thinking about twitter…

[updated: April 16] gapingvoid is back on Twitter! LOL

over a month ago, I had stumbled across the blog of hugh macleod and took a moment to laugh at myself. of course, one thing leads to another then we started following each other on twitter. This morning I noticed he was not tweeting about alpine TX or his book deal, actually he deleted his twitter account. From avid twitterer (’cause it does get addictive) to deleted twitterer overnight? i was a bit surprised…

the reality of twitter is this: twitter is becoming the next big thing, the it girl, because it is the new communication tool for business (e.g., JetBlue), politics (e.g., Obama), news (e.g., NY times), academia (i.e., my work), and, of course, schmoozing (everyone else who uses it regularly). We use this social networking service to make connections, to collaborate, to discover, to learn in a way that wasn’t possible before this type of tool. A friend mentioned yesterday that news from silicone valley, for example, that previously would take a few days to break (via other forms of communication), is now instantaneous.

of late, twitter has been making some upgrades, simplifying its layout somewhat. it’s not perfect, could use some more improvements (e.g., it apparently loses some replies somewhere out there in the twittosphere) but it is readily accessible via web, OS applications (twhirl, twitterific, spaz), browser apps (firefox), desktop platforms (netvibes, pageflakes), widgets for blogs, facebook, etc., and, last but not least, mobile phones. This accessibility, the 11+ million users (ok, not all regular twitterers), makes twitter worth exploring.

All I have to do now is convince the 18,000 students who attend the university, and the majority of our faculty and staff … no small task.

about what do you tweet?

P.S. on tweetclouds.com, it even gives you an occurrence count, and the option to include or suppress @replies (not included on mine).

did you know?

This video from June 2007 is interesting at so many levels. It is rather lengthy (running 8min 19 sec) but worth watching from start to finish.

twitter’s third party apps

I’ve come across another Twitter app developed by a third party. In terms of the others I’ve posted, I can appreciate their use, but this one baffles me. Neuroproductions in Belgium has this “5K Twitter Browser” which from this thumbnail seems fun and interesting in terms of understanding the social web we weave, but take a closer look.

Can you decipher much without straining to read or understand the connections?

Value: none (for me at least) 

test-driving pageflakes

Pageflakes is an application that has been around for over a year, but, like many things, I sometimes get around to things a little late…hopefully, unlike past things, it is not too late. It is a competitor to Netvibes, iGoogle, etc. that uses widgets and modules to create your personal pagecast and share it or keep it to yourself.

I set up my personalized pageflakes startpage and am interested in playing more with it. Like many things, I am trying to take baby steps, to determine what it is I wish to do with it and where I believe I might be able to do with it (or it can do for me). 

 

Does anyone already have a pagecast? Are there any suggestions, comments or feedback with which you could provide me?  Delving into new Web 2.0 apps is exciting, but since I tend to push the “pedal to the metal”, maybe a speed detector is the way to go this time…

twitter’s many apps

A few days ago I introduced you to Googlisti twitters from Pescara, Italy (my hometown) who weeks ago summarized a number of Twitter apps. Here are just a few I considered worthy of sharing.

	I gave you a sample page of Twitter 100 (released 29/01/0 that gives you a view of the last 100 tweets from your timeline in glace; an easy-to-read view.
	A different way to share photos immediately with your Twitter friends using your Twitter alias & password (also available for your phone). Quick & easy!
	FTP is so last century! (their words!) share files, music, videos, etc. Drag the file to this widget and share!!
	A real time scan of Twitter alias’ or @alias replies, in case you missed a conversation or two. Also allows you to Twitter stalk, as per Ambermacarthur
	Ever wanted to know what 24 hours of your life looks like, or that of your Twitter friends. Well, this cute little graph presents tweets over the course of a day. Are you addicted to Twitter? This might reveal a thing or to…

This list is not exhaustive obviously, so if you have anything you wish to share with everyone, please feel free to leave a comment.