Twitter

[Area Light]

Twitter is a popular social networking tool that serves the simple purpose of noting "What are you doing?" According to Twitter, the value in that is connecting with people on new and perhaps less formal levels than you might if they never would have mentioned they like baseball or whatever it is they happen to be into between blogging or social networking etc. It's also such a simple thing about a person, they might not go out of their way to call somebody just to let them know they are watching some show or reading some book.

There is some debate about the professional values in using the application. Some people use it to post notes about their business activity or to consolodate web content across various platforms in one place others can follow. Also, new widget features and team Twittering are expanding the reach of the application to other online social networks with the potential to increase visibility/ draw more traffic...especially to users who have a preference for this type of interface.

So what do you think about Twitter? Comments welcomed.

Yours, Area Light Member Services

[Nascent Dynamics ( )]

Twitter has caught my attention, but I have yet to decide on using it. It's kind of laughable in some ways. At the same time, I think it presents some interesting elements.

First, my research into navigation search/ intelligent search- Twitter could really turn into the new Thinking Yellow Pages. Besides the general posts of what someone is doing, you can see links to content they are publishing etc. So if you know somebody who is really good with computers, maybe you follow them on Twitter to discover all the coolest tech sites. Google doesn't do anything close to that I think. In my view, there's some opportunity to develop an offshoot application. That's one way you can monetize. However, for my purposes, the attractive thing is demonstrating a creative use of the concept. So I guess you could count that as a plus.

I also am fascinated by the individual customized widgets. That's a hot concept in theory. I'm thinking of playing around with the widget such as I've seen Pierre here try. Something like that would make a great fit in some text box on site. Maybe I could feature these at the very top of the Area Light MAIN page.

The cons include aspects such as time and redundancy of effort. You can probably see I'm seriously considering it though.

Best,

Anthony Reardon
Nascent Dynamics ( ) Modern Business for the Modern Environment

[Nascent Dynamics ( )]

All right,

I've gone ahead an set up on Twitter today. Seems pretty cool. I also embedded the widget app to a note here on Area Light. Here's the link.

Overall I think Twitter opens up some new possibilities for me. I blog a lot, for instance, but want to clean up my content with less updates etc. However, the transparancy and accessibility of my business work benefits from periodic updates. I really think people might take an interest in following me. I plan on keeping the actual Twitter page simple so I don't have to immerse in all the user knowledge. What I've got now with a simple page and vertical banner works fine for now. So I guess I'll just stick with it and see how it goes.

Best,

Anthony Reardon
Nascent Dynamics ( ) Modern Business for the Modern Environment

[Paris E. Tompkins]

Anthony,
I am interested in getting on Twitter in order to pump up my internet networking and marketing efforts. I know little about it, but I trust your opinion. I have just started to update my MySpace site also. There is so much out there I am glad to have you to give us pointer on all the different possibilities. Thank you and God bless, Paris

[Nascent Dynamics ( )]

Hey Paris!

Thanks for stopping by. The link I posted goes to an Area Light test page where I have my Twitter app running. The actual link to my page is http://twitter.com/nascentdynamics

Check it out. I posted something for you. Setting up on Twitter is as simple as entering your e-mail, choosing an account name, and uploading a picture. Later on when you are more comfortable with it, you can add specialized applications. However, the basic app is simple and easy.

Now a lot of people will through their expertise about Twittering. All I can say is I've made a conscious decision on how I want to use it, so it doesn't really matter to me if I get followers for quanitity sake. I want people simply to become interested in me and what I'm doing. I aim for that one in a million. I think setting and sticking to a goal for how to use it is all you need. When you go to http://twitter.com , they have what could probably not be any simpler of an introduction to the concept of twittering - it should be a snapshot of what you are doing.

Let me know if you have any questions. I have done some things with Myspace too. I've always appreciated you for your friendship. So what is your goal then in pumping up your efforts? Are you ready to get some specific attention for the Oodles concept?

Best,

Anthony

Paris E. Tompkins said:

Anthony,
I am interested in getting on Twitter in order to pump up my internet networking and marketing efforts. I know little about it, but I trust your opinion. I have just started to update my MySpace site also. There is so much out there I am glad to have you to give us pointer on all the different possibilities. Thank you and God bless, Paris

[Nascent Dynamics ( )]

Hi there,

Quick Notes:

I have tested out the Twitter widget on one of my Notes and for some reason it did not work consistently. I just decided to plug in my twitter widget to my profile page, and was pleased with the HTML format option. I am all over the internet, always paying attention to what's going on around me, and always doing something I think people might find interesting. I bet it would be a challenge to keep up with me! It's a challenge keeping up with myself, so the Twitter option affords me a medium to present a lot of my activities and interests. Now I think I just need to get into a rythm of posting links to whatever it is I'm doing. I'm going to head over right now and link this thread.

I'm also exploring new options to consolodate activities. One thing I understand is followers are probably not going to want to be inundated with constant updates from someone, and I'm not going to want to spend too much time reporting when I would rather be doing. So lining up activities into a sequence or summary view might work. For example, I tweeted a note about the U.S. Soccer match against Italy, and linked to a forum discussion I started on www.soccerinteractive.com community on Ning. From that discussion, i am referencing my blog on that community called Centerplay. From that blog I am pointing to the corresponding thread on Area Light (my blog Centerplay). I have yet to post on that. I just read the RSS feed I have on the main page to U.S. Soccer, so I'll likely post a comment on my forum discussion American Soccer, a discussion on my group American Soccer, and eventually post on my new group Nascent Dynamics ( ) The Quickening which all eprtain to Area Light and my interest in soccer. All of that is an example of how one tweet can be jam packed with value. Each segment has a slight variation so i can post to a niche preference audience and tie them all together for those who want to follow my activity or enjoy the theme as I approach it.

Best,

Anthony

[Nascent Dynamics ( )]

Pierre sent out a note mentioning he's got a new group Twitter app he's putting together. Mostly for art auction enthusiasts I believe, but worth looking into for familiarization with the app in any case.

Also, Sta.rtUp.Biz announced they have a whole page dedicated to Twitter on their site. Should be a useful resource.

Best,

Anthony

[DR. B.J OJO]

I will like to know more about this twitter thing I am interested in making ppl know what I am into at this time.

[Nascent Dynamics ( )]

Hi there B.J.,

I took a look at my Twitter today. I noticed the main page is now showcasing popular searches/ subjects. Maybe you have heard some people mention that Twitter represents a new kind of search and directory sharing. I made a comment, and almost every time I do I get one or two people following me. It's very easy to sign up and start using. Whatever your field of interest or activity, I think it is a good tool for connecting with people of similar interests. However, it is far from perfect.

I also did a quick search for one of my sites on a different search engine and noted a Tweet I had posted was on someone else's website. I looked into it and noted that since I am on their follow list, and they have embedded their follow list updates on their website, my content is now associated with them on some search results.

I took my time researching Twitter before I signed up and continue to explore it only occasionally. Since I am so involved with different platforms and activities, I made a decision to limit my specialization and development through the app. Ultimately, I'm kind of starting to like it. It's fun, and I have glanced at several people I might be interested in learning more about, following, or contacting. So keeping it simple has been my theme. In my opinion, if you just use it as they suggest, and share the simple answer to the question, "What are you doing?", then you can't go wrong.

As I mentioned previously, the tons of complimentary applications and uses are a matter of preference. You can learn more about those practically anywhere people are promoting the fact they use Twitter...such as Sta.rtUp.Biz. Some of those applications seem useless to me. If you spend a lot of time on Twitter, they might be more appealing or make more sense. I noted one that helps you adjust your follower/ following bases so you can only show those who have returned the favor. It seems a lot of people connect with others simply in the hopes of reciprocation, and after a while, people realize they are not getting the most value they can.

What I like best about it is the limit to 140 char. It forces you to sum up whatever is on your mind into something interesting and informative in about one sentence. You can also add links, so for me I can share all the places I am bouncing around to across different platforms, and people can know where to look into whatever it is I am doing live/ real-time. Right now I am still playing with this and don't have a consistent discipline in my posting. As i develop out my business though, I can see posting at least a few times a day.

Let me know if you have any specific questions. I will be happy to share with you what I know.

Best,

Anthony