Twitter Followers Network Map

by Robert Ruggiero, @blobot

The data for this network map was obtained via Twitter.

We used arandom sample of 100 followers from each of the three networks: CING, Northern Digitals, Social Media Cafe. The overwhelming majority choose to list a location on their Twitter profiles. This informationwas extracted and visualised on the map. Locations within the UK were left as indicated on the follower’s profiles, in a few international cases, we chose to group them by country.

Identity is a contentious issue, even on the internet, hence the overlapping of locations (England and the UK, or Lancashire and North England).

√ Cool ha !? (Feel free to comment in a constructive way)

Meet you at the MadLab

by Ashley Allen

On a cold Tuesday night in February, looking for something interesting, and unique to do in Manchester, I stumbled into “MadLab” where a graphic-novel meet-up was underway. After shyly refusing some delicious looking pizza and taking in the minimalist white concrete, and comiccrazed atmosphere, I started to ponder all the potentials this practically hidden gem in the Northern Quarter, could offer.

The Manchester Digital Laboratory, affectionately known as “Mad-Lab” is a non-profit community hub which caters to ‘creative-types’ and technology-enthusiasts by providing a meet-up space for people to come together, share skills, and ideas.

MCR map

by Martina Schwab, @00mascha

Some of Manchesters digital creatives hotspots

What’s on?

@Social Media Cafe  The Social Media Cafe is a monthly meetup for anyone and everyone interested in social media in Manchester to get together, share ideas and learn from each other. 1st Tue of the month Location @ BBC Manchester http://socialmediamanchester.net/

@northerndigital  A monthly meet up where digital creatives from in and around Manchester can get away from their screens and talk to other digital creatives over a pint 1st Thu of the month Location @ The Northern http://www.northerndigitals.com/

@CINGnetwork Creative Industries Networking Group organises monthly meet ups & a quarterly coffee club for creative professionals in the UK 1st Mon of the month Location @ Rain Bar http://www.c-i-n-g.org/

Do you know other meetups and meetup places? Add them to our map (sign in to edit):

Digital creatives – a proper name?

And what’s sex got to do with it?

By Andreas Wagner and Jeroen Van Looy
with thanks to Julian Tait

You hang out 8+ hours a day in one of the fancy urbanite’s wet dream café places with your laptop? You have neither a landline number nor an office address on you complementary card? Then you might already be a part of the edgy Mancunian scene of “digital creatives”. But be aware, among more traditional office slaves to the grind you could quickly earn a reputation as a happy go lucky information bubble multiplier.

Starting with a basic online information crawl, my hope of glancing upon a virtual manifesto of an aspiring new movement got slashed by google’s opinion of this phrase. There is none. Same counts for Wikipedia. I thought those to be the main sources for a general picture. But maybe I stumbled upon the first “rule” of the digital creatives: search it local, don’t generalize. Emerging groups in our world get too easily branded.