See this TechCrunch article for more detail on Google and Twitter …

If you stop and think about this, it just makes sense to some degree. Google dominates in the area of search. But they don’t do ‘real-time’ search of conversations and that’s where Twitter is strong. If you haven’t used the http://search.twitter.com — do so and you’ll see the power of this new era. Type a few keywords in and watch as it updates for you in real-time, listing the Twitter conversations going on with those keywords.

We’ll see… rumors are rumors.  But just because it makes sense to a bunch of bloggers doesn’t mean it will happen.  Personally, I’d like to see it occur provided Google doesn’t sit on Twitter like it did Blogger and slow the development of the platform.  But I have my doubts Google will make the leap because there is so much in flux right now. New developments in social media and social networking tools are happening almost weekly from startups and the majors.

For example, where does FriendFeed fit into the picture with their announcements this coming Monday (April 6th) for major changes?  I’m personally more interested in these developments because it’s a more powerful communication tool then Twitter.  And what will Facebook do?  My goodness; there are so many changes occurring in the social tools space that 2009 is an exciting year of unpredictable change for most of us. Hardly a new concept though considering the last few years, but that’s another more philosophic topic.

Robert Scoble seems to be leaning away from the idea that Google would buy Twitter. As you know, opinions are like noses, everyone has one. What do you think?  Kara Swisher is reporting that there is no Google deal under discussion to buy Twitter.

Tom

SXSW 2009 is nearly here. This is the week before so I have some tips for you to maximize your experience.

1. Get lots of sleep this week. Really – GO TO BED EARLY all week. Exercise and eat well. You MUST roll into Austin in good shape physically and mentally; else you’ll crumble. Every day is very full from morning to well into the evening. You will want to get out and enjoy downtown Austin for the gatherings and parties which frankly is the best part of SXSW because you meet so many fascinating people.

2. Review the calendar of events and panels and make your first cut now. Don’t wait, you’ll be sorry once you’re sucked into the vortex.

3. Pick A and B for each panel time. The reason for this is the Austin Convention Center (ACC) is HUGE.  If you get to a panel and you don’t like it or it’s crowded you simply must know how to find that B panel, else you’ll lose out on both. Sometimes you just pick the wrong one, so give yourself some options.

4. Go early to pick up your badge. Go early to pick up your badge. Go early to pick up your badge. Did I say that enough?

5. Toss out all the stuff they give you EXCEPT the drink tickets. The rest sadly, is useless.

6. There will be a very large catalog type book for Interactive and Film. Do not haul them each day. Simply pull out the panel summary page for each day and take it with you. Repeat each day.

7. Bring your laptop if it’s light. There is free WIFI throughout the ACC. You’ll want to take notes and hook up with people online in real time. During boring panels you can look like you’re taking notes while you catch up on your Twitter feed or FriendFeed …

8. There is no good food at the ACC. There is Starbucks though.  If you don’t mind standing to eat and food that tastes like it came from the airport, then you can grab lunch at the ACC. It’s best to carry around some fruit and health bars in your back pack.  Eat breakfast before you come each day and be prepared to just head out for lunch which is good for networking anyway. But remember everything downtown is crowded. Same for dinner – eat out.

9. Wear comfortable clothing. If you’re planning on doing some networking, wear something memorable. Why not?

10. Like most places, AC plugs can be as rare as hen’s teeth. If you’re up for it, bring a small extension cord with multiple plugins. Share …

11. Enjoy yourself. This isn’t your typical boring enterprise or academic type conference where everyone is worried about their next raise (well ok these days it’s worry about keeping your job).  This is more like being in college.

12. Take plenty of business cards to give out. SXSW is the uber-conference for networking and plan on using those cards for taking down notes at odd times. Always follow up with folks that you meet even if it’s just to touch back and say hi.

13. Enjoy meeting people. It’s crowded but everyone is there for the same reason to learn and meet people. Say hello, introduce yourself, ask people about themselves and why they are there. Be interested in others. Most people work for themselves or in small businesses. Yes there are some folks from large businesses but most are just like you and me – self employed. Everyone you meet could be an opportunity for new business. It’s like 5 days of meet and greets for business versus dating and hey it’s fun because there is no worry of rejection. And lots of places have free drinks.

Now go to bed if you’re reading this late a night. You’re going to need your energy.

What did I forget? Leave a comment.

All the best
Tom

Here is a personal note I composed for a dear friend that recently called to ask me “why bother with Twitter - I don’t get it”. She’s on Facebook now and is just starting to ‘get it’ with regards to building communities online in these new ways. I’m hoping this will be of help to others.

Dear Gwynne -

Thank you for your note about Twitter and how you just don’t get how Twitter works compared to Facebook. I applaud you for moving your traditional mailing list marketing efforts into a Facebook community.  Doing so will help you stay connected with people in Facebook who know you.  Facebook will help you build a community to continue providing insightful support to people who want to use symbolism and models of astrology as a guide to finding themselves and happiness in their life.

You’re right, Twitter is different and at first it seems overly simplified.  There is no on-going flow of people’s thoughts and actions showing up. Well, not until you start befriending others on Twitter. That requires finding people that don’t know you and waiting for others to find you.  Give it some time.  Your Twitter BIO should have the keywords that describe you and your personal interests. You’ll find over time people seek you out on Twitter like they used to do in Google Search engines finding your monthly writings and then asking you to be on your mailing list.  Now people find your Twitters and they decide to follow you.  Like signing up to be on an email list, people ONLY FOLLOW who they really ‘want’ to follow. It’s not a numbers game, it’s about quality of conversation.

Think of Twitter as a kind of  ‘birds of feather’ group where people share thoughts and ideas and links with each other. You want people that add value to your life by sending along new ideas or thought you have not seen before from the Internet. They uncover valuable insights that you appreciate. I only follow 40 or so folks on Twitter and most of them  do not post often. Only a few post daily. But the ones I follow have very high value content. I often reTweet which means I  forward their Tweet along to my list of about 400 which gives them more visibility.  This BTW is how you build up your Twitter community (also called your social graph on Twitter).  Say something useful and post a relevant link. Others will follow.

I’m not interested in how many glasses of water people drink or when they are going to bed at night.  I ignore those folks or just drop them from my follow list. You DO NOT have to follow everyone that follows you. Don’t let others chide you into thinking that. I’m not trying to be hard here just practical.  I think conversation is important but to me having ‘useful’ conversation is more important.

Make sure you put your Twitter address on your email signature and on your web page. You will want to grab your particular  Twitter name before someone else does,  just like you do with Internet domains.  Keep that in mind for now even if you don’t post often, yet.

So for you, post those amazing insights you have each day. Posts a link to your monthly astrology forecasts. Unlike Facebook, practically everyone on  Twitter is visible on the Internet so find interesting people to follow and reTweet their posts. There is an entire subculture of people building amazing Twitter search tools which folks are using to find others they are interested in following. Facebook is more of a ‘who you know’ kind of place where Twitter is more of a ‘what you know’ kind of place to build community.  In fact you can go to http://search.twitter.com and see Twitter posts on whatever topic you pick by dropping in a keyword word or two. It’s in real time from people all over the world. Try that in Facebook – you can’t do it.  Do it on Twitter and find people who are authoring Tweets on topic of interest to you. Click on their FOLLOW button.

The Twitter.com website is fairly dry and uninteresting. I hardly ever use it now. I use TweetDeck because I can see more of the conversation that is occurring from my community of friends. I highly recommend finding a desktop and iPhone Twitter application versus using the Twitter home page.

Enjoy building your community. The next time we talk I’ll show you how to use tools like FriendFeed to automatically repost your blog articles into Twitter and Facebook and find more friends for your community(ies = social graphs). In addition there is a Netscape plug-in tool called Feedley to help you further your efforts in finding relevant information and like minded souls around the world to be in community with.

Tom

“Twenty years from now we’ll look back and say, ‘Gee, telephone numbers were a goofy thing,’” predicts Internetologist Len Hause

Part 1 – download

Part 2 – download
In this Talking Portraits interview, Hause predicts that phone numbers will no longer be needed. After giving a summary of the evolution of telephone numbers—from simple 4-digit numbers accessed through a local exchange to today’s numbers that designate locality, region, state, and nation of origin—Hause describes how content and context (the mode of transmission) are becoming more and more orthogonal (independent of one another).

Given the number of choices we have now, including Internet voice applications that use only name-based addressing, Hause describes how and why the telephone number as we know it will give way to a futuristic persona-based system that allows us to contact one another using a names.

Bio

Len Hause is an Internetologist and founder of MashBrain where he consults on Internet marketing and technology strategies. He was a Fellow of the Technical Staff, Associate of the Science Advisory Board, and Marketing Director at Motorola where he spent more than 30 years in management roles and as an individual contributor. He has been recognized as a pioneer in the adoption of Internet protocols and culture within the Enterprise for collaboration and organizational learning. While working in the semiconductor business, he learned firsthand about the importance of the convergence of the Internet and cell phone technology.

Hause frequently participates on executive, educational, corporate, and government advisory boards and consortia. He is also an active member of Austin’s musical community. He holds a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University. (more…)

Here is a question I get fairly often:

I notice in your Twitter posts/tweets that you have a “tiny url” for the website postings you want the reader to see. What is TinyURL? How is this different from a regular URL?

GOOD question, Bob. Here is the answer: Twitter allows only 140 characters and that include any URL you may insert into the text. The problem with URLs is many of them are very long and hairy, as you’ve probably noticed. So … thanks to TinyURL freeware, here’s what you do to solve that problem:

1. Go to http://www.tinyurl.com
2. Scroll down a bit and you’ll see a box titled: Enter a long URL to make tiny:
3. Do what it says and click on the Make TinyURL button.

OR, if you want to add TinyURL to your toolbar:
1. Click and drag the following link to your links toolbar: TinyURL!
2. Once this is on your toolbar, you’ll be able to make a TinyURL at the click of a button. By clicking on the toolbar button, a TinyURL will be created for the page you are currently on. 
3. Next time you’re composing a note in Twitter and want to include a page’s URL, open another window (or tab up) so you can see the content there. Grab the URL and click on the TinyURL thing on your Toolbar, and it will give you the short version you can copy and paste into your tweet.

Try it out. You can always delete your test twitter.

BONUS:
This question also comes up about Twitter: Why should a business bother with Twitter? Well, what you have to keep in mind is there are two parts to the Twitter opportunity, and you don’t see the second one unless you know about it. I’ve had all sorts of businesses contact me when I twitter about something because these businesses are constant running SEARCHES against all Twitters for keywords. When they find something, they send that person an email (or Twitter). It’s the ultimate one-on-one marketing.

Go to Google and type Twitter Search and you’ll see all kinds of search engines. In fact, Twitter actually purchased a specialized Twitter Search software company that has been integrated into Twitter – see http://search.twitter.com/. 

The business leverage here is getting more intimate with people who are exposing so much about their daily lives (business and personal) that you can hook into this and engage with them. Answer questions, help them out, solve a problem for them, sell them a product they are looking for, fix something broken they are complaining about.

I tell you, when someone pops up in your email box telling you they saw a Twitter you posted and they are offering some help, it just about blows you away. This is true for B-to-B and B-to-C.

Another feature is the list of hot topics that are shown at http://search.twitter.com/, so go exploring and see what’s possible for you and your business on Twitter.

Tom