This week Twitter was riddled with technology innovations at the 2016 International Consumer Electronics Show, as well as discussions on the platform's plans to go beyond its 140-character limit.
This week Twitter was riddled with technology innovations at the 2016 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), as well as discussions on the platform’s plans to go beyond its 140-character limit.
For the digital marketing industry, 2016 started with CES. Many big brands and startups debuted gadgets and technology solutions, in an attempt to deliver meaning in a connected world.
#Fitness and #Wearables were amongst the biggest themes at the show and Under Armour rode the wave. The brand revealed a partnership with IBM, where it will use its artificial intelligence platform Watson to power its fitness and health apps. Under Armour certainly got some “respect” on Twitter in return.
"Blood, Sweat & Respect.
– @TheRockStay tuned as we innovate health & fitness together. pic.twitter.com/qu0D7pd7V0
— Under Armour (@UnderArmour) January 5, 2016
IBM, @UnderArmour team up to bring athletes a new fitness app powered by @IBMWatson https://t.co/mbXvN7h1OQ #CES2016 pic.twitter.com/35PRhD131y
— IBM (@IBM) January 7, 2016
In another announcement, GoPro unveiled its plans to work with YouTube in a virtual reality (VR) initiative. If it all goes to plan and the two companies collaborate well on a consumer-grade VR camera that’s easy to use, VR could become more commonplace and further revolutionize the industry.
https://twitter.com/GoPro/status/684839775002443776
@GoPro can't wait to hear about #vr and #Gopro. #CES16 #girlwithOUTcancer
— girlwithOUTcancer (@grlwitOUTcancer) January 6, 2016
T-Mobile also had some good news to share – the company bought the naming rights to the $375 million arena in Las Vegas, meaning it has a new arena to play in.
Welcome to T-Mobile Arena. The best seats in Las Vegas are now yours. pic.twitter.com/NTdhb1HFxI
— T-Mobile (@TMobile) January 7, 2016
But that announcement soon turned somewhat sour when the company’s chief executive (CEO) John Legere set off on a Twitter firestorm in response to a question tweeted to him by non-profit Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Asking whether T-Mobile’s Binge On unlimited video service altered or limited the bandwidth of video streams, Legere’s response left a lot to be desired: “Who the fuck are you EFF, why are you stirring up so much trouble, and who pays you?”
.@EFF pic.twitter.com/pv6V4oOJwS
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) January 7, 2016
It’s going to be a fun weekend for T-Mobile’s PR team… not!
My sympathies for the poor lobbyists and PR team at T-Mobile who have to clean up the mess caused by their CEO's unhinged rant on Twitter.
— Christopher Soghoian (@csoghoian) January 7, 2016
CES aside, rumors have it that Twitter is considering the expansion of its 140-character limit to 10,000. The platform’s CEO Jack Dorsey didn’t give a definitive answer in his tweet about whether the little dicky-bird’s words are true, hinting that Twitter is likely to change its word count.
— jack (@jack) January 5, 2016
Many brands and individual users are not happy with this potential change. Some argued that Twitter could lose its identity with the removal of 140-character limit, suggesting that the platform should keep this beloved gamification element.
U.K. soccer club Manchester United and video hosting service Vevo are among those opponents.
Increase character limit by all means. 240, 360 or 500, but 10k will change the nature of @twitter. Who wants another Facebook? #Twitter10k
— LovinManchester (@Lovinmanc) January 6, 2016
The below tweet from Vevo mocks Twitter’s strategy, gathering 1,311 favorites, 1,106 retweets and 23 replies, according to Unmetric.
https://twitter.com/Vevo/status/684765167754850304
On a bobbley note, many professional sports teams celebrated National Bobblehead Day this week. It’s a weird random holiday and we don’t know how the hashtag #NationalBobbleheadDay took off on social. But let’s celebrate by looking at a few funny bobblehead tweets from Major League Baseball, New York Yankees and The National Basketball Association.
These sports organizations seem to have a knack for video and influencer marketing. (What is your favorite bobblehead by the way? We love Charles Barkley!).
No. Really. It’s #NationalBobbleheadDay. pic.twitter.com/SCbtKaI3EZ
— MLB (@MLB) January 7, 2016
Celebrate #NationalBobbleheadDay with @t_masahiro18 and his little friend! pic.twitter.com/lrC7YqDNja
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) January 7, 2016
Happy #NationalBobbleheadDay – submit your favorite @NBA bobbleheads! https://t.co/VgdAKd1VXO
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 7, 2016
