Twitter for Enterprises

Springwise Newsletter, October 9, 2008 — Breaking down barriers and fostering cross-company communication has long been one of enterprises' most persistent challenges. A tool that was launched last month at TechCrunch50—and then went on to win the conference's Best in Show award—offers a new solution, however, in the form of a sort of Twitter for the enterprise.

Yammer aims to make organizations more productive through the exchange of short, frequent answers to the question, “What are you working on?” Employees' responses to that question get aggregated into a private, central feed, enabling coworkers to discuss ideas, post news, ask questions and share information.

Twittering From the Cradle

A host of new sites, including Totspot, Odadeo, Lil’Grams and Kidmondo, offer parents a chance to invite friends and family to join and contribute to a network geared to connecting them to the baby in

New York Times, September 11, 2008 — IT would be easy to assume that the first month of Cameron Chase’s life followed the monotonous cycle of eat-sleep-poop familiar to any new parent. But anyone who has read his oft-updated profile on Totspot, a site billed as Facebook for children, knows better. Cameron, of Winter Garden, Fla., has lounged poolside in a bouncy seat with his grandparents, noted that Tropical Storm Fay passed by his hometown, and proclaimed that he finds the abstract Kandinsky print above his parents’ bed “very stimulating!”

Brave New World of Digital Intimacy

New York Times, September 5, 2008 — On Sept. 5, 2006, Mark Zuckerberg changed the way that Facebook worked, and in the process he inspired a revolt. Zuckerberg, a doe-eyed 24-year-old C.E.O., founded Facebook in his dorm room at Harvard two years earlier, and the site quickly amassed nine million users. By 2006, students were posting heaps of personal details onto their Facebook pages, including lists of their favorite TV shows, whether they were dating (and whom), what music they had in rotation and the various ad hoc “groups” they had joined (like “Sex and the City” Lovers).

Introducing the Twiller

New York Times, August 29, 2008 — You might remember the novel in its earlier form; it had a cover, and many pages, forethought of plot, editors and agents weighing in, and, oh yes, it generally had sentences and punctuation. And, finally, some poor suckers had to take the time out of their busy days to actually read it.

Who has time for all those niceties? They’re so first half of 2008.

Introducing the Twiller.

What Marketers Can Learn From Twitter's Stumbles†

The Service Is a Victim of Its Popularity -- and Its Unresponsiveness Is Costing It Fans

Advertising Age, July 29, 2008 — What are the limits of consumer loyalty when a particular product or service consistently stumbles, or just doesn't work? What if those stumbles are actually due to the immense popularity of the product?

Any fast-growing brand that has seen its infrastructure quiver under the weight of widespread customer demand should look for a lesson on how not to do things in Web 2.0 darling Twitter.

When Brands Under Fire Step into the Fracas: Exxon Joins Twitter†

Forrester, July 29, 2008 — Brands joining twitter

It’s no coincidence that brands that are under public scrutiny from customers, competitors, and other social groups start to turn to the most vocal of all –right in the epicenter of dialog.

Twitter is, for better or worse, a global chat room where honest, often vitriolic opinions are shared. With the recent public anointing of online support effort, Comcast Cares in New York Times “Griping Online? Comcast Hears and Talks Back” –it’s easy to see why corporation communications, and PR professionals are ready to embrace the dialog.

With Summize, Twitter To Buy a Clue

GigaOM, July 8, 2008 — The big buzz of the evening is that Twitter, a San Francisco-based start-up that allows anyone to post short up to 140 character messages to its platform and thus broadcast them to one or many using different media such as web and mobile, is about to acquire Summize, a Potomac Falls, VA-based start-up that uses the Twitter API to search and find relevant messages on Twitter.

How Twitter, FriendFeed Can Goose Online 'Shelf Space'†

Digital Bloggers Debate the Far-Reaching Impact of Distributed Web Services

Advertising Age, June 17, 2008 — Widgets are nifty. But do they really need a two-day conference? That's what I was thinking Monday as I checked out the agenda on WidgetWebExpo, held in Brooklyn earlier this week. But two DigitalNext bloggers, David Armano and Ian Schafer, and Digital columnist Steve Rubel were participating on the same panel and since I was working from home (also in Brooklyn) I meandered on down.

The title was "Micro Interactions: Can portable experiences go mainstream?" It's certainly a timely topic, tying in to the idea that the web is increasingly becoming a series of small services and experiences that consumers stitch together at their own will. Given the personalities on the panel, it should have been no surprise the discussion soon turned to web services like... continue reading

Secrets Of The Always-On

Forbes, June 16, 2008 — It's 8 a.m.--and it's time to Tweet.

I reach across my bed for my cellphone--before coffee or even before sliding out of bed--and send my broadcast to the world. I type "Awake" or "Here I am!" and to an address: 40404. (This number is the equivalent of a phone number that everyone sends their messages to in order to submit to Twitter.)

Why Twitter Matters

Can the fledgling microblogging service become a social media powerhouse to rival giants like Facebook—or will it be gobbled up?

BusinessWeek, May 15, 2008 — t's easy to laugh at nonsense on Twitter, the microblogging rage. "My nose is leaking," writes someone called Zapples, "so imma go to sleep now.…" But I've heard lots of similar drivel (and even produced some myself) on the phone—an important technology if there ever was one. The key question today isn't what's dumb on Twitter, but instead how a service with bite-size messages topping out at 140 characters can be smart, useful, maybe even necessary. Here's why I'm looking. In the last few months, the traffic on Twitter has exploded, growing far beyond its circles of bleeding-edge tech enthusiasts and hard-core social networkers.