-->

Who"s davidlian?

My photo
davidlian is an ultra-geeky chinese dude that works for a technology PR agency. He loves fiddling with techno-toys, plays Warhammer 40K, and shoots pictures wherever he goes. Here, he rants about PR, Technology and anything else. Don't expect balance and un-biased, he ain't no journalist. Anything said on this blog are solely davidlian's personal views. Don't confuse them with company mantra, client's views or views of any organisation he may be part of.

Categories

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Twitter bursts to life in Malaysia?

Did anyone else notice the sudden spike of Malaysian activity on Twitter in these past 2 months?

I've been on the service nearly more than a year and I think I must've seen double the activity on Twitter in just this very short period of time. And I don't think it's just down to Ashton Kutcher vs CNN. Or Oprah.

Last month, there was KL Tweetup [pictures -thanks bytebot / videos - thanks CarolynChan]. And in the space of the month, at least one more KL Tweetup and a couple more smaller tweetupKLs have happened. Then there was yesterday's #twtkl initiated by AvrilChan. Nineteen people showed up to an event that was organised in the space of 40 hours (more or less).

So have we reached a critical mass? The point where the numbers add up and there's enough people for us to follow, and are local enough for us to relate to and discuss locally relevant topics? As much as the preaching goes around that the world is global, there's no doubt with Social Networks local plays a bigger role.

You join a network because your closest friends are on it. That's why Friendster is / was big in Southeast Asia but not the world.

I'm finding Twitter takes on a whole new dimension when you can discuss Malaysian things with Malaysian people. I'm loving the fact that I can ask a totally Malaysian question and get 10 or so responses from Malaysians in a jiffy.

So here's the deal, if you're Malaysian and you're on Twitter, add me (at @davidlian) and I'll follow you back too, ok? Promise.*

PS. I'm also thinking of collating and setting up some sort of directory of Malaysian Tweeters. What do you think? Too invasive of privacy? We could have it as opt-in. Feedback? Edit: Thanks to @derekw. Just use WeFollow.

*Please note, above deal does not apply to people who have "success, money, business owner, network marketing, financial freedom" in their twitter profiles.

10 comments:

Nigel Sia said...

The directory idea seems cool. Then more and more like-minded tweeps can bergather-gather and share knowledge + make new friends.

For now, most of the tweeps I know go tweet-hopping looking under the list of a friend's Followers/Following, clicking their name and looking at their Twitter profile before following them. A bit the mafan. Haha.

KY said...

oo but u're so fehmes in twitterland mr. david lian pls add @kyspeaks :X

davidlian said...

@Nigel: Yups. Go sign up on wefollow.com
@KY: No I'm not. Guys, please add @kyspeaks.

Anonymous said...

hi david, been following your blog, interesting stuff! heard abt twitter not sending free sms's, but yet malaysian tweets are climbing?

tot part of the attraction is sms, so are most mysian just checking the web tweets?
am a tweet newbie..-alvin

davidlian said...

@Alvin: Yeah, Twitter stopped the free SMS updates already. But most of the people I know tweet directly from their desktop while at work or via applications on their mobile phone (using WiFi or 3G). So it still works fine.

Rohan Thomas said...

we are planning to do KL Tweetup every month.. come join us - http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=83229518672

Colin Charles said...

Seriously, I'm impressed. Anything more about #twtkl?

If I were around, I probably would have attended. What happened there? Do tell us more :)

-c

davidlian said...

@Rohan: Yups, I'm on that group (I think) and I'll attend when I can.

@Colin: Well, suffice to say for me it lasted about 1.5 hours and I met up with more people I didn't already know than people I did know. It was an ad-hoc event, and we basically ordered drinks and talked geek stuff. Like comparing iphone apps. Or messaging platforms. I don't think any continuity was planned. Maybe @avrilchan can shed light on future plans?

Ling said...

This is so exciting! Look forward to the next KL Tweetup!

If any of you guys are from the IRC era, this feels like the #bangsar reunion, but Twitter version!

Weeee!

xoxo

Nazneen said...

Yeah, it's no fun that we can't tweet from out mobile. I just tweet from my desktop. Twitter is addictive. Very fun [: