From Microblogging to “Microgaming:” Is Twitter the New Gaming Platform?

Most tweeple know how challenging it can be to say what you want in 140 characters or less, but these kinds of constraints are exactly what give Twitter a unique advantage in the gaming industry. In the Playing with 140 Characters: Designing Games for Twitter Games panel today at SXSW 2010, game designers Eric Zimmerman, Colleen Macklin, John Sharp, and Michael Edwards talked about some amazing developments in what might soon be called “microgaming.” Beginning with an actual interactive game with colored note cards in the audience, the panelists talked about basic game principles such as rules and structure, limitations, and systems. And while these principles are common in any game, they can easily apply to Twitter’s platform. For example, Twitter already employs “rules” and “limitations” like being able to DM only those people who are mutually following one another, and it is a system with many moving “parts” like @replies or links.

With its unique structure, some pretty interesting games are already being formed for Twitter. Here’s a video of Colleen talking about the two categories of Twitter games and some examples:

more about “Twitter Games“, posted with vodpod

Simpler, more casual minigames like Twivial and Twitbrain allow users to participate at their leisure, while other MMOs (massive multiplayer games) like King of Pop, 140 Blood, Spymaster, and Twirdie (Twitter golf!) might require more participation and interactivity, as well as more incentives to play.

Are Foursquare and Gowalla Really Games?
This new platform is opening up the idea of what a game really is. Even applications like Foursquare and Gowalla are considered “games” because they create challenge, game incentives, and interaction. Here, Colleen talks about Foursquare and compares it to Gowalla:

more about “What is Foursquare?“, posted with vodpod

Currently, these panelists and other game designers are trying to incorporate multimedia into Twitter gaming, and there still are many directions to go. RPGs, more data-based games, and Twitter-native games are just a few of the ideas that were discussed today. Do you play Twitter games? If so, which ones? If not, do you think you would ever play one? What are some potential concerns that might arise?

Mad Men on Twitter

Tuesday afternoon Helen Klein Ross of Supporting Characters, Michael Bissell  president of  Conquent  and Carri Bugbee  president of  Big Deal PR, had a confession to make- they have not exactly been completely honest with everyone. In particular, Betty Drapper is not Betty Drapper, she is Helen Ross. Roger Sterling is not Roger Sterling, he is Michael Bissell. And Peggy Olson is not Peggy Olson, she is Carri Bugbee. Twitter-ly speaking, that is.

The panelists plus a few others, have been participating in a term Ross coined as, “brand fiction.”

Mad Men on Twitter

How did it begin?

“Man Men on Twitter came about completely by happenstance,” said Bugbee. She said she saw Don Drapper was Tweeting and loved the idea and immediately started Tweeting as @PeggOlson. She called up Bissell and he quickly grabbed @Roger_Sterling.

“Within a couple of hours I had about 160 folowers, and I thought ‘wow people really seem to be into this’ and I thought, ’OK I should take this very seriously, it could be a very interesting case study,’ so I should treat it like a job,” Bugbee said.

“It was really kind of blowing up in the Twittersphere,” Bugbee said, and she decided to keep her project a secret. 

About 6 days later, she found her account had been suspended for suspicious activity. There was a digital media copywright infringement. The next day tons of blogs and news stories were published about the characters being taken down, and several of the remaining characters were being contacted by the press. Then the next day they let the characters go back up.

Ross started by being followed by Peggy and Don. 

“I was as shocked as anyone else when the blogs went down,” said Ross. She said when they went back up she got on and looked for any remaining characters. She began as Francine and tweeted Betty and when Betty let her know she wasn’t playing, she became @bettydraper, and then picked up a few of the other neighborhood characters in order to organize drama and events within Twitter.

Why did it work?

Ross explained, “We revealed their mundane daily activities” exactly what Twitter is for.

“The takedown was phenomenal press,” said Bissell.

“All of us have strived to remain parallel to Matt Wiener’s universe,” said Ross. ”I have a whole 1960′s library full of cook books and Betty crocker.” 

Bissell said he has truly enjoyed playing @Roger_Sterling. “He gets to make all the little quips that fit beautifully in 140 characters,” he said.

Bissell confessed he had to create a split reality to embrace the “maleness” of Roger Sterling and remarked at how lucky it is that Twitter is so transitory and how quickly people forget when you slip up. Bissell learned quickly that Long Island Ice Tea wasn’t created until the 1970s. 

A large part of the success is the continuation of the story and characters between episodes and seasons. Ross pointed out that that is only the half of it.

“The other half, and more important half, are tweets from fans,” she said. “It’s really interesting to engage with others following us.”

Ross said, they are not being paid by AMC, but are hoping to use this to pioneer a new type of interactive advertising within Twitter. Bissell and Bugbee were mum on the subject of payment. [See Bugbee's comment- CT]

 

Why does this matter?

Traditionally, people want to be entertained and it has been a “I create content, you watch them” contract. 

Ross claims that things have changed.

“Not only do we watch a show, we expect to have some kind of active participation in it,” she said. “Entertainment is changing, advertising has to acknowledge this.”

Ross said that advertising should be measuring “Not only impressions, but expressions” and defines this as fan interaction with the show. 

“Advertisers are being forced to work for an invitation into peoples homes,” she said and this is a way of ”extending the brand across platforms.”

They like to think that Mad Men on Twitter is pushing beyond advertising.

“It’s not just fan fiction, it’s brand fiction,” said Ross.

Bissell focused on the tracking side of the project. 

“Traditional advertising is built on trackable statistics,” and its hard to do that with Twitter said Bissell.

Politics, Technology, and Pop Culture

Politics, Technology, and Pop Culture, comprised of Lawrence Lessig of Stanford Law School, Alex Wellen, Deputy Political Director of Digital Content at CNNPolitics.com, Dan Patterson of ABC News, Tom Serres CEO of Piryx Inc, Amber Ettinger (Obama Girl) and Mark McKinnon Vice Chairman of Public Strategies Inc.

Politics, Technology, and Pop Culture

 

 

McKinnon, commented on the earlier Republican campaigns saying, “Nobody even had Blackberries. The whole process took a matter of days.” Compared to his experience on the McCain campaign he said “we really had what I call a democratization of politics and… the campaigns lose control of their message.”
He said of Dean and Obama, “They knew how to make technology harness the passion and talents of their followers.”

Patterson spoke to the technology gap between generation Y and baby boomers and said that it was “more of a perceived gap than an actual gap,” and that he has not so much witnessed a real technology gap. “It will eventually work itself out,” he said.

Wellen, made a few comments about how they at CNN look at the shift.
“Politics pushes us forward,” he said. “I spend all my time thinking about integration or convergence… It’s starting on TV and its pushing people and attracting them to go to the web” and visa versa. He explained that the Holy Grail is when they are both being used in a “Two screen experience.”

Lessig weighed in on the 2008 election saying “participation was more than just a cool ap. Participation was something that you thought you were going to actually move politics.”
He warned that if things don’t change with Obama, “we’re going to be extraordinary let down if it isn’t something very different.” He went on the explain that Washington is full of ordinary politicians and “the question is whether Obama will be able to carry it to the next level and actually be able to change them too.”

Serres, asked McKinnon to comment on his recent article about how he believes that Twitter has “jumped the shark.” McKinnon exclaimed that “the problem is that people are confused into thinking that more communication is better communication and then it just becomes noise”
“Increasingly we have to be able to step back and think that the message is about quality not quantity.”

Patterson jumped in and defended Twitter based on the utilization of filtering aps and the usefulness of Twitter as a tool for communication. He cited several examples of his use of it in his profession as a journalist.

The conversation then turned the attention to the pop culture side of the discussion as Serres asked Ettinge to describe her experience of being a “human meme.”

“It’s been a crazy, almost two years now,” she said. “People were asking me about his policies and and I was like ‘I just a have a crush on this guy.’”

She said “I’ve hung up my bikini and put on a business suit” and speak at political conventions.

Patterson commented on the participation of pop culture in the recent campaign.
“Obama branded himself in a way that inspired activists. Obama worked a brand and that inspired people.” he said. “Like Amber, he became a meme.”

The subject of political remixes came up and Lessig remarked on the remixes, YouTube usage and copywright.
“The wide ranging use of creativity in this last campaign are going to force change,” he said and then went off on a tirade against current copywright law to much audience approval.

The panel closed with a discussion about online voting. McKinnon agreed with it saying he thought it was a good idea.
“When you plow through it all, the greater emphasis should be on participation,” he said. “Anything that creates greater participation, I think we should encourage”

South By Morning Bits: March 12

Holy smack, it’s like Christmas Eve in March…SXSWi officially starts tomorrow!

The team at South By Texas State is in hibernation/preparation for Interactive, which begins Friday with a few opening panels. So as you finalize your my.sxsw or sched:sxsw 2009 schedule, we are providing a few ways you can stay up-to-date with South By Texas State reports aside from the blog:

1. Follow us on Twitter (@SXTXState)

2. Check out our Ustream page via your laptop or iPhone. We will be live streaming content at 1:30 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday through Tuesday. We hope to gather some exciting guests for a quick chat on SXSWi events.

3. Visit our YouTube channel.

4. See our pics on Flickr.

We can’t wait until all the nerdy fun begins. You can get a head start by going to pick up your SXSWi badge today if you happen to be hanging around downtown Austin. As for me, I’ll just stay indoors, grab my badge Friday and do some live streaming as we wait in line. Texas is getting hammered with rain and a cold front right now. Just to think it felt like summer a few days ago…

We will continue to post previews throughout the day, but for now check out this video shot last night as we gathered to discuss final plans and updates for coverage. Does it look like we need a nap?

Interactive 412

For your viewing pleasure Buster Keaton drops “Interactive 412″, enjoy.

Morning Bits: Kid tested, Mother approved

Good morning and sorry for the lame post title… speaking of things I am going to say that are lame, can I get a “what what” for SXSW starting THIS WEEK?

Say it out loud.

SXSW. Starts. This. Week.

I don’t even believe my own voice.
So, let’s all get those final RSVPs in, panel selections made, blogs started, new shoes broke in, fanny packs broke out, and Austin Convention Center emergency exits memorized, cause we only have two more days.

Now to news

• Seagate will be giving out free hard drives via a Twitter contest at SXSW. How’s that for hard(drive) news? Like a riddle wrapped in an enigma covered in secret sauce (thank you, Mr. James), Seagate is revealing little details about their plot to back up SWSXers information. Seagate are either incredibly dubious, or just really nice guys wanting to give out some free hard drives. We’ll see.

• Also, the time and location for the ever loved Barcamp has been announced. Next stop, geek-inebriation. The event will be held at 311 East 5th St (RIP Paradox) on Saturday for. 12. hours. Gratuitous? All in good fun? Necessary? Healthy? YES!

• Apple Netbook? Alright, Newton, take two! Perhaps even with Jobs being under the weather, Apple still has a few tricks up their sleeves. DigiTimes reports that “Taiwan-based Wintek will supply touch panels for Apple’s new netbook.” Interesting.

• And in other Apple news, did anyone else catchthe famous “1984″ commercial cameo in Watchmen?

• Finally, popular web video page YouTube will be blocking music videos from Britain viewers after negotiations between YouTube and the British music royalty-collecting body “broke down”. Those British royals… when will they learn?

And since we’re in America, lets enjoy a good British band on YouTube

You Can Teach Old Media New Tricks

Robert Quigley, Internet Editor for the Austin American-Statesman, and Daniel Honigman, Social Media Strategist and Editorial Engagement Strategist for Tribune Interactive in Chicago, will host a core conversation titled, “Old Media Finds New Voice Through Twitter“, on Sunday, March 15th at 3 p.m. The conversation will focus on how statesman.com, austin360.com and Tribune Interactive are utilizing Twitter as an interactive, personality-driven tool to reach out in a new way to their readers.

According to Honigman, “Through Twitter, we’ve gotten all sorts of tips, sources for stories and even copyediting help on occasion. We also have received vast amounts of feedback for our products, both in print and on the Web, as well as ideas and complaints in real time. We can also get a bead on some customer-related issues as well, like delivery. We find that through social media, we’re connecting with our existing audience and new readers every day.” By sharing his own experience with Twitter, Honigman hopes that the conversation will help folks to understand how they to can take advantage of these new media platforms in order to tap into a rapidly growing audience.

The two also host a blog, “Old Media, New Tricks,” where they and others from the media industry offer hands-on advice, unique experiences and professional expertise to help readers figure out the world of “new media.” 

Later that evening, the Statesman will roll out the red carpet for the winners of the Texas Social Media Awards (where they will also announce the overall winner) on March 15 at Ballet Austin at 6 p.m. It’s $15.00 to get in which includes free food and drinks (yes adult beverages). You can purchase tickets for the event on their website. 

Robert Quigley, Internet Editor for the Austin American-Statesman, started there in 1998 and has worked as an Assistant News Editor, Copy Editor, Letter Editor and Page Designer. He is the main voice behind the Statesman’s Twitter account @statesman.

Chris Valentine on Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator at SXSW

Chris Valentine, the momentum behind Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator at SXSW, recently blessed me with a precious ten minutes of his time to shed some light on one of this year’s newest and most exciting events at SXSWi. For the uninformed (that being most of us as this is the debut year for this event), Accelerator is an event designed to be a platform for early stage interactive services, ideas, or technologies.

In Valentine’s own words, “What was happening is we had a lot of responses in the past with regards to ‘Hey we have this new product or services and we want to be involved with SXSW but we don’t really know the best way of doing that,’ and that’s the reason Accelerator was created.”

He elaborates, “It’s your chance to see where technology’s going to be over the next three to five years. We’re dealing with a lot of innovative ideas and when you see them it’s just like ‘Oh why didn’t I think of that?’”.

How about an example from last year, Chris?

“In an example within last year, even though Accelerator was not here, the company that would have fit within the formatting…would have been Twitter. Last year Twitter really exploded and SXSW really had a huge part of that.”

Valentine explained that what started as a “low key” event really blew up in scope.

“The reality is that we expected 50 companies to apply. We were going to keep it really low key. Expectations were very low. We were going to allow it grow very slowly and very organically… what has happened was we had 250 companies apply,” said Valentine. “Our expectations have continued to exceed what we had thought what they would be. Which is a great thing and then it also causes problems itself cause we don’t know what to expect.”

Of those original ~250 applicants, Valentine and a team of judges whittled the list down to 20 finalists in Online Music-Related Technologies, Online Video-Related Technologies, Social Networking Applications and Innovative Web Technologies.

“Twenty were chosen out of the 200 plus applicants,” Valentine said. “We basically had a judging session where we broke out every company, looked at the different companies, looked at the different products and services they were offering and chose them based on innovation, based on relevancy and based on scalability.”

Before the selection process even began, Valentine and the Accelerator team recruited the Advisory Board to help get the ball rolling.

He explained that the Advisory Board is made up of “industry experts who could share their knowledge and wisdom to help us with this event, which is a new format for Southby, and they helped us in the sense of creating awareness of who are the new companies out there that we wanted to approach or they wanted to approach on our behalf to say ‘hey you need to submit an application to this event, I think it would be a good thing for you guys to do.’”

At this point in the SXSWi timeline Valentine and his team are busy dotting all their ‘I’s and crossing all their ‘T’s.

“Most of the things I’m dealing with are all of the little details,” he said. “In the sense of making sure we are able to implement what we are committed to. This is a first year event, so what details could we be missing that we haven’t thought about or that might catch us off guard.”

The Accelerator has the potential to be a very popular and influential event. In essence, it puts a microscope up to the heart of SXSWi, future innovation and technology trends, and, as the name implies, fast-forwards the progress and awareness of these new services and technologies. Or we can view it like what Ed McMahon’s Star Search was to blossoming jugglers and interpretive dancers, Accelerator is to innovative web developers and technology entrepreneurs.

“There’s a huge amount of hype around accelerator right now,” he said. “From what I’m gathering from different people we’re talking to in regards to the press and the media, they’re very excited about this event. This is the event that they want to attend. It’s got a really really really great buzz that’s happening right now. It’s taken a whole life of its own.”

Check out the Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator at SXSW on the sixth floor of the Downtown Austin Hilton 10:00 am to 5:30 pm on Monday, March 16.

Morning Bits

Good morning everyone! SXSWi is just around the corner! Here are some tech and SWSW related news items:

Yesterday, Apple announced a new round of updates. The company added a $2,400 24-inch iMac and a faster Macbook Pro. The processor has been bumped up from 2.53 GHz to 2.66 GHz. Other updates include: Airport Extreme, which adds a duel broadcasting mode on the 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz band and Time Capsule will run duel Wi-Fi streaming at 802.11n and  802.11 g speeds — Time Capsule will automatically pick the right speed allowing for more efficient backups. Apple also announced the new Macbook Mini, which they tout as being more energy efficient. It draws less than 13 watts of power when idle . Speaking of Apple, forget the iPod and get the icePod!

Twitter has gained in popularity since the earthquakes in China last summer. This weekend, Twitter (and Google Maps) was used to track down two missing skiers. Friends of the skiers used the microblogging site to obtain the skiers phone numbers. Then, they used the signals to track the skiers. One person was rescued using Google Maps and GPS. Tragically, the other skier, was not able to be saved. This article on TechCrunch shows a screenshot of the  tweets from the rescue mission.

Social Media Marketing: The New Black

This is my first year attending SXSWi so I’m getting really excited (as my Twitter feed keeps reminding me how close it’s getting!) I want to not only learn new things during my two-day experience but also be able to take some away some valuable knowledge to use apply to my job and career.

I am fairly new to the world of social media marketing….professionally that is.  People in the media, advertising and marketing world are finding themselves a little lost these days. Companies want to get on the “social media marketing” train but few know how to start or navigate through the sea of the web. Perhaps not overly “monotize” it but to at least have some value and exposure for the company.  The first biggest roadbump is understanding that this new form of communication is interactive – not like traditional media. It’s hard for companies to sort of “let go” of the reins and allow the communications to be more organic in nature and stray ever so slightly from the “corporate” guidelines. I’ve tried to pull some enlightment on the best way to approach this from various sources such as websites like The Best and Worst Social Media Marketing Practices  and and books like Social Media Marketing an Hour a Day. but I am always looking for new ideas and inspiration. That’s why I’m super excited about the book reading, Social Media Marketing, on March 14 from 10:30-11:00am with Alan Moore, founder of Smlxl.

Alan Moore, Smlxl

 

I’m also really looking forward to seeing Old Media Finds New Voice Through Twitter on Sunday, March 15th from 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm. The conversation will talk about how Statesman.com and Austin360.com are using Twitter as an interactive, personality-driven tool to communicate with their readers. The Statesman has close to 5,000 followers on Twitter which showcases their ability to take risks and try new ways of providing news to their readers. The conversation will feature  Robert Quigley, the Internet Editor at the Statesman (who is a journalist and the main person behind the Twitter account @statesman) and Daniel Honigman  from Tribune Interactive.