Find me at jowyang on Twitter

Many conversations are shifting to Twitter, this post proves it (network with others, by adding those in the comments). Twitter is extensible, and many third-party developers are creating tools around the simple data being exported for a variety of unique applications.

If you’re using Twitter for personal, corporate use, or to manage the brand of a client, you’ll need the right tools to find and engage the discussions.

Here are the tools that I’m using to improve my Twitter experience, note that all of these are using my profile, but you can change to fit your needs.

1) Client: Although I mainly use the browser to see what’s going on (I click on profiles to see what people have said) Twhirl is the most popular client, using adobe air technology. Leave this on your desktop, instead of going to browser, also these clients may be more accurate in seeing who’s replying to you, unlike the browser version.

2) Search: Use Tweetscan (Update: I now use Summize as it can track conversations) to see who’s talking about you, your brand, or a topic you’re interested in. For example, I may not just search on “jowyang” but also on “owyang” as some don’t use the full name.

3) Conversations: Quotably is the top ‘conversation’ tracker, it threads together the discussions that members are having by looking at the replies, interesting to see how conversations spiral into different threads.

4) Aggregation: Friendfeed puts all of our RSS content onto one page, making it easy to see from one glance (rather than going to different properties) and you can even reply from friendfeed to different tools. It’s smarter to organize around people, rather than tools.

5) Tagging Content: For advanced users, you can start to use the hashag “#” to add metadata around any tweet, this becomes more important as we rate and tag content. Here’s a helpful primer. I’m not making much use of this feature –yet.

6) Location Based: If you live in a particular area, and want to parse out a specific location, this Twitterlocal filter finds tweets based upon a users profile location. If you’ve a local business, this could become useful.

7) Alerts: (update) Often, people will blog about the conversations that happen in twitter, the conversation shifts back to blogs. As a result, I setup Google Alerts for the phrase @jowyang, I see it appear 3-5 times a week on blogs. Thanks Andrew for the reminder in the comments.

I should add that I check to see who is replying to me from my mobile phone, and sometimes update from mobile phone.

Out of the 6, now 7 tools I listed above, which ones do you use, or are there others you recommend?

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Computers exist everywhere
It took me a while to figure out that wherever I go, whenever I want, I’ve access to one of the world’s most powerful computers. It’s not an IBM Mainframe that spans my whole living room, nor Google’s search engine, and not the latest Alienware box. It’s Twitter.

Social Computing Defined
At Forrester, we define Social Computing as: “A social structure in which technology puts power in communities, not institutions.” and this is true for social networks –esp small and fast ones like Twitter.

What Google can’t do
While Google is great for finding information and websites, it’s NOT great for getting opinion, hearing nuance, or telling me relational information. With Twitter, I can ask information about opinions, and receive responses from real people (many I know, most I don’t) that often have first hand experience with the question at hand. Lastly, real people understand detailed and complicated questions and situations, and the more people answering, the more chance of you getting your answer.

How I’ve used Twitter as my Social Computer

Recently, I was at a swanky restaurant in SF, a CEO was picking up the tab so I could order whatever I wanted. I asked folks on Twitter “what should I order at Restaurant X” I received several responses, and immediately noticed a pattern and ordered the ribs with confidence, it was a success.

I frequently ask questions about what people think about in the news, I often receive popular opinion back from politics, tech issues, and other question. There’s a lot of gray answers here, but it’s a quick way to scan and obtain the variety of opinions about a particular topic. This method fuels the start of my initial research phase, I can get all the ideas on on a table, then hone in on the ideas that matter.

Lastly, referral content is shared, topics spread and people will offer up new suggestions, related content that isn’t necccearily going to be found in a web search.

Success requires lots of followers…a potential workaround
Now I realize that I’m fortunate in having so many followers (unlike other guys who ‘buy’ they friends by trying to offer a Mac Book Air) I’m grateful to all of the followers. Yet not everyone can gain from the network benefits, so I’ve thought of a way this can be shared with others, but I don’t have the tools to build it.

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A Framework for Enhancing Twitter to be a Social Computer –For AnyoneIt’s possible that someone can build an engine that lets anyone participate in Twitter as a social computer, here’s how it could work:

Purely opt-in: Members could indicate they want to answer questions (and in return can ask them).

Members could then post a question “#question what are some romantic restaurants with a view in SF”

Anyone that is a member would then see the #question come in with a unique ID number attached to it
“question1853 @jowyang asks: question what are some romantic restaurants with a view in SF”

All members who received the question can choose to respond
“@question1583 Check out Starlight lounge or Waterfront restaurant”

All of the answers would then be aggregated on one page viewable by anyone, common answers by keyword would get weighted, and those who are ‘friends’ of the member would weight higher.

Of course, it needs to be very easy to use.

When I mentioned this idea last time, a lot of folks didn’t think it was ethical (as some of the terms included leverage) but I believe there’s an opportunity for an entrepreneur to build a answers or Q&A tool that is successful on LinkedIn and Yahoo. Let me know if you build it.

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I met Jemima Kiss (embed above), a technology journalist for the UK Guardian at the SXSW bloghaus. I asked her about her use of Micromedia, and most importantly if she’s using these tools to find breaking stories. I know a handful of reporters that are watching Twitter to see what folks are saying. Listen in to the

In the above audio embed, I also interviewed Joe Ruiz, of San Antonio’s KSAT news who is trying to figure out how Twitter can be used for his local TV Station.

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I’m very conscious about listening to my community, it’s one of the practices I suggest to my clients, so I’d better eat my own dogfood.

A few days ago, I asked you what you thought about my Twitter usage. Here’s the results, I took some time to count up the 89 comments that came in (some were not relevant) and tried to put them into buckets. I’m pretty anal, so being a researcher is really a good fit.

At SXSW I met someone who works at a PR agency, most of the account managers are following my tweets, and some of them complained to him about my high frequency, ironic.

Here’s what you said (please note some were subjective, I had to force them into buckets, although there’s clearly a trend)

What you told me about my Twitter Usage:

1) How are my tweets doing for you?

A) Too little 4
B) Just right 43
C) Too many 8

2) How is the content?

40 respondents said it was positive
4 said it was mixed or varied
2 said it wasn’t relevant

14 people told me that I shouldn’t care about what anyone says, and just do what I want, since Twitter is opt in.

Conclusions:
Well it’s no surprise that I’ve not changed my behaviors at all, and this feedback has reinforced that.

I’ve indicated how I use Twitter, most of the time, I point to things that I think are interesting, and it sends about 50 clicks (and up to 200) clicks from an active opt-in engaged audience of early early adopters.

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I’m not going to be blogging the next few days while I’m here at SXSW, in fact, most have noticed that I’m not carrying my usual battle gear of digital camera, video camera, laptop, wireless gear. Instead, I’m just using a mobile device and will be tweeting most of the time.

I’ll point to anything that I think is interesting from Twitter, so you can follow me there, I mainly use it as a ‘link stream’ (I point to what I think is interesting) and secondly as a communication tool.

Not sure what Twitter is? It’s a social network that becomes a chat room, so you’ll need to find other folks to connect with. Use the “@” symbol to reply to someone. For example “@jowyang good morning” (minus the quotes) and I’ll see that in my reply feed.

Many business folks have a hard time understanding the value of twitter, (they don’t get it) but I talked to a reporter from NYT, and the Guardian, and they use it to find breaking news and stories.

In this case, what’s important is to focus on the content, not the toolset.

Yesterday, I was on the panel about mobile blogging, and in the spirit of it, we split up into different groups and roamed the hall using utterz, twitter, on board cameras. Here’s my interview with Jemima Kiss of the Guardian (her profile). You’ll have to understand the irony of this, I’m using my cell phone to interview a journalist on how she uses social media.

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On my twitter profile page, I have a link to a post that indicates how I use Twitter. I try to be forthcoming on what to expect. It’s also no secret that I tweet links to just about anything I think is interesting, add anyone who adds me, and I ask many questions to my network. I rarely talk about my ‘lunch’, and nearly everything I tweet about is related to social media, web marketing, business, and sometimes politics. On average, I’ve calculated I tweet about 15 times a day, pretty much once an hour per awake hour. For me, it is the most immediate conversation I can have, I love the interaction.

Spectrum: My tweets are too much
Last night, Tom Foremski, a former colleague of mine and current friend, suggested that my tweets were becoming near “scoblish” due to frequency. Ted Shelton, entrepreneur and one of the leads at the Conversation Group whipped out his iPhone and showed how I’ve dominated his news feed as an example. Most people aren’t following as many as I am (I follow over 4000), so to me, I don’t appear to be dominating the main feed when I visit it, I’ll be revisiting my perspective to think bigger,sorry.

At the GSP conference, I warned folks that I’d be doing a blow-by-blow of what I thought was interesting, and about 3 people complained that it was too much. Of course, I let folks know on Twitter I’d cut back, but there were over 10 people who told me to keep it up, and those that don’t like it could simply unfollow. I shifted my behavior and put all my notes on blog posts instead.

Spectrum: Some would pay money for my tweets
On the other hand, Bill Johnston, who is one of the community manager mavens told me last week that he’d actually PAY MONEY for my tweets. He later followed it up, and said only a small amount of course (as my eyebrows went up, heh), as he says my links are a filter for him to all topics social media and I’m actually saving him time.

Also, the more I tweet, there’s intrinsic personal, career, and business benefits, the more I’m in the conversation the more I’m learning about the social media sphere I’m being paid to analyze, and it helps me get the word out about things that help what’s important to me. I also ask questions, to gauge responses, understand viewpoints, it fuels and focuses some of my research activities (but not all). I also noticed that it’s a great way to send traffic, I get 50-200 click throughs (from an engaged and opt-in audience) on anything I point to on twitter, and it costs me 5 seconds.

I continue to get more and more followers every day, and I think that’s great, but I really want to respect everyone’s experience, but at the same time, I know it will be impossible to please everyone.

Your opinion wanted
Social Media is about listening and about coming half way or more to those you’re trying to reach, and I’ll abide by that, so I’m asking you for your opinion.

So I’d like to take a blog poll, and get your feedback, if you’re a friend, client, colleague, vendor, whoever. Please be brutally honest, I don’t mind, I’ll be pretty damn honest with you about what I think, so I’d expect the same, besides, it’s in your best interest for your experience. If you’re feeling shy, feel free to leave an anonymous comment, but please chime in regardless.

Please respond on the comments below:

1) How are my tweets doing for you?

A) Too little
B) Just right
C) Too many

2) How is the content?
Open ended question

I’m listening, I really am, and your feedback will shape my actions.

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Update: A few hours later
over 80 comments on the first day, I don’t even need to tally, but it’s clear that based upon the feedback of the community, that it’s suggested that I continue to tweet the same way as before. For those that find it too much, I don’t mind if you unsubscribe, in fact, I encourage it, as I don’t want to disrupt your experience.

I did learn a few things: I’ll strive to keep the value high (and not talk about my lunch) but will try to space out the tweets a little better, so I don’t totally disrupt your stream.

Thank you all for your honest feedback, I’m listening and reacting to your comments.

Updated: A week later
Being the anal guy I am (a good reason to be an analyst) I’ve tallied the results from the comments in the blog, see results.

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With the success of the Twitterbowl experiment (read the premise or view results) a few weeks ago, the Twitter community is self-organizing to make TV a participatory sport.

How? Those on Twitter can comment, discuss, praise or criticize the stars, their outfits, and their self-important speeches. It’s pretty easy to do, on twitter you can type in Twitter Comment the phrase “#aa08″

To see what others have said:

Watch this blog aa08.wordpress.com
Or this mashup tool Eventrack
Twemes has a tool to gauge AA08

Thanks to Ike Pigott (Twitter, blog), and Shannon Whitley (Twitter, Blog) for first alerting me to this little project. Craig Cmehil (Twitter, Blog)created the eventrack

You can find me at Twitter with the screen name jowyang, add me, and I’ll add you back.

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You can follow me on Twitter (my handle is jowyang) and I’ll add you back.

If you enjoy this blog, and are craving for more information, then you may want to follow me on Twitter. Although I’ve already outlined how I use Twitter, from time to time, I like to highlight the benefits that you’ll have by interacting:

I post supplemental links on my Twitter feed to things around social media, marketing, and sometimes personal interests. You’ll often see a flurry in the morning as I crawl through content as I pay myself first.

I’ve stopped publishing my Google Reader link blog as I can now point to anything (not just items on my feedreader) and provide additional context (well, in less than 140 characters)

We have conversations: I ask questions there on twitter, and we get into interesting conversations, polls, and surveys. And when you think I’m wrong (which happens) people will let me know, and I we get into some even more interesting conversations.

When there are real-time events on the web, I’ll alert people there, but not from my blog, so if you’re not watching, you may miss out.

I’m high volume, and tweet way over a dozen times a day, so that’s a pre-warning.

Not sure what Twitter is? It’s a next-generation chat room that spills over to mobile devices. Why does it matter? conversations, ideas, and news often breaks there before it does on blogs, and often before traditional news. There are many influencers there (that publish on other mediums), and relationships are being formed.

You can follow me on Twitter (my handle is jowyang) and I’ll add you back (In fact I’m following 3,872 although only 3416 are following me)

If you are on twitter and want to connect with other readers of this blog, leave your handle below in the comments so we can all connect. Let’s build community. (A much larger list is here)

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Update: In the comments Jose Luis suggests that I’m pushing Twitter to hard on my readers, I’ve heard this before in previous feedback. Let me say first that Twitter is NOT for everyone, but those that want to be part of the early influencer conversation should look there. It’s true there is more noise than signal, but when the signal does occur, it often cascades to many other mediums.

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Josh Bernoff and I conducted an interesting experiment.  I (Jeremiah) encouraged the twitter community (social media, marketing, advertising mavens) to join in on providing real-time ratings about ads during the superbowl.  You can read how we invited the community to participate.

Twitter is a next-generation chat room with social network features, individuals can quickly publish from a computer or cell phone, and their network can quickly see, share and respond.  It’s really pushes content quickly and sometimes, news breaks there before it does elsewhere. 

I asked the participants to to ‘reply’ to a twitter account I created (called "superbowlads") and to say the name of the commercial, and give a rating of up to 5 stars, and to include some qualitative feedback.

Our experiment was a success, we had over 2000 responses from over 70 people over a 4 hour period.  In some cases, there was a real dichotomy in responses, (some loved an ad while some hated it).

Josh completed a very thorough analysis (see ratings and rankings, and read WHAT folks said in the spreadsheets) making sense of sometimes qualitative feedback or difficult to understand opinions (a six pack of beer can do that to a fan).  He applied some weighting to it and was able to score the ads.

What’s interesting is that the poll results from USA Today aren’t too different than what we gathered at our twitterbowl.  Fedex, and Budwiser both scored well, and some of the poor scoring ads like Sales Genie both ended up with lower numbers.  Now that’s interesting, but not surprising, that our smaller sample size of highly engaged twitterati ended up with similar trends.

Coincidently, today is Super Tuesday where many Americans will be voting, and I see that Google and Twitter are working together to create a map mashup to show real-time voices of which user is voting for who.   

Expect this trend of real-time rating through social media to continue, and by this time next year, I hope to work with a sophisticated group who can take our little experiment to the next level.

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Update: The project wasn’t as unwieldy as first thought, super analyst Josh Bernoff did the heavy lifting and has analyzed the results.

Well that was an amazing game, I’m sure my many colleagues at Forrester (Cambridge, near Boston) are throwing fits, but you’ve got to hand it to all the players that was seriously a great game.

A recap and you can view all responses
The social media experiment went very well, there are over 2500 responses to the superbowlads account. I spent over an hour hand copying all the replies on that account to this spreadsheet of all the responses. This is a read only spreadsheet where you can do a search (let it load, it takes time) and see how people are talking about the different brands and the ads.

The twitter application held up ok, although many of the replies did not show up on the replies page in real time, you could use the search tools to quickly see what folks were saying.

Massive Volume
It was pretty amazing, every time I refreshed the search tools (terraminds or twittersearch), new responses would appear in rapid order. There were so many responses coming in, (about 625 per hour, or 10 every minute) it was really hard to keep track. I tried to summarize key findings (such as many folks liking X commercial or hating Y commercial), but it became difficult to track.

Track your brand, or commercial
If you work for a company (or you have a client) that advertised on the superbowl, you should be doing searches using the twitter search tools, and add “superbowlads + brandname” to find out what people thought in real time. For example, I know the Dell blogger team is keen to knowing what we all thought, you can check this query of superbowlads + dell to see what folks rated it, it probally wasn’t as positive as they would have hoped.

For Example, I’ve scored the Dell advertisement

1. I found all the responses using a query
I tallied the responses on a spreadsheet: 27 of them
2. I added them all up for a total of 70
3. Divided them
4. Dell Ads received an average of 2.59 as the average response
5. The savvy advertiser will read all the responses and try to underhand why it scored that way

You could even query by user name and see how they rated content, Josh Bernoff was very consistent in his ratings, you can see all his scores.

Please analyze
I hope some smart advertising, interactive, or measurement company exports the data and does some formal analysis. I’m tapped out now, and hope someone else takes the lead

New tools needed
Next year, I hope there’s a real time polling toll that we can use, that will auto create data and reports, so I don’t have to do it manually. If anyone has a better solution for future, please let me know. In any case, it was clearly a success, as we were all chatting, laughing, and critiquing the experience in real time –location not being a factor.

The web is now a live opt-in focus group.

Who’s talking about the impacts of Twitterbowl:
I’ll update this over time, leave a comment if you see others talking about it

Essential keystrokes participated, but felt the ads were overall very weak this year.

ShinyRed Recaps the impacts of the game, and twiterbowl on society.

Some say this was a landmark media experiment

Chris Heuer interviewed me on why I did this experiment:

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A few folks are starting to spread the news and are interseted in being a couch-based superbowl ad critic. If you’ve not heard the news, we’re going to use twitter to rate the ads, the instructions are here.

Bored at the game and want to be a participant, and not just an observer? This is a community based event, just to add another layer of social media on top of an existing event.

Here’s what folks are saying:

Lionel from the official Dell Blog is going to participate, watch for their superbowl ad

David Armano is calling this the Twitter Bowl and asks you to “Look at the people around the room. How many of them will be fiddling with some kind of mobile device? Yeah—phone calls count ”

Ontario Emperor wonders if the Ad Agencies will be watching Twitter, I’m positive some will, as I know several PR people will be participating, and therefore advertising and interactive agencies.

Francene Hardaway says on Twitter: @superbowlads. This will give us women who are bored something constructive to do. Superbowl is always a lousy game.

MarketingProfs constructs Superbowl haikus, and here

David Berkowitz sees this as an overlay over an actual event

Ken Kaplan talks in his comments about his favorite ads

By the way, you can follow me on twitter at jowyang, I’ll add you back.

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I’ve created MicroMedia events before, this time, I want to frame it as an overlay to the multi million dollar advertising event, the Superbowl.

[TwitterBowl is a real-time social experiment where the audience rates million dollar advertisements in real time using Twitter]

Are you a superbowl ad critic? Of course you are, everyone is. Even if you don’t watch the superbowl, those pervasive ads will end up in YouTube, Digg, and your cousins blog and your best friends Facebook profile. Tired of others choosing which one was the funniest/stupidist/biggest waste of time? Well this year, you can rate your own superbowl ads using Twitter, and see what everyone else in Twitter thinks too.

There’s just three steps:

1) Sign up: Get a twitter account, got that? Good.

2) Send your vote to @superbowlads: When we’re watching the game in real time, simply send a reply to superbowlads. I created this Twitter account just for this virtual event. Reply to the superbowlads account, name the commerical, and give it a rating of 1-5 stars, 5 being the best.

examples:

“@superbowlads That Pepsi commercial was funny 4 stars”

“@superbowlads The Hillary Clinton advertisement was bunko 2 stars”

“@superbowlads Bud-wise-er, that was so 10 years ago, weak. 1 star”

3) See what others rated: You can then see everyone who’s rated the ads by doing a search on any of the Twitter search tools, I like Terraminds. See this example, it’s showing all the people who have replied to superbowlads.

I’m going to be hanging at Brian Solis’s house (Eric will be there too), we’ll be tweeting the whole time, and I hope the rest of you do. And no, I’m not using this data for anything, it’s just for fun. I may try to tally up the results, but it’s not for anything official, just another way for social media to be an overlay where we take charge, where we control, and where we voice our opinions.

See you on twitterland on Sunday!

Update: There are dozens of messages coming in every few minutes. One respondent said he was tracking them on his mobile and received 677 messages in 30 minutes.

Also, twitter replies seems to be going slowly, I’m using the search tools to get updates.

Update: Chris Heuer did a quick Utterz interview asking me about the purpose of this experiment.

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Twitter no mo’ Kidder
‘Less you become Litter

The time for fun and games is over, Twitter needs to step and be the robust communication platform it’s fans are expecting it to be or users may end up leaving. The cracks are starting to show.

Shel Israel puts forth a passionate open letter to the founders of Twitter, RE: Fix it before we nix it, exposing the weakness of fast built ruby on rails experiment that is not scaling. Sadly, I’m not surprised to see the ‘bring that beat back’ or lol cat, as Twitter is the website that had more than 5 days of downtime in 2007. I know of some pretty creative developers that wanted to build applications on top of Twitter but were restricted due to limitations in APIs. There are currently over 600 messages in Get Satisfactions support forum for Twitter, there’s a lot of requests, and a lot of passionate users. Lastly, Allen Stern wants to see a business model, members of the site should know what it is, as it directly impacts them.

It’s time for Twitter to grow up, both for it’s infrastructure, communications with customers, find out what features are needed, and start to grow. Put that $5.4 million funding you received last month to good use.

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Summary
I asked my Twitter network (2813 sample) the following question: “How do you access Twitter? A) Browser B) Client (like snitter) C) from mobile. Use Percents. Me? A) 80% B) 5% C)15%. I’ll post results”

I received 106 responses, and most use a browser to access Twitter, followed by a client, and then mobile.

Methodology
This was a single tweet survey, (5 seconds) and I copied all the responses, put into this post, consider this equivalent to ‘raise your hand if you X’ type of methodology, there’s value from it’s rapid turn around, but don’t put too much weight into this.

I waited over 24 hours for all responses to come in, copied them into a spreadsheet, and manually sorted (30 minutes) read every response, and put into four buckets. I then dropped them in to wordpress, and applied an ordered list (dynamiclly numbers them so I don’t have to), and wrote this post up (another 30 minutes).

Privacy: Any tweets that were marked private (red lock) I removed their name, same thing with direct messages. If you want to self identify, just leave a comment.

Discrepancies
Some may have used m.twitter (a light version of twitter in HTML suitable for mobile access) as a client on a mobile phone, so in some cases there may be some inconsistencies. Also, some members straddled more than one medium equally, so they ended up in a fourth category listed below.

Lastly, I only looked at the primary answer (the highest percentage) if I had more time I would analyze the second and third usage types, so this research is clearly not complete. If you want to finish it, feel free to, I’m only allotting myself one hour of work for this.

Sample Set: 106 Responses
That’s pretty amazing, since it was from one tweet, it’s clear to me that people like to talk about twitter, and want to share with others. Also, this is an early adopter network that’s connected to me (they are following my account) so it doesn’t account for all twitter users. Despite this being a small sample, it’s an indicator of how early adopters use technology.

My network, while global, tends to be mainly United States users, I know this from the names, as well as I’ve heavily promoted twitter from my blog, and the Analytics clearly indicate most traffic comes from CA, East Coast, then UK and Spain.

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Quick and Dirty Analysis

106 total responses, most were direct replies, a few private messages

42% of Twitter users access it through the browser, using the twitter.com website: As the native form of the tool, I’m not surprised by this number. Many folks are desk bound, and may not want to install a client

33% use a client, like Snitter, or Twirl or other. I expect this number to go up if Twitter doesn’t ensure all replies continue to show up on the browser version,

14% primarily use a mobile device as the pimary way to access twitter, expect this number to increase as the US relies more and more on mobile technology.

11% straddled two mediums equally. When you look at the responses, most are using either the web based or client version as one, and the other equal amount is mobile. This suggests that folks are not only using Twitter on the computer at home or work, but are using it also when mobile. They’re hooked!

Thinking Forward: If this was helpful, and we learned something, then I may try this same survey in 6 months, it would be interesting if we move away from the web based version and move to the mobile client. Or if Twitter.com improves then the client usage could go down. Or if the client usage goes up, maybe someone created a new type of client that aggregates other forms of communication we’ve never thought of.

Update: RRW did a similar poll, and the numbers are very simliar web= 50%, clients are 33%, but it doesn’t include mobile

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Disclaimer: This is not official Forrester research. Real research done by professional data collection teams would involve a more scientific methodology, analysis, and weighting, likely with demographic segmentation. I do this out of passion, and because I want to know the answer. For expertise on this area, my colleague Peter Kim is officially covering MicroMedia and MicroBlogging, and has done research and reports on the topic. To base a business decision solely on this informal survey alone would be detrimental, and I would never want to see that happen to you.

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Primarily use a BROWSER to access Twitter (42%)

1. Jeff Lin jefflin @jowyang A) 90% B) 10% C) 0% 06:48 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang
   
2. fourfour78 @jowyang. A) 99% B) 0% C) 1%. I’ll caveat this as I have an iPhone so tend to use the browser to post/follow tweets
   
3. Don Ettore DonEttore @jowyang A)10% B)85% C)5% 05:20 PM January 13, 2008 from TwitterFox in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
4. Marilyn Pratt marilynpratt @jowyang A) 70% B)25% C)5% 05:08 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
5. Kevin Cearns kcearns @jowyang a) 85% b) 15% IM Client c) no mobile (yet) 05:03 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
6. Kat hkdkat @jowyang 100% browser 08:09 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang
   
7. Michael Allison michaelallison @jowyang 98% 0% 2% 12:49 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
8. charlierobinson charlierobinson @jowyang a) 95% (Flock) b) 0% c) 5% xc 01:06 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
9. bcarcio bcarcio @jowyang a) 80% browser b) 15% IM c) 5% txt 05:59 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
10. Jackie fooz @jowyang: A)95% B) 2% C) 2% 12:00 AM January 14, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
11. Brian Stephens ChocoGourmand @jowyang my twitter acess is mostly web at the moment, but I always feel more inclined to post from mobile. A) 80% C) 20% 03:50 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
12. dbreakenridge dbreakenridge @jowyang A) 100% B) 0% C) 0%. However, subject to change as soon as I set it up from my blackberry. 05:49 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
13. evolutionlondon evolutionlondon @jowyang A) 55% B) 40% C) 5% 10:44 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
14. Amy Worley worleygirl @jowyang A) 75 B) 10 C) 15 03:58 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
15. Jesse Pickard jessepickard @jowyang a) 60 b) 10 c) 30 04:49 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
16. KarenRussell KarenRussell @jowyang 98%, 2%, 0% 04:46 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
17. Rajiv Doshi rajivdoshi @jowyang I access twitter most of the time A) Browswer (95%) B) Client (0%) C) Mobile (5%) 01:37 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    Private Tweet @jowyang what i mean to say was 100% browser for twitter access…i am constantly making typos in twitter. it drives me up a wall 04:37 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty Icon_red_lock
    
18. Christine Taylor mousewords @jowyang A)100% B)0% C)0% I use IM, tho; thinking of Twhirl, & am going mobile whenever I manage to get out of the house. :-):-) 01:34 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
19. martin english - CSC martin_english @jowyang A)80% B) 0% C) 20% - I’m very new to twitter - yet to look for DT client (fx on winxp & ubuntu . any recommendations ?) 08:29 AM January 14, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
20. Dennis Howlett dahowlett @jowyang 90% Twhirl 10% browser 09:51 PM January 13, 2008 from twhirl in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
21. Lee Aase LeeAase @jowyang Sending is 75% A, 25% C Reading is 100% A 03:27 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
22. Randy Lawrence randelaw @jowyang A) 100% (My Blackberry uses the m.twitter browser). If you want location, then 80% computer/20% Blackberry 03:22 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
23. Jason Peck JasonPeck @jowyang - 100% through web 04:19 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
24. Dean Browell dbrowell @jowyang A) 80% C) 20% - but note that I actually use a browser on my mobile too, as opposed to texting updates. 04:17 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
25. Dennis McDonald ddmcd @jowyang: 100% browser 04:16 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
26. Kristie Wells kristiewells @jowyang: A. 85% B. 5% (Utterz) C. 10% 01:13 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
27. Ed Stafford pixel8r @jowyang A- 90 B- 5 C- 5 03:12 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
28. Shawn Collins affiliatetip @jowyang I’m more skewed - probably 95% browser and maybe 5% OutTwit. With browser, that’s split 75% PC and 25% mobile browser). 04:09 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
29. Clay Newton tastybit @jowyang A) 75% B) 5% (4% IM + 1% Twitterific) C) 20% (10% SMS, 10% Twitterberry) 01:09 PM January 13, 2008 from im in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
30. Todd Earwood earwood @jowyang A) 95% B) 0% C) 5%. I tried twitterific & twitbin, but they didn’t work for me 04:08 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
31. Lisa walkinggal @jowyang A) 60% B) 40% 06:07 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
32. Chris Dalby yellowpark @jowyang I use the web to tweet 100%. I also always use twitterFox for incoming tweets only. plus m.twitter.com when I am out and about 09:07 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
33. aziari aziari @jowyang A. 60% B. 40% 12:06 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
34. Private Tweet @jowyang 100% browser for snitter access 04:05 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty Icon_red_lock
    
35. pearlbear pearlbear @jowyang a) 50% b) 45% c) 5% 04:05 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
36. carterlusher carterlusher @jowyang A) Browser 100% Hmm, looks like I need to get with the times and use other forms of access 12:05 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
37. Walker Fenton walkerfenton @jowyang 1)browser 95% 2)mobile 5% 02:04 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
38. francine hardaway hardaway @jowyang. A)60% B) 25% (Twitterific) c)15% m.twitter and SMS 01:58 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
39. Daniel Riveong danielriveong @jowyang: A) 95% B) 0% C) 12:53 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
40. Shashi Bellamkonda shashib @jowyang 90% browser 8% mobile (m.twitter.com) 2% SMS 03:50 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
41. Jim Turner Genuine @jowyang 99% 0% 1% 01:43 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
42. Sarah Wurrey SarahWurrey @jowyang 75% 0% 25% 03:46 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
43. juls wu @jowyang A)85% B)0% C)15% 09:46 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
44. Direct Message: 100% web
    
45. Direct Message: 100% browser. I’m a dork.
    

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Primarily use a CLIENT to access Twitter (33%)
Could include Twitterific, Snitter, m.Twitter, Google Talk, Flock, Twitterbin, Browsert, twhirl, Tweetbar, and others

1. Chaborin chaborin @jowyang my result: A)5% B)70% C)25% *Tw* 10:27 AM January 14, 2008 from Twit in reply to jowyang
   
2. roxanne sutton roxstyle @jowyang A) 5% B) 80% C)15%. 04:05 PM January 13, 2008 from twitterrific in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
3. Stephan sdohrn @jowyang A) 15 B) 80 C) 5 05:51 PM January 13, 2008 from twitterrific in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
4. Antonio Bonanno mondrianlykin @jowyang A) 35% B) 40% C) 25% 10:58 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
5. Dave Riddell thedublab @jowyang A) 25% B) 75% C) 0% 05:39 PM January 13, 2008 from twitterrific in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
6. Muhammad Saleem msaleem @jowyang, IM (GTalk through Adium) 03:46 PM January 13, 2008 from im in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
7. Alex de Carvalho alexdc @jowyang A) 20% B) 50% c) 30% 04:36 PM January 13, 2008 from twitterrific in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
8. Jane Quigley jquig99 @jowyang A)15 % B)80% C)5% (Big Twitterrific fan, but I’m using twirl right now 04:35 PM January 13, 2008 from twhirl in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
9. TWalk TWalk @jowyang (A) browser 40% (B) Snitter 60% (C) mobile nil. 03:28 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
10. Matthias Zeller matzeller @jowyang: A) 20% B) 50% C) 30% 01:27 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
11. Eugenio Vacca eughenes @jowyang for me it is A) 35% B) 60% C) 5% 10:24 PM January 13, 2008 from twitterrific in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
12. Mario Vellandi mvellandi @jowyang A) 10% B) 90% 01:15 PM January 13, 2008 from Tweetr in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
13. marismith marismith @jowyang A) 40% B) 60% C) 0%. (I love Twitterfox.Twitbin died on me.) 01:11 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
14. chaz chazzy @jowyang, what about IM? Blackberry GTalk client & Twitter’s support of GTalk/Jabber makes up >50% of my use. Jaiku’s lack of Gtalk s … … 01:02 PM January 13, 2008 from im in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
15. Sameer Patel SameerPatel @jowyang 70% snitter, 25% pokettweets, 5% web 02:00 PM January 13, 2008 from Snitter in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
16. Michael Reuter michaelreuter @jowyang - A) 10 B) 70 C) 20 10:00 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
17. Francis Shepherd shepherdfx @jowyang A. 5% B. 80% C.15% 03:47 PM January 13, 2008 from twitterrific in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
18. Adam Cohen adamcohen @jowyang a) 10% b) 50% c) 40% 03:47 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
19. Sam Lawrence SamLawrence @jowyang 80% Twirl, 10% IM Client, 10% Browsert 12:57 PM January 13, 2008 from twhirl in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
20. Dustin Mooney DustinMooney @jowyang A) 15% B) 80% C) 5% 03:57 PM January 13, 2008 from Snitter in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
21. Tim Wilson tgwilson @jowyang A) 4% B) 95% (Snitter) C) 1% 03:55 PM January 13, 2008 from Snitter in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
22. Connie Reece conniereece @jowyang A. 20% B. 70% (Twhirl) C. 10% 02:54 PM January 13, 2008 from twhirl in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
23. ThomasK thx @jowyang 10% 90% 0% 06:51 PM January 13, 2008 from TwitterFox in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
24. Shari Voigt ShariV @jowyang - I access Twitter via tweetbar 02:46 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
25. Mark O’Neill camelot2302 @jowyang A) 5% B) 90% (Google Talk), C) 5% 09:47 PM January 13, 2008 from im in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
26. Laura P Thomas LPT @jowyang - a) 30%, b) 60%, c)10% 02:45 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
27. Li Evans storyspinner @jowyang A) 1% B)90% C) 9% 03:45 PM January 13, 2008 from twhirl in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
28. Jeremy Franklin jeremyfranklin @jowyang a)10 b) 80 C)10 01:45 PM January 13, 2008 from twitterrific in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
29. Tony Steward tonysteward @jowyang a) 5% b) 70% c) 25% 12:44 PM January 13, 2008 from twitterrific in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
30. Jim Benson ourfounder @jowyang - A) 40, B) 50, C) 10 12:43 PM January 13, 2008 from Snitter in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
31. Chris Garrett chrisgarrett @jowyang - I do Twitter through web interface and m.twitter exclusively. Only problem is lack of “reply” button, copy and paste @name 08:42 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
32. Antonio Bonanno mondrianlykin @jowyang A) 35% B) 40% C) 25% 10:58 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
33. Catherine Laine cat_laine @jowyang a) 30% b) 69& c) 1% 04:21 PM January 13, 2008 from Snitter in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
34. Direct Message: a) 1% B) 99% C) 0% 09:59 PM January 13, 2008 reply
    twitterific
    
35. Direct Message: A) 7% B) 80% C)13%

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Primarily use a MOBILE DEVICE to access Twitter (14%)

1. Mark Smithivas 1god @jowyang a)40 b)10 c) 50 a few months ago I was logging 3000 sms msgs per month 07:05 PM January 13, 2008 from txt in reply to jowyang
   
2. martinbowling martinbowling @jowyang A) 40% B) 0% C) 60% 07:22 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang
   
3. Private Tweet @jowyang A 10% B 40% C 50% 09:57 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty Icon_red_lock
   
4. David LaPlante davidlaplante @jowyang A) 15% B) 0% C) 85%. I’m always in meetings, otp, or doing something. Don’t spend much time in front of a laptop anymore. 01:55 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
5. Colin McKay Canuckflack @jowyang 10%, 0%, 90% 04:48 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
6. David Geller davidgeller @jowyang a) 30% b) 30% twitteriffic c) 40% pockettwitter on iPhone 01:18 PM January 13, 2008 from PocketTweets in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
7. PrivateTweet @jowyang A) 5% B) 30% (twitterific) C) 65% (m.twitter.com) 04:12 PM January 13, 2008 from twitterrific in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty Icon_red_lock
   
8. Ontario Emperor oemperor @jowyang a browser 33 c mobile 67 (all mobile web browser-no sms) 01:00 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty (and has blogged about this survey)
   
9. akihito akihito @jowyang Hi, in my case, A) 25% B) 25% C) 50%. *Tw* 05:55 AM January 14, 2008 from Twit in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
10. Brett Hammond BrettHammond @jowyang: a)5% b)0% c) 95% 12:52 PM January 13, 2008 from txt in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
11. Will Brown WillBrown @jowyang, 20%, 3%, 77% 03:55 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
12. Phil Hodgen philiphodgen @jowyang - used to be 95% SMS for Twitter. 12:51 PM January 13, 2008 from im in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
13. Mukund Mohan mukund @jowyang A) 5% B) 10% C) 50% but D) Instant Messenger 35% 12:47 PM January 13, 2008 from im in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
14. Direct Message: a) 10 b) 20 9) 70 01:46 PM January 13, 2008 reply
    
15. Direct Message: a=40% b=20% (flock sidebar) and c=40%
    

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Straddlers: Those who rated two mediums of EQUAL value (11%)
It’s interesting to read these responses, as they use more than one channel equally

1. Christopher Johnston chrisjohnston @jowyang A)10% B)40% C)40% 03:09 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
2. Stefanos Karagos karagos @jowyang A) 40% B) 40% C) 20% 10:57 PM January 13, 2008 from Snitter in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
3. Tim Peter tcpeter @jowyang a) 45% b) 45% c) 10% 03:55 PM January 13, 2008 from twitterrific in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
4. Leah Jones leahjones @jowyang a)50% b) 0% c)50% (but I’d break c into 30/70 between sms and mobile browser. 02:53 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
5. Doug Meacham DougMeacham @Jowyang: 50% Browser, 0% Client, 50% Mobile (iPhone) 03:51 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
6. kg4jbj kg4jbj @jowyang a) 50% b) 0 c) 50% c is via mobile web browser 03:50 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
7. Vivi Cohen-Leisorek creativivi @jowyang A) 50% B)50% 10:50 PM January 13, 2008 from TwitterFox in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
8. Phil Hodgen philiphodgen @jowyang - Browser 20%, IM on Blackberry 40%, IM on computer 40% 12:46 PM January 13, 2008 from im in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
9. Andy Carvin acarvin @jowyang: A: 50, B: 0, C: 50, though i’d split C between mobile web interface and SMS. 03:45 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
   
10. Nicole Simon NicoleSimon @jowyang 100% browser when home, 100% mobile web client when on the road. due to limitations of all tools with multiple browsers … 09:45 PM January 13, 2008 from web in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    
11. Wayne Sutton waynesutton @jowyang a)40% b)40 % c)20% 03:45 PM January 13, 2008 from twhirl in reply to jowyang Icon_star_empty
    

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What did you learn? were you able to draw any observations or insight? Leave a comment below.

12 comments

I realize that folks are concerned about another leaderboard as a gaming mechanism, and while it stroked my ego for a while, I’m equalizing the field by giving away what I’ve learned. After having dinner with Shel last night, I realize I need to give and stay humble, and focus on community, so this is the right thing to do.

I ran into tweeterboard yesterday, and found it valuable, when I first saw it, I was in 8th place, then moved to 1st. Now I’m going to relinquish control to the community, I’m going to give away my secrets in how I was able to attract a large following, in the spirit of sharing because it’s the right thing to do.

1) Figure out why you want to use this tool. Is there a reason, an objective? For me it was to have greater reach in listening and in talking to others, and to really, really know Micromedia and how to use it. Being popular really isn’t a great objective, but being meaningful to your specific network is much more important.

2) Integrate it throughout your online experience. You’ll notice that I ask people to add me from various posts, have it listed in my side role and on my facebook account. It’s available for anyone that’s looking.

3) Add people back. I follow everyone that follows me, I’m following more people than are following me, and that’s a sign that you want to listen to what others have to say. Sadly, it’s a lot to digest so I end up scanning conversations. Go back to number 1, and figure out what your objective is first.

4) Add value when you tweet. I’ve given up on my google reader link blog, instead, I leave links to what I think is interesting during the day. Since I consume a lot of content, I’m acting like a filter. Most who know me know that my focus is on social media + marketing. Last week’s twitter storm was a rare opportunity to connect folks, keep listening to find an opportunity to help the larger group.

5) Ask questions. I didn’t realize this was going to be one of the largest attributes on tweeterboard, so I got lucky. I find Twitter a useful tool to get information back from people, so I like to ask a lot of questions. I learn a lot this way, in many ways, this is an example of social search.

I’ll remind you again, focus on your objectives, what is it that you’re trying to accomplish, if you’re just trying to keep track of your friends or immediate contacts, this is not the strategy for you. This strategy only works if you are trying to gain a large following, it’s not recommended for everyone.

So there you have it, that’s what I learned over the past 9 months of using the tool, hope that helps.

22 comments

Update: I’ve just published all that I learned about Twitter on a subsequent post, please read here.

I’ve been watching the various twitter ranking, measuring, mashups appear, and most have little utility (other than some of the search tools). I’m pleased to finally run into Tweeterboard, which has metrics (see my profile), rankings, a ‘newsfeed’ of content, and it starts to tie relationships together of different users. There’s even an RSS feed of all the links I put on my twitter account, I often share what I find interesting on this feed, so please consider subscribing.

You can check your stats too, it’s much like Technorati, but it maps out your social graph. I’m thankful to the following users for ‘giving me love’. martysmind (40), mickeleh (24), jspepper (21), dough (20), shashib (20), jagath (18), tetesagehen (17), tastybit (16), shawnz (16). For any of those folks, you can add them by going to www.twitter.com/PutNameHere.

Why is understanding who talks to me and vice versa important? Because you can see who influences me, and who I influence.

If you haven’t figured out Twitter yet, it’s a chat room, and information and conversations are happening there before it hits blogs. In fact, even the press are getting stories by watching the conversation in Twitter. If your job is to watch the conversation (many early adopters in here) I recommend you follow some of the top posters. Then when you’re ready to dive in, there’s over 400 other users that want to connect! Please note this tool isn’t for everyone, so figure out your objectives first.

If you haven’t done it yet, try these tools
Because of the API and RSS feeds, third party developers are experimenting with the output. True useful business tools haven’t really emerged, but it’s only year one.

1 Search for your brand, see who’s talking about you
2 TwitterVision is a map that shows the global conversations, interesting but low value. It would be great if this could be segmented by role, topic, region, or industry.
3 TwitterBlocks shows a graphical representation of who your neighbors are, again, not sure of the value, although the interface sure is neat.
4 There’s over 100 applications available that have been created by the developer community. I’ve used Snitter, an Adobe air app, but it started to be a resource hog.
5 There’s already a twitter application in Facebook, or you can embed it on your blog, and because I can update my account from my mobile phone, I’ve used it to meet up with people.

Update: Marshall at Read Write Web thinks the tool is valuable, and James Governor sees the value of Twitter.

14 comments

Yesterday, I was contacted by a member of the press who was writing a story, she asked for elaboration on my 140 character tweet (the maximum number of characters that twitter allows per message). If you remember my pebble theory, you shouldn’t be surprised, I think blogging is moving towards surfing or even boating.

Normally, press will contact press office of an Analyst firm, where they will redirect and refer to the right analyst depending on the topic, but in this case, journalists who cover a beat are starting to follow specific individuals in order to glean nuggets and different opinions for their balanced and fair stories. For these savvy journalists, is it safe to say their job is getting easier as information flies about?

Because ideas and news spread faster on MicroBlogging networks, journalists can move faster, keep their finger on the pulse of their industry and rapidly contact individuals for perspectives. I’m not the only one to notice this, as savvy journalists like David Cohn are getting wind of this instant chat room.

So just be mindful that tweets are public (and let’s not fool ourselves, the private ones aren’t really that secure) that these bite sized opinions can generate into something much larger, seen far beyond your twitter network.

Things are moving faster, smaller, but should we also stop ask, is faster really better?

5 comments

If you’re reading this from a feedreader or email subscription, please access this post to hear my thoughts regarding this post.

Update: David Armano has excellent analysis on what happened on Twitter Tuesday, which partially nods to Eric Rice saying I only talk about business now. He’s right, but the lines of passion and work are so blurred for me, over zealous? perhaps.

10 comments

Twitter is one of the top referrers of traffic to my blog, over 2000 referrers from twitter to my blog in the last 30 days…there’s something happening there.

I’ve also noticed and increase of new users over the past 30 days, feel free to add me as a friend, I will add you back. (Update: I’m no longer adding anyone back, as it’s not time efficient for me to do this)

Twitter is becoming a major communication tool for me lately. There are more intimate conversations being held on this next-generation chat room, and it’s filled with early adopters and those who are trying to reach them.

If you’re not familiar with Twitter, my colleague Peter Kim recently did research on it, as well as recorded a podcast. I’ve also got a post up on why Twitter matters to the web strategist –it’s a quick start guide.

Here’s a few of the conversations I’ve been having in the last week

Just this morning we were debating the (lack of) user enterprise software debate

This past weekend I met over a dozen people who like the same type of music I do, and they recommended new artists to me.

News and information breaks on Twitter before it hits blogs

Last week I was on the phone with Francis Tapon, author and world traveler, he told me his secrets to getting paid to traveling the world, so I tweeted it to my 1900 followers.

I also share interesting links to content I’m reading, mainly around web and technology, as well as events I attend, much of this does NOT end up on my blog.

I’m starting to use Twitter like my link feed, why I find interesting I put on twitter, rather than on my google shared reader or my blog.

You won’t hear me talking about what I ate for lunch, but you will learn things about me that I’m passionate about –strategy, music, art, etc.

Who it’s for and who it’s not
If you’re in the tech industry, and in marketing, you should be paying attention to what’s happening on twitter. There’s even search tools that can help you find discussions and memes. Also, if you’re trying to reach early adopters, these are tools for you. This really reminds me of the the whole blogging industry in 2005, it’s the same type of pros and cons –it’s just much smaller now. If you don’t meet these criterion, then it may not be for you, always remember to find the audience you’re trying to reach first.

Hope to see you there, my profile is jowyang, and I’ll follow you back.

If you’re seeking more followers and want to connect with folks (once you get a few dozen active friends, a real ‘conversation’ starts) leave a comment below with your twitter name.

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Update: I’ve tweeted to my network to add their name to this comment area if they want to connect with other folks (see my actual tweet) that are interested in social media+marketing+and are on twitter.

[The Fabric becomes stronger as the Threads connect]

In just a few minutes there are over 20 responses. This is testament to how rapidly things are evolving. Now the title of this post is needs to be modified: “Some conversations are moving to twitter..and back to blogs”

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Update 2: Three hours since I’ve posed the first tweet pointing people here (Have about 50 new followers, and over 160 comments on this post, dozens of replies within twitter, became the top node on techmeme, as well as direct messages), and I’m getting messages that Twitter is slowing down as people are starting to add other, the fabric is growing. This is a good test of what could happen in an emergency, as folks were using Twitter to get messages out during the South CA fires a few months ago.

The viral activity in and around Twitter was amazing, people of like minded interests were leaving their twitter profile below, then connecting to each other at a rapid rate, it then spread the the blogosphere slowing both twitter.com and my blog.

There are echoes on the blogosphere too:

Why is Twitter Exploding? Because it’s A Conversation Ecosystem.

Jeremiah Owyang Causes Twitter Explosion

Twitter Traffic

Help! I’m Addicted to Twitter!

Twitter is a Conversation Ecosystem

My assumptions were right, there really is something happening in twitter, it’s clear it’s the desire to connect and communicate.

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Update 3: The Day After
It’s very clear this was twitter storm resulted in meeting the objectives of getting folks to connect. I’m receiving messages and reading blog posts that many people now have added 20-100 followers or connections that they might have not been able to connect to previously, you can track the many incoming links from Technorati. Sadly, having a few hundred more contacts has flooded my mail inbox with notifications, but as promised, each person I’ve promised to follow and listen to in return. Lots of clicking to do this weekend.

Most importantly, the value of a network is determined by it’s size, yesterday (which some are calling ‘Twitter Tuesday’) resulted in a stronger fabric across the social network. All of the boats rose with the tide.

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It’s my day job (and I spend most of my nights and mornings) staying on top of social technologies, being aware of them, experimenting with them, breaking them, and analyzing them for brands and clients. At least two days this week I worked 15 hours. If I can barely keep up, (I’m not the only one) so how do you?

Are we moving too fast? Leave a comment here, or on the media page.

Update Monday Morning: Thank you all for the kind words and support, I took a few days off blogging (although I had some other work to catch up on) but am now refreshed. I’ve made a resolution to try to look at the trends of the movement, and where I see traction, then I’ll take a closer look at the tools.

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