I’ve crossed to the red side
Yes, it is with a heavy heart that I have left my current broadband provider for beardy Branson’s baby. After updating my PC last year and getting a new Laptop, along with my G1, Andy’s laptop, Sam’s laptop and the Wii (as well as Lee’s PS3 when he brings it over) I began to notice that the broadband wasn’t as robust as it had been.
I used all the tricks to get a better signal into the router – changing the microfilters, moving the router to the Master socket, rebooting it regularly, but it just wasn’t enough.
Don’t get me wrong, the service that I received from the team over at BE broadband was fantastic. In fact, I’m following them over on twitter and will continue to do so. My second account (which we set up for Andy’s mum) is also going to be kept, although with the updates to their prices I think the lower package may be the best for her. There’ll be no difference in speed but if she exceeds the 40GB/month limit I’ll be wondering just what it is she’s doing with her computer!
I really like BE. The team in their technical support and accounts call centres are fantastic. They pitch their advice to the level you’re at, simple and straightforward for those who aren’t techie. Slightly moreso for those who are, and I’m sure if you were some sort of l33t H@XX0r – they’d be able to match you acronym for acronym. As a call centre worker I think the highest praise I can give them is that I don’t care that they’re not based in the UK. Well, actually I do! If they were I’d have applied for a job ;-D
They give the impression that they’re a small company who values it’s customers – and value each and every one of those customers. They arrange socials, meetings and even conference calls to discuss changes to the service. They are truly everything I look for in a company.
So why do you want to leave? I’m sure you’re asking.
It’s simple and has nothing whatsoever to do with BE. The simple answer is BT.
For years BT had a complete monopoly on telephone services, competition didn’t exist and any that did was swiftly quashed (anyone remember the Mercury button?) But the powers that be decided to break that monopoly (and quite rightly so). But the problem is – like the gas companies with Transco – new broadband and telephone companies have to use BT Openreach and its outdated copper wires. This means that they just can’t offer the speeds that we need in this always on, always connected world, because BT can’t keep up – never mind get ahead of the game for the future.
So, it is with a heavy heart that I have swallowed my dislike for Richard Branson and his awful media-pandering ways and gone to Virgin Media for my Broadband. I’ve been assured that I’ll be able to get 18-20Mb through the fibre-optic cable that allegedly runs into my house, and I’ve also been told that they aren’t running a fair usage policy any more. But we’ll wait to see.
In the meantime my advice to you is this. If you’re not in a cable area, or the speed that you can get down a BT line is good enough for you then I urge you to look at BE. Their customer service is second to none and they’re the company that Branson wants us to think Virgin are. But if it’s speed you need then I’m afraid you’re going to have to head to the red too. Sorry!
BA Cabin Crew Strike – My opinion
I left my job at British Airways nearly 3 months ago now as part of the voluntary redundancy packages that the company was offering. Even then there was a feeling throughout the company that we were experiencing the most difficult times that the airline had ever faced. I worked at BA through the 11 September tragedy and subsequent closing of US Airspace for over a week. It was a dark time then and the “Future size and shape” plan that the then CEO Rod Eddington had to implement made things feel even worse.
But the airline pulled together, all the staff looked at what they could do to help and stood together, truly united in helping each other and the company that we loved to survive. This included some silly things like turning off the fountains in the outdoor smoking area and not providing disposable cups for the water fountains. But, as Tesco knows, every little helps.
This recession however has been even more difficult for British Airways. This time the company is faced with the low-cost airlines (who have a completely different business model) as well as video-conferencing, the growth of the Internet & Web 2.0 and mobile technology, all of which reduce the need for travelling around the world to do business.
As background, my role at British Airways (when I left) was in the Customer Relations department. My role was to deal with customers who wrote, called or emailed in to the company about their experience. Many of these contacts were complaints about many different aspects of the service, but we did what we could to help customers and make things better.
All across the airline staff have been asked to take Voluntary Unpaid Leave, Voluntary Unpaid Work, cuts in bonuses, reductions in working hours, changes to core hours and anything else that they can do to help. We accepted as many of these as we could – because we knew that it was vital that we help the company to raise as much cash as possible in the short term, and that we work smarter in the long term. The Flight Crew accepted it, Engineers accepted it, Ground staff accepted it, the contact centres accepted it. The only people who seem to have had a problem for the last 9 months have been the Cabin Crew. 
In times like this it seems that the crew have forgotten that British Airways trades on the view that people have of it. BA is a long standing company that is very often in the public eye. The British public have a passion for BA and feel strongly about the way that it runs. From many of the people that I spoke to many of them feel personally let down when things go wrong. They feel personally invested in the company and they want to see it succeed. But the problem is that a 12 day strike, AT CHRISTMAS, will cause a huge drop in public support. This will lead to less people feeling confident in the airline, and ultimately less passengers.
Tony Woodley, Unite and the crew – listen to the feedback you’re getting from your customers, listen to the swell of public support for Willie Walsh and the BA management team, listen to your colleagues who are also going through huge changes to ensure that you all have jobs. Remember that over 40,000 people also work for the same company and this selfish stamping of your feet will trample on their toes and may – in the end – cost you all your jobs.
You’re well off at BA, believe me – I’ve only been working outside the company for 3 months but I can see just how well off I was there, the management do care for your opinion – but they can’t just think of you. Now is the time for BA to reshape itself for the future. Because in its middle age shape that it is now it just can’t support itself.
Please, just think about what you’re doing.
Ethan
National Bullying Week
www.areyoubeingbullied.com
So, a little Birdie tells me that this week (16-20 November) is National Anti-Bullying Week. This little birdie is called Percy the Pigeon and he supports the fantastic BullyingUK in their hard work to help people who are affected by bullying. Now there has been a lot of discussion in the media about cyber-bullying over the past couple of days and I’m no expert, but I just wanted to say. If you read this (I know there’s not many people that do, but if you fall on this post by accident!) and you’re being bullied then know that you’re not alone.
There are a load of resources available online and offline for you. If you’re a member of a social networking site and feel intimidated or bullied then remember that most sites have a safety policy or some way to deal with harassment. Bebo‘s report button has been quite widely publicised but, while Bebo’s big, it hasn’t got the same coverage as the big three. So, if you want to know what Facebook, MySpace and twitter do about this sort of thing then the links above will take you straight to their safety pages.
But we know that bullying often doesn’t just take place online. It’s not uncommon for bullies to bully a target in person and then carry this on through new technology. This can be through your mobile phone, and BullyingUK has a great article about what to do if you’re being bullied by phone. The thing to remember though is this:
It’s not your fault. You don’t deserve to be bullied and have every right to feel safe.
If you, or anyone you know is being bullied then speak to an adult who you trust. This can be a parent, teacher, another family member, school counsellor, police officer, anyone that is there for you. If you feel unsure then remember that Childline is available throughout the UK. If you call from a landline then the calls are free. The number is 0800 1111. Remember though, you are never alone. There are lots of people out there who’ve been bullied at some point in their lives. I talked about my experiences a few months ago. But do you know what? We got through it and made a success of our lives – and so can you!
But bullying doesn’t only happen to young people. Adults can experience it too, at work, at home, out with friends. And it can sometimes feel even more difficult. But there are resources available for adults too. BullyOnLine have some great resources for adults so, if you’re being bullied have a look. And if you don’t know whether you’re being bullied then have a look at this list.
To sum up I have to quote my little feathered friend because: Percy Says “Stay Safe in Cyberspace”
Download the widget stay safe in cyberspace – National anti-bullying week 2009
more widgets at Widgadget at widgets community!
Twitter – The Basics
Last month I wrote a post called “I don’t get twitter” that was aimed at a couple of work colleagues who couldn’t get their head round how twitter could be fun. Now, since then a couple of people have said that the basics are a bit daunting and – to be honest – I can see exactly what they mean! Let’s take an example:
RT via @efan78 #followfriday @StewSimpson is a fab musician <- Follow him now!
So you see, Twitter uses codes which are confusing at first glance, but I promise they don’t stay that way!
When you post your first update to twitter you’ll probably use the web interface at www.twitter.com, so I’ll use that as my base. As you get used to twitter you’ll find that there are a lot of different ways to access the site and a lot of people will recommend services and twitter apps (applications). That isn’t the purpose of this post!
So, when you first post on twitter you’ll fill in the “What are you doing?” box. There are a few different ways of doing this and none of them are really ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. You’ll develop your own style/personality.
As you start to follow people you’ll start seeing their posts appearing in your twitter thread and you’ll probably see posts that you want to respond to. It’s really easy to do, when you hover your mouse over the tweet you’ll see a small arrow on the right-hand side. By clicking on this the “What are you doing?” box will automatically fill with @<username> – this is called a reply.
Anyone who can see your posts can see a reply but it will stand out to the person that sent it. You can check your own replies by clicking on the link at the far right hand side of the screen. If you want your message to be more personal then you can send a direct message – this can only be sent to someone who is following you and that you are following.
You’ll also see three other things that will help, two of them can be lumped together (RT @<user>, and Via @<user>) - which means ReTweet or that a message came via @<user>. A ReTweet is a message copied verbatim from another user and the @<user> bit tells everyone who you got it from. Via is a message that’s still evolving – I use it when I’m not copying a message verbatim but posting my own personal take.
The other thing that you’ll need to know about is the #hashtag. It’s a keyword that people use to help others find tweets on a particular subject. One of the most popular is #FollowFriday.
I hope this is some help, and will be continuing to add to this page as I think of more things!
#FixReplies
So, this morning – like the rest of the twitterverse – I logged on and saw the announcement that there had been a “Small Settings Update” and that this affected @replies.
There seemed to be a bit of confusion as to HOW this affected us all, although we knew it would. It didn’t take long though for the hashtag to arrive, and it was #FixReplies. This was different to any of the myriad ‘bring back the old Facebook‘ petitions, unlike Facebook, twitter changed a fundamental part of the social networking side. It would be like taking away the “People you may know” feature from Facebook.
Eventually, twitter realised that there was a problem and thanked the community for the feedback, and it seemed that the only thing that was getting through as being worrying was that people use the unshared @reply to find other new tweeps to follow. Of course that was a concern, but I had a thought…
One of the big conversations about twitter around the net at the moment is whether it will replace Google. To do this twitter HAS to allow information to flow freely around the twitterverse, and this new “feature” doesn’t allow it.
As an example, I follow @BullyingUK, an excellent support resource (and yes that was a shameless plug!). Now imagine @BullyingVictim sends a message to @BullyingUK asking for a telephone number he could call for help.
Using the old system, @BullyingUK could hit the reply button and say “@BullyingVictim Call your local helpline on 12345678.” And anyone following @BullyingUK could see it. Under the new system you would need to follow both @BullyingUK and @BullyingVictim to get the update.
Now imagine you’re a worried, shy person who needs that number but daren’t ask and you don’t know @BullyingVictim. You won’t see either tweet. The new system doesn’t work.
As I was heading home from work earlier however I saw a link to a final post from @Biz that said it wasn’t a new feature, but something that the system couldn’t do any more. But it’s a key part of what makes twitter work, and the team need to remember this.
They’ve said the way around it is to type your @reply instead of using the reply button. Isn’t that great – especially after reports that show 60% of twitter users don’t get it and quit within a month – twitter decides to make the site even less user friendly!
I don’t get twitter
I have a few friends at work who’ve started using twitter, but it seems that no-one’s really “getting it”, by which I think they mean that they’re not enjoying their experience.
The only reason I can think of is that twitter is true social media. There’s no distractions, no way to interact with people outside of the 140 characters. You actually have to sit and read what other people are saying and you have to react!
It might seem simple but if twitter is going to be any use to you then you need to be prepared to tweet and be tweeted. Be prepared to start your own update but also to RT (retweet). Use general sweeping statements and @replies. Use photos, blogs and other pages to explain in more detail. But remember, above all else, interact with people.
I think that there are a couple of things that I’ve noticed my friends doing that I don’t think help them. I did the same at first but then realised that this wasn’t helping me with what I wanted from twitter.
- They’re Following mostly celebrities. This isn’t a bad thing if all you’re interested in is what @xxandip (Andi Peters) had for breakfast (in case you’re interested – it’s ALWAYS pineapple) or where @stephenfry‘s heading next (as he’s spent the last month or so jetting around for various programmes). I’m a follower of Stephen’s as I like his updates, I like to see some of the photos that he sends and I am a fan of his in general. But I found that most of the stars are either more bothered about what they can say to the world, or in giving one-word answers to as many of their followers as possible.
- There are people out there who are spamming stars with “follow me” requests, personally – if I’m going to be followed by someone famous – I’d rather that it was because I actually post interesting updates than because I typed #followmestephen. And if I come across someone who’s every other post is “Pleeeeaase follow me random star” then I’m afraid I’ll not be interacting with them, I don’t want to be seeing that taking over my twitterstream thanks.
- They approach updates as they would Facebook and so their posts usually start “is…” and follow that literally with what they are doing. Yes it’s a purist’s way of tweeting, but it’s not fun! I always worry when I look down a twitterstream for someone and don’t see a single update that starts @, RT, via or with a picture in it.
So my advice to people who are looking for a fun time on twitter – don’t rely on celebrities – look around and find fun people that you like. Look at their recent tweets and take advice from other people. Ask others that you’re following, or that are following you, if they have any recommendations, use #followfriday suggestions – and most of all – INTERACT with people!
—- Update —-
Thanks to @tonyisme‘s great linkage – here’s a great YouTube video about twitter to explain what it’s all about!
