Stephen Fry becomes 2nd most followed person on Twitter

February 3rd, 2009

It’s official - British comedian/presenter Stephen Fry has become the second most followed person on Twitter. With over 106,000 followers, his only rival is Barack Obama.

In fact as I’m writing this post, Fry is Tweeting live from a talk that he’s giving at the Apple store on London’s Regent Street. He leaked news of the event last week through his Twitter account, and tonight his webmaster Andrew Sampson is Tweeting on his behalf. It’s proving a genius way of sharing soundbites from his talk in a genuinely interesting and engaging way - particularly for people like me who’d prefer to stay in the warm tonight!

I personally love the way in which Fry uses Twitter - he doesn’t spam his followers, but instead offers insightful titbits of information about his travels, filming etc, along with honest reflections on his daily life. From a PR standpoint, his tone is genuine and authentic, and as a result his use of Twitter has done much to enhance his public profile.

If you’re not following Fry already, I’d suggest you do!

Posted in Blog, Blogging, Digital communications, PR, Social networking | No Comments »

read more

Publisher launches Penguin 2.0 and embraces social media

December 8th, 2008

Avid iPhone literary users, including Stephen Fry, should be even happier mobilistas with the launch today of Penguin 2.0, a group of services from the esteemed publisher,  that embrace the Web 2.0 social media world by including aspects of customization, personalization, delivery to mobile phones, as well as eBooks and e-only content.

The Penguin 2.0 services (under the slogan “What’s next for text”) include Penguin Personalized, a way for customers to add personal dedication pages to digital books, and Penguin Mobile, which enables readers to receive text on iPhones and other mobile devices.

The publisher plans later phases of Penguin 2.0 that will offer community functionality and social networking. For example, next year, users will be able to create a Penguin book by putting together classic Penguin short stories, essays, and novellas. The Penguin US website will be the hub for the programme.

I wonder if we will now see other mobile-focussed publishers like HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Simon & Schuster expand their social media offerings on mobile platforms.

Posted in Blog, Content, Digital media, Social media | No Comments »

read more