Twitter Business?

So CNN had an article today about Twitter finally having a business angle--starting with some guy wanting to pay them $250K for a spot in the "Suggested Follows" for two years.

It would be prime advertisement for anyone that wants to be known. Prime Business. Spotted and locked on target. The article mentions that this could be akin to Superbowl commercials, which I know I never watch, but anyone with an interest in football or a even a vague sense of American patriotism (or as long as you don't live under a rock) probably knows about the best ads that come up.

There is a slight issue that they propose, but there is an strange confidence that Twitter has the potential to become a very powerful company in the future.

Oh, the possibilities..

Single Awareness on Twitter

Reboundfinder searches twitter for twits that have anounced that they have been dumped (sudden unilateral separation, to be more precise) by their significant other. Then followers of this bot can discover the newly broken-hearted.

From the name of the bot, it seems that its target audience is singles looking for new singles to date. For its followers, it might be advantageous of them to prey on someone on the "rebound"; to experience the benefits of a romantic relationship and dodge the negative parts. It somewhat quickens the life-course of post-breakup, as the time to reflect on past relationships disappears since the person will be offered many blind dates after such an announcement.

Another use for this could be finding others and forming a synchronic community to cope with breakup.

Twitter and Politicians

Truthfully, I never heard of Twitter until it was brought up in lecture, and I was surprised that a site that provided small updates that answer” What are you doing?” was becoming so popular. It wasn’t until recently that I came across a couple of articles which stated that politicians were starting to Twitter for various reasons.

In Politicians using Twitter in growing numbers, Twitter was mentioned as a networking tool that is growing exponentially in popularity. In fact, even McCain, who had previously been mocked for being computer-illiterate, now creates multiple Twitter messages a day (politicians and congressmen boast thousands of followers). This caught my eye because as an economics major, it was especially interesting how the rest of the nation could follow issues such as the bank bailout and the stimulus debate through following Twitter updates that members of Congress post on a Web site or on their cell phones.

In addition, this would help politicians connect directly with the constituents. It’s fascinating how short, instantly transmitted messages that don’t even exceed 140 characters can appeal to the public so much. But as stated in the article, I agree that people are attracted to Twitter posts because they provide “a real glimpse of (my) life and job”.

Celebrity Twitters

Celebrities twittering is news.

Just came across this trying to catch up on real news... I don't know about any of you, but I kind of like knowing that American celebrities are prone to following techno fads, too. I actually wouldn't even have bothered to look at Twitter if I hadn't found out that my favorite group of ALL TIME (Epik High--mapthesoul) recently got one. Finding this article to relate to was a stroke of luck. I personally don't have a twitter, but knowing that even William Shatner has one kinda makes me want to know what the hype's all about.

way better than Twitter.

one of these days I'm going to have to post something thoughtful so I can actually get credit.

but, in the meantime!

a friend of mine propagated this on facebook yesterday and I've been addicted ever since! it's a blog that people post 2-3 sentences about something f***ed up that's happened to them recently so that other people can read it, and if you register you can either agree that it's f***ed up, or tell them they had it coming. it's wonderful! and guaranteed to make you feel much better about your own life.

The status updater

I was just curious if anyone else in constantly, quietly, updating their facebook status every 15mins in their head- ok maybe only on some days

I find this particularly annoying- for myself- but cant really seem to escape it. I even tried staying away from facebook for a few weeks- but to no avail. I find myself updating myself every time I walk to class, think a funny thought, or see a pretty flower.

freecity is contemplating...
freecity enjoys the flowers
freecity is wondering if this will ever stop

And although I find this annoying, its also interesting. Why is it that I actually want people to know what I'm doing or thinking? In class we've talked about other people wanting to know these things, but not really about wanting others to know about ourselves.

I found status updating so intriguing that I actually started a Twitter account. Twitter is a site that acts primarily as a status updating site- like on Fb. Different from a blog, Twitter allows only for a short 1-2 sentence update, and a Friends page- that lists all your friends' updates

On this site I felt like I could update as much as my heart desired, and not have to worry about being called a facebook addict. The problem was, I didn't have any friends on Twitter. I spent about 2 weeks without any friends- occasionally trying to locate some of my fb gang. After 2 weeks of not being active, someone "followed me", which is about the equivalent of "friending" on facebook.

To my luck it was just a band. This brought back bad myspace memories- but at least it got me back on the site. After browsing the site I manged to figure out how to upload my address book to my gmail account, and then search for friends through there.

Unfortunately for me, I only had 3 connected friends, and one was an ex boyfriend. After deciding it might not be good to follow him, I was down to 2.

I looked through my friend's friends, and found who they were following. After about 10 mins I was up to about 10 people- and I was in business.

So how many people need to be watching in order for you to feel a status update is worthwhile? 10? 20? Would I be twittering if I only had 2 friends? Even now I don't really twitter as much as I facebook update. But if this because having others know out status makes the whole experience worth it?