Posted on April 28, 2010 - by jono
Let’s Make Ubuntu a Trending Topic
On Thursday we release Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx and I have one simple dream for that day:
I want to make Ubuntu a trending topic on Twitter.
…I know, I know, we should all use identica.ca, and indeed, I do. Twitter though represents a huge opportunity to socialize the new Ubuntu release with a huge demographic of new users. I don’t just want to see us becoming a trending topic, but I want to see Ubuntu mentioned everywhere. We can do this, but we will need to unite as a community to pull this off.
To do this we need to not only tweet about the new release ourselves but to also encourage all of our friends to do so too. This is all about encouraging as many people as possible to spread the word, encouraging people to re-tweet, and thus getting tweets in everyone’s timelines. All you need to know is #ubuntu: just make sure you add #ubuntu to your tweet to make the love happen.
We can do this, friends.
Rock and roll.
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April 28, 2010
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You can count on me!! ;D
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April 28, 2010
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Cuenta conmigo!!
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April 28, 2010
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Yeah, and #kubuntu, #lubuntu, #xubuntu, #edubuntu, #fluxbuntu and #eeebuntu…
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April 28, 2010
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No, keep it to #ubuntu. By focusing our efforts on Ubuntu, we may become trending, which would also promote the other flavors. If we don’t, we may not become trending, which means little promotion for any of the flavors.
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April 28, 2010
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Small thinker, eh?
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April 28, 2010
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Just promote Linux as the OS and ALL distribution – Including Ubuntu – comes together. (Of course unless you want to tell a lie that Ubuntu is different OS than Linux!) Even it is Ubuntu release, it is about third popular distribution release of Linux OS.
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April 28, 2010
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simplicity is elegance
too much choice increases mental overhead
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April 28, 2010
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So too much choice is bad? … Interesting ..
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April 28, 2010
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Ah yes… the deliberate manipulation of what is suppose to be an organic communications medium into a medium for organized astro-turfing. Cool! I’m totally down with that.
Do you know of any previous such concerted effort that has succeeded in inflating a topic into a trending topic for a day? Wouldn’t it be great to think that you’d help Ubuntu set a precedent in showing that twitter’s trending list can so easily coopted for gorilla advertising and isn’t actually a reliable device for trending at all. I’m down with that. Let’s disprove the utility of crowdsourcing trends as a by crowdsourcing the manipulating of the communications medium to give the result we want to achieve. Rock on for questionable ethics!
Though I think you’ll get more bang for your buck if you can find a way to get someone outside the Today Show window in NYC holding up an Ubuntu sign.
In the spirit of what you are trying to accomplish here, I humbly give you the following appropriately abridged text.
An #ubuntu tweet that never ends It gets RT’d on and on, my friends! I RT’d it, not knowing what it was And you’ll RT it simply just because
Yes, that’s 140 characters.
You can bring the joy of the neverending thread into twitter and clog up their messaging system pointlessly under the guise of an #ubuntu trending campaign.
-jef
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April 28, 2010
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Hahahahaha!
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April 28, 2010
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It’s just a bit of fun, Jef.
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April 28, 2010
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Except astroturfing is generally done by paid PR representatives, while this suggestion is also directed towards genuinely enthusiastic users?
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April 28, 2010
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“Do you know of any previous such concerted effort that has succeeded in inflating a topic into a trending topic for a day?”
I don’t know about for a whole day, but I have seen such an effort to get a trending topic for a while. There have been several attempts in the past few months by fans of the TV Show Smallville to get #smallville to trend. Some have been successful, some haven’t, but I have had some fun helping (and yes, I am a fan of Smallville).
Of course, helping Ubuntu to trend would be even more fun. Count me in.
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April 28, 2010
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Ups, that typo sounds funny in Spanish =)
(identi.ca)
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April 28, 2010
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I didn’t realise the typo in Jono’s blog but it sounds funny in French too
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April 28, 2010
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I follow you
As the twitter is getting powerful.. i have a suggestion for Ubuntu.
As a java developer and groovy lover. in groovy field there is a site called http://www.groovytweets.org/
This is just like a planet for tweeter. like planet for blogging. We can host one like this which searches all tweets having #ubuntu or related tweets and stores in one place like planet!
Just an suggestion!
Waiting for the new release!
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April 28, 2010
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Unfortunately (in a sense), I deleted my twitter account a few days ago.
Anyway, I’m pretty sure that #ubuntu will be a trending topic on twitter tomorrow. I mean, how could that not happen ?
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April 28, 2010
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I think I’m going to see if I can get #spaleta to trend instead.
/me hugs Jef.
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April 28, 2010
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stop touching me!
you’ll have a much easier time getting the neverending retweet going.
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April 28, 2010
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Count me in, But when will all this start?
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April 28, 2010
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Isn’t this spamming?
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April 28, 2010
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Spamming, spamming. I’d call it ‘mobilising the community’.
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April 28, 2010
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Well, I hope they’ll mobilise the viagra community…
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April 28, 2010
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But you are also going to spend press releases to the right media people too, right? Like to BBC Click? And of course, please, to Which. You do, they do report, we get more acceptance for Linux on the desktop; you do, they don’t report, some wheels roll, then they do report, and we get more acceptance for Linux on the desktop…
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April 28, 2010
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Count me on Mr. Bacon!!! The only “bad” thing is ubuntu will be next to Justin Bieber…. maybe he knows ubuntu and can help spreading it too
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April 28, 2010
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Count me in for some Ubuntu spam in twitter today
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April 28, 2010
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I suggest changing your IM status on all services to something in lines with “Ubuntu Lucid Lynx is here! Party!”
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April 28, 2010
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sign me up =)
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April 28, 2010
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Count me in too !! Lets get Ubuntu out there!
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April 28, 2010
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We made it a treading topic for karmic already.
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April 28, 2010
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I’ll start including #ubuntu from now!! for those who want #kubuntu & others, also include #ubuntu to help focus or efforts, spread the word guys!!!
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April 28, 2010
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Count me in! Let’s see if Ubuntu could be the top word
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April 28, 2010
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I don’t think any effort is actually needed here. I’m pretty sure ubuntu will be a trending topic because a lot of people will be downloading & installing and tweeting about it.
Many far more minor events make it onto the TT list.
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April 28, 2010
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Would be great if we could have some numbers on downloads for the release party. I know it’s pretty difficult, but i’m sure it would be way up above 12 million :
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April 29, 2010
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Good luck beating out #palm today
and i twoted the nice little rhyme
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April 29, 2010
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While I think it’s an admirable effort, I’m fairly certain we’ll get more people reading about Ubuntu if we included the tag “Justin Bieber” in all of our tweets instead of #ubuntu
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April 29, 2010
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Rock and roll.. I’ve been using 10.04 for about a month now and it’s the best Ubuntu ever! Nice Job guys! Thanks!
Shannon VanWagner humans-enabled.com