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By Jon M. Cohen – New Media Specialist

“What is Twitter?” My 65-year-old mother asks me? This question emerges after she is told that Elizabeth Taylor is on Twitter (A celebrity she is fond of). I look at my mother and just pretend she never asked the question and go on with my day. I think to myself; “Elizabeth Taylor is on Twitter, this may be a sign of the end of the world”. Yes, I do say that tongue in cheek, but the real significant point to take from this fact is that Twitter is getting big, real big and even for people who are so non-technology related (both in age and knowledge).

As for the masses, the average everyday person who is using Twitter and loving it we have seen a great step forward in how and what people can tweet about. Like traditional mass media that evolved from print to audio to video we see with the addition of video to the new Apple iPhone 3GS great changes are on the horizon. With the native ability to post video from the iPhone to YouTube, Mobile Me or share it with email or MMS it gives iPhone owners a lot of choices; but the missing parts to this equation in my view is the ability to share these rich media files with Twitter, Facebook, and FriendFeed. But like in most situations like this, when we see a gap in the technology we can find ways to fill the gap, thus with the iPhone SDK, developers have had a chance to create Apps that can help bridge the gap.

One Video App that I have had a chance to test out is an iPhone App called TweetReel. It is a simple and clean looking App that offers great functionality. Colin from TweetReel was kind enough to disclose to me that even though the App is launching July 7, 2009 and is a great way to share your videos and pictures from the iPhone; this will not stop the TweetReel development team to continue improving the App. He feels that TweetReel will see some great improvements from the soon to be released iPhone 3.1 software update.

From my testing, I have had good experiences with this App. The only issue that I have seen with this App is related to a short video I took and was posting it to my Twitter when a phone call came in, after the call the iPhone went back into the TweetReel App but was not able to keep video saved. My solution to the issue is to capture the video in the native camera app and then just use TweetReel to post the video to my Twitter feed. A simple and effective solution!

One of the nice features of TweetReel is the easy user account setup, and because TweetReel uses your Twitter name your followers have a consistent way of finding you. The price for TweetReel will be $0.99 on launch day (July 7, 2009) and then move up to $2.99. In my opinion this is a small price to pay to get this level of integration to Twitter. Some other future plans for TweetReel include the addition of Facebook, as well being able to save video (thus fixing my above stated issue).

I would highly suggest giving TweetReel a try; it is a great App that has a lot of value for anyone who likes to share video in his or her Twitter feed. My TweetReel, My Twitter

Well, democracy is running wild around the world!

As the United States plans on lifting the embargo on Cuba, we see a move by Facebook to allow a democratic vote to set the “Terms of Service – the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and Facebook Principles”. A move that is quite in contrast to the move that Facebook made about two months ago when they told all users that they own all the users content on the site. But why make such a huge 180-degree turn? Why let people vote? Can it really be democratic? These are only answers that time will tell, and the actions of Facebook in the next few months will really show the users and the world if they believe in democracy or if this is just a big hoax. 

Some interesting points to keep in mind are the following;

1. Will Facebook users even read the proposed changes document? It is to be assumed that most users of Facebook are not aware of the right that they have given to Facebook originally and further more don’t have the patients to read the suggested changes.

2. Will Facebook China be allowed to vote in a democratic election? Since China has not had a democratic vote politically for years, it can be assumed that the governing rulers will not want to allow such freedoms. As well all other non-democratic countries, will they have a chance to vote?

3. Will Facebook be opening themselves up to a world of unexpected user expectations by suggesting that they are now democratic? It would be assumed that by letting the users vote on this topic that Facebook users may now expect and want to vote on all other future changes since this precedent is being set.

It is a good move in my opinion to let users vote and get involved, I am not sure if I would say it is the best idea because once pandora’s box is opened it will be very difficult to close and now Facebook users will expect to vote all further changes. This might cause even greater push back against Facebook in years to come; as it can me assumed that Facebook will not want to release control.

By Jon M. Cohen – New Media Specialist

By now you must have seen the changes that have taken place on your home page on Facebook. I  have heard the uproar from the community about how ugly it is and how hard it is to use. So let’s set aside all the complaints, sit back and look at why this change was needed and what will be the long term gain to the Facebook user lover.

It should be noted that every 6 to 9 months the good people at Facebook have felt the need to change the look and feel of this amazingly popular website. The last change we saw only affected the design and the look. This time  in addition to the look and feel, Facebook has cleverly changed some of the functionalities, including the change to the home landing page and to the user’s personal page. You may ask why they would make the change besides wanting to piss off more than two million users. Well my smart-ass answer can be summed up in one word, “Darwinism.”Yes that’s right, these changes are meant as a form of evolution. Remember only the strong survive and  when the owners of Facebook were not able to purchase their biggest competitor they needed to adjust the Facebook site to compete with and offer similar functions.

I assume you have heard  of Twitter  but just in case it is a social networking site that features “micro-blogging.” Twitter has really tipped in the last few months and with celebrities like Shaquille O’Neal, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Jimmy Fallon, and Britney Spears it is no surprise that more and more of mainstream web users are really giving it a go. As a result, Facebook needed to make some major changes to its systems. Granted,  Twitter only has 300,000 users which is a small user base when compared to Facebook. The truth of the matter is that Twitter is a real threat to Facebook. Twitter’s 140 character “Tweets” can easily be compared to  Facebook’s status update section and so it was an easy choice for the Facebook team to change that status update to “what’s on your mind?” Now with these basic functionality changes and a redesigned home page (that looks a lot like the Twitter home page) Facebook can start to roll out some of the same functions that Twitter currently offers. Let’s face it, Twitter is where the web is going so if Facebook can grab the audience then it will insure a long life  as a social networking website. Therefore in the long run, users will actually gain functionality by these changes. We will still see some minor changes to Facebook in the months to come. One change  to look for is the removal of the “Friends” cap, which is currently sitting at a maximum of 5000 friends. Going forward users will be able to have over 100,000 friends on Facebook.

I leave you with this final thought, if printers and scanners can join to become an all-in-one printer, why not try to use the new Facebook and empower yourself to see all that social networking and “micro-blogging” have to offer. You may be surprised by the outcome. Feel free to follow me on Twitter, CLICK HERE

By Jon M. Cohen

Loving Twitter is not a crime! Not using it to it’s potential is not a crime either, but it is a shame if you don’t really see all that Twitter can offer you. Unlike other social media websites Twitter has an API that is open and allows for developers to create applications that can be independent of the web browser. One fairly new application is TweetDeck, based on the amazingly versatile Adobe Air language. TweetDeck, still in Beta has a great deal of useful components to it. Of course you can do all the basic features that one would expect from a Twitter application. Functions like: posting a tweet, seeing friend’s timeline, and seeing direct messages. The things that really stands out for me with TweetDeck is the added features that come built in to this application.

Since TweetDeck is an Adobe Air based application it is easily installable on all three major software platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux).

Some of the most useful features in my opinion are “TwitScoop”, “Twitter Search”, “Stock Twits”, and “Groups” 

    * TwitScoop is in my opinion the most useful feature that TweetDeck offers. What you get with this feature is the ability to see what are the most popular buzzwords being posted on Twitter. So if you want to know the trends or the topics that the whole Internet community is talking about? Then the answer can be easily found with this feature.

    * Twitter Search is a powerful and very useful tool that will allow you to type in a keyword and then TweetDeck will create a section for you to see all the tweets about that keyword.

    * Stock Twits is just as you assume a tracker for your favorite symbols from any of the major exchanges. It is fast and easily customizable to the users preferences. All that is needed is to signup at the website and configure your portfolio.

    * Groups, this may seem like an expected feature for any Twitter application, and frankly it is common in some. But what TweetDeck does differently with its configuration and the power behind this feature is what sets it apart from all other competitors. With the groups feature you can choose which tweets you want to see while not seeing all the other people you follow. 

A few other nice parts about this application is the ability to pick the color scheme you want, as well the settings allow you to tweak the Twitter API on refresh rates. 

TweetDeck still has some room to grow and it is apparent that it is still in Beta. With that being said I would still highly recommend it for all Twitter users. In my opinion it is a must have application for all Twittter users. Get your own copy of TweetDeck here.

TweetDeck Full screenshot

By Jon M. Cohen

Owning and running a small business is as much a joy as it is a punishment. All small businesses are always chasing the bottom line and working hard to stay out of the red. Now as the economy takes a nosedive it is time for businesses to tighten their belts and cut unnecessary costs. 

The first cut that most small businesses will make is related to advertising and marketing. Everyone knows you need to spend money to make money; small business owners know you need to spend money wisely to make money. Thus it is best not to take risks during hard economic times and to do whatever you can to get a high return on your investment. 

Traditional advertising is expensive and while it can be successful it does not always produce the great customer response that is desired. Many ad campaigns end up going over budget because they paid for high demand time slots with the media buy. Think of the recent popularity of sites like Facebook and MySpace, customers who would typically consume these ads on TV or radio are not watching and listening. Rather these consumers are surfing and reading web content. It has been suggested that radio and TV consumption as a primary entertainment source is down about 10% over the past 2 years. 

Keeping in mind that you have high hopes for making a profit with your small business and want to ensure the goal of being around next year, it can be easily understood why your business should look down different avenues for advertising. One of the most direct ways to target potential customers is to use the Internet as an agent for advertising. Now you can pay for clicks, banner space or words online, but keeping in mind that you have a bottom line to protect, it is suggested to use social networking websites like Twitter (http://www.twitter.com) to promote your business. Need more info about Twitter, CLICK HERE

Twitter is a free website that is super simple to use, and can be one of the best ways to leverage potential customer and investors who don’t know that your small business exists. Twitter can be a gold mine to you the small business owner. Here are a few key tactics to use to be successful; pick an identifiable user name, add a human element to your content, and use social networking websites to promote yourself on Twitter.

A good example of a company that picked a direct name that says exactly who you are and what you do is Tesla Motors. Tesla Motors is a small company that makes a good-looking electric sports car. They use the Twitter name “TeslaMotors”, it can’t get any simpler then that right? 

Now remember that once you have the right name, the second key is content. People online want to feel a personal connection to your company, so it is important that you bring a human level to your Twitter updates. Therefore, I don’t recommend updates that just talk about products or services. Instead focus on how what you are offering in your small business is “cool” or “unique”. 

The last of the three simple tips was to use other websites to promote your Twitter account, like the previously mentioned social networking sites Facebook and MySpace. If you can nail down these three things, you have added the potential to reach millions of customers and it didn’t even cost you a cent.

It is important to spend money in hard economic times. It is even more important to spend money wisely! You will need to advertise your business to get customers and increase sales. So as you trim your advertising budget don’t forget to use the free tools that are out there. Your success is in your own hands, and regardless of what your small business sells or offers, you can make a lot of money when you leverage the Internet.