A View from the Isle

It’s not often that a link to a press release get circulated around Twitter, but this morning there was one going around, and it wasn’t because we thought it was great.

Internet marketer Matt Barak pushed out a press release via PRWeb about him scoring 99.9% on TwitterGrader. Only problem is that one’s TwitterGrader scores are, rather fluid and don’t really mean you’re in the “Twitter elite”, but Matt put up the press release regardless:

What’s better than soaring to the top of a popular social networking site? How about skyrocketing to the summit of two of them? That’s the envious position The Powerful Promoter, Matt Bacak, found himself in last month when he entered the Twitter elite. Proving just how powerful his Internet marketing promotional strategies are, Bacak not only became a top three Atlanta Twitterer, but he currently outranks 99.9% of all members of the site. Internet marketers who would like to follow The Powerful Promoter’s tweets and improve their own promotional efforts can do so online at http://twitter.com/mattbacak.

[From The Powerful Promoter Promotes Himself Straight to the Top of Twitter - Matt Bacak Achieves Another Social Networking Milestone]

So here is his Twitter grade: Matt Bacak and yes he is marked as in the “Twitter elite for Atlanta, GA“, see there are lots of folks there too, not to mention I also have a 99.9% grade and am in the Twitter elite for Vancouver, BC so what’s the deal here?

Did Matt blow it tooting his own horn or not?

Sorta.

The chatter and sentiment on Digg is less than charitable, but really we’re all edge cases in this regard. We understand that what you get from TwitterGrader is more like a fun little thing not to be taken seriously. We’re all thinking this guy is an idiot. None of us have heard of him (I’ve @ replied to him and haven’t gotten a ping back, so I guess he’s not monitoring-bad call there) and we shaking our heads.

However think about his potential clients, folks who aren’t into social media, etc, they’ll go, oooh aaaahhh. Not to mention we’re all talking about it, like they say there’s no such thing as bad PR.

I think this is another case of the divide between the savvy and the tactically smart (or lucky). We know that the release is BS. That one’s rise to the pantheon of twitter, if there is such a place, isn’t something that gets handed down from on high. The rest of the world doesn’t though. I’m simultaneously grateful, bewildered, and cognizant of the fact that I have about 2650 Twitter followers. I’m flattered that people follow me, I don’t think I say very many profound things, but I know that if I send something out it has a broad audience.

And I as much as I catch myself lacking humility about the number of followers I have, I figure I’m still a small fish. Lots of people have more followers. Lots of people with fewer followers have a lot more interesting things to say than I.

So Matt put out a press release that potential clients will eat up, he looks like an internet marketing god to them while the echo chamber laughs (and maybe out of a small about of jealousy). I’m wondering if Matt might just be laughing all the way to the bank.

Since getting hooked on TweetDeck over the summer,it has become an indispensable part of my “infocentre”. In my TweetDeck setup I have a column just for these “news” tweets, just for info streams from posts as Mark describes:

The interesting thing is if you follow enough bloggers on Twitter using an auto-feed service, your Twitter stream starts to look lot like a streaming RSS reader with new posts popping up on a regular basis. Getting notifications about new blog posts is a useful alternative to your RSS reader because blog posts come to you dynamically as opposed to you having to shift through them. In some respects, it’s a way to follow the blog posts of a small group of people, while keeping your RSS reader for a more extensive collection of RSS feeds.

link: Using Twitter as an RSS Reader | Twitterrati

Which started to bring some parts into focus for what could be a very cool addition to TweetDeck: a light RSS reader like Snack.

I know, I know feature bloat. It isn’t what TweetDeck was intended for, but maybe it should be now. How cool would it be to have a few feeds scroll down in the same place as you are reading tweets? How about being able to tweet a headline too? Jump to your browser and then blog it?

This is how the our infostreaming worlds are combining. What we read, how we share, what we absorb is focusing around the attention we want to give it.

I don’t see apps like Snackr or TweetDeck completely replacing something like NetNewsWire, personally I need a much large pool of information to draw from than I’d like to try to absorb in something like TweetDeck, however it’s like the news ticker or headline news. Short bits that you skim and then drill down to details when needed.

Another time when I wish I could code…

Over the weekend we got word that version 0.20 of TweetDeck was nearly done and being sent to early testers (Iain, pls can I be an early tester for the next round) and planned for updating today (ish). True to form TweetDeck told me that an update was ready for me and I quickly said “Yes! Upgrade me!”. Here are the release notes for this new version:

Version 0.20 beta - 17/11/2008 (more info)

* - Added patches 0.19.1, 2 & 3 fixes
* - Added API rate limit info added to top right
* - Added no notifications for your own tweets
* - Added pulling maximum number of tweets on each call
* - Added user added to friend list when followed
* - Added user removed from friend list when followed
* - Added user added to friend list when profile viewed and already followed (and not present in DB)
* - Added Persian character fix
* - Added “clear read tweets” button to column function
* - Added deduping methods for each column type
* - Added control logic on adding columns - can’t have multiples of same content
* - Added unread tweets counter to each column
* - Added “in reply to” link to appropriate tweets
* - Added mark as read in one column now marks same tweet as read across all columns
* - Added deleting your own tweet & deleting a DM now actually deletes from twitter
* - Added your sent tweet immediately added to All Tweets column - live updating
* - Added column specific filter bar for tweet text, username, source & timeframe, both include & exclude
* - Added http://idek.net/about.html url shortening service
* - Added clicking on notification window will close it immediately
* - Added favorites column
* - Added an “add to group” button implemented in certain tweets & profile panel
* - Updated advanced search.twitter.com support - except “near:”, error with API
* - Removed local search
* - Fixed user avatar not showing or updating
* - Fixed display problem with < symbol
* - Fixed bugs with enter key showing new line & sending tweet when tweet panel not in focus

[From TweetDeck]

I am really loving being able to add someone to a group with a couple clicks. That is so convenient. TweetDeck also seems peppier this morning as well. I did have a small hitch in my update, I had a group of tweets from the CBC, BreakingNewsOn, etc (News headlines) that disappeared. I certainly could have accidentally deleted it, but it doesn’t matter I’ve rebuilt the list now (and it was much faster too ).

With the update to AIR this morning as well, it is becoming apparent that TweetDeck is going to be central part of my infostreaming hub. It is almost my dashboard for all info as it is. I still have NetNewsWire for RSS and Mail for email, but that covers it. Amazing isn’t it, moving from so many apps to just a few? Yes, of course Firefox is open to read pages and I’m posting with Ecto now (for the time being, not too keen on it’s spell checker), but when I need info, I rely on TweetDeck and NetNewsWire. Some info comes in via email, but not a heck of a lot. That’s correspondence now.

Focused attention, pulling many streams into one. That’s how to win the day in the new infoeconomy.

Update: Twitip has a review of TweetDeck, but it looks like only 0.19.3b was reviewed.

There is more press on the Motrin ad this morning. Last night I wrote more about the peril of not being tuned into social media more than the ad itself (again, I thought it was patronising), Chip Griffin brings a more accepting take on the whole incident:

Unfortunately, Motrin ran into the Blogosphere Buzzsaw when a number of “Mommy Bloggers” and other social media leaders took exception to the video. Some objected to the spot’s suggestion that Moms might seem harried and even look a little crazy after treking around with their kids all day. Others claimed that devices like slings eliminate pain and alleged that Motrin was targeting Moms who used them.

And, of course, when nobody from Motrin stepped up within the first few hours to respond, the piling on spread beyond Moms to many others from their blog and Twitter pulpits. After all, the unwritten rules state that a company must respond when and how the Blogosphere wants at all times. Otherwise, they “don’t get it” or “don’t care.”

[From Forget Motrin, Take a Deep Breath - Media Bullseye]

Granted social media folks do tend to get all in a dither about a topic quickly and when we do the posts and tweets fly around like blazes. Yes, sometimes these are tempests in teapots, other times not. however that doesn’t mean the concerns aren’t valid nor that they shouldn’t be responded to.

Chip makes some good counter points to the criticism that’s flying around, but I have to take issue with this bit:

Not Everyone Monitors 24/7. As someone who owns a media intelligence company, I would love to see every company have someone dedicated around the clock, 365 days a year to monitoring everything remotely relevant in both traditional and online media. But that’s an absurd expectation — unless you are a blogger on the warpath. In the case of Motrin, we’re not talking about a crisis involving tainted pills or something life-threatening, or even a case of a serious ethical or moral transgression, but rather stylistic and tonal objections to an online ad campaign. If there’s no response on a Saturday afternoon, that’s not an indication that the company doesn’t get it or ignores social media. It’s possible that some of the bloggers and Twitterers may actually step away from their computers for a few hours every now and then.

Having launched lots of sites in the Web 1.0-2.0 worlds, some of which potential controversial (like an HIV site for a pharma that made the two main HIV drugs at the time), we were on call and actively watching for reaction (or hacking) for the first couple days or so. It didn’t matter if we launched on Friday or not, it was just prudent (this is also why I like to launch new sites on Tuesday or Wednesday, so I don’t lose a weekend if something blows up). So I don’t buy Chip’s point here. If I were Taxi NYC - McNeil wouldn’t have launched late in the week, especially not on a Friday, and would have had all hands on deck to monitor the conversation.

No, you don’t have to sit in front of your machine all the time. Bookmarking a twitter search, having Google alerts mailed to you, few RSS tricks and you can monitor and have a life in the critical first 48 hours.

Sure, maybe the video didn’t need to be pulled. Maybe it could have been done differently. Maybe they were all listening but chasing their tails trying to figure out what to do. The bottom line is that today there a bunch of people who have gotten their first social media black eye and now need to do some damage control and bridge building.

That’s life in the hyperconnected world of the world of social media.

It’s the weekend so a large company is going to get trashed on Twitter for a social media gaff. This week’s winner is Motrin.

Katja Presnal has a great summary (and the video that caused the uproar) on her blog and Mashable has a post by Sarah Evans giving some additional commentary on what went on but let me give you the short sentence version.

PR-advertising agency Taxi NYC made a site-promotion for Motrin targeted at mom’s who “wear” their babies (that is using a sling, snugglie, etc) that used a video clip that came off dismissive and patronizing at the same time. Twitter exploded with commentary last night, and it’s still going on today (check out this Twitter search for “motrinmoms”). Commentary is the polite way of saying “had their ass handed to them” because whoa I would not want to be the account manager for Motrin right now. Like Katja tweeted today:

“Motrin will take a lesser hit than their PR agency” by @skydiver
8 minutes ago from web

KatjaPresnal

[From Twitter / Katja Presnal: "Motrin will take a lesser ...]

Yes, McNeil hired Taxi NYC for the campaign, and they signed off on it (they had to and agency can’t blow their nose without three levels of regulatory approval when doing a pharma project), but I don’t place the place on the Motrin product managers. They don’t have time to figure all this stuff out, that’s what an agency is for. Yes, gut feel is important. Yes, I’ve seen projects get tanked by PMs because it was too close to the edge, but I think the blame rests firmly on Taxi for this one.

While this isn’t a social media campaign per se it became one as soon as it lit the Twitter-verse on fire. So where is Taxi in all this? There is a MotrinMoms Twitter account but as far as I can see they aren’t clued into the conversation about the campaign. There is no discussion with the thought leaders who are tweeting and writing about. The tweets are just, I don’t have a word for how bad, like fiddling while Rome burns.

There are so many great lessons here that I know I won’t catch them all, but here’s a good go at them:

• If you are the product manager at a company it’s time to have some basic education about social media
• When hiring an agency their social media savvy is a must check- must have.
• Agencies, you must be on point and monitoring the social media world from the moment a campaign goes live. You have to be read for anything
• If things are starting to go off the rails, reach out. Find the players and influencers and connect with them one-on-one. If they are big enough to have influence, they will be easy to find and contact.
• Agencies, if you don’t have social media specialists (or at least experts) on staff, time to hire some. Yesterday.

Dave Knox echoes these points in his post: “Congratulations Motrin. You just proved why every brand needs to understand Social Media ” and reminds me of Brian Solis’ post on crisis communications (which I can’t find at the moment). You can’t be blissfully ignorant of social media anymore. Brand managers, product mangers, agencies, you all need to step up and get a handle on the world of social media and how you work within it.

Go to a conference, check out a Third Tuesday, heck hire a social media consultant for a day or two for workshops (I’m available), because if you don’t you’re going to have a Monday like the folks at Taxi NYC and the Motrin brand team are going to have. Yeah they’re going to need some Motrin tomorrow.

Update: Just posted from Mathew Ingram and now Toby Bloomberg.

More updates: I missed in the first go round Laura (Pistachio) Fitton’s original post and GuruofNew

Feel free to leave more links in the comments.

Okay folks we really blew it this week. How many times have we been told not to give out our passwords? How many times have you refused to give a tech support person your password? Yeah lots, but this week I think we collectively blew it. Not just once, but twice!

First was SocialMinder then it was Twitterank. Both spread like wildfire working off what powers social media the most, us.

A friend passes something along or see a tweet with “My Twitterank is…” from a friend, well of course it should be safe, right?

Doh!

That is the simplest bit of social engineering and we fell for it.

As well, it should be a wake-up call for everyone to be a lot more careful about sharing your personal information. It should also be a reminder that changing your passwords on a regular basis, and not using the same password for every online service is a good digital habit.

More: Louis Gray has a post about Twitterank, and how he’s not too concerned about people hacking into his Twitter account.

[From Getting Sloppy With Data/Passwords | Mark Evans]

Yes, Twitter needs to make some changes so we have have interesting things like Twitterank safely, but wow we’ve got to think harder. I can’t count the number of times I’m asked for a password for one service by another to do something that I’d like.

Sure most of the time this is cool, but it doesn’t take much to make it very uncool. Uncool that could become really, really bad.

Fine lesson learned, but really there are legitimate reasons for this kind of thing and I don’t know an easy way for us to vett the good from the bad.

AIR apps, Facebook apps, all these things…I hope someone smarter than I has an idea on this because besides OAuth and OpenID I don’t know a solution.

You?

Update: I was going to include this link to Alexander van Elsas’ post on the 5 dangers of social media .

Fresh on the heels of what could be argued as the first President that social media elected came a social media gaff in Vancouver’s mayoral race.

The story broke in the Vancouver Sun and was tweeted and blogged by many local digerati including Colleen of BuzzNetworker:

The lessons to take out of this? Register your name and your company name in all of the social marketing sites right away. Not owning your own name could come with serious consequences. And, if you’re trying to get people to choose you over another option, don’t try to win that vote by point out what the other guy is doing wrong.  In this age of transparency and honesty, you just look petty and childish. Source: Local Politics use Twitter Poorly

And Michael Tippett of NowPublic who also commented on the fact that while we were arguing over a social media gaff, the current city council put us all on the hook for $100 million to guarantee that the Olympic Village will be finished on time (no mention of whether the social housing will actually make it).

Now you want the truly ironic part? The last mayoral debate before the election on this Wednesday which is hosted by the CBC will take questions from Twitter and be live-tweeting the event!

I’ve had a long while to think about this whole Twitter-jacking business. In the great scheme of things, it was a pretty stupid thing to actually use the Twitter account. Yes, “fakePeterLadner” would have been much better from the get go. I think the Vision Vancouver team has taken some well-deserved lumps from the social media community on this issue. There are any number of us who are Vision supporters, including myself, who they could have bounced the idea off of and all of us (I hope) would have told them not to do it, just sit on the name.

The greater point is that, like we heard at the Vancouver Board of Trade panel recently, you can’t just sit back and ignore social media. Fine, don’t participate, but at least stake your claim. Buy domains, reserve names on Twitter, etc. if nothing else so they can’t be used against you.

Remember when the web was young and the idea of a candidate or party website was alien to most politicians? Remember how many got burned when domains were bought out from under them?

Social media is just the same, so get with the program people. Good grief the Ladner and NPA campaign could have used “Twittergate” to distract us from the greater issue of the $100 million dollars voted on in secret and seal as in camera. Alas they didn’t.

I guess the only thing left to do is to listen to the debate on Wednesday and vote two days later.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Vancouver council stands by decision to bail out Olympic Village
• Ladner would ‘lose this election’ to save Olympic Village project
• Vancouver Mayoral Candidate Debate on Homelessness, Housing, and Mental Health: No easy answers.
• 2010 athletes village to get $100 million loan

Note to Magpie, that crunching sound? Yeah it’s your business model being crumpled up and shot for a three-pointer into file 13.

Yesterday Magpie was a hot topic on Twitter. Although I didn’t mention it in my post about Magpie, there were tweets about wanting to block the ads and service.

The wait is over folks, well if you use Firefox to read your tweets:

Magpie is a recently introduced service that inserts advertising into a users list of posts on Twitter. Scarecrow is a greasemonkey script that will stop these ads being displayed on your view of Twitter allowing you to “opt out” of the service. Other users have suggested simply unfollowing users who use the Magpie [...]

Scarecrow: Ad Blocking Script for Twitter
Stuart Robertson
Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:12:55 GMT

Ouch. I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard for any of the Twitter clients to add “block ads” functions. If you read tweets via RSS, a simple pass through Yahoo Pipes and a little filter for #magpie would knock those out too.

Yes, if someone I follow and pay close attention to (in my TweetDeck watch group) starts up with Magpie, chances are I’m going to unfollow them. I can’t say I will because, well maybe that person is someone I really like to hear from.

In any case, this might be a case of Twitter purists raising a stink over nothing or could be a message from the populace: I don’t want ads in my Twitter stream.

Only time will tell. Heck yah the temptation of six grand a month to basically do nothing is huge. I’m not going to bite though.

The potential risk outweighs the reward.

On a final note, has anyone who has written about Magpie heard from them? I’d think if your company’s plan is getting shot at from all sides you’d want to reach out to a few folks and tell your side of the story.

Related articles by Zemanta

• #magpie = $$ OR unfollow?
• Be A Magpie: Earn from Twitter
• Magpie an Ad Network for Twitter
• What’s a Tweetworth? My 2 Cents on Magpie
• Pimping your Twitter feed
• Magpie: Make Money on Twitter
• Be-A-Magpie.com - Ad Network For Twitter
• Selling Ads on Your Twitter Background? You’ll Love Magpie

Image via Wikipedia

Colleen Coplick’s discussion Sunday about Twitter ad start up Magpie brought a lot to the surface, and from the tweet search on the topic I don’t think many folks are in favour of it.

Colleen plays Devil’s advocate contrasting Twitterfeed to Magpie:

I totally understand that point of view,  but I’m not sure how using magpie ads differ from using Twitterfeed to push my blog posts out to my followers. Why is that not considered spam but the magpie is? And would it be any different if Twitter themselves inserted ads into that same twitter stream?
Source: To Magpie or Not to Magpie, that is the Question.

I tried to explain in a 140 characters, but just couldn’t pull it off. So here it goes again, but with more room to write.

When I put something through Twitterfeed, and btw I pulled my link blog off it because people complained that it was too much, it’s me and my own content that is being published. People follow me, I gather, because they’d like to read what I have to say. I think because Twitter is closer, more personal, it would be link having an IM conversation with someone and having an ad come up, as you, every fourth message or so. It isn’t me talking, I can’t control it, it just comes. That would drive me batty.

I can’t imagine, or would want, my Twitter stream (which is pretty crowded as it is) clogged with ads too. And from looking at the ads that have been doled out thus far, wow they are pretty bad.

Consensus: Magpie, interesting idea, but destined to fail.

On Friday Colleen was talking about whether or not Twitter should even have a business model. Funny I was just thinking about this too. I’ve been thinking that really maybe Twitter has been built to be bought and probably by Google.

Twitter has become a core communications tool. Like email, like IM, like blogs, it almost seems like it should be free and free of ads.

Of course realistically we know that it can’t exist without cash flow, which lead me to wonder if Twitter would become like Gmail. Maybe off the right side there would be contextual ads based on the content of your twitter stream (and man that could get trippy). Maybe an on-screen gap with an ad or something.

I figure that Twitter will have to be ad-supported and I think Twitter users really don’t want ads within their Twitter stream so I see ads on the site to be the best option.

So, will Google step up and scoop up Twitter now or wait for a bidding war with Microsoft?

Update: I decided to re-run the Magpie “how much will you earn” script against my Twitter ID and this is a screenshot of my “worth”:

When it launched I checked it was like $200CAD, based on this it’s about $6,825CAD! Since most people said that they’d unfollow you right away, would that be worth it? And how are they funding this? That’s a lot of coin to be tossing around, or say you’ll be tossing around.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Be A Magpie: Earn from Twitter
• What’s a Tweetworth? My 2 Cents on Magpie
• Selling Ads on Your Twitter Background? You’ll Love Magpie
• Magpie an Ad Network for Twitter
• Twitter Business Models. Im Sure I Can Predict How They Are Going To Make Money
• Enterprise Microsharing Reading List

Always a nice start to a post when you can start off with a homage to Mark Twain. His quote (roughly) “I would have written a shorter letter, but I didn’t have time” is exactly how I feel about Twitter vs. Blogging. I don’t think Mark Evans would agree with me though:

Blog posts are easy to write and publish. To pump out a 500-word post - or a series of 500-word posts - does not take a lot of time or effort. What’s difficult is writing a 500-word post that features some thought, insight or a nugget an idea. What you’re seeing is far too many press release rewrites - cut and paste jobs that masquerade as blog posts.

Twitter hasn’t saved blogging; it’s just another place where bad bloggers can make even more noise.

Has Twitter Saved Blogging? Not a Chance
Mark Evans
Sun, 02 Nov 2008 11:32:03 GMT

I agree that writing a blog post is easy. Sometimes a tweet is a little banal, but I have found that writing a cogent tweet is really hard. Twitter saved blogging? Well I will say it’s a lot easier for people to connect and contribute through Twitter than feeling the pressure to blog.

Often I find myself engaging on Twitter very deeply. Having long, multithreaded discussions with people from all over. Like being at at cafe where there is a talking time limit. Other times I want to sit down and write out something more in depth. Maybe I save up deep thoughts for here.

I feel less compelled to blog as often about things because a tweet is sometimes enough. Is that making my blogging better? I think so, but that isn’t really for me to decide is it?

All the brew-ha-ha about the death of blogging last week didn’t really surprise me much (See Mark Evans, Mathew Ingram, Wired and Tish Grier). I had a post percolating in my head about the whole issue, but it wasn’t until Rebecca’s post today that it all clicked together for me:

I think blogging is changing; it’s evolving into something much bigger, allowing for more applications and tools to emerge in the online realm. It’s changing the conversation and allowing for more of a two-way street; you and your audience, wired and mobile, on and offline. Source: Blogging is Dead » Vancouver Blog Miss 604 by Rebecca Bollwitt

This is what I’ve been saying-have said-will continue to say (and you thought verb conjugation would never be helpful!) for years now. Blogging is changing and evolving. Blogging is writing. It’s a tool. At either Gnomedex or Affiliate Summit or BlogWorldExpo over the summer someone said “Saying I blog is like saying I paper.” it’s just one technology that lets us share and exchange information quickly.

Rebecca’s right, live tweeting is overtaking live blogging. Why? I think because there is more immediacy to a Twitter stream of coverage, certainly more brevity, and you can reach a broader audience with less effort. I have something like 2200 followers on Twitter and I know not all of them read my blog, but on Twitter they can get the info easily.

FriendFeed is becoming a hub for information, one that I haven’t been using as much lately because TweetDeck doesn’t have FriendFeed integration, rather than Techmeme or similar aggregators.

All of these tools are based on what we’ve learned and developed through blogging. RSS, remote posting, following people, friends, connections. It’s an evolution, a process, and frankly it’s damn exciting.

I’m still writing here, and will continue to do so until I run out of things to say. Is this a blog or my personal magazine of Tris?

In the end, does it really matter?

Mark Krynsky of the Lifestream Blog wrote a pretty damn intriguing guest post on Louis Gray’s blog postulating that lifestreaming is the next evolution of “what’s next” and I might be inclined to agree with him:

Companies are slowly starting to understand social media. They should also start thinking about how to improve communication internally for a well informed workforce. Creating rich workstreams by aggregating real-time data on an internal network can help achieve this. I see a resurgence of rich intranets like this starting to happen soon.
Data aggregation continues to re-invent itself in other useful ways. I was excited when I first started using Mint.com as I saw it as essentially a vertical lifestream. In this case it was aggregating all my financial accounts to provide a real-time "financestream". But that’s not all that Mint.com does. It’s a very special service and it actually provides the bridge to two areas where I see the web going next, recommendation engines and moving apps to the cloud.
Many services are getting really good at collecting the data and providing ways for us to interact with it. But that will only take us so far. The next phase will be creating intelligence based on the data. The first step to that will be recommendation engines. Strands provides several services including lifestreaming and has recently put up a prize to help them improve this technology. Mint.com provides recommendations on how to save money based on the data. I’m sure we will continue to see these engines applied to many new areas and perfected as they become mature. Source: louisgray.com: Is Lifestreaming a Catalyst for What’s Coming After Web 2.0?

I think Mark’s vision of a river and flow of information, tailored to what you want is what we’ve all been dreaming of. Okay maybe just me.

The key to lifestreaming or infostreaming is that is isn’t based on a set range of sources, but on topics. Yes, search feeds, twitter searches, etc do this, but the key is going to be when we look at a dashboard of information and can pull out what we want.

A system that learns what you like and highlights those. It’s taking what Strands, aideRSS, FriendFeed, TweetDeck and others are doing to the next logical step. Frankly I think we’ve got all the pieces, now the glue, the time, and the money to assemble them…

How could this change how we do things, how we run and manage your life. Could change a lot.

The one thing I don’t really agree with in Mark’s vision is the re-birth of the Intranet. No, what we’ll see are behind-the-firewall versions of these tools and tailored start pages becoming the norm (iGoogle meets Enterprise 2.5). Intranets? Those are just behind-the-firewall datasets. That will always exist, it’s just how the data is streamed and delivered.

Personally the days of the “Department X Intranet Page” are better left gone. Intra-company fiefdoms aren’t helpful or good uses of money. The department x data feed, now that’s a horse of a different colour.

Could the recent Strands application be another of the steps towards this infostreaming goal?

You tell me.

I was at BlogWorldExpo last year, helped with the conference and was on a couple panels. I had a really great time, of course. Last year a lot of the buzz and topics were on business blogging and the business of blogging. Lots. So much it got to be a bit much I think.

This year, while business blogging, etc are still on the radar and have a prominent place on the program, it’s Twitter that is everywhere. Talking with Rebecca about her live blogging, we agreed that people aren’t looking for, reading, and linking back to live blog posts like they used to, Twitter has become the place for session/panel coverage.

I saw tweets along the lines of people sick of hearing about Twitter in every panel (not just tracking what’s going on, but its use as a tool), but I also saw that when a panel had a hashtag, it could quickly jump into the top 5 Twitter topics in that hour.

Where is this pointing? I’m going to go as far as to say that Twitter has gone mainstream. Well mainstream in the tech set at least.

Is this the BlogWorld effect or just good timing? That I don’t know. However, from now on I’m sure that microblogging is firmly entrenched in how we communicate and, this is the cool part, how we share/cover/interact/coordinate during conferences.

I had a chance to sit down with Jenn Lowther of Tagga to hear what their plans for BlogWorld Expo were. When I first was introduced to Tagga about a month ago I knew that Tagga would fit in at BlogWorld and would do something cool.

I was certainly not disappointed.

Jenn told me that between Friday night and Sunday there will be 8 TaggaMobs. You’ll get instructions via SMS and when you get there the prizes to be won will be done via Tagga’s twitter ID (hint, follow them now).

How, pray tell, do you get the location? Through Tagga, of course.

Text “tagga” to 82442 and you’ll get this back:

http://tagga.tagga.com  Follow @tagga on twitter for updates on the next taggamob at Blogworld! First taggamob at Bare party on Friday.

When the Taggamob is to start, you’ll get an SMS and the fun will commence.

And speaking of prizes, the grand prize on Sunday is a $500 Apple store gift card.

So while a flashmob has typically used SMS or Twitter, a Taggamob can could use SMS and Twitter.

Pretty cool.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Create Your Own Free SMS Campaign With Tagga
• Tagga Bridges the Web and the Real World With SMS
• Forget Brogan, Forget Me While You’re at It! Meet GLENDA at BlogWorld Expo!
• Rockstars of the Blogosphere