• social mean RT @robertloch: All it takes for dull people to triumph is for entertaining people not to bully them on Twitter #
• @AshRead14 reminds me of bolt.com tag book. been there done that. in reply to AshRead14 #
• Would pay to see a show with @timminchin and bill bailey. Both comedic music geniuses. Watching repeat of ‘so f**cking rock’ on e4 #
• The best bits of mock the week tomorrow? There’s only been about 4 episodes in this series. Useless. Bring on the next sherlock #
• Hardly anyone uses Social Media or Blogs to make purchase decisions! RT @InfluenceFinder: http://bit.ly/duzDBc #
• How can the Hilton in paddington justify charging £5.10 for a (pretty average) coffee? http://myloc.me/9PqKR #
• Second day thinking about seo as a business fundamental like accounting or tax rather than a techie geeky thing #
• Funny how none of the social media evangelists in my twitter feed have picked up on the forrestor foursquare story yesterday. #

• Summer train maths a bit like ‘bistromaths’ – if 3 people get off a packed train, 10 should be able to get on. Right? #
• See you next week. RT @nickmoloney: training for team GAC Pindar resumes tomorrow…good breeze forecast… Real action starts on Friday #
• @pitchlondon oh, its only a football story. Thought you might be referring to ferrari’s fine or something. in reply to pitchlondon #
• I liked the clever way last night’s ‘sherlock’ portrayed SMS text messages and their pervasiveness in contemporary uk society. #
• Motorsport head off. cPc / analytics / content creation head on. A day in the world of used car warranties today! #li #

• “I’m not a psychopath, I’m a high functioning sociopath” – really enjoying Sherlock on BBC. #
• Three patch problem. Nice what they did there. New Sherlock on the BBC is very very good. #
• trofeo abarth 500 GB race 2 at silverstone classic (@ Silverstone Circuit) http://4sq.com/8ZhOHD #

There’s something that bothers me about Twitter. It’s the tendency to become lazy when it comes to ideas and arguments. Complex ideas are boiled down to 140 character headlines. Many people never read the articles linked to, they just make a decision about the content based on the pithy headline and retweet, giving the ideas more credit than it perhaps deserves.

You might think that there would be more written about Twitter and Groupthink, but then, when you consider the characteristics of Groupthink it is perhaps not so surprising.

On the surface, Twitter provides a wide variety of viewpoints created by a diverse pool of individuals, but think about how many people you follow who have a contrary view to your own.

Consider the following tests for Groupthink that Irving Janis developed in 1977. Does your experience of Twitter have any of the following ‘symptoms’?

1. Illusion of invulnerability –Creates excessive optimism that encourages taking extreme risks.
2. Collective rationalization – Members discount warnings and do not reconsider their assumptions.
3. Belief in inherent morality – Members believe in the rightness of their cause and therefore ignore the ethical or moral consequences of their decisions.
4. Stereotyped views of out-groups – Negative views of “enemy” make effective responses to conflict seem unnecessary.
5. Direct pressure on dissenters – Members are under pressure not to express arguments against any of the group’s views.
6. Self-censorship – Doubts and deviations from the perceived group consensus are not expressed.
7. Illusion of unanimity – The majority view and judgments are assumed to be unanimous.
8. Self-appointed ‘mindguards’ – Members protect the group and the leaders from information that is problematic or contradictory to the group’s cohesiveness, view, and/or decisions.

It’s not just Twitter that can become susceptible to this kind of behaviour. Think about your product development process or the governing body of your favourite sport. Is there diversity of thinking? Are you innovating in a vacuum?

There are remedies if you believe you are at risk of making poor decisions based on either your social media usage or an imbalance in the teams you work with.

Here are some actions you might want to consider.

1. Assign yourself the role of critical evaluator.
2. Routinely discuss ideas with a trusted associate and report back to ‘the group’ on the associate’s reactions.
3. Invite ‘outside’ experts to challenge views of ‘the group’.
4. Find an articulate and knowledgeable devil’s advocate to question assumptions.
5. Set aside time to consider alternative scenarios.

Also consider following a couple of people who might have a contrary view. You don’t have to agree with them, but opening your eyes to a different point of view might help you make more well informed decisions.

I picked up a bunch of followers on Twitter yesterday thanks to a mention by Ryan Stephens on Lewis Howes’ Sports Networker Blog.

It’s hard to know what to expect when you follow someone. On the one hand, a reccommendation from someone whose opinion you trust is enough to sign up to the wisdom or otherwise of someone you otherwise might not have come across or followed.

For better or worse, Twitter, or at least the vast majority of the people I interact with on Twitter are in the USA. While I have spent a lot of time working with American sporting brands (some well known and some niche), I spend most of my time these days based in London, UK. It’s a shame that the core sports marketing and business conversation that thrives in the US is not visable here. It’s easy to forget that Twitter is NOT a mass market tool, though it may one day get there.

The point I am making is that if you have followed me and expect content around an ‘N’ sport (NBA, NHL, NFL…) then I’m not going to be able to provide a lot of insight. Hopefully though, the ‘mash-up’ element of Twitter that allows innovative and creative ideas to cross-pollenate across sports irrespective of size or geography will mean that the opinions from where I sit – an Australian living in London have value.

Yesterday, 150 people began to follow my musings. Normally I would get a few a day. A few a day allows you to look at who is along for the ride, look at their recent tweets, visit their blog or company page if available and make a decision about a reciprocal follow. With 150 in the space of several hours, that task is made harder.

Here then are a couple of tips based on how I decide to follow someone. It’s certainly not based on the number of followers someone has. This is not new, there are thousands of twitter tips sites out there – its just my opinion. It’s not a prescription either, just some stuff that came out of yesterday’s experience.

1. Put up a photo of yourself. The year is 2009. If you are cool enough to be on twitter, you are tech-savvy enough to be able to upload a picture.
2. Fill out your 140 character profile. Being able to get a quick feel of who you are by hovering over your thumbnail speeds up the introduction process by a huge factor.
3. Think about your mix of Tweets. What do your last 10 tweets say about you? What do the last 25 say about you?
4. Be a person. If the last 10 tweets are submitted by Twitter Tools then I get no personality coming through.
5. On a related note. Personal tweets are ok! I don’t do business with companies, I do business with people.
6. Add Value. A link without commentary is pretty useless. Are you pro or against? If neither – why post it?

Welcome to those who have followed me over the last 12 hours or so. Hopefully underrated doesn’t become overrated to quickly.