haiku

A haiku is a form of Japanese poetry consisting of three metrical phrases of 5, 7 and 5 respectively. It’s an elegant and minimalistic form of expression, one that is perfect for something like Twitter. Which is why Twitter is hosting the first real-time haiku poetry competition, with judges Yoko Ono and poet Jackie Kay, picking the best verses from entries posted live on London’s Kings Cross’s biggest digital billboard.

The competition begins on Monday, May 18 and runs until Friday, May 22. Commuters arriving into Kings Cross are invited to submit three line haiku-style poems on the subject of the British summer from their mobile phones using Twitter. To submit haikus, commuters have to place the prefix @kingsplace so their entries will be picked up by the Kings Place Twitter account. The best contributions are then moderated and appear within minutes on the largest digital billboard at the station.

Winners will stand to win free entry to a weekly poetry event for the rest of the year.. it’s not a hugely enticing prize but still, its worth it if you’re in London and love poetry. This is a pretty cool way of using Twitter and I think businesses should take note of how Twitter can be leveraged to grab mindshare in public places.

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Filed under: Twitter Culture • Twitter for business • Twitter for nonprofits