Using Twitter for research purposes

Having in mind that lots of people from all over the world are using Twitter to express themselves it is somehow obvious that this data could be also a very interesting source for research purposes.

I made a simple attempt by investigating the user reactions on the currently hyped Macbook Air. Therefore I used Terraminds to search for "Macbook Air". The sample consists of 50 Tweets, showing positive or negative reactions after using the Macbook Air. 'Using' in this experiment means at least having the chance to touch it. The Tweets [one single Post/Update], English or German, have been published between Feb-07 and Feb-11.

The outcome of this short investigation can be seen as a kind of meta result of micro macbook air reviews. The result of the discussed laptop is very positive (n=50, positive=40, negative=10).

Conclusion: Although currently Twitter is probably used by a very specific group of persons (internet savvy people) I would assume there is huge potential to use it for research purposes in different fields (e.g. market research, cultural studies, sociology, etc.). Using this resource holds very specific advantages. One fact is the worldwide population. Retrieving the data is very easy and low priced. In addition, as this method is a kind of online-observation, it overcomes the interview bias.

Spannende Diskussion zum Thema Angel Investment

Guy Kawasaki moderiert ein hochkarätig besetztes Panel zum Thema Angel Investment:

• "Andy Bechtolsheim. Andy has a heart-stopping track record. First, he was a co-founder of Sun Microsystems. Then he founded Granite Systems (gigabit Ethernet switches) which Cisco bought. Then he founded Kealia (server technology) which Sun bought. He is an angel investor in Magma Design Automation (electronic design automation). Oh yeah, he was also the first investor in Google when he wrote a check for Larry and Sergei in 1998—before they had a bank account to deposit it in. To put it mildly, he the uber angel investor of angel investors. He is currently the chief architect of Sun.

• Ron Conway. Ron is the "godfather of Silicon Valley." He is the former managing partner of Angel Investors LP. He has invested in over 500 startups and has personal investments in RockYou, Twitter, Plaxo, Digg, and DanceJam. He is also an advisor to FaceBook. Oh yeah, he was also an early investor in Google.

• Dr. Ian Sobieski. Ian is a founder and managing director of the Band of Angels Fund. This is a $50 million fund that receives approximately 100 pitches per month. A screening committee then selects three companies to present at the Band's monthly meeting. The Band has invested in 240 companies and has had more than forty profitable acquisition exits and nine IPOs."

Ist Paris wieder das Zentrum fuer elektronische Musik?

In den letzten Jahren wurde oft von den Staedten New York, London und Berlin gesprochen wenn es um elektronische Musik ging. Diese Dokumentation argumentiert, dass nun Paris wieder ganz oben ist, liefert einen interessanten Einblick in die Szene und fuer mich einen weiteren Grund noch ein Weilchen hier zu bleiben :-)

Als einflussreicher Promotor der Szene wird Pedro Winter (Label: Ed Banger) hervorgehoben. Er ist vor allem als Manager von Daft Punk bekannt. Weitere Local Players sind das Label Institubes, Para One; Phillip Zdar, Cassius, ...

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