Fast-forward a few years and social media, tablets, e-readers and e-books are changing everything. Indeed, there’s never been a better time to be an aspiring author. You can build an audience on your own, sell directly to your readers and pocket the cash without splitting a penny with a publisher or an agent. As a result, I’ve not only taken the dive back into writing, I’ve become fascinated with how writers are using social media to build their careers (and to sell more books).

In this post, the first in a series about how authors are using social media, I interviewed Jonathan Maberry, author of such zombie brain-feasts as Patient Zero, Rot & Ruin, Dust & Decay, Dead of Night and Wanted Undead or Alive (for more about How Jonathan uses social media and zombies, read the full, extended interview at Addicted to Social Media.com).

Please tell our readers about yourself. Who is Jonathan Maberry?

Zombie Author Jonathan Maberry

I’m a professional writer and part-time writing teacher. I write thrillers, horror novels, post-apocalyptic adventures for teens, movie tie-ins, and short stories. And I freelance for Marvel Comics. I teach a weekly writing class for teens and run a few classes on novel writing for adults.

Before I went full time as an author I had a grab-bag of different jobs. I was a bouncer in a strip club (in my wild youth), a bodyguard in the entertainment industry, a college teacher, the executive director of a writers center, an Expert Witness for the Philadelphia D.A.’s office (for murder trials involving martial arts), and a graphic artist.

I live on Bucks County, Pennsylvania with my wife, Sara Jo.

When, and more importantly, why did you decide to start using social media?

I got involved with message boards early on, but mostly to communicate with like-minded people on subjects that interested me; martial arts, books, film, the paranormal, folklore…things like that.

Then, while teaching a program at the Writers Room in Doylestown, PA, one of my students made a presentation on the subject of a new thing called ‘social media’.  At the time the hot topic was MySpace. I wound up exploring MySpace and then becoming heavily invested in the online community.

That student was Don Lafferty, who is now a publisher, writer and a social media consultant of some note. He frequently advises a number of other successful authors on social media.

What platforms are you on?

I’m all over the place, but I’m most heavily invested in Twitter, Facebook (regular page and group page), LinkedIn, and GoodReads. I rely heavily on Yahoo Groups for my classes and special projects –such as an anthology I’d editing, and we use the message board for posting info, submissions, and so on. I also have a website (www.jonathanmaberry.com), and I belong to Shelfari, LibraryThing, and a bunch of message boards –many of which are connected to writers organizations to which I belong (The Mystery Writers of America, Horror Writers Association, International Thriller Writers, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers.

For authors, what platforms would you recommend?

The big three are Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. That’s where the crowd hangs out, that’s where they talk, and that’s where the most useful connections are made. I also recommend that all writers join GoodReads and LibraryThing, and also build a website that draws a lot of traffic to one central point.

What’s your social media strategy?

I spend most of my time having fun. I read a lot of the posts other people make, and comment as often as I have something interesting (or funny) to say. I also post a lot of humor. These are dark times, so lightening the mood seems to work. I post links to events and publications by other writers and to items that I feel are of general interest. I’m a science and pop culture geek, so there’s a lot of that in what I post.

So, my strategy is to post positive stuff and generally have fun on the Net.

One thing that has greatly increased the traffic to my platforms and dialed up the volume of interactive posts is to include my readers in my projects. I’ll have contests online for people to name characters (including letting them win the chance to have a character named after them); or to pick the title of my next book; or win something nice like a Kindle or Nook. And, yes, giving out prizes is fun for me, too.

Has social media helped sales? If so, how are you measuring that?

Social media definitely bumps up sales. I see it in the analytics that track click-throughs from newsletters or social media posts to purchase sites like online booksellers.

And with social media I’ve been able to build an international fanbase that I might not otherwise have built. Publishing houses can’t afford to send as many writers on tour these days, and even when they do it’s usually a limited tour.

What kinds of interactions do you see people/fans responding to?

It’s pretty clear to anyone who visits my Twitter or Facebook page that I’m having an enormous amount of fun driving my jet-ski at high speed through the social media seas. Fun is infectious; people want to play with the happy kid in the playground. Try it out. Make a negative post and count the ‘likes’ and reposts then post something fun like a link to a cartoon (I post a ton of cartoons), a fascinating bit of science trivia (zombie ants, for example), praise for someone else’s accomplishments and then see how many MORE hits there are. Positive trumps negative every time.

At the same time I believe that people respond to my integrity. I never bash, never descend to base humor, and I don’t use the Net to proselytize any political agendas. I think that also engenders within them a greater sense of trust in the quality of the products I have on the market. Integrity and good will are hard to fake in anything but the short term, so people who hang out with me online know they’re safe and that something weird or silly is going to happen. We all dig that vibe.

Do you see social media becoming part of the story telling process?

It already is. We use social media to engage interest and to share information. The Net encourages us to get to the heart of our message, and as a result we’ve learned (and continue to learn) how to do that. The 140 character limit on Twitter is brilliant, and the fact that you can post a quick message and a hot link allows people to jump right in.

From a different perspective, some folks are using social media as an actual delivery system for storytelling. The Japanese Twitter novels are an example of that, but that’s been going on for years and I don’t see it catching fire here in the States. That said, I think the door is open for some new kind of multi-platform and interactive storytelling that we haven’t seen yet. I’ll bet money that it will happen. And, yeah, once it’s there I’ll probably experiment with it.

I hear you’re in talks to develop one of your books into a TV series. Do you see social media/Twitter playing a role?

That’s one of those Hollywood horror stories. Sony Pictures had optioned Patient Zero for TV.  They hired Emmy Award winning writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach to do the pilot script, and he nailed it. They brought it to ABC, and we got all the way down to the wire so that it was pretty much a decision between my show and a remake of Charlie’s Angels. And they went with the Angels.

As of now, the option is open again and my agent has been fielding reach-outs from various producers, so we’ll see. We’re all pretty optimistic, however.

Once something does catch fire, social media will be crucial. I’ve seen how that worked for The Walking Dead, a show based on the comics by my friend Robert Kirkman. The production company was all over the Net with that. It was everywhere, and it paid off, because the show was an instant hit as it deserved to be. But without social media buzz, it might have struggled to gain an audience and might not have done so soon enough to get the nod for a second season. Social media greatly helped that show.

Do you think zombies make good tweeters?

They’re relentless and they never tire, so yeah…they’ll be tweeting 24/7 with only a short break for some fresh brains.

Can you recommend any zombie related Twitter accounts, our readers are dying to know (pun intended)?

• @Zombiesquad
• @Zombcon
• @ZombieResearch
• @ZombieToys
• @TweetsOfTheDead
• @ZombieZoneNews
• @ZombieNews
• @TheZombieClub

For more about How Jonathan uses social media and zombies, read the full, extended interview at Addicted to Social Media.com. And if you’d like to read any of Jonathan’s books, click on the links below.

• Ghost Road Blues
• Dead Man’s Song
• Bad Moon Rising
• Patient Zero
• The Dragon Factory
• The King of Plagues
• Rot & Ruin
• Dust & Decay
• Dead of Night
• “The Wind Through the Fence” (short story)
• Wanted Undead or Alive
• The Wolfman

Neal Wiser is the owner of Neal Wiser Consulting, a Digital Marketing consulting firm. You can follow Neal on Twitter (his handle is @NealWiser). Neal is also the Cofounder and Co-host of the Addicted to Social Media Podcast. You can also read more of Neal’s Twitip posts here or on his blog at NealWiser.com.

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



Tweeting with Zombies

For years, people have been offering their opinions on how Twitter should make money. Despite the fact that the company allegedly made $45 million in 2010 and its targeting $150 million this year, those numbers fall far short of the kind of revenues Twitter will need to justify it’s soon to be $8 Billion valuation.

While most industry watchers and armchair quarterbacks point to advertising as the answer, what’s been leaked, rumored, experimented with, experimented with again and announced thus far falls far short of the bold and innovative thinking that spawned Twitter in the first place. If history is any guide, most of those solutions will be viewed as intrusive (remember the Dickbar?), will fail because no one’s considering how users may react and/or will simply not generate enough revenue to satisfy Twitter’s investors anyway.

Yes, Twitter needs to do something bold again. Despite the fact that the service is in desperate need of additional features (such as Channels), when uber-fanboys like Robert Scoble call Twitter “Boring” and “a mess,” you know there’s a problem. So, Twitter needs a redesign, if not to add those additional features then at least to maximize its advertising earnings potential. After all, those ads have got to go somewhere.

Is this Bold Enough for You?

If Twitter is going to incorporate advertising into the interface, placing them in the user’s tweet stream (as linked to above) is not the answer; they will simply get lost in the flood of tweets, assuming that people won’t tune them out anyway. No, Twitter needs another solution; one that will maximize advertising’s earning potential. But to do that, any ad system, like all ad systems, will need to accomplish three things:

1. Increase the likelihood that an ad unit will be seen.
2. Increase the likelihood that users will click on the ads by making them more relevant.
3. Increase the total volume of ads to maximize advertising’s earnings potential.

For all three, there is only one solution…

Introducing the Ad Column ^TM

The Twitter Ad Column

(Click for Larger Image)

The Ad Column is a new column in the Twitter interface strategically positioned close to the center of the page between the Tweet Stream and the right panel (see above image). The central placement of the Ad Column dramatically increases the likelihood that the ads will be seen, addressing Bullet 1.

Ad units in the Ad Column would be paired with a user’s tweets based on the subject of those tweets or some other factor as determined by the advertiser. This clearly would increase each ad’s relevance and also increase the likelihood that users will read them, addressing Bullet 2 (this assumes that Twitter will utilize some sort of keyword matching technology).

Finally, the Ad Column massively increases the size of Twitter’s potential ad inventory by pairing one ad unit with each tweet. With Twitter claiming 200 million tweets/day, that’s both a lot of ads and also addressing Bullet 3.

Granted, the Ad Column layout is going to be controversial for some users. However, as Larry Magid pointed out, Google has already proven that placing ads in its products (such as search results and Gmail) can be successful without interrupting the user’s experience. Granted, the Ad Column only affects Twitter.com. How the interface would be implemented on various third-party apps and on mobile devices would surely be different, but that’s beyond the scope of this post (although, I could think of something).

Types of Ad Units

Large Ad Unit

An additional benefit of the Ad Column is that it not only allows ads to be placed on multiple pages, such as my Profile page above, but that it also allows for several different types of ad units.

Large Unit

The Large Ad Unit would appear at the top of the column. This unit could be in a fixed position so that when a user scrolls, the ad remains visible, or it could scroll with the rest of the page.

Additionally, it could expand into the right column in much the same way that Twitter’s iPad app does today. This would offer advertisers considerably more space, perhaps enough for a micro site, with which to engage users.

Finally, the ad unit itself could include features such as a video player or launch a popup that could offer similar features as the micro-site (see below).

Small Unit

Small Ad Unit

This would be the most common ad unit and could include an image and link to launch a popup (see below). Small units would be available in two basic formats:

• Text Only
• Text with Images

Popups

As mentioned above, an additional option for all ad units would be to offer supplementary information and functionality via a popup. These popups would activate when a user clicks on or rolls over the “Learn More” link at the bottom of relevant ads.

The following is an example for how a popup ad unit for a film could be executed. The popup could include basic information about the film and even a video player offering previews or other content. Links included on the popup could include tools to find a nearby theater, offers to buy tickets or even to retweet the ad itself.

Another style of popup could focus on local businesses. In the following example, a local business could setup and run their own campaigns (Disclosure: UltrasonicMachines.com is a client and their equipment is amazing).

Show Me the Money!

Of course, all ad systems are useless if they don’t make money. While Twitter is working hard to develop other revenue streams, such as the Promoted Trend which they’re charging advertisers $120,000 per day, its cousin, the Promoted Tweet, rumored Twitter Brand Pages and various marketing tools for marketers, the revenues from all of them combined would pale in comparison to the Ad Column system.

To illustrate potential Ad Column revenues, I did some very basic calculations which you can see in the chart below. This matrix is merely for entertainment value. I did not breakdown every factor such as revenue limitations based on ad budgets, calculating impressions/tweet (although Large Ad Unit impressions are included) or other potential revenue streams such as from a Twitter Shopping Cart where Twitter would receive a percentage of every transaction. If you want to see an example of a very detailed revenue model, I highly recommend reading this post by Nova Spivack, and don’t miss his own spreadsheet. Additionally, please note that the values are based on the following assumptions:

• All tweets would have ads.
• The entire ad inventory would be sold out.
• Ad inventory is based on Twitter’s claims of 200 million tweets/day (the split between ad types is fairly arbitrary; I just picked numbers that seemed reasonable).
• A minimum of one Large Ad would be served for every user visit (an additional Large Ad unit would be served for each page refresh which are not calculated here). Large Ad unit inventory is based on data from compete.com for June, 2011 where Compete reported 169,992,743 Visits which I rounded up to 170 Million to derive 5,666,666 visits/day in the chart below.
• Visits include traffic from all sources (Twitter.com and all apps that access Twitter).

Finally, because I know that these revenue numbers will be controversial, especially due to the simplicity of the calculations, you can download a copy of the original spreadsheet to calculate your own revenue projections for Twitter (Note that the file is an Excel 2007 .xlsx). Enjoy!

What do you think? Please leave your comments or questions below.

Neal Wiser is the owner of Neal Wiser Consulting, a Digital Marketing consulting firm. You can follow Neal on Twitter (his handle is @NealWiser). Neal is also the Cofounder and Co-host of the Addicted to Social Media Podcast. You can also read more of Neal’s Twitip posts here or on his blog at NealWiser.com.

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



Twitter’s New Ad System REVEALED

The Problem

I participate in a number of weekly TwitChats. These TwitChats are often very educational and can be a lot of fun; that is, for the participants. For everyone else, they can be a real hassle.

The problem is that while you’re having a heated debate about the merits of origami (no offense to origami fans), you’re going to have followers who couldn’t care less. Moreover, if you fire off fifty or sixty tweets during an hour long TwiChat, you can really flood some of your follower’s streams. I’ve had plenty of people unfollow me because of this and if you participate in TwitChats, I’m sure you have too.

The Solution

Now, you might say that Hash Tags (#) are the solution, but they’re not. The Hash Tag evolved as a way for Twitter users to more easily find tweets on a specific topic. TwitChats are dependent upon them (just add a #Topic to any tweet and set up a search to find them).

Unfortunately (as mentioned above), when people whom you follow are participating in TwitChats, if you don’t filter out those tweets, you’re going to see every single tweet they send. Also, while Twitter does nothing to help you filter out unwanted Hash Tags, TweetDeck does have a filter feature, but I’ve never bothered to use it. Have you?

Finally, while I find setting up searches in Twitter and TweetDeck easy, many people simply do not. However, even if they do set up searches, it still does nothing about a user’s stream being flooded with unwanted tweets. Fortunately, there is a solution that Twitter could implement, and that solution is creating Channels.

How Channels Can Benefit the User

A Channel would simply be a Twitter stream that is parallel to the main Twitter stream, but isolated from that stream just as one TV channel is isolated from other TV channels. A user would only see that Channel if they intentionally visited that Channel’s page or followed it.

When in a Channel, the user could dispense with adding a Hash Tag to each tweet as everything being tweeted in that Channel should be on topic. Alternately, the user could use a Hash Tag if they’re discussing a related subtopic, or they could create a new channel (a SubChannel) under a main topic Channel, and it could extend from there.

For example, a Directory of Channels might look like this:

• Main Channel: Medicine, or Healthcare (whatever)
  • SubChannel: Diabetes
    • Sub(Sub)Channel: Type 1 Diabetes
    • Sub(Sub)Channel: Type 2 Diabetes
      • Sub(Sub, Sub)Channel: Type 2 Diabetes Research

We can figure out the nomenclature for SubChannels later, but I think the above structure is clear and simple enough.

A Few More Notes on Channels

• Channels would differ from Lists because while you can follow individual Lists, you still see every tweet of everyone on that list regardless of topic. Channels would create topic specific conversations.
• Users could set up Channels as being either Public or Private and invite participants.

How Channels can Benefit Twitter

While Channels could be setup by any Twitter user for any topic, they can also drive revenue for Twitter in two ways.

• Branded Channels: Companies and/or brands could setup their own channels and SubChannels and pay Twitter for the privilege. Perhaps Twitter could even charge different rates depending on Channel size. For example, $X for a Channel with 100 users following it and $XXX for a Channel with 100,000 users following it.
• Targeted Advertising: Since, by definition, Channels are topic specific, Twitter could charge much higher ad rates for Sponsored Tweets in those channels. Why? Because tweets in those Channels would be noticed by the target audience at much higher rates than on the main Twitter stream. Additionally, the Channel audience would be much more likely to respond to a Call to Action.

Btw, I know there are a lot of third-party services that enable groups in one fashion or another. In my experience, they don’t work all that well. Also, they tie you a specific third-party service and given Twitter’s recent history with their third-party developers, I would expect most of those services to disappear in the near future.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

Neal Wiser is Vice President of Digital Strategy and Operations at The ODM Group where he leads teams in the creation and execution of digital marketing campaigns. You can follow Neal on Twitter (his handle is @NealWiser). Neal is also the Cofounder and Co-host of the Addicted to Social Media podcast. You can also read is blog at NealWiser.com.

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



Why Twitter Needs Channels

At the time, there was some confusion about the wisdom of the UberMedia deal. Twitter’s response to the announcement was to block UberMedia’s other recently acquired Twitter apps from accessing Twitter’s API. The move was widely viewed as both an overreaction and heavy-handed. Twitter’s justification was that the UberMedia apps had allegedly violated Twitter’s Terms of Service and many TweetDeck users were afraid that TweetDeck was going to be shut down next.

While TweetDeck was not affected by the blockage, a Twitter acquisition could have huge implications for both Twitter’s and TweetDeck’s users. Twitter, which used to be hailed as an example of innovation, has recently been criticized by many “power-users” for its lack of innovation. In comparison to TweetDeck, or other services such as Hootsuite, twitter.com is embarrassingly low-frills and rarely introduces new features.

Is a Feature also a Product?

In the years immediately following its launch, Twitter was heavily dependent upon its eco-system of third-party developers. In fact, it was these very developers who created some of Twitter’s most popular and innovative features and were largely responsible for Twitter’s explosive growth from 2007-2010.

Yet, starting last year and seemingly culminating in January, Twitter told those same third-party developers to, in effect, go away. The move was seen by many, including myself, as suicidal as Twitter’s future growth will be dramatically impacted by continued innovation, or lack thereof.

Indeed, many industry watchers suspect that Twitter will ultimately kill TweetDeck after an acquisition. Such a drastic move seems highly unlikely (bordering on laughable) as Twitter doesn’t need to spend $50 Million to kill TweetDeck. All it has to do is turn off TweetDeck’s access to the Twitter’s API as was done to UberMedia.

Twitter Needs TweetDeck

No, Twitter needs TweetDeck, if for no other reason than TweetDeck is one of the most innovative Twitter-based services available. Perhaps the biggest question is how Twitter will integrate TweetDeck into the Twitter family of products. Twitter is trying to drive more users to twitter.com, presumably to increase ad revenue, and doesn’t want users using third-party apps anymore. The problem is, according to a study by Sysomos, those apps account for 42% of Twitter’s traffic.

Fortunately for Twitter, TweetDeck introduced support for Twitter’s “Promoted Tweets” in its columns several months ago. According to Richard Barley, TweetDeck’s Community Manager whom I interviewed for both the Addicted to Social Media podcast and for Twitip.com, Promoted Tweets “only appear in search columns where the search terms match a keyword that has been purchased.”

Good to know, but the targeting seems to need work (what State Farm Nation has to do with space shuttle launches, I’ll never know).

So, where is the value in an acquisition? Although there are many reasons for Twitter to buy TweetDeck, I see four primary reasons that an acquisition not only makes tremendous sense for Twitter, but would also be very exciting to users.

1. 1. Access to Power Users: Although TweetDeck doesn’t publicize user numbers, it’s estimated that about 5% of Twitter’s users use the service. That may not seem like a lot, but these users tend to be influential marketers, journalists, celebrities and other “power-users” who send a disproportionate number of Tweets and have vast followings. These are people whom Twitter should want to make happy as they would be the most likely customers for potential “Pro” (i.e., paid) services that Twitter could offer in the near future.
2. 2. Advanced Features: Twitter’s single column view is severely limited and becomes cluttered when users follow more than a few dozen people (depending on the user). TweetDeck’s multi-column interface is infinitely more efficient and customizable.
3. 3. Access to Other Services: As more people use more social networks, management of their various accounts on dispersed services is becoming a real problem. It’s also a huge opportunity. TweetDeck already offers users the ability to publish simultaneous updates to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Foursquare, and Google Buzz. Thus, TweetDeck would give Twitter something that no other social network truly has; access into their sites.
4. 4. Ability to Evolve: One of the items restricting Twitter’s evolution is the self-imposed limitation on the 140-character tweet. As I wrote in The End of the 140 Character Tweet and its Repercussions, “many users have felt constrained by that limit… Yet this may be Twitter’s big opportunity to break free of that albatross.” If Twitter is to survive, it will need to evolve and removing that restriction would be liberating to many users.

Whatever happens, it will certainly be interesting to see how this plays out. What do you think? Please leave a comment and let me know.

Neal Wiser is Vice President of Digital Strategy and Operations at The ODM Group where he leads teams in the creation and execution of digital marketing campaigns. You can follow Neal on Twitter (his handle is @NealWiser). Neal is also the Cofounder and Co-host of the Addicted to Social Media podcast.

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



4 Reasons Why Twitter Should Buy TweetDeck

Richard Barley

If you use TweetDeck then you may have heard of or met Richard Barley (@richardbarley), TweetDeck’s Community Manager. I first “met” Richard last year when he provided some thoughtful comments to a pair of posts I wrote about TweetDeck, 10 Features I Want to See in TweetDeck and 9 More Features I Want to See in TweetDeck.

I had planned to ask Richard for an interview, but it got put on hold on my end. Finally, after long delay, that interview is here (you can also listen to an extended version of this interview on my podcast, Addicted to Social Media).

Tell us about yourself. What did you do prior to working with TweetDeck?

Prior to joining TweetDeck I had been involved in IT support for my local council, then Help Desk manager for a local telecoms company, before eventually becoming a consultant for Cap Gemini working on CRM projects. From there I moved on to a similar position with BT, before ending up at RightNow Technologies.

Being on the road gave me lots of time in the evenings to get addicted to Twitter and start using TweetDeck. I eventually started supporting TweetDeck users in my spare time and wrote several blog articles about it, including a hugely popular series of FAQs, something that, at that time, Iain (Dodsworth, TweetDeck founder) was unable to produce as he was working entirely on his own. It wasn’t long before Iain noticed my work and offered me a job as Community Manager. This coincided very nicely with me leaving my previous position, so I joined the “team.” The rest, as they say, is history…

In your own works, why is TweetDeck so special?

I could go on for hours about the great features that make TweetDeck “special”, but that’s not really important. What IS important is *how* TweetDeck has become special. We are a small team working in a shared office in East London, working our socks off for this project that we are all hugely passionate about. We don’t have an office in Silicon Valley. We don’t hold big press conferences or feel the need to show our faces at every hipster event that goes on. We just quietly get on with building a great suite of products that people love to use. This attitude was the case when I first joined in July 2009 and remains the case now. This is what makes TweetDeck so special – fantastic products from a dedicated team who enjoy building amazing things with no fuss.

How many users are now using TweetDeck in its various versions?

We have several million active users and our desktop app has been downloaded over 15 Million times. Around 6 million tweets are sent from our apps each day, which we think is really rather cool.

What’s it like working with Iain Dodsworth?

TweetDeck Founder Iain Dodsworth

Working with Iain has often not been like working at all. Certainly, in the early days it was more like just getting together with a friend to hang out and chat to people online. Basically, he’s just a down-to-earth guy who has priorities very firmly set on his family, employees and his company rather than trying to be a celebrity in the tech “scene”. This is why he has so much respect from those that know him.

What was the genesis of the idea for Deck.ly?

Deck.ly came about for several reasons, the main one being that ever since I can remember, TweetDeck users have been clamoring for TwitLonger support in the app. It was our biggest, longest-running feature request and I was fielding tweets literally every day asking for it. Now, we were not keen at first, mainly, I guess, due to the fact that none of the team used TwitLonger and thus didn’t really think it a priority. Ultimately, I brought to the team the undeniable evidence of the huge support for the feature, so we looked into it.

We could, of course, have just implemented TwitLonger, but really, that’s not what we’re about now. We haven’t integrated new third party services for a long time because we’re now in a position to be able to build our own. By offering a “long update” service, we realized that we could grow and expand into other areas, lifting us away from some of the shackles of individual networks and offering more of a TweetDeck layer on top, thus adding value and bringing integrated services that would have previously been impossible.

Deck.ly is pretty controversial. Why the controversy?

There was some controversy when we launched “Deck.ly” long updates. It certainly divided the user base with some offering their hand in marriage in thanks for finally bringing long updates and others cursing us to eternal damnation for destroying everything that is good about Twitter. We admitted that our very first release had some flaws. With no way to disable the long update feature, accidental long posts were far too easy to send. But we moved quickly and issued several updates to the app based on feedback from the users and we now think that we have a good flow in place with the option to disable long updates if you wish.

So, as for the controversy… well I’m not going to fan the flames, but it is interesting to note that both UberTwitter and Twitter for iPhone had TwitLonger support over a year ago. Lots of other very popular apps have the same or similar functionality. We are, in some ways, flattered that so much has been said about our implementation of what is, on the face of it, pretty much the same thing.

Is Deck.ly going to compete with Twitter?

No, Deck.ly is not a competitor to Twitter any more than TwitLonger is, or Tumblr, or Posterous or any of the multitudes of other apps out there that post tweets with a link to see more detail.

Any plans to buy out Loic Le Meur and Seesmic?

We won’t comment on acquisition rumors. Sorry.

I recently set up a search to follow tweets about the Space Shuttle Discovery’s launch on STS-133 and noticed that there was a promoted tweet at the top of the column that remained in a fixed position even when I scrolled through the column. Is this a deal directly with TweetDeck or did it get pulled in via Twitter? Is it part of TweetDeck’s monetization strategy?

We introduced support for Twitter’s promoted tweets several months ago and this is a good example. They only appear in search columns where the search terms match a keyword that has been purchased. Twitter has a page about promoted tweets here

What do you think of Klout scores being introduced to Twitter (via chrome plug-in)?

To be honest, having tried many “influence ranking” systems, I have yet to find any one that is more than vaguely helpful to me. I’m sure such services are great and a lot of people put a lot of importance on such “scores”, but for me I find the whole idea rather “meh”…

What’s next for TD?

First priority for us now is to launch our brand new iPhone app. We’ve been building a totally new iOS app from scratch for the last few months and we’re just about ready to unleash that on the world. It’s such a great app, taking the best bits from our hugely successful Android app, blending in some of the great features from our Chrome app, along with some seriously cool new magic specifically for iOS. So that’s coming up in the next few weeks. We’re also looking to take our Chrome app and build versions that will run on the other major browsers out there. So soon, you’ll be running TweetDeck in the likes of Firefox & Safari. We also have a bunch of new services to launch, including cross-platform column sync amongst other things. There’s so much going on!

If I ask nicely, can I get a feature built into TD?

Ha-ha! Well that depends how nicely you ask and if you send donuts  Seriously, though, it’s my job to listen to the users and make sure that their requirements are being met by TweetDeck as much as possible. We can’t always promise to do everything people ask for, but if it’s important enough for our users to be demanding it, I will always fight in their corner to have it considered.

~

I like to add a personal thanks to Richard for both his time and for being such a great interview subject. Remember, you can listen to an extended version of this interview on my podcast, Addicted to Social Media.

Do you have a question for Richard? Add your question to the comments and we’ll see if we can him to answer a few.

Neal Wiser is Vice President of Digital Strategy and Operations at The ODM Group where he leads teams in the creation and execution of digital marketing campaigns. You can follow Neal on Twitter (his handle is @NealWiser). Neal is also the Cofounder and Co-host of the Addicted to Social Media podcast.

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



An Interview with TweetDeck’s Richard Barley

I’ve previously written about Twitter’s behavior towards its third-party developers and the risks they’re taking if they focus only on developing Twitter-based tools (See Twitter Commits Suicide and Twipocalypse Now). The bottom line is that building a business that is entirely dependent on a single partner isn’t a safe model to follow.

Surprise, Surprise?

So, should Twitter’s actions come as any surprise?

Yes! And, No.

Yes, because Twitter was built on the backs of tens of thousands of third-party developers who added much need functionality and played a key role making Twitter what it is today. These third-party developers, along with the broader Twitter community, were the ones who implemented hash tags, RTs, @ replies and many of the features that Twitter now takes for granted. Even Evan Williams, one of Twitter’s co-Founders, admitted as much at the 2009 TED Conference. See the embedded video below (thanks to Tac Anderson reminding me about this in his post Twitter Grows Up Figures Out Its Business Model And Doesn’t Need You Anymore).

And, No, because there has been ample warning about the risk of developing for Twitter – just read my posts mentioned above, and I certainly was not alone. Also, in their announcement, Twitter stated that enterprise tools such as Seesmic and HootSuite and special-purpose apps are welcome.

So, why is Twitter doing this?

For some insight, consider the following:

• Usage: While Twitter claims that 90% of users are using official Twitter apps, the blog Mashable disagrees claiming that only 58% of Twitter users access the service through official Twitter apps. That leaves a whopping 42% who never see the Twitter home page or those Twitter apps. This means that 42% of Twitter’s users may never see any of the various advertising features that Twitter has been counting on to actually justify its valuation.
• Money: Investors have poured $360 Million into the company over the past 5 years and it’s easy to understand why they might want an out. While these investors certainly could find eager buyers for their shares, they want to maximize their returns. That means pumping up the valuation of the company and finding an appropriate buyer who can afford it.

Buyer Beware

Unfortunately, there aren’t too many adequate suitors for the company, especially when it has a rumored price tag of $8-10 Billion. In order to justify that valuation Twitter needs to do the following:

• Work the kinks out of its advertising model so it can maximize ad revenue. To do this, Twitter needs to…
• Increase the number of people who use Twitter properties, thus maximizing exposure to those ads. To do this, Twitter needs to…
• Get those users to stop using third-party apps and “come home.” To do this it needs to…
• Kick those third-party apps out of the loop. This ultimately means putting an end to the Twitter ecosystem. To do this, Twitter needs to…
• Prevent third-party app developers from getting into the game and making conditions for those who are already there too difficult for them to operate, thus they’ll be forced to close down. To do this, Twitter needs to…
• Add more features to its properties. Something it’s already been doing.

My Prediction

I could go on, but to me the path is clear; within the next 12-24 months, as Twitter slowly improves its mobile apps and website, it will eventually cut off ALL third-party apps including TweetDeck and Seesmic. Then, once its numbers (traffic and review) demonstrate clear upward momentum, it will be sold to the highest bidder. Perhaps after that, Twitter’s new owners will remember the goldmine of innovation that Twitter’s third-party developers provided the company and invite them to return

One can only hope.

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Neal Wiser is Vice President of Digital Strategy and Operations at The ODM Group where he leads teams in the creation and execution of digital marketing campaigns. You can follow Neal on Twitter (his handle is @NealWiser). Neal is also the Cofounder and Co-host of the Addicted to Social Media podcast.

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



Twitter’s Black Friday Signals an Exit Strategy

A note from the Editor: After a too-long haitus, Twitip is back. We’ve got some great posts lined up, and we’re always looking for more. This post by Neal Wiser is the kickoff post to our return to a regular posting schedule. Thank you to all who have stayed with us! – Lara

A few weeks ago, Iain Dodsworth, founder and CEO of TweetDeck, introduced Deck.ly, a new component to TweetDeck that allows users to send tweets greater than 140 characters in length. While exceeding the 140 character limit is controversial to some Twitter purists, other services, such as TwitLonger, do the same. But what makes the Deck.ly move different is that it gives Dodsworth, whose TweetDeck has millions of users, the potential to free TweetDeck from its dependence on Twitter.

Or does it?

On the heels of the Deck.ly announcement, TweetDeck was acquired by UberMedia who already owns several other Twitter apps. Yet almost as soon as UberMedia announced the TweetDeck acquisition, Twitter fired a warning shot across UberMedia’s bow by cutting off access to UberMedia’s Echofon, UberTwitter, Twidroyd and UberCurrent apps for alleged policy violations.

TweetDeck, which is highly, but not wholly dependent upon Twitter (it also allows users to connect to other social networks such as Facebook and Linkedin), continued to operate normally during the shutdown. Perhaps it’s because with the TweetDeck acquisition UberMedia now controls an estimated 20% of the world’s daily tweets and TweetDeck represents the vast majority of that traffic. Any wholesale shutdown of UberMedia that includes TweetDeck would be extremely damaging to Twitter. Conversely, the vast majority of TweetDeck’s traffic goes to Twitter. Clearly, ending the Twitter/TweetDeck relationship, at least for now, would be something close to Mutual Assured Destruction.

The Shot Heard Around the World

Schoolhouse Rock

As I stated in my post Twitter Commits Suicide (or Twipocalypse Now: Redux), third party developers who don’t expand their services beyond Twitter are at serious risk. If Twitter’s move to cut off access to UberMedia’s apps isn’t convincing enough, the previous week Twitter announced that it’s no longer going to “white label” access to its API effectively choking off other app’s access. It’s sad to say, but it looks like the Twitter ecosystem’s days, in its present form, may be numbered.

To be sure, many developers are trying to expand their business models beyond Twitter, but only TweetDeck and Seesmic have any hope of success due to the sizes of their user bases (listen to my interview with Seesmic founder Loic Le Meur where we discussed Twitter dependency). Ironically, Deck.ly actually offers Twitter its biggest opportunity to make dramatic, and perhaps necessary, changes to its platform.

While the 140 character limit has been in place since Twitter’s launch, many users have felt constrained by that limit. Others hold the limits in near reverence and consider it an integral part of what makes Twitter Twitter. Yet this may be Twitter’s big opportunity to break free of that albatross. With its new funding and new leadership, this could be Twitter’s chance to innovate and do something truly bold.

Only Nixon Could go to China

For years, Twitter has depended upon its ecosystem of third-party developers for innovation. The results have been some fantastic tools and services that have added significant value to the overall Twitter experience. Creating an environment to allow this to happen was a brilliant move on behalf of Twitter’s creators. Unfortunately, Twitter’s behavior towards their developers over the past year has been less than encouraging (again, see Twitter Commits Suicide (or Twipocalypse Now: Redux).

The problem is that Twitter thinks it needs to drive traffic to twitter.com to make their advertising products pay off. But the reality is that, in its present form, Twitter is so feature poor and so much traffic access twitter through other means (via those third-party apps) that continuing to develop twitter.com, and alienating those third-party developers in the process, is both a distraction and foolish.

Where Nixon went to China, Twitter should focus on continuing to develop itself as a platform, not as a destination. As a platform, Twitter could finally stabilize itself and put an end to the notorious Fail Whale (who showed its blowhole again just this past week). Twitter could then figure out how to actually make money while simultaneously prompting continued innovation by its third-party developers and perhaps even invigorating them by allowing them to share in revenue that could come through those apps.

As Jeff Pester correctly stated, “Twitter is an information utility – it’s admitted as much on several occasions. It should start acting and pricing its product like one.”

What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

Neal Wiser is Vice President of Digital Strategy and Operations at The ODM Group where he leads teams in the creation and execution of digital marketing campaigns. You can follow Neal on Twitter (his handle is @NealWiser). Neal is also the Cofounder and Co-host of the Addicted to Social Media podcast.

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



The End of the 140 Character Tweet and its Repercussions

Just over a year ago, I wrote Twipocalypse Now: Warnings of a Twitter Bubble and Twitter Fatigue: Rumors of Twitter’s Demise May Not Be Greatly Exaggerated for Twitip. In those posts, I suggested that Twitter and their third-party developers faced significant threats that would need to be addressed in order for Twitter and its ecosystem to not just survive, but to continue to flourish.

I had originally planned on revisiting those topics 6 months later to see how accurate my predictions were. However, Twitter’s rapid growth and evolution suggested something dramatic was on the horizon, so I decided to wait and see what would happen.

Well, something did happen. But it wasn’t exactly the Twitter 2.0 I was expecting. Indeed, while Twitter finally revealed a business model, they also demonstrated a change of business tactics that may ultimately prove to be self-destructive.

Twitter 2.0, Suicide or Bust

In my previous posts, I said that Twitter was evolving so fast that it might become unrecognizable. This Twitter 2.0 would boast massive changes to features, functionality and layout. The Twitter 2.0 era finally began when Fred Wilson, a partner at Union Square Ventures who invested in Twitter and sits on its board, posted The Twitter Platform’s Inflection Point, a controversial analysis suggesting, among other things, that Twitter might ultimately compete with its own third-party developers.

Within days Twitter announced that it has acquired Tweetie, one of the most popular Twitter iPhone apps, and will rename it Twitter for iPhone (it’ll also be free). Then, Twitter co-founder and CEO Evan Williams announced that Twitter had also made a Twitter app for the Blackberry. In the days since, Twitter has announced their own app for Android phones and its own URL shortener.

And if that wasn’t enough, Twitter also announced that they would finally launch an ad platform (the aforementioned business model) effectively dropping napalm on Tweetup, the new third-party twitter-based ad platform that idealab announced the previous day.

The Redux Reflux

Clearly Twitter needs to evolve, but it should do so by embracing its developer community, not alienating it or taking it for granted which is what it appears to be doing. By building its own URL shortener and a rumored photo sharing service like twitpic, Twitter is sending the message that if it likes an app or service and for whatever reason can’t or won’t buy it, that it’ll just steal the idea and build its own.

Furthermore, buying Tweetie and releasing apps for the other major mobile platforms has effectively shut out all mobile app developers. Unless those developers come up with something truly unique, the game’s over. To say that this past week must have made all third-party app developers nauseous is an understatement.

While people like angel investor Chris Sacca urged developers to ‘stay the course’, one has to wonder what possible incentive they would have to do so. Twitter has effectively turned its back on the very people who helped propel the service into the stratosphere with the creation of hundreds of services and apps that extended Twitter’s utility and filled gaping holes in its functionality.

Surprise, Surprise!

None of this should come as any surprise if you read Twipocalypse Now where I suggested that Twitter could compete with their developers. I just didn’t really think they would.

I also warned about third party services with questionable or no business models being dependent upon a single service which itself has no business model. Certainly being a third-party developer for any service is risky business, but unlike TweetDeck or Seesmic (listen to my interview with Seesmic founder Loic Le Meur where we discussed Twitter dependency) who have broadened their services beyond Twitter, almost all of the other Twitter apps and services are exclusively tied to Twitter.

Oops!

So, What?

So, it appears that Twitter may be intentionally using its community of third-party developers as a free R&D office by letting them assume all of the risk of enhancing the service. Surely, this isn’t a new accusation and there are certainly developers who will happily assume that risk, but what was once pure conjecture appears to be turning into fact, and appearances do matter.

The implications of all this cannot be understated. Twitter remains hugely dependant on those third-party developers, perhaps much more than it is aware. If Twitter continues to alienate them and continues to create an atmosphere where developers have little if any incentive to participate, it will stifle a vital source of innovation. Without an incentive, third-party apps and services will ultimately be abandoned by their creators with as many as 99% ultimately dying.

As a result, much of what makes Twitter so popular will cease to exist and a large number of Twitter’s users may just leave. In short, Twitter needs that innovation engine, and in technology, innovation is life.

“I’ve Created a Monster!”

Finally, if all that wasn’t enough, Twitter may have also unintentionally created new competitor as many angry twitter app-makers are now planning how to replace Twitter. While only in the early stages, these developers are experienced innovators and experts in various aspects of Twitter’s platform. I wouldn’t discount them, especially since anger has always been a powerful motivator. It will be fascinating to see what sort of Phoenix will arise from the ashes of all those Twitter apps.

When all is said and done, it would be a shame if the service we’ve come to love so much dies by its own hand. Of course, it’s not like we haven’t seen that before either.

Further Reading:

Twipocalypse Now: Warnings of a Twitter Bubble
Twitter Fatigue: Rumors of Twitter’s Demise May Not Be Greatly Exaggerated
Who just got screwed by Twitter

Neal Wiser is President of Neal Wiser Consulting and Co-Founder of Addicted to Social Media. With over 15 years experience in the Internet, Interactive Marketing and entertainment industries, Neal is strongly focused on helping businesses maximize their connections, relationships and results with their customers and clients. Neal has worked for Comcast, GlaxoSmithKline, Qwest Communications, Paramount Pictures and Warner Brothers and his clients have included the United States Postal Service, Hyundai, DreamWorks Studios, Major League Baseball, over 20 major pharmaceutical brands and NASA. If you would like to contact Neal, he can be reached via Twitter @NealWiser. You can read more Twitip posts by Neal here.

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



Twitter Commits Suicide (or Twipocalypse Now: Redux)

To be sure, some of those issues involve Twitter itself earning Team TweetDeck kudos for dealing with the limitations of the Twitter platform. After all, it isn’t easy coming up with the next earth-shattering, must have, whiz-bang feature when the platform you’re dependent upon not always reliable. It’s also no small challenge when your primary competitor, Seesmic, is aggressively introducing new features (listen to Seesmic Founder Loic Le Meur give me Exclusive Seesmic News during my podcast interview last week on Addicted to Social Media).

And yet, there’s still so much more I want to get out of TweetDeck. What follows is my TweetDeck Wish List. While some of these features may indeed be on TweetDeck’s product road map, I’m hoping Iain and the team might see the light and implement at least a few of the others.

My TweetDeck Wish List

1.    Collapse Columns Instead of Closing

Problem: I’m currently running twenty-two (22!) columns for a variety of clients and purposes. However, while TweetDeck is more stable than it used to be, it still uses a lot of system resources and slows down my computer. Also, having so many columns is inefficient and distracting. The only way to reduce the number of columns I have to close them. Not a good solution.

Too Many Columns? Hell, yes! (Actual screen shot)

Solution: Allow users to collapse, or minimize columns without closing them, like they can do with applications.

2.    Grouping Columns

Problem: I manage the Twitter accounts for several clients and need to monitor a lot of different activity for each one. Consequently, I need to have many columns open at any given time. For example, I need to see all of the tweets I’ve sent, @ Replies, DMs and New Followers. I also have multiple active searches for things like specific tweeters relevant to the client and keyword searches. As mentioned above, this is inefficient and distracting.

Solution: The ability to group columns into a single Macro-Group, then being able to open, close or minimize that group, would be a tremendous efficiency booster.

Grouped and Labeled Tabs

3.    Add Labels and Icons to Buttons in the Column Navigator

Problem: The introduction of the Column Navigator was a huge usability improvement. However, it just wasn’t implemented effectively for two reasons:
1.    The buttons are too small and I’m constantly clicking on the wrong ones.
2.    The popup that identifies the buttons is slow and inefficient.

Solution: The buttons need to have labels and icons for quick identification. There is more than enough room in the Column Navigator space to allow for much larger buttons. However, I would prefer TweetDeck switch to a Tab metaphor like web browsers now use and like Excel has been using practically since its introduction. Tabs allow, at a glance, for users to know where they are and to find what they need quickly, easily and painlessly. Then, if they want to see additional statistics for each column, moving their curser over a Tab to display a popup would be acceptable.

4.    Drag and Drop reordering of columns

Problem: I’m constantly moving columns into new positions. Unfortunately, clicking the tiny “Move column” buttons on the bottom of each column only allows me to move a single column by one column position at a time. It’s also agonizingly slow.

Dragging Columns

Solution: Dragging and Dropping has been a user feature in applications for years. Even many websites offer that capability. Dragging and Dropping is simple and quick way to move columns into new positions.

5.    Resize Column Width

Problem: All of my columns are the same size and they don’t need to be. Sometimes just a sliver large enough to see someone’s avatar is enough to show me that there are new tweets from them. Meanwhile, I would love to widen other columns to make it easier to see more tweets.

Solution: Let users customize the width of each column.

6.    Change Font Size in Columns

Problem: It should be obvious from the suggestions above that column space is at a premium in TweetDeck and that some columns are just more important than others. Users need another tool to help them find the tweets or tweeters they’re looking for.

Solution: Allow users to change the font size of tweets in a specific column, or from specific tweeters. This would allow users to increase the number of tweets in a column (if font size is reduced) or allow tweets from specific tweeters standout (if font size is enlarged), thus improving efficiency.

7.    Stack Columns

Problem: Some of my columns don’t get a lot of traffic, or I simply don’t need to monitor them as closely. In order to save screen space it would be great to be able to stack two or three columns into a single column.

Solution: Let users drag multiple columns and stack them into a single column.

8.    Threaded Conversations

Problem: It is next to impossible to follow conversations in TweetDeck. Unless tweets are directly adjacent to one another, I don’t know who said what when. I often find myself opening Tweetie or Echofon on my iPhone to dig into conversations.

Solution: Add a button to indicate that there is a conversation and that could then be used to expand a tweet to make that entire conversation visible.

9.    Icons to Identify if Someone is Following me Back.

Problem: It’s great that TweetDeck shows the number of followers a user has below their avatar, but I often have no idea if they’re following me back.

Solution: An icon as simple as a dot next to the follower count would let me know if the tweeter is following me.

10.    Who’s Online Now Column

Problem: Because of the large number of people I follow, unless someone is actively tweeting, I often don’t know if they are actually online. What’s more, due to the proliferation of tweet scheduling tools, someone may not even be online even if I do see their tweets.

Solution: A column showing a list of everyone who is actually online. Note that an icon next their avatar within a tweet won’t work because of the aforementioned problems finding tweets. I could do a search, but again, I don’t want to open unnecessary columns and that would not show me everyone at once.

There, that’s ten. Since a friend of mind constantly complains that my posts are too long, I’ll stop here. However, if you would like to read about nine more features I’d like to see in TweetDeck, check out my blog.

In the meantime, I’d love to what features you want to see in TweetDeck. Let me know in the comments.

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



10 Features I Want to See in TweetDeck

“Damn, they’re burying him with that watch we got him for his birthday.”

Or…

“They’re lowering him into the ground now, I hope the winches don’t jam.”

Or, maybe…

“Cousin Jan looks HOT in black.”

How about…

“You’re a %#@&$ idiot for asking if I’m going to tweet during Lou’s funeral.”

Certainly there are times when it’s not only proper to tweet, but also encouraged. For example; tweeting during your child’s school play is not cool (well, maybe just one tweet for friends if you attach a picture of your kid on stage). On the other hand, tweeting during a TweetUp at NASA Headquarters is cool.

Regardless of the circumstance, one would hope that common sense would prevail. However, for those of you who are uncertain, I offer the following guide of common circumstances when it would not be appropriate to tweet.

When is it NOT OK to Tweet?

When visiting the bathroom
Do I have to explain this one? And for god’s sake, NEVER twitpic!

While driving
Just Never!  Never!  Never!  Never!  Never!  Never!

Spending time with family
Full Disclosure; I’ve been guilty of this. However, after realizing that tweeting while you’re supposed to be spending quality time with family is like wearing a huge neon sign that says “I’d rather be doing almost anything else then be here with you,” I am working hard to break the habit (no one’s perfect).

When teaching children, or doing just about anything with children, unless you are tweeting with them.
Children deserve your full attention. For more info, see “Spending time with family.”

Before sex
Nothing turns off a partner more. See, “I’d rather be doing almost anything else than be here with you.”

During sex
Really? You tweeted during sex? I think you’ve got other issues to worry about.

After sex
Congratulations, you had sex. I’m so impressed (not!).

During a meal
Only if you’re dining alone.

While preparing a meal
Only if you’re not working near an open flame or with sharp utensils. Otherwise, it’s okay, but only if your followers are “foodies.”

During religious ceremonies
Really? Do you want to take that chance?
Actually, it might be okay if it’s for educational purposes or you’re sharing the event with members of the congregation.

During Funerals
You did read the opening paragraphs, right? However, if you’re commemorating the event for those who could not make it to the funeral, then it might be okay, but only if you are not part of the actual funeral procession. I’d also advise not to let anyone see you.

During a Presidential Address to Congress

• If you’re a Congressmen: Your Head of State is speaking to you. Show some respect and pay attention or you may find yourself looking for another job.
• If you’re the General Public: In this case, you are almost certainly not in the Capitol Building, so tweeting would be perfectly acceptable and would be a great educational use for Twitter.

During Surgery

• If you’re the surgeon or an active participant: No.
• If you’re a student or observer: Only if you have received written permission from the patient, doctors, hospital, etc. If so, then it’s OK, especially for educational purposes.

While Working
Please consult your company’s Human Resources Department or Employee Handbook, and use your head. You’re there to work, so work. Also, if tweeting could compromise your own or someone else’s safety, then DON’T Tweet! Finally, if you’re involved in sales, marketing, recruiting or similar tasks, then Twitter can be a helpful tool, but get your boss’s permission anyway.

During a Business Meeting
Unless specifically asked to do so, or unless tweeting is required, your job requires you to pay close attention during any meeting. Otherwise, you may miss the part of the conversation where you are being replaced.

When meeting with people (or clients) whom you don’t like or respect
Just remember what your Mom said, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything.”

How much you dislike your job, boss, friends, family, etc.
Don’t do it. Once it’s out there, it’s public and you may find that you can’t apologize.

While stuck on an airplane that has not taken off for several hours
I personally support some form of a Passenger’s Bill of Rights, so if you find yourself in such a situation, it may actually help airline personnel learn of your predicament and motivate them to take action, or not.

When it IS OK to tweet.

When planning a crime
Go ahead. The police don’t even know what Twitter is, anyway.

When committing a crime (even if it’s just bananas)
Stealing is Stealing. Didn’t your Mom teach you that either?

Witnessing a crime
Actually, you should report crimes to the appropriate authorities first. Surely you can wait to tweet about it until after you report it. Just don’t mention that you reported it. The perpetrator may be savvy enough to use Twitter’s new geo-location features to find you and thank you.

Contemplating or committing suicide
Please, please, please reach out and speak to someone, anyone. I want you to be around to thank me later.

Traffic updates
We know that no one ever tweets while driving; it’s their passengers. Either way, you can get reports of traffic conditions faster than any other service. Just be sure to check before you start the car (see, item two in “When is it NOT OK to Tweet” above)

Job opportunities
Twitter is filled with people announcing job opportunities. Check out TwitterJobSearch. It’s probably the best tool to search for tweets mentioning jobs based on your search criteria.

Local/National Emergencies
See “Witnessing a crime” above.

During a Commute
Only if you are NOT the person operating the vehicle.

While trapped in an elevator for 41 hours
Be sure to try the emergency phone first. However, if both that phone and your cell phone can’t get a signal; you may be close enough to the Starbucks in the lobby to get their WiFi.

Surely there are many other times when it’s OK, or not OK to tweet, so please leave your ideas in the Comments. I’d love to tweet about them.

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



When NOT to Tweet