Controversy erupted as competitors demanded to know the algorithmic formula for determining winners in the @deanshaw Twitter Madness Tourney. These competitors insisted that somehow certain matches were rigged or tilted in some Twitterer’s favor. For the record I can tell you that the formula is so complex that even if I were to reveal it trying to decipher the complexity of the formulas would be more difficult that understanding anything that comes out of Ozzy Osborne’s pie-hole. Even if I wanted to reveal the formula, it would be impossible since it is kept in a spent bottle of ‘Ol’ Grandad’s Bourbon, buried 14 feet underground and protected by a family of Sasquatches somewhere in the woods of Pennsylvania. So you are just gonna have to trust me on this. The algorithm doesn’t lie and here is what it tells me about the Sweet 16 matchups.

@Webtrends v. @ShannonPaul “You don’t have to be the best; you just have to be better than the other guy.” No matchup personified this theory better than this one. @Webtrends seemed obsessed with Facebook with half their tweets focus on the social media behemoth. Me? I am Facebooked out. @ShannonPaul on the other hand spent her time defending Detroit and imparting weight loss tips. Tough call but @Webtrends needs to find a new muse and @ShannonPaul gets sympathy points for sticking it out in Detroit
Winner: @ShannonPaul

@SpikeJones v. @Sysomos This match had an international flair as both opponents hailed from outside the U.S., with @Sysomos residing in Toronto, Canada and @SpikeJones from the Republic of Texas. They both got bonus points for translating their tweets to English as I don’t understand French or Cowboy. @SpikeJones stuck with what got him here. Snark, sarcasm, and shots across the bow of the cool social media kids. No preachy content or sniveling RTs. Gotta respect a guy who knows his role and plays it well. @sysomos played a strong game and appeared to have the match won….until further investigation…which showed excessive reposts which earned them major douchbaggery points. Aggravating that situation further was the repackaging of the same content with different context. It had all the charm of the bait and switch tactics you’d get at the local HH Gregg store. A/B tests may be the way to go in the web world, but on Twitter it’s an annoying gotcha to your most ardent followers. If the contents that important, I’ll find it on my own, don’t beat me across the face with it.
Winner: @SpikeJones

@adage v. @KISSmetrics Stealing @sysomos playbook backfired as @KISSmetrics fell into the same reposting trap. Just because you’re in love with your Twitter infographic doesn’t mean we are. Tweet once or maaaaaaaaybe twice, but when it becomes a tourettian impulse, you start hacking me off. Just because @GuyKawasaki does it doesn’t mean you have to, and for what it’s worth I could only handle the “@GuyKawasaki Show” for about two weeks before it became more annoying than a Jersey Shore marathon on MTV and got him #unfollowed. @adage put on a formidable performance with lots of great original content on a wide variety of topics. They are a true productivity killer and I salute them for that.
Winner: @adage

@JustinKownacki v. @mktgdouchebag this matchup was so close I had to do some really eyeballing of their performances before determining a winner. They were both real strong with engagement and even struck up some banter over the subject of “marketing douchebaggery.” Interesting side-note: I first became aware of @JustinKownacki through a dusty old side project of his called Marketing Douchebags. The world would be a better place if this site could be resurrected but I understand that covering the world of marketing douchbaggery is a 24 hour a day responsibility and one that no mere mortal could keep up with…but I digress. So figuring this guy was savvy enough to brand himself the marketing douchbag on Twitter I came across @mktgdouchebag who was a whole different flavor of douchebag. Have I said ‘douchebag’ enough to boost my SEO relevancy?

Ok then let’s continue. It’s an interesting confluence of events that culminated in the epic battle on the field of Twitter Madness. @JustinKownacki actually went 2 days without 1 mention of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, MySpace, Digg, etc. – big points for that. He also serves up free entertainment with The Baristas that isn’t worse than anything on the CW. It also brings back memories of my cable access show from the late 80’s (no you will NEVER see it posted on YouTube – but trust me it was stellar). In combing through @mktgdoughebag‘s activity I discovered something I had previously overlooked. In his avatar he is actually wearing one of those earphone thingies. I was about to deduct major points for severe douchbaggery but then realized ‘wait he’s @mktgdouchebag’. So, by accident or design, its brilliant (no deductions). In an overtime thrilla…
Winner: @JustinKownacki

@TheOnion v. @adrants In a stunning upset, #18 @adrants beat #2 @TheOnion. Onion brought its usual array of smothering sarcasm and wit to the floor but let @adrants hang around just long enough to offer enough under the radar and often hilarious industry news. In a statement to the press @TheOnion said ‘Sure we’re stunned at our early exit from the Twitter Madness Tournament but then again we don’t have a clue what it is and why anyone would give a rat’s ass. @deanshaw is a hack and he can take his 350 followers and go to hell.”
Winner: @adrants

@YourCustomers v. @exxx In a very lopsided victory @YourCustomers trounced social media pixie @Exxx They outperformed @Exxx in every category except one; A twitter handle that sounds like a porn site but isn’t.
Winner: @YourCustomers

@forrester v. @SethMacFarlane In a battle of “Less is More” @forrester and @SethMacFarlane tried to under tweet each other. In the end @SethMacFarklane offered witty anecdotes while @forrester was about as exciting a scrabble night at the VFW hall.
Winner: @SethMacFarlane

@avinash v. @SocialMedia411 how do you beat an industry icon who gets by using only his first name? No not Cher…@avinash. You do it by pounding our interesting content in massive volumes day after friggin’ day. It’s what @SocialMedia411 does and they do it well.
Winner: @SocialMedia411

So, it’s on to the Elite 8. Time to step it up boys (or on @ShannonPaul ‘s case ‘girl’). #BringIt

To check out the brackets go to challonge/TwitterMadness
For more info on the tourney check out my Diversions page