I've been at the Twitter thing for a few months now. Some of you may be tired of reading about Twitter -- especially if you don't use it -- but I've fallen head over heels in love with it and will most likely write a lot more about it. For those of you that don't yet use it, I strongly encourage you to sign up.
Part of the reason I love Twitter is this new phenomena of being able to instantly connect with dozens if not hundreds of people (or even thousands if you're Jeremiah Owyang @jowyang or Robert Scoble @scobleizer) in a two-way dialogue. To that end, last night, I tried a new experiment -- if you haven't noticed, I like to experiment -- where I offered a free copy of the We Are Smarter book and a $15 iTunes card to the creator of the best "tweet-ku."
What is a "tweet-ku" you ask? It's my fancy way of saying haiku on Twitter. I've linked to the definition if you want to know what a haiku is. But that doesn't really matter because what was amazing to me was the fact that I was able to encourage about several people -- a few of which I just met -- to take a shot at writing a mini Japanese style poem. The poems were all funny even if not qualified as actual haikus.
The result of the experiment? I now feel like I know each of these people a little bit better and hopefully I gave my cohorts on Twitter a quick laugh last night. I know I certainly did laughed.
Without further adieu, here are the entrants for last night's contest (winners are in bold - yes, we picked two). Thanks to Mukund and Jim for helping on the judging...
Critt : @astrout haiku ---> Winter casts it's snow. But the fire you bring within? Crystal persuasion. << (2007-12-12 22:49:40) [WINS ON ASTHETICS]
sink : @astrout Please to give me gift; music does has a flavor; i will has it soon. << (2007-12-12 21:11:19)
rhappe : @astrout Alas no talent for poetry iabmic pentameter or otherwise :) << (2007-12-12 20:00:54) [RACHEL POINTED OUT TO ME THAT IF YOU COUNT THE ";)" AS TWO SYLLABLES "SMILE-EY" THEN WE DO HAVE A HAIKU]
tonysteward : @astrout Macbook Pro hummingAmericano times twoI am such a nerd << (2007-12-12 19:56:15)
adamcohen : @astrout Owyang effect starts,New friends added left and right,Tweets now flow like rain. << (2007-12-12 19:54:37)
nateritter : @astrout: geez its 5 7 5 really not that hard to do why can't u do it? << (2007-12-12 19:53:30)
redplasticmonke : @astrout - dude, seriously - i will take your itunes gift - i have the book, thanks :) << (2007-12-12 19:52:20) [WINS FOR HUMOR]
nateritter : @astrout: In deep sleep hear sound cat vomit hairball somewhere will find in morning. << (2007-12-12 19:51:26)
mikedoe : @astrout: My haiku entry: There once was a hick - From a small town called French Lick - Who could play b-ball. << (2007-12-12 19:49:16)
mukund: @astrout: customer service = marketing followed by We army [A SYLLABLE OR TWO SHORT BUT WORTHY - MUKUND WAS ALSO NOT OFFICIALLY ELIGIBLE FOR PRIZES SINCE HE WAS JUDGING]
I'm also throwing in two from last week submitted by @achitwood and @skalik...
skalik: @astrout trying for a tweet-ku: social media. club meets tonight at SNCR. to discuss future. http://socialmediaboston.org 02:22 PM December 06, 2007
achitwood: My tree's leaves, despite being almost demolished by munching caterpillars in spring, were plentiful enough to fill 11 Fall Collection bags. [IN FAIRNESS, THIS IS NOT A HAIKU BUT FELL INTO MY ORIGINAL DEFINITION OF "TWEET-KU" WHICH WAS A 140 CHARACTER TWEET WITH A HAIKU FEEL TO IT...
btw, in searching through Tweetscan.com (a great twitter search tool), I noticed that redswingline writes quite a few haiku!
As usual, if you're not following me yet, I always follow back!
Cross-posted on Mzinga.com