With the recent increased in social media activity I thought it would be a good chance to list all the local twitter users and explain a bit about twitter.

@mywhitchurch – Thats the twitter page for this site and obviously the posts are made by me but I often post on twitter little bits of info that don’t make it to the site such as traffic, bad weather or other things worth mentioning, usually that are happening right now or even ask a question.
@lockylive – my personal twitter account, subject to strong language and opinions!

@thomasandrose – Thomas & Rose estate agents. It’s not all about houses, these guys are very active online and in the community.

@AmandaMannas1 – Mannas Baguatte Shop (new to twitter)

@TopGunCdf – Top Gun Fish Bar

@VKBCardiff – Village Kitchen and Bar

@WhitchurchHS – Whitchurch High School

@wchurchdryclean – New Dry Cleaners in the village

@Shadesofcardiff – Hair salon on Old Church Road

@Villagebarbers0 – Village Barbers (new to twitter)

@JamesandJenkins Car Dealers in Llandaf North

@WhitchurchWeb – Web Design and Hosting

@DeliAGoGo

@ForestFarmUk – Forest Farm Nature reserve and Canal

@PJESolicitors

@TrendyTags

@CardiffButcher – Martin Player Butchers

@BodyClinicCdiff

@SOSEglwysNewydd

@WelshBockers – Jumping Stilts Club

@WhitSaintsHC – Whitchurch Hockey Club

@eggynewydd | @gwladrugby | @technetiumuk

@livingmags

@shinedramamusic | @shineparties

Politicians:

@JulieMorganLAB
@JonathanEvansMP
@JayneCowan – Rhiwbina councillor
@beyondthesenedd – Former AM Jonathan Morgan

Other Cardiff Useful Twits:

@cardiffcouncil
@CdfBlogs
@YourCardiff
@CardiffNHW – Cardiff Neighbourhood Watch
@swpolice
@helicops
@wearecardiff

Individuals:

@jonmogs
@adrianlock

Someone missing? Tweet @mywhitchurch and we’ll add them!

So what is Twitter?

Twitter is a way of sharing information with anyone. It could be your friends, people in your town or just someone you share an interest with or even a comment to a celebrity.
The difference between facebook and twitter is that you dont need to “befriend” people to have a discussion with them and facebook is more for sharing events in your life with your friends. Twitter is a bit more live. It’s what is happening right now.

Many people ask how do you find people on twitter. That’s a tricky one because there is no procedure. You just dive in head first and start to follow people you are interested in. You can alwasy “unfollow” them at any time.

Hashtags are a way of highlighting a word or topic. For example in this sentence I could put a hashtag on the word #twitter and if I posted that on twitter it would show up in searches so people could follow a topic. It is often used to discuss current news, tv shows or anything that is topical. Hashtags are just added to the words in a sentence, for example:
“I can’t believe Little Mix won the #XFactor”

Tweet. Simply put a tweet is every message on twitter. If you post up “oh no its raining” that would be a tweet. If you put “oh no its raining @mywhitchurch” then I’d be notified that you had included me in one of your tweets.
It sounds terribly complicated but it really isn’t.

That’s about it really. So we’ll see you out there in the twitiverse, you twits.

http://shops.mywhitchurch.co.uk

Over the past year MyWhitchurch has been a lot more “hyper local”. Hyperlocal is a bit of a media buzz word but it has a meaning behind it and that meaning is really at the core of a site like this.
It’s all about what is happening right here, on your doorstep.
Seeing as Whitchurch has one of the biggest and busiest shopping areas outside the city centre I thought it would be a great idea to provide a review and rating platform for all the shops and services in Whitchurch.

It’s taken nearly 10 months to put together but hopefully the result is something that the public can easily use and the traders can also see what is going on.

The site is not limited to shops just in Whitchurch but the surrounding areas of Llandaff North, Rhiwbina, Tongwynlais, Birchgrove and anything else of relevance in Cardiff North.

The idea behind the concept is simple. Imagine a shop/cafe/bar had a very nagative element – maybe a member of staff or perhaps it’s simply dirty or the products are not up to scratch. Unless someone tells the owner they might never know.

How does it work?

Anyone can submit a review on a shop or service. It could be the post office, local pub or your window cleaner. It might be based on a single experience or 20 years of regular service. Your review should include as much detail as possible and you can do this all anonymously or you can have a registered account if you’d like to put your name or nick-name to your review or if you’re likely to submit more reviews in the future.
Only the first review for each trader is accepted. If people feel the review is unfair then they can rate the review out of 10 with a single click. Should the review not reflect an accurate picture of the business after time, it may be replaced with a different one.
If anyone wants to add a comment on a review or perhaps to question the review then they can do so. Each comment can also be rated with a single click, giving it the ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’.

What are the rules?

Be honest. Behave.

If a trader is posing as a member of the public to boost their image or their ratings then it will soon be spotted and removed. Traders do have the option of paying for a business listing where they can write their own description of the business and include their own photos if they wish and they can respond to comments in an official capacity.

Anyone who’s comments could be offensive or bullying or trolling will not be tolerated.

To visit the site just click here:

http://shops.mywhitchurch.co.uk

What sort of things can I get fixed?

• Abandoned vehicles
• Dog Fouling
• Flyposting or graffiti
• Flytipping or litter
• Streetcleaning, such as broken glass in a cycle lane
• Unlit lamposts
• Potholes

Of course the service is free and as you can see from my case study below, it really works and in a timely manor as well.

Why do we need a service like this? In an ideal world we wouldn’t. Most of the problems Fix My Street deal with are the councils responsibility but isn’t it far better to do something about a problem rather than just leave it be or even complain to other members of the public without actually telling the council about it? That’s where this service comes in.

There is a list on the frontpage of MyWhitchurch which gives the most recent local problems reported via Fix My Street.

Case Study

After walking along Whitchurch Common a few weeks ago I noticed one of the benches had been broken or vandalised and it wasn’t terribly safe to use without bits of wood poking you in unfavourable places.

Damaged bench on Whitchurch common - click for full size

I’m not entirely sure the damage was done to the bench recently. It could have been left like it for weeks or months but that makes the point of this example quite clear.

I reported the problem on Fix My Street. You can do this completely anonymously but if you give your name and phone number the council should give you a call to let you know what’s going on. I reported this problem on Monday 10th May and the next day I received a call from the Parks Department telling me they are dealing with it and will look into the matter.

I’ve no idea if the council keep new benches or bench parts in stock or if they are ordered in from a supplier as needs demand but  week later I am pleased to say we have a brand new bench in it’s place.

The new bench that was put on the common

Ok ok this is just a bench and nothing to get excited about but it is a good example how spending 10 seconds to submit the information has actually ended up in something positive for the community.

So there you go. Next time you notice a pot hole or the street light outside your house isn’t working (or worse, it’s on in the daytime) then you can do something about it.

www.fixmystreet.co.uk

Right, now I’m off to vandalise the rest of the benches and bins on the common because they look like they’ve been there since victorian times!