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NZ Facebook stats: December 2011

NZ Facebook stats

If there’s one thing that’s marked about New Zealand’s online activity, is the sheer dominance of Facebook over other platforms.

Facebook’s estimated New Zealand reach today was “2,100,220 people who live in New Zealand”, according to Facebook. The data also reveals over 54% of users returned daily – that’s at least 1,134,118 daily users of Facebook.

That’s a lot of people.

And they’re not just logging on – they’re participating. The data shows there are 15 million Kiwi wall posts made per month, 85 million comments a month left around the site, and 192,000 check-ins a month.

Here’s the data, courtesy of Facebook:

New Zealand Facebook data

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Best Tweets: January 2012

It’s that time again – here’s January’s Best Kiwi Tweets!

I was made for such a life as this
pikelet I want to be the person who gently brushes minks and collects their hairs to make false eyelashes. I have finally found my career path.
DrJared I’m so radioactive I can’t be near small children or pregnant people for 36hrs. I have a half life of 110min.

Herp derp
TroyRF A WWF collector came to the door. It took me a few seconds to register that it wasn’t a fundraiser for the Ultimate Warrior’s lunch.
Rachel_Smalley So if @newtgingrich becomes US President, he’ll set up a Man Colony on the moon. Excellent. I could think of a few blokes I’d send… 😉
Beady_Eye_Anita I almost choked on a cherry tomato, after I was done choking, I sneezed out parts of the tomato through my nose. Lovely.

Does anyone know if there’s a sale this weekend?
stevebiddle A 30-60% off sale at Briscoes this weekend. Better get in quick, this deal won’t be repeated until next weekend.
SpeelyFreaking JUST STOP IMPORTING TOO MANY RUGS AND VACUUM CLEANERS!
brentrobinsonz Whoa!!! Godfreys has a sale on this weekend!!! :O
AaronM_NZ OMG Godfreys are having an Once Only This Week Annual Sale this weekend! #newbriscoes
TophHooperton What the Bigsave ads don’t show you: after she crashes into that pile of boxes and starts a fire, seven warehouse workers died in the blaze.
guymontgomerynz How trendy is the new Harvey Norman headphones ad when the hand comes in and scratches the vinyl? As a young person that really speaks to me

Kids, eh?
Becs The. Good Thing about being a mum is you can’t wallow too long in self-pity. 2yo woke to ask if I had a ‘gina. Yes I do. Lol.
alronberg That awkward parenting moment when you navigate the learning of the word “firetruck”
ReporterRachel My 3-year-old cousin is very upset with me – he waved at the TV when I was on last night and I didn’t wave back.
rosiecd Oh, forgot to tweet funny moment during dinner, mr 2 farted, & it was long enough to look down & meet each of our eyes with an evil grin.

Twitter, eh?
nzJayZee There have been so many good plans made on twitter today. from beard harvesting to recipes where the ingredient is just shitloads of cheeses
dpfdpf I have no idea who I am or why anyone follows me
_lisasaurus I like to make my tweets 140 characters long so people find it hard to retweet and comment at the same time. monkey banana poop i like pies.

Life, eh?
BitchAboutDevo Low point of this week: Finding a used condom wrapper on the floor in the “teen section” at work. #supre
not_friends I was getting annoyed at Federer and then I remembered that I actually like Nadal just as much and don’t care who wins. Then I found $10.
beekaynz Oh lordy. Drunk on whiskey and Daddy issues.
justjussi i need to lose weight, if human eating aliens invaded they would regard me as a “sometimes” food
BenTorkington Auckland hospital loses psych patient, inadvertently lets him design carpark.
AdageBusiness Not sure what to answer when I’m asked “when you giving up fags?”
BR3NDA Tranzmetro may need to admit they’re a bus company, and sometimes trains replace buses.

There’s no judgement here! Just kidding. There’s heaps of judgement.
monique_nz Am not judgmental or intolerant of such things, but the men wearing last season Karen Walker dresses and heels always make me look twice.
TroyRF The holiday home where we’ve stayed requires guests to leave it as they found it. I must be on “male body hair all over the bathtub” duty.
CyrisXD It’s time to clean the refrigerator when something closes the door from the inside.
thelittlepakeha LOL I just farted and Jasper stopped eating and looked up like “what was that?” Sorry, bunny.

Rachel Rayner starts a tribe
The following is a transcript of true tweets.

Walked down to the shops for the exercise. Now at the bus stop with a load of groceries wondering if it was all a mistake.

You know, it probably would have worked out the same, calorie-wise if I stayed home and just ate dried cinnamon for the rest of the week.

Plan: begin a new life at the bus stop. I have supplies & by the time my phone runs out I will’ve tamed a flock of pigeons for food/company.

The bus is now 15 minutes late. A young man appears. Rachel becomes quickly enamoured.

I will make him a romantic dinner of raw chicken and silverbeet, and we will live happily ever after at the bus stop.

Now there are two dudes and a lady at my bus stop. JOIN US. FOR OUR NEW SOCIETY SHALL BE JUST AND FREE.

I bet this how colonisation happens. Pretty soon someone’s going to say, “it’d be quicker to settled a new country & build our own busses.”

A BUS! It’s a Christmas miracle!

 

Old Mout CiderBecause of her terrible disaster with the bus, I’m going to declare Rachel Rayner our Tweeter of the Month! Congrats, and make sure you’re following @OldMoutCider so they can send you a case of deliciousness 🙂

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Tweet links like a boss

Dan Zarrella of HubSpot has got some handy data about linksharing on Twitter. This is really important if you want to maximise click throughs. In a nutshell:

  • Tweet later in the week
  • Tweet later in the day
  • Dont bombard your audience with links
  • Put the link 25% of the way through the Tweet
  • Don’t use all your 140 characters!

Here’s his infographic

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Best Tweets: December 2011

Welcome to the last edition of Tweets of the Month for 2011. December was full of Christmas, so there’s a special section dedicated to the wonderment of the season. Also Albany Mall – what a magical place, filled with so much happiness.

Wisdom
robtreacher Smile and say hello to a stranger today. Chances are they’ll say hi back and not attack you.
al_nz GPS is smarter than I expected gave it credit for. It tried to get me me drive around Tokoroa. I stupidly ignored it
NanaJ9 0800 DOC HOT is not the phone number for sexy Doctors. It’s the animal rescue hotline for Department of Conservation. #rippedoff

Reporters gone wild
NZCharlieGates I just found a Roses chocolate on the floor of the office. Score.
JaneLuscombe Top story of the day goes to @ReporterRachel Won’t give too much away, two words: crocodile and lawnmower.

Stay classy, Twitter
pinkdeedle Thought I felt a baby kick in my tummy but it was just a fart. Which is good.
NZGeekGirl I think I just gave myself I hickey on the arm with the vaccum cleaner.
lmfbs Cleaned kitty litter, threw up in clean kitty litter tray. Thats the second time this week. Fuck.
SoniaLee Just looked in the mirror – I have a half melted Hershey kiss & a pea in my cleavage!
melhomer Ballet beautiful last nite,although unfortunate pouch incident made lead man look like he had a bulgy vagina. That was a little distracting.

Whanau, Interrupted
Nightwyrm Early episodes of Thomas The Tank Engine is teaching my kids that it’s okay to wall up someone naughty in a tunnel and leave them there.
hannahhannahhan “It’ll be a gang bang!” said Mum as she instructed all of us to pull our Christmas crackers at the same time.
samanthamcqueen Did my brother really just text me “are you home” from his room because he was too lazy to walk up the stairs? Answer: yes.
Vegrandis You know you really like a guy when you go pash your twin brother to make the guy jealous. That’s dedication and passion #StarWars
bex2010 Mum reckons shes gunna brush past benji marshall then let people lick her arm, for a fee. Something wrong with that woman.

Christmas-related emergencies
cescadotkay Every year I run out of sellotape. This year I thankfully had a supply of duct tape so we didn’t have to use bandaids like in 2006.
Tikorangi Was my first ever #SecretSanta experience. Clearly more blessed to give than receive.
richirvine If you have difficulty parking a motor vehicle properly, come to Countdown Mairangi Bay, all your relations are here
amiewee Probably going to spend Christmas drinking gin and spooning a blow up doll.
crumblecromwell Two questions Twitter. What time does KFC open? And what time does the liquor store open?

Albany Mall has it’s own section
rgoodchild I need a tshirt that reads “I survived albany mall”
TroyRF Albany Mall. Today. Bring shotgun? Y/N
becs355 Hell has some upsides. Albany Mall, not so much.
richirvine At Albany Mall. Wish I was drunk.

And Supre. Let’s not forget Supre.
BitchAboutDevo Fire Alarm went off at work & people were all “can I try this on/ buy this first?” IF THERE WERE A REAL FIRE YOU WOULD HAVE DIED. IN SUPRE.

Rick Rolled
brettroberts Rickrolling turns evil… I just clicked on a Reddit link titled “Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up” and was taken to a Nickleback video

Let’s end on a nice note
Countesscupcake I told a random lady last night she looked amazing, she looked like she was going to cry with happiness. People need to be nicer humans.

 

Old Mout CiderBecause of her random act of kindness, I’m going to declare Countesscupcake our Tweeter of the Month! Congrats, and make sure you’re following @OldMoutCider so they can send you a case of deliciousness 🙂

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NZ in 2011: As told by Kiwis on Twitter

Twenty Eleven was a big year in Kiwiland: A year of huge highs, and gut-twisting lows. This was a year of elections, world cups, earthquakes, tornadoes, and even a Twitter baby.

Calling these few the “best” tweets isn’t right; throughout the process of looking at the tweets of 2011 there were so many that made me laugh, think, and cry. There are some amazing ones which have not made the cut: There are simply too many to list here. But thank you – each and every one of you – for sharing a part of yourself with the rest of us.

May we never lose sight of the fact that we’re all just human beings, being human.

Cate x

There was an earthquake that broke our hearts – but not our spirits

We shared the dark times

We shared messages of hope

…and didn’t lose our senses of humour

That awesome tweet where Paula Penfold stood up against a tabloid writer

Remember that time we nearly got raptured?

2011 was the year we learned of ‘monthly sickness’

Remember that time it snowed?

It snowed in Wellington…

…and Auckland refused to be outdone

The NZPA closed its doors

A ship crashed and started spewing her shit everywhere

We did this a lot

There was a lot of Rugby World Cup madness

Remember the Pink Fist?

Sonny Bill Everything

There were the flags…

Do you remember the day that Graham Henry’s face changed?

And then we all got really, really drunk.

Then there was an election

And Movember

Then we got straight into Christmas

So that was some of New Zealand’s 2011, via Twitter. I hope next year is disaster free, full of fun, and has many, many amazing Tweets in the works.

Here’s to 2012!

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Google Correlate

The engineers at Google are a pretty amazing bunch of people, and some of the work they’ve been doing in the area of trends mapping is incredible.

They can now track the spread of disease, and predict outbreaks according to Google searches performed in certain areas – check out Google Flu Trends.

Now they’ve launched Google Correlate – an experimental tool that lets us see data relating to various searches over time. It’s like Google Trends, but in reverse.

It’s easier to explain with examples.

Let’s say someone has just googled “divorce” – what did they Google last week? Last month? Last year? Now we can find out. Disclaimer: I may have totally munted these searches, so please feel free to try your own versions.

  • A year before searching divorce, they were looking up new car models, weight loss and “remove odour”
  • A month before, they were googling “quotes about marriage”
  • A week before: medicines – specifically creams to reduce swelling or bruising.

What about “have an affair”?

  • Four months before: World of Warcraft and “Kings of Leon lyrics”.
  • Three months earlier: pregnancy tests, and weed.
  • Two months earlier: “How long does weed stay in your system?”
  • Three weeks earlier: “pay Victoria secret credit card”.
  • The week before: “how to shave public hair”.

How about “I think I’m pregnant”

  • Six weeks before: beer pong.
  • Two weeks before: “how to get over an ex” and “loss of appetite”.
  • The week before: “sore nipples”.

Sorry, honey, but I think you’re pregnant.

So… “abortion”

  • A year before: Religion in schools
  • Six weeks before: school science project ideas
  • Three weeks before: The names of saints
  • The week before: “Christian views” and “political views”

It’s such interesting stuff, and I’m sure many, many gems are going to come out of the woodwork.

Nice stuff Google, you crazy, information-laden big brother!

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Tips to viral content

Problogger has released an infographic based on research from Noah Brier, Blueglass and Future Buzz that talks about how to viral content.

It’s a good graphic, but he’s obviously trying to viral a gfx which could better service the audience by just writing it out! Don’t get me wrong – his tactic is working – the graphic has just been featured on Mashable.

It reminds me of the chatroulette love song. For those of you who missed that out, video is below. In a nutshell, a Danish Masters student named Rune Iversen was researching what would make a video viral. He had a theory that you needed someone cute to front a video that evoked a strong emotion from the watcher. The video (below) he made to test his theory has had over 5.7 million views to date.

“Make something that gives people a story that they feel. Make people happy, make sure your content is good,” Rune says, adding that it must be genuine.

“Every bit of it is real,” he told reporters. “We were on Chatroulette and she came up randomly, after having filmed for about 10 minutes, and we had choreographed it meticulously and we just played the song for her.”

The chatroulette love song:

YouTube’s trends manager Kevin Alocca also has some great insights about why video virals. Speaking at a TED event, he said that the most popular clips often had unexpected or suprising content, were pushed by alpha influencers, and were easy for members of the public to contribute to and own.

Tips for helping content to go viral:

  • The content is worthy of being shared; It is funny, incredible, unbelievable, deeply emotional, makes us think. It evokes a strong reaction from us.
  • The content is easy to find; it’s on platforms we already use, or is shared with us by trusted sources
  • The content is easy to share; sharing buttons are attached, it is embeddable
  • The content works – the links aren’t broken, the video loads properly, it’s readable, images render nicely, pageload isn’t through the roof

    • Here’s Problogger’s infographic:

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    Best Tweets: November 2011

    Without any fanfare, here are your Kiwi tweets of the month! Enjoy 🙂

    Kids and their parents: Stay Classy
    LouDxx OMFG! Reading @CateOwen‘s tweets of the month and missed my baby’s first roll!
    BexieLady Pregnant Oversharer has posted 3 times today already that she can’t wait to hold her baby. at 13.5 weeks she’ll be waiting a while…
    gnat Mr 12 just told me the best thing in life is to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamination of their women.
    sineadboucher Parents really need to get their Santa stories straight. A slight deviation in the neighbours’ version and kid CSI ensues
    paulapenfold Maia: “Mum, I need your signature on this” (school trip form) Me: “I’m busy, ask Dad” Maia: “Dad, can you put mum’s signature on this”
    TophHooperton You guys have a lot of kids with avant-garde names. Sure “Miss 8” sounds cool now, but what about when she’s 62? THINK PEOPLE.

    We are the People of Twitter
    amiewee I love how many people immediately thought of me when they saw inflatable sumo suits on a daily deals website.
    wenuwish Just dropped my iPad on my face. well that woke me up.
    kittengloves Ok, there seems to be some confusion between “Drunk Lauren” and “Spiritual Lauren”.
    _lisasaurus @ChangHung23 if you want kids let me know. always wanted an asian baby, considered stealing one but may get locked up for that.
    smrtgirl never drinking again … until next time I do … but definitely not today …
    Tarquin_Death Set of summer-themed word magnets has appeared at work. Words include ‘long,’ ‘hot’ & ‘rod’ (for fishing). Doubt I will be allowed near them
    pinkdeedle I hate when people txt you and they say “I’m in your house” and you can’t remember if u picked your undies up off the floor or flushed…
    HungryandFrozen Still find it funny how on Twitter I can unthinkingly, casually tweet a celeb, when in person I’d be all “H-HI YOU’RE SO WOW” at best.
    robtreacher If I die before the 1st of December, for fuck’s sake, please shave this moustache off me #movember
    not_friends Sitting in bed, eating chips, writing about how diet and exercise contribute to obesity
    Sophie_Kingston Made a pass the parcel tonight, it really is harder that it looks
    Xenojay Rocking out at my desk to Rihanna’s “What’s My Name” because I have a vagina like that
    brenasmith Did someone turn up the gravity?
    CoryJane1080 Here’s the thing… I’m cool with swimming in my undies but the ones I have on are white.
    clumsydolly Fell into sandwich board sign in street. Got stuck on it and rode it like a hobby horse until someone helped me off. Winning? Not so much.
    jonohutchison Will the police search TV3 today? Not sure, but might strip down to my underwear pre-emptively so everyone knows I’m not hiding the tea tape
    jethrocarr OMFG this office chair hurts my ass more than that drunken night on K Rd that never, ever, happened and would never be spoken of again.

    Keep calm and carry on
    katemcenaney Putting a clear sticky cover on your iPhone is serious business – guy at Mac store told me to go home, relax and put it on in a calm place.
    donkey So, the Theory of Relativity means that time passes more slowly when you spend it with your relatives?
    Covlin Do people who constantly ask “PLZ RT” also just walk up to random people asking for a pash?
    nzJayZee There’s a size 6 for women in NZ fashion? How are you not dead? Eat foods.
    SpeelyFreaking On top of ‘Attending’, ‘Not Attending’ and ‘Maybe Attending’, Facebook added the RSVP option ‘Pretending I Haven’t Seen This Event’.

    Ahh New Zealand
    gtiso I don’t think I had ever seen six tui in our garden before. (The collective noun, by the way, is a yearight of tui.)
    mikokiko Got a letter from ministry of justice for parking fines. I owed 34c.
    TophHooperton I wonder if I should tell that lady that she has a squashed cockroach on her back.
    glennzb Who the hell decorates their Christmas tree with a HELICOPTER? I feel reckless if one of the kids gets on a kitchen chair to do the star
    philwalter Any idea when Easter Eggs will be in stores?
    TroyRF I fear I may have caught the “hygiene optional” bus this afternoon
    meaglee You know it’s going to be an interesting night when some drunk girl shows you her vagina
    lmfbs At breaking dawn. Theatre smells like vomit already.
    Hilary_Barry It’s always fun to come home and find the hubby half way through 3 News. “Hils, look at this!” Yeah love, seen it
    benjamintelfer Walked in on a guy blow-drying his wang in the gym changing rooms.
    mrbrownsbag So two bleeding noses, four destroyed relationships and one broken arm later, I’m ready to call this workshop a success.
    kittengloves #Fact I once went to a wedding where the “walking out” music was the Home And Away theme.
    JaredNeilsen Homeless guy walks down road toward me, stops and asks “is that Church open?” I say “I’m not sure.” Him: “find out, you need help”

    The Naked and Famous
    Vegrandis Someone asked me if I was the asian chick from Naked&Famous and I was like “Yeah, the PORNO, not the band.” NOT THE BAND. I have integrity.

    The election, as told by Twitter
    Slanecartoons Someone must stand as “John Keys”, and split the stupid vote
    wenuwish Its nice to see the election billboards showing their support for movember.
    annagconnell Some Key People just knocked on the door. Took perverse pleasure in answering the door with no bra on.
    kittengloves Attention Hipsters: DO NOT VOTE IRONICALLY.
    bobsyauncle I want a politician to fill me with the same respect & wonderment I see in my kids when I make a farty sound with my hand & armpit
    snappy_nz Just sat a multi choice quiz on politics down at the local school. Pretty sure I aced it.
    hollyrwalker OMG guys, I think I just got elected to Parliament!
    nzrckstr I REALLY want John Banks to become the Minister overseeing Len Brown. What fun!!
    jonohutchison My Twitter feed yesterday: HOORAY, DEMOCRACY! My Twitter feed today: SCREW YOU, DEMOCRACY

    Kiwi Tweet(er) of the Month, brought to you by Old Mout Cider

    Old Mout CiderThis month there was no one tweet that got a stand out number of nominations… But there was a tweeter who did.

    Congrats kittengloves – you got nominated more than anyone else, so this month you are crowned Tweeter of the Month! Make sure you’re following @OldMoutCider so they can send you a case 🙂

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    Most Shared Articles on Facebook in 2011

    Facebook have release a list of the top 40 articles shared on their platform this year. Thes stories range from strange to heartbreaking, and in terms of content providers, CNN and the NYT come out looking quite good.

    So here’s the list:

    1. Satellite Photos of Japan, Before and After the Quake and Tsunami (New York Times)
    2. What teachers really want to tell parents (CNN)
    3. No, your zodiac sign hasn’t changed (CNN)
    4. Parents, don’t dress your girls like tramps (CNN)
    5. (video) – Father Daughter Dance Medley (Yahoo)
    6. At funeral, dog mourns the death of Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan (Yahoo)
    7. You’ll freak when you see the new Facebook (CNN)
    8. Dog in Japan stays by the side of ailing friend in the rubble (Yahoo)
    9. Giant crocodile captured alive in Philippines (Yahoo)
    10. New Zodiac Sign Dates: Ophiuchus The 13th Sign? (The Huffington Post)
    11. Parents keep child’s gender under wraps (Yahoo)
    12. How to Talk to Little Girls (The Huffington Post)
    13. Stop Coddling the Super-Rich (New York Times)
    14. Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior (Wall Street Journal)
    15. (video) – Twin Baby Boys Have A Conversation! (Yahoo)
    16. Man robs bank to get medical care in jail (Yahoo)
    17. Why You’re Not Married (The Huffington Post)
    18. A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs (New York Times)
    19. Ryan Dunn Dead: ‘Jackass’ Star Dies In Car Crash (The Huffington Post)
    20. Scientists warn California could be struck by winter ‘superstorm’ (Yahoo)
    21. Notes From a Dragon Mom (New York Times)
    22. A Message to Women From a Man: You Are Not “Crazy” (The Huffington Post)
    23. Obama’s and Bush’s effects on the deficit in one graph (Washington Post)
    24. Penn State, my final loss of faith (Washington Post)
    25. Golden-Voiced Homeless Man Captivates Internet (Yahoo)
    26. The most typical face on the planet (Yahoo)
    27. Widespread destruction from Japan earthquake, tsunamis (CNN)
    28. Permissive parents: Curb your brats (CNN)
    29. A father’s day wish: Dads, wake the hell up! (CNN)
    30. (video) – Laughing Baby Loves Ripping Paper! (Yahoo)
    31. Epic Cover Letter: How To Get Hired For Your Dream Job (PICTURE) (The Huffington Post)
    32. New Zodiac sign dates: Don’t switch horoscopes yet (Washington Post)
    33. Things Babies Born in 2011 Will Never Know (Yahoo)
    34. The Psychology of Revenge: Why We Should Stop Celebrating Osama Bin Laden’s Death (The Huffington Post)
    35. (photo gallery) – ‘Where Children Sleep’ (New York Times)
    36. Quake moved Japan coast 8 feet, shifted Earth’s axis (CNN)
    37. Steve Jobs, Apple founder, dies (CNN)
    38. China’s latest craze: dyeing pets to look like other wild animals (CNN)
    39. Grant Hill’s Response to Jalen Rose (New York Times)
    40. Steve Jobs’s Patents (New York Times)

    Most of this I’ve already read, if not shared with friends!

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    5 great cat videos

    I love a good cat video, so here’s five of my favourite YouTube cat vids, in no particular order:

    Woof! Woof! Woof! Wo- oh. Oh hai, didn’t see you there. Meow. Meow.

    The original stalker cat

    I LOVE cat gone!

    Cutest kitten ever

    No cat video collection would be complete without Maru!

    Please add your favourites in the comments!

    UPDATE: I’ve just discovered this one so have to add it in as a late entry.