Twitter: The Water Cooler For Mobile Workers - Information Management Blog - InformationWeek

As a "cloudworker" I've learned just how isolated one can feel when your daily commute is the few steps from the bedroom to the home office, and your colleagues typically manifest themselves as lines of text in an email or IM or, at best, disembodied voices  on your cellphone.

So while I was a bit surprised that IW columnist Andrew Conry-Murray had only recently started using Twitter, I have to agree completely with his assessment of Twitter's role in keeping me connected to the world beyond my walls.

Murray writes:

Enter Twitter. I started using it before the holidays, and suddenly I don't feel so trollish any more. Via Twitter you can swap jokes with co-workers, get updates on their personal lives, and dip into a steady stream of industry gossip.

But for me Twitter is far more than a gossip channel. It's a powerful tool I use throughout the day to communicate with a growing network of people who are members of the community that is the focus of my work.  At this point, my job would be so much more difficult without Twitter.

Read Murray's post: Twitter: The Water Cooler For Mobile Workers - Information Management Blog - InformationWeek

Technorati Tags: twitter,social media,Andrew Conry-Murray,InformationWeek

Techno//Marketer - Matt Dickman on Digital Marketing and Social Media: Five big social media contradictions and how to manage them

I am frequently asked for advice on blogging and the use of other social media tools in a  corporate marketing environment. Time and again I find myself either quoting Matt Dickman or referring people to his blog or presentations on SlideShare.

Matt's recent post on social media contradictions will certainly become one of those resources  I suggest to people who need help in learning to use these new tools.

Matt writes:

What's fast to build, slow to grow and needs constant attention? No, not a Chia Pet. It's social media! I've given this post a lot of thought over the past couple of months as I talk with executives and marketers who are discussing their entry into the social media space. Some are skeptical, others are passionate. Most have incorrect pre-conceived notions that are contradictory to the way things actually are. Ironically, most of these contradictions have been used as selling points in the early days of the space.

Read Matt's entire post: Techno//Marketer - Matt Dickman on Digital Marketing and Social Media: Five big social media contradictions and how to manage them

Technorati Tags: social media,blogging,Matt Dickman,marketing

PR/Marketing Fluff in 140-character doses

Writing in Silicon Valley Insider, Dan Frommer reports on an emerging Twitter tool:

Twittertise lets you schedule Twitter messages in advance to go out at a specified time -- handy for companies that want to cue up PR-approved messages ahead of time; and track traffic to links you send on Twitter through Bit.ly, a URL shortener.

It's a cool idea that can have uses outside to PR/Marketing. I'd be bothered by the implications if receiving tweets wasn't an opt-in deal. My follow list is already too crowded with information I actually want.

 

Read the story: Twitter Marketing Tool Twittertise Catching On With Big, Small Companies

 

Technorati Tags: twitter,public relations,marketing,social computing

Obama campaign iPhone app

In yet another example of the smallification of politics, ZDNet's Apple Core column reports that the Obama campaign has released an iPhone app:

The app has a Call Your Friends feature that organizes your contacts by key battleground states and adds a field for notes on who you called, who they are supporting and if they want a reminder call on election day. The information remains private [and} doesnt leave your phone although the total amount of calls made are tallied to track progress.

Smart move.

This brings to mind concerns about the accuracy of polling data that focuses solely on landline phone service.

Technology continues to reshape the political landscape on a cataclysmic level.

Read more: Obama campaign unleashes iPhone app | The Apple Core | ZDNet.com

 

Technorati Tags: iPhone,Apple,Obama,politics,election,technology

NPR to Open-Source Debate Fact Checking

According to a post on National Public Radio's Vox Politics blog, NPR will use Twitter to allow listeners to participate in grassroots fact-checking of candidate claims during tonight's VP debate between Senator Joe Biden and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin:

As you watch the debate, we invite you to be on the lookout for any questionable claims made by Sen. Biden or Gov. Palin. For example, if one of them says something that runs counter to something you've heard them say in the past, you can help us out by tracking down a primary source for the original quote, like a transcript or video. Same thing if one of them cites a statistic: you can track down the original source and help us verify if it's accurate.

This is a cool move, and amounts to open-sourcing the fact-checking process. Those interested in participating are instructed to send the URLs for information sources to Twitter using the tag #factcheck.

Get the details here: NPR: Help NPR Fact-Check Tonight's Debate on Twitter