For those who don't know: The Power of Twitter

The Power of Twitter

''Facebook is for connecting with people you used to know and Twitter is for connecting with people you should know.'' -overhead at Bloggers Meet-up October 2008

Twitter is a micro-blogging service and social network that allows users to post up to 140 characters per Tweet. Twitter was launched in July 2006 and has since become a very influential tool in social marketing. Posts can be made via web, text messages or instant messages. According to Complete there are approximately 3.5 million unique monthly visitors to Twitter (http://siteanalytics.compete.com/twitter.com/?metric=uv). As of March 2008 total Twitter users was 1+million (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/29/end-of-speculation-the-real-twitter-usage-numbers/).

Twitter has helped build brand loyalty and increase traffic to company websites. Zappos and Comcast are the top two corporate brands that are most referenced in regards to Twitter success stories. Twitter has also helped get an American man out of an Egyptian jail in April 2008.

While attending a meet-up of The Boston Area Internet Marketing and Advertising Group back in July 2008, guest speaker Zach Hofer-Shall, independent Social Media consultant discussed the use and benefit of corporate blogging. During his lecture he mentioned that he knew about the July 2008 California earthquake seven minutes before it hit the news, because of Twitter.
An article from the 60second Marketer on September 22, 2008 reported that one of the followers of 60SecondTwitter sent a Tweet alert in regards to a suspicious looking piece of luggage at JFK. She checked on CNN and MSN and had seen no other mention of it at the time. Another 60SecondTwitter follower stated that the Twitter commnity is also ahead of the online versions of the NY Times and MSNBC (http://60secondmarketer.com/blog/2008/09/22/twitter-reports-news-faster-than-cnn-msn-nytimes-msnbc/ ).

Michael Hyatt, President and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers posted on his blog on May 4, 2008 ''12 Reasons to Start Twittering'' (http://www.michaelhyatt.com/fromwhereisit/2008/05/12-reasons-to-s.html).

1. It will enable you to experience social networking first-hand.
2. It will make you a better writer.
3. It will help you stay connected to people you care about.
4. It will help you see a new side of your friends.
5. It will introduce you to new friends.
6. It is faster than text-messaging.
7. It will make you think about your life.
8. It will help you keep up with what people are talking about.
9. It can create traffic for your blog or Website.
10. It requires a very small investment.
11. It can help build your personal “brand.”
12. It is fun! Twitter is just plain entertaining.

I only agree with 9 out of his 12 reasons. I disagree with numbers 2, 3, and 4. It does not make you a better writer. It makes you a quicker-typer and a better slang-artist, but far from great writing.
Twitter does allow you to experience social networking first-hand and it is faster than text-messaging if not the same. It also has a profound influence on creating traffic to your website.
Tweets are limited to 140 characters, therefore many Tweets are right to the point and aggregate to other sites and blogs.

(Smart) Corporations on Twitter:

(http://blog.fluentsimplicity.com/2008/04/07/connecting-with-customers-twitter/)

MediaReuters http://twitter.com/reuters

CNN http://twitter.com/cnnbrk

BBC (Off-site List) http://menti.net/?p=17

NY Times http://twitter.com/nytimes (The NYT also offers other sections in twitter)

WHP (CBS-affiliate) http://twitter.com/whptv

Wired News http://twitter.com/wired

NPR http://twitter.com/nprnews

ZDNet http://twitter.com/zdnett

Conde Nast Portfolio http://twitter.com/Portfolio

CNET News http://twitter.com/CNETNews

Revision3 http://twitter.com/revision3

Times OnLine http://twitter.com/TimesWorldNews

CBC News http://twitter.com/cbcnews

Orlando Sentinel http://twitter.com/orlandosentinel

Airlines/Travel

Carnival Cruise Lines http://twitter.com/CarnivalCruise

Delta http://twitter.com/deltaairlines

Jetblue http://twitter.com/JetBlue

Southwest Airlines http://twitter.com/SouthwestAir

Mahalo Travel http://twitter.com/mahalotravel

Retailers

Dell Outler http://twitter.com/DellOutlet

Direct2Dell http://twitter.com/Direct2Dell

Direct2Dell (China): http://twitter.com/Direct2Dell_CN

Studio Dell http://twitter.com/StudioDell

WOOT: http://twitter.com/woot

Apple: http://twitter.com/appleinc (

Questionable)Amazon.com Deals: http://twitter.com/amazondeals

Zappos http://twitter.com/zappos

Buy.com http://twitter.com/Buy_com (Questionable)

Professional Services

Forrester http://twitter.com/forrester

Deacons http://twitter.com/Deacons (*** A Law Firm!)

PerkettPR http://twitter.com/PerkettPR

Q1Labs http://twitter.com/Q1Labs

SaaS

Mzinga http://twitter.com/mzinga

Education

Career Development Office, McGill University http://twitter.com/cdolaw

Norwich University http://twitter.com/NorwichNews

Manufacturing

GM http://twitter.com/GMblogs

Ford http://twitter.com/FoMoCoNA ***Questionable

Government

LAFD http://twitter.com/LAFD

Franklin, MA PD http://twitter.com/franklinpolice (Needs more updates)

Austin, TX PD http://twitter.com/AustinPD (Why lock updates?)

Social/Blogs

Techmeme http://twitter.com/Techmeme

Mashable http://twitter.com/mashable

Engadget http://twitter.com/engadget

Technorati http://twitter.com/technorati

SocialText http://twitter.com/socialtext

Kyolo http://twitter.com/kyolo

Food/Specialty Products

M&Ms http://twitter.com/msgreen

Authors/Artists/Musicians/Etc

Henry Rollins http://twitter.com/henryrollins

Matthew Modine http://twitter.com/matthewmodine

Tweeters can have their Twitter page ranked using Twitterank, a Page Rank for Twitter uses. It uses ''back references'' to determine how valuable of a ''tweeter'' you are in Twitterverse (http://new.twitterank.com/).

The only real way to gain a better understanding of Twitter is to join; login, create an account and start Tweeting.....

re-posting from campaign email to me this morning

Tell the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide pollution.Take Action!

Dear Kris,

Friday is the last day to voice your opinion on whether the EPA -- the Environmental Protection Agency -- should regulate carbon dioxide pollution, the primary cause of the climate crisis. This is a big deal.The EPA is taking public comment, before making a ruling.Of course, special interests -- like the oil and coal lobbies -- are working overtime to defeat a positive ruling and have already gotten thousands of comments submitted in opposition.Most people don't know about this opportunity for public comment, so your voice can make a real difference. And with a new president in the White House, it's likely that someone will actually be listening. Submit your public comment to the EPA here:http://www.RepowerAmerica.org/EPAIn April 2007 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate carbon dioxide if it is harming our health and welfare. After more than a year of delay, the EPA is finally now requesting public comments on whether carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping pollutants are endangering our health and our climate.Join us, and send a message about how crucial it is to reduce harmful carbon dioxide pollution. That you expect the EPA to use its powers to protect our health and welfare. That we can "Repower America" by using energy sources that don't emit carbon dioxide, and make the switch to 100% clean electricity. And that the solutions to the climate crisis are the same ones needed to address our economic and security challenges.This is our chance to go on the public record -- all the comments will be posted on the EPA's website. To post your public comment, just go here.For nearly eight years, the Bush administration has done nothing to address the growing threats we face from global warming. Hurricanes are getting stronger, the North polar icecap is melting, and we've suffered through intense droughts, floods and killer heat waves.The deadline is November 28th. Let's help end the era of delay.Thanks,Cathy ZoiCEOwww.RepowerAmerica.org

Sound familiar?

"While the stock market crash of Oct. 29, 1929 was related to the Great Depression, it wasn't the sole cause. Deeper problems in the economy caused the Great Depression, including a widespread culture of self-centeredness, rapidly growing demand for material possessions like cars and appliances that many people could not really afford, and uneven income distribution. Soaring corporate profits helped the rich get richer (tax breaks for the wealthy helped as well), but wages only grew by 8 percent while manufacturing productivity grew by 32 percent. The advent of credit was another major contributing factor, because more and more people were purchasing goods at a faster rate than they could pay for them. Sound familiar?"

(from answers to Great Depression quiz at http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/quiz/quiz.aspx?QuizID=333&qpt=results).

Four Christmases - His father, her mother, his mother and her father all in one day.

Christmas came early to the citizens of Boston who scored passes to the screening of Four Christmases.
We arrived 30 minutes early for the screening of Four Christmases starring Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon at the Loews Theater on Tremont Street in Boston only to be shuffled up an escalator and entered into what seemed like a never-ending line.
The passes didn’t promise we’d get seats, but they did promise that the theater would have a sold out screening.
Standing in line for all that time was definitely worth it. Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon never seem to disappoint at the box office, even if Vince Vaughn always seems to play the same character personality. You know the quick-witted, sarcastic type. But since I find him hilarious it’s always a great movie!

I am not going to reveal any crazy movie spoilers, just a quick synopsis of the movie and plot.
The one liners that busted out of this movie are classic! Reese and Vince play Kate and Brad, a fun-loving couple from San Francisco who have been dating for three years and for the past three years have avoided attending holiday family engagements like the plague. Each year they come up with elaborate excuses as to why they cannot attend Christmas this year, most of which the lies involve them doing charity work on islands in the South Pacific.
This Christmas, however they find their plans to Fiji postponed a day due to crazy fog that has rolled into the San Fran Bay area. A reporter for the local television station interviews them at the airport and their families spot them on TV; immediately causing their cells to blow up and obligations to attend all four family holidays this year.
Both Kate and Brad come from dysfunctional, divorced families and have quite a few skeletons in their closets. From Brad’s real name being Orlando (for the city he was conceived in) to Kate’s “coodie” days and her former BFF being a lesbian named Jo.
Classify this as a “chick flick”? No. The language and one-liners are enough to keep the guys entertained and the storyline between Kate and Brad is a lot more common for the ladies to appreciate. My cheeks hurt so badly after the moving from laughing so hard.

Four Christmases comes to a theater near you on November 26, 2008.

Dreadful Commuting

After being crammed into a tin car on tracks known in Massachusetts as the "T", I grab the Metro paper only to read of horror and murder in Dorchester, assassin attempts on our new president-elect and to find out that the GM of the MBTA doesn't even take the T himself.

After being squished up against the door for 8 stops, twice a day, five days a week, this bit of news really irks me.

There is a petition going on to have Daniel Grabauskas removed from the GM position of the MBTA for the mismanagement of T funds.

Grabauskas gets a free ride every morning and no its not on the Green Line. He drives in a taxpayer-funded car and gets to park at a taxpayer-funded garage. Hmmm, that must be nice.

While he is cruising in what I paid for, I get the joy of being creeped out on the T at night and it costs me the taxes I pay, in addtion to the $3.40 a day for the T, $4 a day to park my car, my $400 a month car payment, not to mention gas, car insurance and my exise tax.

So enjoy your free ride Danny boy, because I am sure as hell not enjoying the one I pay for on the T.

The mess that Bob made

If you see this man DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH HIM - - CON ARTIST!!













I am writing this blog post to report fraud and theft from the Bob Pare Photography studio (Lowell, MA). He has left many victims with lost memories and lost thousands of dollars. His promises to deliver the services that have already been paid in full were not seen through and now he conveniently claims to be out of business via his one page website.

He takes deposits and full payments for wedding photography, shows up to take the photos and then never produces the hard copy photographs.

The link below is from Boston.com and other victims of Bob Pare.
http://people.boston.com/forums/lifestyle/weddings/vendors/?p=discussiondetails&activityId=5577954263035478768&ord=desc#addcomment

Please advise what victims of this business scam should do next?

WBZ ran a story on him and one of the victims on 11/12/2008:

http://wbztv.com/local/missing.wedding.photographer.2.862983.html