derek abdinor

I love the fact that MySpace has introduced millions to blogging.
I love even more that FaceBook has introduced millions to microblogging.

Spacers blog and respond by commenting all the time: isn’t that brilliant? Facers microblog all the time. Its the status update, right under your pic. They can also edit status by mobile, and you can subscribe to notifications by RSS feed: that’s microblogging! Love or hate the two platforms, they are unconsciously bringing radically new concepts to massive audiences. When I need to explain microblogging, this is the way I do it. If I have to still explain FaceBook: oi.

The word microblogging should probably fall by the wayside in time: too cumbersome. High environmental impact.

The last few days have been a flurry of buzz around microblogging in general and twitter in particular (Note: I started jaiku before twitter but prefer the latter). First, Dominic Jones wrote a visceral article about the potential use for it to disperse investor info (this days after SUN Microsystems released their results online ). Dominic’s article led me to some others, notably: Get ready for the ‘Twitterization’ of mainstream media by David Berlind (ZDNET) and Five Quick Suggestions to Improve Twitter by Allen Stern.

my thoughts,

I see twitter as the bridge on these two continuum:
1. old media, website, blog, rss, twitter
2. letters, memos, email, IM, twitter

I’d like to see Twitter have a better admin interface, and the opportunity to easily edit your posts (if you’re all nerves and thumbs, it could be disastrous)

and

I want to use a microblog in the enterprise (2.0) field. Currently none of them are there. Your suggestions are all valid, and one of these would do well todetach itself from the ubiquitous-use market and go for a solid business platform. I would pay good (or bad) money for a business twitter. However, I think you realise too that they are all within sight of the big cheese and would it make sense to settle for second best?

Also, many ridicule Twitter for the fact that one can record one’s most inane moments and send them on. There is a service and a sale around that, and like it or not, its brilliant. Didn’t we all love 24 hour reality TV a few years back? Will we be able to pry microblogging out of the hands of an “always-on” culture?

Since I found out about micro-blogging, I’ve been trying to think of ways to utilise this tool in the enterprise. I’m not convinced by certain things I’ve seen, while other bits have impressed. Here are some of the rationales:

• always letting people know: what are you doing? (they can check your blog or subscribe mobile to updates).
  This works for Barack Obama, and mall rats, and once or twice for me. Not convinced.
• Getting latest updates via a channel.
  This can get so irritating, I subscribed to Muti’s updates on Jaiku and went crazy every 2 minutes, so I unsubscribed. The new Nokias do a great job of subscribing to RSS feeds. I’m convinced that along with the camera and text absorption into the phone, RSS feeds delivered to phone is a killer app. Killer! Therefore the channels may be a bit out of time. Boo.
• As a sideblog. Sometimes a blog is too formal for a one-liner. Just like a printed letter is too slow for email, and email has become too formal when you can send an IM, a sideblog is, well, an aside. Its something you feel ought to be published, but does not warrant too much http to process. It’s like in a newspaper, page 2, “the world in brief”, those snippets. Brilliant.

In the meantime, “sideblog”needs to enter the Public Knowledge Repository.

Updates: Dominic Jones on Twitter for IR wires, and IMHO a “tipping point” article from  ZDNet

TechPresident is an online aggregating service about all the US Presidential candidates’ use of online social media. You get to measure their effectiveness, or newsworthiness, on Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, and Technorati.

Votojournalism
The excellent portmanteau of Voter and Photojournalism, for voter-generated content where users post pictures of the candidates on the campaign trail, online. I think the term will be hijacked to come to mean the use of social media by voters, or by candidates (see below) to run an effective campaign.

Microblogging
I was suprised to find that Barack Obama microblogs (blogs constantly from a computer of mobile device, usually one-liners of his movements) on Twitter, and does a really handy job. In fact, he has raised over 40% of his funding online! Funding is key to success in US politics, and Barack’s online strategists have been on the money.

I feel this would have an impact on business, after the elections. You could never bring microblogging to business, but it would be excellent for wannabe celebrities to grow an active stalking community.

Update: this was fleshed out into an article for BizCommunity. Read/Write Web has some interesting stuff on this, although they seem to be looking at the metrics of voting at first blush:  a lot of users in the world deperately want/need the US to change its policies and are following the campaigns, or lending their online presences to candidates they hope will bring about meaningful change.