|
Edmonton Twitter community regarded as a success
 Posted
12/22/2009 5:35:00 AM
On my days off, I've been trying to unplug from all the various social networking and time I spend online. So imagine my surprise on Friday, when I popped back online and realized a man from San Fransisco was interested in the Edmonton Twitter community.
Adriel Hampton (@adrielhampton) describes himself as a journalist, Gov 2.0 and new media strategist, public servant, and licensed private investigator. I'm not sure if the last one is true, but if so, we'll have to have him solve a mystery if he ever visits.
He first found out about the Edmonton Twitter community from Nick Charney, a public servant in Ottawa. "I connected to Nick talking about government reform through technology." Hampton explains, "He used the tag. I also connected with Jas Darrah who works with the city (of Edmonton). I saw the fairly vibrant use of the tag, and at first I wasn't sure what it was."
He began looking into the #yeg hashtag and noticed the popularity of the community. "But using tags to effectively build constructive community is not easy." he writes in his first blog entry: "#Yeg - Secret Sauce for Twitter Community Success?" "More than dedicated individuals, it takes a critical mass and perhaps a spark of divine energy. So what's in the water up in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (besides ice, that is)?"
Hampton soon found a lively populace of people who were worth noticing. Just a simple question thrown out to the #yeg community garnered dozens of responses. He's already expressed interest about writing a case study, and has suggested to the rest of the Twitter public: take note of what Edmonton is doing. He's told other cities, like Burlington, Vermont - they should try and follow Edmonton's lead.
Why Edmonton? Hampton makes it sound so simple. "Because it's one of the more successful efforts to use technologies like Twitter to build a real community." He's tried to build that community in his suburb Dublin, located just outside of San Fransisco. No luck yet, but Edmonton proves to him that you don't need millions of people to make a hashtag work. "It doesn't have to be in Silicon Valley, or in London, England. It's evident on Twitter the sense of community Edmonton has."
Picture taken at the iNews880 Tweetup this past June.
"San Fransisco's population is very similar to size in Edmonton. I think we're 770,000 or something like that - and yet there isn't a distinct San Fransisco hashtag. People use #SF.", Hampton says, "The problem is that we're so regionalized. You know, several million people in the general bay area - it's hard to build a tight community. But I think you've (in Edmonton) got something special going on as far as geography but also in the efforts that have been made to have a unifying tag."
It's hashtags like #yegtraffic that people are giving praise for. Edmontonians actually tweeted and wrote to Hampton, explaining they would actually check Twitter to find out what road hazards are before leaving for work in the morning. Hampton says that's pretty unique, but has the potential to catch on in other cities.
"One of my hopes in writing the blog post was that people can see what you guys are doing up there and go 'Oh wow, we can use this in our community!' I'm a public sector worker and I do a lot of thinking about how can we build civic engagement among young people and with new technologies. In in a world that goes so fast it's great it's always great to see success stories."
Success stories we have in spades. The #yeg Twitter community has raised money for various charites, and recently wrapped presents for 630CHED Santas Anonymous. Hampton thinks that is one of the many successes of the Edmonton community. "It's my understanding that #yeg folks have done community cleanups, and there was an event last week around local foodbanks. That kind of stuff is really cool to see in an era where it's harder for sometimes for groups. More traditional groups like maybe Elks Clubs or Rotary may not be seeing as much growth in younger members, saying, 'How can we engage people of all ages by using new technologies?'"
Who's responsible for engaging Edmontonians? It's largely the great people who are participating online.
Local Twitter authority Mack Male is happy that Edmonton is getting attention from around the world. "I think it's good he's recognizing the strength of the Edmonton Twitter community. It's odd that it's now all of a sudden. I'm not sure why now and not six months ago. It's positive, and a good shout-out to everyone who uses the hashtag and makes it what it is."
(You can read more about the #yeg hashtag in the #yeg - Year in Review)
"I posted the very first #yeg message back in 2008. At that time there wasn't that many people on Twitter in Edmonton. Today, there are still relatively a really small number (of people) - just under 6000 active users in the city. That's a lot more than there was in the beginning." Male is an expert on the Edmonton Twitter community. Arguably one of the most influencial Edmonton Twitterers, an entire room will hush when a Twitter user in this city mutters something as seemingly normal as: "Oh, @mastermaq. I don't think I'm following you". (Which happened this past Friday at the Edmonton Twitter Christmas tweetup.)
Male remains humble about his Twilebrity status and keeps Edmonton informed on the changes in the online community with monthly statistics. "Increasingly people are using #yeg as a hashtag in their updates while they're talking about Edmonton or posting something about Edmonton. Over the past year, some other interesting things have happened with the sub-tags. People using #yegtraffic or #yegfood, with the other characters behind it. It's becoming more popular, as well. It's starting to build the community around the hashtag even more."
"It's not necessarily unique. I think it happens in other places, but perhaps the community isn't well defined. In Edmonton it's been really fantastic over the past year and a bit. We sort of talk to each other online over the #yeg hashtag, but also we frequently meet up in real life face-to-face with other events. Sometimes things like tweetups, other times they're events like Democamp, which is an event that's already happening - but a lot of Twitter users attend." And as Male adds, friendships do form within the community. "I think it's probably the number one reason why #yeg is as successful as it is - the relationships on and offline."
But how is Edmonton the big success story? Places like Calgary (#yyc) and Victoria (#yyj) use their hashtags pretty regularly, but although Calgary is close, they don't use their hashtags with as much success as Edmonton. Male thinks it's just a matter of time. "I think it will happen in Victoria, first of all. The largest factor in our favour is the size of Edmonton - we're not too big and not too small. We're big enough that you can have a hashtag like #yeg and have events pretty regularly with enough people to come out and meet one another pretty regularly."
"Climate might have a lot to do with it as well. It's cold in Edmonton, so a lot of time people are indoors and on their computers." Male and I share a laugh. The fact that we were the second coldest place on the planet came up with Hampton as well. Male continues, "That may be a bit of a generalization, but it helps when comparing ourselves to a city somewhere in Florida or something like that. I think the point made about the fact that our hashtag is pronounceable is interesting. It's pronounced Y-egg usually. You can pronounce the hasthtag - and maybe that does make a difference, with it being easier for people to remember and talk about."
Hampton agrees that pronouncing helps. And he's learnt a lot about our city now that he's championing it online. But he still had one pressing question. "Do you have an IMAX theatre?" Hampton laughs as I let him know that not only do we have an IMAX theatre, but there is a fire-breathing dragon in West Edmonton Mall as well. "A fire-breathing dragon? Well, I guess you guys need that to keep warm!"
Jokes aside, Hampton did concede that Edmonton is a pretty fantastic place. He may even plan a trip to visit next summer - but he has no plans to move here. (...just yet. Wait until he sees it here!)
"San Fransisco is pretty darn awesome too, and since my wife lives in Japan - it's a much quicker flight leaving from #SFO."
Read more from these two fine gentlemen on their blogs: Adriel Hampton's Wired to Share and Mack Male - @Mastermaq.
|
|
Brittney LeBlanc
|
|
|
|
Wow this is so cool. Great post Brit!
|
|
Posted By
Nicki
On
12/22/2009 5:00:15 PM
|
|
Another aspect to bring up is that there are a few really prominent Edmontontians (Britl of course, BingoFuel, Mack, Lynda Steele, etc) that I have come across in my Tweeting. By following them, I follow their example of Tweeting. It sounds simple, but it really is Tweeting by example!
Thanks for the post!
|
|
Posted By
Shannon
On
12/22/2009 2:49:30 PM
|
|
Interesting points Brit!
|
|
Posted By
Jac MacDonald
On
12/22/2009 2:37:38 PM
|
|
Great, talking with you today Brittney! And sorry to disappoint, but Adriel Hampton, PI is a California-only shop: PI License
|
|
Posted By
Adriel Hampton
On
12/21/2009 11:37:25 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|