Announcing Futerati: my favorite Twitter people all in one place (Futurists, Thinkers, Authors, Startups...)

I think you may have noticed by now - I really like Twitter. Twitter and my tweeps have been a huge influence on my work. 

One of the  most important realizations that has recently transpired via my Twitter pipeline is how much I am gaining from the ever increasing Sharism i.e. by what others are sharing with me. I am indeed very, very lucky to be connected to so many brilliant and like-minded people that are publishing their thoughts freely and openly, using platforms such as Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook, Slideshare and of course, their blogs. All of you deserve a big THANK YOU.

The increasing scope of the 'Proudly Found Elsewhere' approach (PFE) has become a very important component of my work; and vice versa I am hoping that my output is also PFE'd by others; the social web's "give and you will receive" approach has indeed worked out great for me.

So I figured it's time to give some more explicit credit to all those great people that have influenced me, and I maybe a good way to do that is to list them on a special, Twitter-API-based site such as Futerati; and maybe send some attention their way, in return. Futerati went online a few days ago, and much like Electric Artists' cool TrackingTwitter site (but a lot more personal) Futerati is presenting 6 constantly updated categories (Futurists, Thought Leaders Authors, Activists, StartUps and Others) with people that I follow, their latest tweets, the current number of followers, and with some brief comments on why I like them. With each featured twitter user, you can click straight through to their tweets or their profiles and easily connect with them, as well.

Please note that Futerati is a constant work in progress and therefore not complete at this time; I will be adding a lot more people as I dig through my 7400 network connections, during the next 4-6 weeks.  So, if I should have listed you but have not done so yet please post something on Twitter (use @gleonhard) or use the hashtag #futerati or DM me via Twitter, or email, or comment on this blog. If we haven't 'met' yet but if you still want to be listed please ping me with your details so that I can take a look at you; in any case please note that every single connection I list on Futerati is personally selected by me. Enjoy - and RT!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Rolodex 2.0 - the social web is becoming our address book (mediafuturist.com)
• WhereIsItGoing: first audio podcast of twitter-based session, answering 'futuristic' questions posted via Twitter (mediafuturist.com)
• HOW TO: Get Retweeted on Twitter (mashable.com)
• Twitter Founders Say They're In for the Long Haul (bits.blogs.nytimes.com)

Twitterfountain: the coolest Twitter widget yet

Thanks to Arjan at FreedomLab in Amsterdam I disvovered the coolest Twitter widget today: Twitterfountain.This widget allows you to animate the latest tweets on any keyword, user or hashtag, and overlay them on top of Flickr images based on any other keyword or tag. You can adjust the settings (size, speed etc) as you see fit.  Very cool indeed. Mashup heaven. Note: you may have to give it a few minutes to get cooking (right below!)... Want more?

Related articles by Zemanta

• WhereIsItGoing: first audio podcast of twitter-based session, answering 'futuristic' questions posted via Twitter (mediafuturist.com)
• Mobile Content Futures: my presentation at Mobile Monday Amsterdam (March 30) (mediafuturist.com)
• Get your Twitter name NOW - this may well be the next wave of domain ownership (mediafuturist.com)

"Where Is It Going": new Twitter-based video show with Futurist Glen Hiemstra: ready for your questions

I recently started a brand-new project with my friend and fellow futurist Glen Hiemstra, entitled Where Is It Going (WiiG). The concept is simple: we are taking questions from anyone, via Twitter, on any future-related topic, and we will record 5-8 minute long videos of Glen and myself attempting to answer as many questions as we can, on a weekly basis. We will also add a few other futurists from our network once we have solved a few technical issues. We have also started discussions with a potential partner that will help us with producing better videos -stay tuned.

 This is how you can participate in WhereIsItGoing (WiiG):

1. Be sure to follow @gleonhard and @glenhiemstra on Twitter
2. Tweet your futuristic questions to us, anytime, but be sure to use the hashtag #wiig (this way we can find your questions via Twitter Search, no matter if you addressed them to us or not)
3. If you want your tweets to be included on the live video of the twitter stream (#wiig) please be sure to tweet at 9 am PST / 12 noon EST / 6pm CET /12 midnight Singapore, and follow the live tweets via twitter search; we will publish the finished video on WhereIsItGoing.com soon afterwards. We will be on the tweet streams for at least 20 minutes.

Spread the word!

 

Related articles by Zemanta

• The Future of Music & Media: Gerd Leonhard at Plugg 2009 (blip.tv)
• Some recent Twitter-related wisdoms you should read for sure (mediafuturist.com)
• This is how I blog now... Going Micro. (mediafuturist.com)
• Live Webcast: Future Trends in Technology (futurist.com)

This is how I blog now... Going Micro.

I 'Lifestream'.  

Subscribe to my Lifestream Feed.
 

Twitter

“Apple looks towards digital media sharing during iPhone calls http://ow.ly/dKJS Yep, that's the holy grail. It's ALL about SHARING. Getit.”

2 minutes ago - Comment

Singapore Leads the Way with Nokia’s Free Music Download Service

5 minutes ago - Comment

"Ideally, the music industry should be working... more... - Gerd Leonhard

Twitter

“SlideShare >> Mobileyouth's Slideshows http://ow.ly/dKAC Lots of interesting slideshows here - Youth, Marketing, Asia... **”

8 minutes ago - Comment

Flickr favorites

19 minutes ago - Comment

@gleonhard - Twitter Search

RT @gleonhard: Nice picture of apple's evolution_2009.jpg (JPEG Image, 3500x2815 pixels) http://ow.ly/dJJt via http://tinyurl.com/lrzspr

1 hour ago - Comment

@gleonhard - Twitter Search

RT @gleonhard Nice picture of apple's evolution_2009.jpg (JPEG Image, 3500x2815 pixels) http://ow.ly/dJJt via http://tinyurl.com/lrzspr

1 hour ago - Comment

@gleonhard - Twitter Search

Nice picture of apple's evolution_2009.jpg (JPEG Image, 3500x2815 pixels) http://ow.ly/dJJt (via @gleonhard) cool overzicht van Apple

1 hour ago - Comment

@gleonhard - Twitter Search

RT @gleonhard Broadband & Broadcasters: The Future is one-to-one and many-to-many http://twitpic.com/76uai more at http://tinyurl.com/ppdhau

1 hour ago - Comment

Twitter

“Nice picture of apple's evolution_2009.jpg (JPEG Image, 3500x2815 pixels) http://ow.ly/dJJt via http://tinyurl.com/lrzspr”

1 hour ago - Comment

YouTube favorites

Kevin Roberts at Zeitgeist Europe 2007

2 hours ago - Comment

Related articles by Zemanta

• Mobile Content Futures: my presentation at Mobile Monday Amsterdam (March 30) (mediafuturist.com)
• Picnic Interview: Gerd on Social Media Marketing (mediafuturist.com)

Mobile Content Futures: my presentation at Mobile Monday Amsterdam (March 30)

Download Mobile Content Future Gerd Leonhard Momo Amsterdam Public 15 MB PDF

Great event in Amsterdam today - Mobile Monday rocks! Event details here. Twitter back-channel here.  New: the Video is here!

Some predictions: the next 18 months
• Twitter will reach 50 Million + Users  • Facebook will become the default social utility - and the biggest global Content Broadcaster  • Google will double it’s Advertising revenues  • The RIAA and the IFPI will run out of cash  • Telecoms will get flat-rate content licenses  • Skype will re-emerge as content player

Related articles by Zemanta

• Behavioral Targeting, Advertising, Google and the Future (futurist.com)
• The End of Control and the Future of Content: My presentation at Google San Francisco (March 2, 2009) (mediafuturist.com)
• The Printing Press brought us Copyright, the Internet brings... Usage Right! (mediafuturist.com)
• The End of Control and the Future of Content: new Video of my Authors@Google Talk in San Francisco (mediafuturist.com)
• A key trend for 2009: Conversation Enablement (mediafuturist.com)

Mobile Content Futures: Gerd Leonhard at Mobile Monday Amsterdam March 30 2009

View more presentations from Gerd Leonhard.

The End of Control and the Future of Content: new Video of my Authors@Google Talk in San Francisco

The Google guys have just published a video with my talk at Authors@Google, in San Francisco, March 2, 2009 (see the details here Pdf: The End of Control Gerd Leonhard at Google SF PDF *22MB). Due to some technical issues my fancy slides (i.e. the stuff on the screen) come across very nicely in this video while I am left a bit 'in the dark' - but if you use the HQ version on the Youtube site you can still get a much better idea of what my face actually looks like (I guess always wearing black is not ideal when the lights are bad;).  Anyway, I do think this is one of my best talks, so... watch the entire 55 Mins 22 Secs.  As far as the End of Control Book is concerned, I will have an announcement on my plans within the next 10 days...stay tuned.

Here is the official Google Talks description: The End of Control & The Future of Content:  The tough issue of control emerges, again and again, as the key contention point within TV companies, publishers, record labels, and broadcasters: How can a commercial venture that is based on so-called intellectual property thrive and prosper in an environment that seems to continuously and progressively remove control from the creators/owners/providers of content, and hands it over to the people formerly known as consumers (aka the users), effectively making them more powerful every single day?  But the reality is that every click inadvertently makes another case for the consumers ever-increasing rise in importance. Within all the conversations I have had about things like commercial content versus shared content, about the read-only or the read-write web, and about copyright versus Fair Use, the crucial question always seems to boil down to WHERE IS THE CONTROL HERE, i.e., questions such as Who will control this new media universe and How much control do I need to run a revenue-generating business?

Related articles by Zemanta

• The Printing Press brought us Copyright, the Internet brings... Usage Right! (mediafuturist.com)
• Great read on "Intellectual Property and new Copyright Law" with some nice Media Futurist -ic Quotes (via Japaninc.com) (mediafuturist.com)
• The Future of Content & Telecom: my presentation at the Emerging Communications Conference in San Francisco (mediafuturist.com)
• Interview & Podcast on Telcos/ISPs and Content 2.0 (prior to speaking at the Emerging Communications Conference next week) (mediafuturist.com)

Cool video: Microsoft's 2019 Future Vision Montage (and more via Officelabs)

This video provides a nice summary of some of the key computing and communication developments that we can expect in the near future. Whether MSFT will be a big part of that... who knows, but they did a great job with these videos; be sure to check MSFT Officelab's other cool stuff, here, as well - quite impressive, I think.

Rivers of Information: short video on how I use Friendfeed, Twitter, RSS

Image via Wikipedia

I know... it looks mad but it can be done - this is just a new kind of juggling that we need to do. And most importantly - use the OFF button. Go for a walk. Read the newspaper in a cafe ;)

An easy way to subscribe to my life/thought/idea - stream

Friendfeed is a great place to aggregate all social media services that I use or subscribe to. Now they offer an RSS feed straight from my Friendfeed page, and you can subscribe to it here.  This way you can get all of my bookmarks, tweets (twitterpost), Facebook updates, blogposts etc etc, all in one go!  You can also see my latest entries on my lifestream page on this blog (see icons above) but the RSS feed may make it easier. 

Update: here is my Friendfeed realtime 'river'

For those of you that are still hooked on email you can also get an email update via Feedburner

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Related articles by Zemanta

• Using Friendfeed as a business tool - Enterprise 2.0 (via ZDNet.com)
• eMail is for old people (and that includes me I guess) - the end of eMail as a social tool?
• Future trends in business communications: Phone stops ringing, eMail slows down, Social Nets & Media explode
• The Media Futurist Lulu Experiment: new book & pdf with 'Best of 2008' essays and blog posts available now
• The Widgetization of Media: PDF with my presentation at MIPCOM, Cannes / France Oct 16 2008

The Crowd and the Cloud = Our Future (video by Gerd Leonhard)

Yes, indeed. A CROWD of 1.5 Billion people on the Net, plus 3.5 Billion people on mobile phones. A computing CLOUD that allows endless storage of, and access to, content, media, data, software, MYStuff, at ever lower cost pretty anytime anywhere....

Twitter has officially arrived at the Center of Pop Culture, Britney Spears now twittering and sharing content on new 'bloggy' site, and Ning Community, too!

Techcrunch reports on Britney's new site (which feels very 'bloggy' and seems to focus on getting the users involved rather than just displaying static information) and her new Twitter account, aptly titled TheRealBritney. Surely this is a sign that Twitter has now officially 'arrived' - and any artist and / or content creator will ignore micro-blogging at their own perril. Guess what: now you have to provide more and more free content to pull people in before you can ask for their money. But there is plenty of so-called 'monetization' at the other end!

To me, Twitter is another important manifestation of the rapid rise of the broadband + mobile - driven Sharing & Participation Culture (* see more of my writings on that subject, here) that is quickly taking over from the broadcast-to-you-the-passive-consumer culture that was largely dominated by traditional television. I am not a Britney fan (as you may have guessed) but I do like the way her team is clearly emphasizing interactivity, user engagement and free content throughout most of what I see here (e.g. the Friend Britney Button) - good stuff!

Her Circusvip page (linked via the same button) is even more interactive - nice one. This page is apparantly build on the Ning platform which I have been busy telling many artists, managers and bands about - the perfect white label offering for building your own social network, quickly. In fact, I kind of like the Ning / CircusVIP site better than Britney's main site - and the 15335 people that have already signed up there seem to agree I guess. Engage, participate, share, have conversations - that clearly is the Future of Marketing. Yes, soon... blogs will become record labels. And major labels will become....? (you tell me)

SekaiCamera Demo Video of TechCrunch50 - THIS is the Future of Mobile

Now if this doesn't make you think I don't know what does: YouTube - SekaiCameraDemoVideo of TechCrunch50.  From TonchiDot of Tokyo / Japan, this is a demo video for SekaiCamera. I found this via AFPR and Friendfeed.  "Sekai Camera (World Camera in Japanese) is an iPhone-exclusive social tagging service developed by Tokyo-based mobile application provider Tonchidot that recently Demo'd their product at TechCrunch TC50. This video is a MUST SEE for anyone wanted to get a glimpse of their near (Mobile) future. In the video, their CEO, Takahito Iguchi delivers a presentation for the ages - garnishing a standing ovation for this crowd favorite at the end..."

If you haven't tried Twitter you really should - if you need an excuse, here's your chance

Update: Rohit Barghava has a nice blog post on using Twitter for Marketing, here

Twitter is an absolutely amazing tool for micro-communicating with people in your network. I use it both for streaming stuff that I am doing, as I do it (well, mostly stuff such as what I am researching, reading, blogging watching, liking, working on etc - not details about which coffee I drink ;), as well as for sharing some quick yet powerful realizations with my 'followers'

My regular twitter account is here, and below are my current stats

My so-called Daily Wisdoms tweets are here (this is where I share the nuggets-of-the-web ... nope, not just my own), and below are the latest stats

You can get all tweets and all on my new life-stream page, too (I know... it sounds kind of mad but it's easy to do so I figured I should try it).

Now, here is the key question: why should you try Twitter? What's the big deal?  Here are some reasons:

1. It forces you to be succinct and get to the point quickly -  this is indeed a very good exercise, imho.
2. It allows you to get into conversations with some very interesting people that you may have never met, otherwise - I have met some great people via Twitter, and Facebook and Friendfeed, and my network has mushroomed as a consequence (and yes, that does convert to 'business' eventually, as well - all good networks do!)
3. It allows you to broadcast yourself and 'your brand' to people, but it does not interrupt them or forces them to listen, unlike, email (which is why I, personally, discontinued my email newsletters)
4. As Steve Rubel says, the new web is not about sites - it's about services (and Twitter fits that category very well;)
5. 100s of brands and companies are starting to use Twitter to send quick updates to people who 'like' them - seems like a great way to add value to a relationship that's based on merit and trust
6. So...kill the press releases and the email blasts - switch to Facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed, Seesmic, Kyte - and start blogging if you want to talk to bloggers.

Enough reasons?

And if you think I am getting carried away with wasting my time on this... ouch - check out these Twitterholics!