If you’ve ever followed anyone who was suddenly added to the previous Suggested Users list, their follower count skyrocketed hours after the new designation. Since there are more categories, the follower count increase might not be as steep but they will still take off like wildfire.

What are some possible effects of this change?

Just looking at the Politics category, being listed could have a make or break effect on politicians. Twitter follower numbers matter big time as Twitter is now one of the largest political organizing tools.

To see the possible impact, look at Carly Fiorina’s account. As of right now, she has 231,655 followers and is campaigning for the US Senate race in California. Fiorina is currently listed in the Politics Suggested User list. Although she has first has to compete for the Republican nomination, Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer only has 18,432 followers and is not on the Politics list. This could be a huge factor, but we don’t know how frequently the lists will change.

The other high impact Suggested User category is the Staff Pics for Haiti category. It’s now easier than ever to find top tweeting sources on the ground in Haiti to help support the crisis after last week’s massive earthquake.

How do the lists work

We know a little bit about how the lists work and the way they are formed from the Twitter blog post:

These lists will be refreshed frequently as the algorithms identify new users who should be suggested in these lists and some that are not as engaging to new users will be removed.

These are the new categories with links to the actual lists:

* Art & Design
* Books
* Business
* Charity
* Entertainment
* Family
* Fashion
* Food & Drink
* Funny
* Health
* Music
* News
* Politics
* Science
* Sports
* Staff Picks
* Staff Picks for Haiti
* Technology
* Travel
* Twitter

What are your thoughts on the Suggested User change? Is this a good direction?

Related Post:

• Review: “open” Listorious vs. “closed” new Twitter suggestion list by Robert Scoble (@scobleizer)

I’m passionate about supporting health care reform. This Animoto video is a compilation of pictures and video from yesterday’s Health care reform rally in Ventura, CA.

During the rally, I sent Twitpics images to Twitter, recorded video using a Mino HD Flip video camera, and streamed live footage using Qik software via my cell phone.

After reading Mashable’s post on Animoto’s new Remix Video feature, I knew I had to try it out. I think this makes a great way to capture some of the energy and spirit of an event.

After reading Seth Godin’s blog post “Willfully ignorant vs. aggressively skeptical” on screaming and being the most informed, I thought I should share my thoughts on using screaming for social causes online.

Many people know that I’ve been screaming in support of healthcare reform and many have joined in. But screaming doesn’t always work. There has to be genuine urgency aimed at one’s trust network and one’s intent must be clear. Without those elements, the screaming and the message will be ignored, perceived as an annoyance, or worse.

Sense of Urgency
For screaming to be effective, there has to be a true sense of urgency based on an emergency (Amber alert, natural disaster, loss of life), time based situation (live event/speech), or information alert (such as a hot news event). At this point, having a decent (but not necessarily the best) understanding of the situation is necessary. If money is involved (as in an urgent fundraising situation) then the more information one has, the better.

Trust Network
If you need to scream to get your message out, scream at your trust network first. If you yell outside of your trust network, it just looks like yelling for yelling’s sake and people will often shut you out, regardless of the message. This is where trust comes in. If people don’t trust you, they won’t even listen, let alone pass on the information or line up with you to scream.

On Twitter, the folks who follow me are my trust network. That certainly doesn’t mean they agree with everything I say or with every position. But it does mean that we rely on each other for true bits of information, which can go a very long way to building trust over time. Over time and with enough fire line situations, these folks become friends and part of what Godin would call a “tribe.” You can find my tribe at http://www.tweet4eric.com. Please ask me about it.

Intent
To have your message heard, your intent must be clear. If people in your trust network see that you have a genuine concern for a cause, then they will lend an ear and maybe even act. If you appear to have a different or unclear agenda, then people will ignore you or maybe even go as far as to call you out on it. For example, if, let’s say, an insurance agent was pushing people to his business blog for more information on squashing healthcare reform, I’d be very skeptical and would certainly question his intentions.

Other Factors
There are many other factors that influence whether screaming for a social cause works (is received, listened to, and acted upon). Is it a political message, what is the timing for the receiver, and what is the “social cost” for repeating information or joining in the yelling?

Online sites like Twitter and Facebook can be used for many purposes, ranging from sheer entertainment to changing the world. If you have a message to get out for a cause, screaming can work to get people’s attention but this should be done sparingly and only when it comes from the heart.