If you don’t understand why the Real Time Web is huge, you will soon. 
Thanks to micro-blogging sites like Twitter, a constant stream of human-posted content has infiltrated the Web. This growing infiltration has created a bottoms up approach to content creation that via the progressive support of rapidly developing applications has and will continue to empower every individual to co-create what is deemed as “important” on the Web. The Real Time Web serves as both the database that informs us of what is happening right “Now” and the human touch to the content that will compete with the traditional algorithms for what is deemed as “valuable” content to us all. Its challenges lie in the filtration and mass integration of both the content and the act of sharing to the Real Time Web. There remain major aspects of the Web that have not yet integrated “searching” and “sharing” of the Real Time Web, including traditional search. But as filtration and integration progress the Web will take the form of a living breathing database... read more >>
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Many of my readers asked me to write a follow up post on Twitter macro insights from micro interactions, focusing specifically on the tool I use, HootSuite. This post will be focused on insights or intelligence I gathered on content and what resonates most with Twitter users. I'm not a tech person, so I would be ill equipped to have a technical conversation on the tool. In all fairness, my review might also include qualitative insights gathered through the personal use of Twitter. That data is not captured in the charts here. I started using HootSuite on March 20. For the purposes of having a fair assessment, I shared 5-6 links to posts authored by others each day except weekends. That's why you see the low spikes. As you can see, the links I shared, generated a total of 34,520 clicks. Shame on me for not keeping track of the number of retweets as some of those users are bigger trust agents and would/do get more attention and clicks. Although this data does not reflect Twitter cycles when other news was taking front stage, I think it fair to attribute some of the lower traffic to the news of the Iran election and that of the untimely death of Michael Jackson - they both took ...
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So I spoke at the Figaro Digital “Social Media” event on Tuesday. I really struggled to think of anything useful to talk about (some might say I didn’t even achieve that!), after all, how many times will people regurgitate the same old case studies and say the same old things “the customer is in control” blah, blah, blah… Instead, I left the insightful stuff to my new buddy, all-round good guy and smart-cookie Freddie (and just had to agree with everything he said!) and thought I’d do something practical, that didn’t preach and simply highlighted some just some really useful really. As it turned out, 90% of the audience was already using Twitter in a personal capacity and almost 50% in a professional one – who needed me to tell them how or why to Tweet?! So, the presentation is below for you all to see. As always, i’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas, recommendations, criticisms (be fair though!!) Link to original post read more >>
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Over the years, I’ve actively called for Twitter to contribute to its own culture and direction by leading instead of following. It would effectively serve as a source of inspiration and orientation for consumers and the businesses hoping to connect with them, which would ultimately increase the alarming 40-percent user retention pattern. I suggested that the company actively define user scenarios and offer a quick-start guide for the unique groups of users seeking guidance in order to not only increase user retention, but also accelerate adoption and the evolution of the service. If I had a bit more time, I would have gladly written a series of educational and instructional guides for them to own and publish on their site. But now, with the help of Sarah Milstein, Twitter is on the right track and is showing signs of a company that is ready to once again lead us to new digital and sociological terrain. 
Twitter rolled out a friendly and instructional 101 series designed to help users create a strategic and effective presence as well as spark and foster a collaborative community in the ever-maturing Twitterverse. Additionally, for those marketers, ... read more >>
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Socialtext has launched a Twitter for your Intranet. The Socialtext Microblogging Appliance for rapid secure intranet deployment of microblogging and social networking apps for just $1/user/month. On-site appliance deployment, the ability to upgrade to the full social software platform and the low price point provide a unique way for IT to enable the company-wide conversation. It includes: - Socialtext Signals for microblogging
- Socialtext People for social networking
- Socialtext Desktop for real time microblogging and social networking from an Adobe AIR desktop application
- Rapid, secure and scalable Appliance deployment
- Automatic updates and upgrades, so customers get all the benefits of SaaS and on-site deployment combined
- Optional integration with your directory system (LDAP/Active Directory) for single sign on with your other intranet applications and automatic profile population
- Rapidly extensible with RESTful APIs, it is easy to integrate third party applications into a unified Activity Stream or make other applications social
- The option to instantly upgrade to the full Socialtext Appliance for Socialtext Workspace, Socialtext Dashboard and SocialCalc
Here is ... read more >>
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Seesmic have just released the preview version of Seesmic Web for Twitter. A web-based version of their hugely popular Seesmic Desktop desktop app, Seesmic Web also has some pretty cool new features not found on the desktop version. The first (and really useful) difference is the threaded conversation option for direct messages. Now you don’t have to worry about trying to remember what you said to someone previously – it’s all there for you. The next option is a rollover view of a particular user’s basic Twitter stats (followers/following). You can expand on this by clicking on the Profile tab and get the full bio details. 
Some of the other features include: - Single column mode (ideal for web users of the Twitter service for whom multi-columns on Seesmic Desktop and Tweetdeck are hard to manage).
- Search option where all your searches will also be saved to your main Twitter account.
- Unlimited columns, all with the ability to minimize window.
- Access from any computer.
Anyone that follows me on Twitter knows I’m a huge advocate for Seesmic Desktop. I like Tweetdeck , but I just find Seesmic more suited to my use. With the preview launch of their web-based version, Seesmic are making Twitter .. ... read more >>
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At the Real-Time Stream event in Redwood City, California organized by TechCrunch, industry pioneers and pundits discussed the state and future of the Real-Time Web also increasingly referred to as the “now” Web. When it comes to search, the most notable comparison between traditional and real-time discovery is represented in the difference between human memory and consciousness. The experience of searching for relevant information is personified in the context of what you’re doing and not necessarily that of what you’re typing into the search box. And according to Edo Segal, Investor and founder of Relegance,”The Internet is more biology than technology.” I agree. Outside of the realm of search, I’ve also professed that Social Media is less represented by technology and more defined through digital anthropology. It’s about connecting people to information and those sharing it. The social relationships formed through real-time search and interaction bolsters the real value online, over the very links that are considered the governing currency of the Web. The patterns for real-time search offer an augmented reality, mapping who we are on the Internet. We’re bound by ... read more >>
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It's been called micro-blogging, micro-sharing and a variety of other phrases including the word ambient. But there's a significant attribute that's been less discussed and is critical to both business and social implications regarding how we live and work. Technology allows us to signal our every movement, thought, action and status in real time. It's pretty powerful stuff and why millions of people are addicted to telling their own social sytems what they are doing whether it be a status update on Facebook or a tweet.
But we're signaling in our everyday lives—in nearly everything we do. I used to work for someone who was very comfortable using e-mail as their primary form of communication. The problem is, signals often got mixed in e-mails. I couldn't decipher exactly if the tone of the e-mail was sincere, sarcastic or something else. Often times e-mails were irrelevant by the time they were sent—an issue had already been resolved only it wasn't communicated to the person sending the e-mail. The signal had become static. Then, an interesting thing happened. For nearly a year, I sat outside this person's office. All of a sudden, I had access to all types of signals that I ...
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 Or at least that's what 54% told online publisher Ragan Communications and Pollstream in a study on the micro-blogging service, saying people will soon tire of the hype and move on. "“[It’s a fad] because everybody’s doing it,” said one respondent. “Ashton Kutcher and CNN have a steady supply of fans who want to know what they do. People like us, people with a job to do, every so often we do something of interest to the general public [but] we don’t have that steady supply of stuff that the public is interested in.” Well, you might or might not have a steady supply of stuff the public is interested in, but I am sure you have personalities and opinions that fit the bill. More to the point, at least some of the 30 million worldwide users (or 1.5 million heavily committed users) will be talking about things of relevance to you. Waste of time = time waster? The study also found that while 28% use it, 40% have no future Twitter plan in place (I'm surprised this % was so low), a key reason being fear of senior management who see it as a waste of time - that age old problem of social media at work being seen as skiiving off. Another factor was that organisations are ... read more >>
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