Twitter Bombing: What Is It – Is It Harmful – Does it Work

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Today we talk to Rob Walch the VP of Podcaster Relations from Libsyn.com (and co-host of the Feed)and Bryan Orr (from the Wow Small Business podcast ) who did a month long “twitter bomb” test and shares his findings.

Staying Focused in the New Year – Avoid Casturbation

Casturbation Defined:

1. Verb: Producing content with no real value for your audience. To record for the sake of hearing one’s own voice. To record for the sake of keeping with a self-inflicted schedule.

When asked to answer the question, “That episode moved you to ….” your audience will not be able to answer (or answer, “It moved me to go to another podcast).

When Jimmy started the podcast with “Well, I’m not really sure what I’m going to talk about today but I wanted to get an episode out,” I knew I was going to get an earful of casturbation.

When Jimmy spent 25 minutes to get to the point, one could say there was a large amount of casturbation in that 30 minute episode.

2. Verb: Participating in activities that provide no real value to your podcast.

Jimmy’s stack of 3 microphones, 4 mixers, 6 portable recorders, and three hosting account leads me to believe he has a serious casturbation problem. 

Read the full blog post here

Dennis Miller and Emily Morse Hosting the 10th Annual Podcast Awards

New Media Expo just announced that comedian, actor, radio host Dennis Miller and (radio, podcasters, TV) Emily Morse will be hosting the Podcast Awards. With the New Media Expo being held along side of the National Association of Broadcasting, this event is THE event to attend this year.

Dennis-Miller-Emily-Morse400

Podcast nominations are now open for the Podcast Awards. You can submit your favorite podcasts at www.podcastawards.com

You can save on your New Media Expo tickets by using the coupon sop2015

NMX and Nab Show, Las Vegas, April 2015

Twitter Bombing Defined

Twitter bombing is the act of sending out multiple (in some cases hundreds) of tweets per hour (in some cases from multiple twitter accounts) with the sole purpose of getting people to click on the audio file and drive up “download” numbers. In some cases people will go the extra mile and research popular (related and unrelated) hashtags and use them in their tweets.

What Bryan's Numbers Show

Bryan's numbers increased by a factor of 12X. He went from 150 to 1800 downloads per day. Does it increase downloads? Yes. As we said, in the case of Bryan it multiplied them by 12.

Brian's downloads went up immediately and the minute his test was over, the downloads went away.

The bottom line his numbers per day pre and post test did not change.

Yes he got downloads (more than likely from robots)

Libsyn

Check out Bryan's full post on the subject.

So Your Spamming Twitter – What is the Big Deal?

The BIG PROBLEM that this causes is when someone takes these artificially inflated numbers and use them for securing advertisers. When the advertiser doesn't get a good return on their investment they not only quit advertising on your show, but they tell other potential sponsors, “Podcast Advertising doesn't work.” When your actions move podcast advertisers (and their friends) away from sponsoring more podcasts, you are hurting the podcasting in general.

Ringr.us Trial

Rignr.us launched this week and this service is an iOs app that allows you to record yoru phone calls. Here are the steps:

1. Install the Ringr app

2. Click the ” + ” to schedule a call

3. Add the email to the person you want to call.

4. When you recipient gets the email (assuming they have installed the app). They click on a link in the email they recieve that launches the app and takes them to your appointment. It's super easy.

When I tested it, I did have a technical hiccup. When my phone went to sleep the call dropped. When I got back on the phone with Rob, we had no problems. When the show was over, the file is processed and it uploads it to ringr.us where it ties your side of the conversation with your guests side of the conversation and sends you a link to the mp3 file. It does some processing to level the volume levels.

There is no Android version at this time.
Rob was using the IK Multimedia iRig Mic HD high-definition handheld microphone for iPhone iPad and Mac
which RIngr.us didn't recognize (so Rob was coming through his phone).
I was using the IK Multimedia AmpliTube iRig guitar interface adaptor for iOS devices which plugins into the headphone jack of my phone and worked fine. I plugged my mixer via a 1/4″ cable into the iRig and that worked. This is why I have a fuller sound on the recording than Rob does.

Are You Ready To Start Podcasting

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Leave A Reply (7 comments so far)


  1. Mark
    3 years ago

    You forgot the most common form of casterbation….listening to podcasts about podcasts 😉

    I’m cutting back my listening to just you and Daniel J. Keep up the good work.


  2. Dave Jackson
    3 years ago

    What would you consider valuable? I’d love to create great content for you? -Dave


  3. Bryan Goodwin
    3 years ago

    Sarah Koenig says on her last episode that Serial took a year of production.


  4. Robert Kelly
    11 months ago

    Thanks so much for explaining Twitter bombing. I kept reading that you shouldn’t post a direct download link on Twitter but no one could explain why (the old reason that it would open and stream without someone clicking is no longer true, at least for Libsyn). I post a direct download tweet a couple times a week when a new show comes out, which I am happy to hear is not just okay but even recommended. Thanks, guys.

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