A journalist from The Herald (Newcastle’s local newspaper) contacted me earlier this week and asked me a few questions (find below) for an article based on Twitter (follow me). The next day a photographer came around and took a few snaps.
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Two days later I went to the Newsagency to pick up the local newspaper to see if my article was out (they didn’t provide me a date) and I was more than surprised to see my mugshot on the front page, I really wasn’t expecting that.
The reason they chose me for the article was because of this Newcastle Top Twitter’s list put together by Gordon Whitehead however they probably should have had used Hugh Jackman as the Twitter poster boy – he has over 133,000 followers.
Anyway, you can see the image of the front page below and then below that, the article itself. There is also a slightly adjusted online version of the article on The Herald website.
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Don’t you just love all the puns… “All-A-Twitter”, “Life’s Tweet”, “Finally, it’s OK to be a real twit”, “Jacob, our Top Twit”.
Twitter Interview Responses
Below are my original replies in response to the questions put forward by the journalist – you will find some great Twitter tips here. They only ended up using one quote from these replies but I thought it would be good to share my responses none the less.
Why did you join?
I originally joined Twitter back in June last year however I didn’t start using it properly until a few weeks after I joined as it took me a while to grasp onto the concept… it also took me a while to see the true benefit however I am 100% truly glad that I did, the benefits have been enormous.
For those just starting out with Twitter, I recommend this Ultimate Twitter Guide and this Twitter Resource Guide.
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How often do you use Twitter?
Whenever I have something to valuable to share, say or promote which is probably about 5 times a day, maybe 4 days a week, give or take.
What do you use it for?
I use Twitter to find useful information shared by the other Twitter users. I also use Twitter to promote and share my own articles which in turn promotes my services (logo, branding, web and graphic design) thus bringing in potential clients.
How did you get so many followers?
I run three websites including quite a popular design & creativity blog called “Just Creative Design” which gets over 10,000 visits a day. I have built these websites up over the past 15 months which is where a lot of my followers come from, however it is not easy to keep followers…you must ensure that you do not spam, nor be too “me me me”, it’s all about sharing and being authentic and down to earth.
What’s some of the funniest / weirdest / common / uncommon things you’ve found on Twitter?
On Twitter there is a function that allows you to save your favourite tweets and I have got quite a few however rather than sharing all of them I will share the weirdest thing I have found… someone invented a Twitter device that you plug into the soil of a plant… the plant will then Twitter to you when it needs watering. Genius or just plain weird? You decide.
Do you see it having the potential to overtake Facebook or become yet another way to stay in touch?
Facebook and Twitter are both very different social networks originally built for different purposes however Facebook is implementing many changes to take on Twitter, but for now I think Twitter is still stronger in terms of networking, marketing & socialising. Facebook is more for keeping in touch with your “real” friends in my opinion but obviously this can vary from user to user. Twitter users seem to be much more tech savvy.
On a side note, a while back I also wrote an article called “Exposed: Facebook sends more traffic than Twitter” – it isn’t so true for me now but Facebook may work better for you in terms of Traffic.
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Why should someone join Twitter..how will it change / enhance their life?
Everyone joins Twitter for different reasons, and before you go tweeting your life away you should establish what and why you are going to be using Twitter. Whatever your passion or interest, there is no doubt going to be someone else tweeting about it and you can join in too… Share your tips and resources and they will share theirs. You really have nothing to lose.
Being Newcastle’s top Twitter is a pretty good achievement, how do you attract your followers and how personal do you get with your posts. Are you worried about revealing too much about yourself to strangers?
I run three popular websites where I write articles mostly focused on design which in turn brings in visitors to my site where I have links to add me on Twitter (such as this). Most of my followers are those interested in design seeing though I am a designer myself but gaining followers all depends on your industry and how you use Twitter. I don’t get too personal with my Tweets as that is not what I am using it for, however I do share my achievements and current work and that is as personal as I get. eg. I may share an article that I am reading online but I don’t share what I am having for dinner.
Who do u follow on Twitter?
I follow over 11,000+ people so that would be quite a huge list, but I make use of the application called Tweetdeck (highly recommended) and in this application you can make “groups” so you can choose a select few that you really want to follow. This allows you to filter out the noise of the other 11,000+ people you are following.
Don’t forget to follow me. Also add yourself to this uber list of designers / creatives / geeks to follow on twitter if applicable.
How has Twitter enhanced your life?
Jacob – Great article and exposure for you…front page and all! The puns are a little corny. Hopefully my local paper will do something similar and give me a call. 🙂
Liam, Aaron
Yeah the front page was a good surprise indeed. Such a Twit!
Yana,
One of the main reasons I follow people back is so that I am able to direct message them and so they can direct message me too. I also find it polite but some disagree. I suppose it comes down to personal choice.
Hey Jacob,
I caught this on Sunday when I was back home on the weekend picked up the paper picture and was like… that face looks familar.
Props to the social network king of newcastle 😛
hai there Jacobz… i’m hanny i’ve just known you lately.. i don’t have a background of designing or something.. i just googling for the words insipirational cover album and found your blog.. you gave me a lot of cool articles, thanks Jacobz.. and congratulation for the features… btw i hope you don’t mind that i link yer blog.. thx..^^
p.s: i’m curious about twitter now.. ^^, have a nice day…
I started using Twitter as a personal thing. I was enjoying it but got tired of it easily. I’m not a big fan of telling others what i’m doing like many people might do on instant messaging programs. I just never was a fan of saying useless things like “Dinner, than shower, than off for the night to see a movie, than sleeping blah blah blah.” like many do.
But I started an only-design twitter account where I receive good links, good design news and where I tweet back links to the design community. I think it’s great to get in touch with many other graphic / web designers and to get to know the latest news.
as always job well done man …
Fantastic, front page stuff! Crazy. Well done. Think your point about deciding why you are going to use twitter is a good one. Sticking to your interest(s) certainly is better than tweeting about absolutely everything.
So, here’s a question. Why do you follow 11,000+ people (and how did that end up happening) if most of it is just noise?
When you going to get back to writing decent stuff about design instead of “tooting your own horn.” OK, everyone knows your a fantastic bloke. Frankly, I visit your site for the design articles. I could care less about how many times you are in the news, won some award, or made it into some museum. Kudos to you, but it feels like your blog is becoming more and more a bragging post which turns me off.
I’m tweeting this because its a great interview. Congratulations Jacob, every week you became more famous, next you’ll be on Times magazine. keep working like that
I hope soon i will do an interview for a newspaper in my country.
I must admit I did struggle to understand what all the fuss was about Twitter. It great find out how Twitter can be utilised and what and impact it can have on you and your business.
I agree with Luis, you’re getting more and more famous.. congrats on the newspaper though, bet you wasn’t expecting to see your photo on the front page!
Luis,
Doubt I will ever be on Time magazine but I never cross anything off the list completely. Re doing an interview for newspaper, why don’t you approach them? Apparently this was the first article of Twitter they had done for my paper so it could be for yours too!
Mandy, Hunz,
It really is a great benefit once you get your head around it, have you tried to give it ago yet?
Callum,
It was a big surprise indeed but I don’t think you could call it “famous”.
Valerie,
I don’t really tell people what I am doing either. I tend to share great resources and links most of the time.
J,
Thanks for the honest feedback however this is a personal blog and not purely a design focused blog much a like the many other design blogs out there. I believe I have a steady balance with the amount of resourceful articles I have posted and the amount of “toot toot” posts. And with that said, you still can pick and choose what articles you read so I don’t see the problem with it… without trying to sound rude, may I ask what you are giving back to the community?
Valentine’s Gift,
Hehe, well I guess TV is the next stepping stone. I’ve been in a few magazines and in fact am in this months Layer’s magazine which I should be posting about next week.
Nikki,
It was quite a shock but it did bring a smile to my face especially for my parents too… I got onto the front page of the newspaper for being a Twit.
Very good, you’re getting famous so quick!
Thats fantastic, Jacob! You deserved it.
That’s a very good exposure Jacob! You’re greeting famous huh! What’s next?? In magazines??, TV? How about commercial?….LOL Congrats!
Great article! I am glad you said that grasping the concept took a while, I know the feeling. That must have been pretty cool to find yourself on the cover! Did the pun in the headline make you worried that the less tech savy readers would check out the article to see the top “Twit.” Only to realize it was about Twitter and not about you eating glue or other such (offline) twit-ishness. Congratulations on the great article.
Congrats Jacob! How cool. Must have been funny going to get the paper and your photo being on the front lol.
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Awesome way to get your profile even further spread. It’ll be interesting to see how this increases your follower number.
…good, twitting you already.
I got a twitter 3 months ago and It was deff weird at first. I have no idea what was going on. Not till I started my new job doing SEO work at this web design studio did I figure it out. One of the designers there showed me that its really easy and that if you get a twitter client for it. It’ll make it super easy.
I also love how ellen pokes fun with the twitter name on her show.
props.
new on twitter but I’ll follow you there…
Devil,
Yeah I am glad it wasn’t for being a real offline twit too, that’s for sure!
Lane,
Definitely… it’s not until you start using it do you find its real power. To try to give an example of Twitter to people have never heard of Twitter I go “Imagine sending out a message to 10,000 people then having 10 of those people instantly forward that message onto another 5,000 people.” Only then can they see the real power of it. A lot of people think Twitter is for telling other people what you had for breakfast. In fact on the radio I heard a little parody saying that we should call people who use Twitter “F**kwitters”. I think it’s only once you start using it, do you really understand the power of it.
Callum,
That is exactly what I am using JCD for, documenting & sharing my progress as a designer while sharing with others what I have learned. People have come so accustomed to blogs offering “top 10 this”, “top 10 that” that they don’t realise that there are people behind blogs. Also see my comment to Lane above.
Hey, it’s more famous than me, in fact, most of us here!
I wish I had my face in the local newspaper, it’d probably me quite a bit of exposure and from that hopefully some decent projects!
Oh and I forgot to mention, I like the fact this is a personal blog, it’s got some great posts about your life and your progess as a graphic designer and I feel the balance between the resources/articles and your personal “toot toot” posts is good, too!
Thats a good exposure…….nice…..