Twitter: Beginning of the Ban?

First it was ignored. Then it was regarded with amusement. And finally it seems that it is starting to be banned.

The English FA have today informed the squad that Twitter, Facebook et al are out of bounds to the players during and in the run up to the World Cup. All player comments are to be made exclusively through the FA's official website. Which provides a good reason for avoiding the said site, as we are bound to be treated to the usual bland PR speak characteristic of most post-match TV interviews.

The fact that such a ruling can be made by an employer without an apparent murmur reflects a level of restriction on freedom of speech and expression to a degree that our parents' generation would have found remarkable.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Is Social Media a Fad?

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Seven Things I Like About Tumblr

1. It looks cool

Uploaded images are sharp. Videos are centred and of a good size and quality.

There are a range of attractive designs for personalising your blog.

2. It works well for macro and micro-blogging

It can be used like Twitter as a status updater but the range of things you can do on the site encourages a much more varied set of posts.

Which leads seamlessly to point three.

3. There is a lot you can do with it

• Text posts, like this one
• Uploading photos
• Embedding videos from just about any site you’ll ever use
• Simple links
• Uploading audio files
• Chat facility

The result is a varied and visually pleasing blog with good content, easily generated.

4. It’s not full of rubbish

No sheep or growing flowers. The absence of tacky applications is a plus.

5. You can upload in any way you like

• On the site itself
• By email
• Through Shareaholic or any other online sharing tool
• By a “bookmark this” link in your browser
• By phone - including to a dedicated direct land line

6. It links easily into other media

It’s easy to import and export into Facebook and Twitter (by default or selectively) as well as importing up to five RSS feeds.

The limit on these feeds stops the site becoming another Friend Feed. The feel of Tumblr (to me at least) is that it sits part way between a traditional blog and a social bookmarking site. How much of an individual’s content will be original work and how much will be imported from elsewhere is a matter of personal choice.

7. It has the option to queue posts

Sometimes you get a burst of creativity and want to produce a lot of content. Tumblr lets you queue your posts to upload at a specified date or at regular intervals set by you. This is very convenient and can keep your blog fresh (even if you’re not).

By the way, you can see what I mean by all of the above by visiting my Tumblr blog here.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.