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Great blog post on why Twitter is so important. Twitter also distancing itself from "social networking".

Fast Follow allows you to get Tweets from your favorite Twitter users on your phone by sending one simple message, even without a Twitter account

Hey everyone, Fast Follow is available in Indonesia!

Twitter is such a useful service and by far my favorite social network.Check out these Twitter projects and case studies.

Technology Review published by MIT, describes an experiment which shows bots may not simply be a form of irritation. The research project started when a group of freelance web researchers created "sophisticated Twitter bots, dubbed 'socialbots,' that can not only fool people into thinking they are real people, but also serve as virtual social connectors, speeding up the natural rate of human-to-human communication."

Facebook has been making an effort to attract journalists through its subscribe feature. Apparently it has had some considerable degree of success. Those using the tool have reportedly seen an average increase of 320% since it was launched in November. Naysayers suggest this increase is more to do with quantity than quality and Twitter remains a better tool for journalists. Elsewhere, funnily enough, teenagers seem to be saying something fairly similar. Conversation is better on Twitter. The Next Web describes how some journalists are complaining that they are collecting thousands of followers through their Facebook "Subscribe" buttons who appear to have no interest in their work. These new subscribers, they say, leave comments that are irrelevant, "spammy" or even obscene.

Some interesting demographics on Twitter usage reported by Pew.Only American residents were surveyed.

Can international relations and diplomacy be conducted 140 characters at a time? World leaders have adopted Twitter with differing degrees of success and passion.

Another example of government officials reaching out to the public via Twitter.

The power of data mining... "Yet more evidence, if it were needed, of the value that can be found in the Twitter stream. The social media service that has been credited with doing just about everything, may even turn out to be a medical goldmine."

"Twitter recently redesigned their sign-up process to boost new user engagement. Though the new sign-up process added one more screen, conversions went up 29%. How? Gradual engagement." Interesting case study on website engagement.

Most of this article is about revenue, but makes some key points on community feature differences and some insight on engagement.

DSN right here...

"From the horseback ride of Paul Revere-and for millennia before-people have used the latest technology available to rally others sympathetic to their cause. As ubiquitous as Twitter and Facebook have seemed lately in spreading the word for gatherings, whether benevolent or malevolent, many recent demonstrations and revolts have used a variety of primarily digital platforms to spread their message."

This is why companies are archiving and storing every tweet.

The future is already here - it's just not evenly distributed. This is a fairly techie presentation, but the first 32 slide are well worth viewing. This presentation is about building a true web experience for phones. For our DSN projects we don't necessarily care right now. We can take advantage of web accessibility on non-smart phones and Twitter and FB apps that don't even need an Internet connection.

Salesforce uses Twitter and now Facebook in call centers to provide support service to customers.

Facebook, RIM and Twitter were invited to meet the British Home Secretary, Teresa May-as well as other government ministers-and the police following the riots and looting that gripped London and other British cities earlier this month. There were accusations that social media had stoked the flames of discord which lead to calls for it to be closed down during civil disturbances. According to a person familiar with the matter the meeting had taken a different stance. "They [the authorities] recognize they are behind and were being very honest. That is very refreshing."

When Toronto law firm Hicks Morley started its own internal social network in 2008, it was mainly to relieve lawyers of email overload so they could find important information more efficiently. But the firm found that by adopting several tools that mimic Facebook, Wikipedia and Twitter within the confines of a corporate firewall, collaboration between employees increased dramatically, and there was a marked increase in employee productivity.

Because the appeal of Google+ is in its targeted sharing options, companies won't be able any longer to blast messaging across the platform through a few well-connected users--often a good strategy on Facebook and Twitter. If Google+ sharing features are an indication of how we actually share and socialize, it points to a trend away from mass messaging across a network. And because Google+ encourages users to build out large networks while also managing a close circle of real friends, the power of these connections will become increasingly important to marketers. That means that having 600 friends or followers won't mean too much anymore. What will be important--for marketers at least--are those contacts you include in your close circle of friends, who regularly share with you, and who expect you to share with them.

Social networking is bad for society -not a new argument but one that is becoming louder. Social networking is neutral, it is a tool, it can be used for good or bad. We are just beginning to understand it. The most popular social network is Facebook -this proves to me that social networking is not fully understood yet. We need to find ways to present a venue for real discussion. Facebook is nice for connecting with old friend, but hardly a good place for a deep conversation. This is key, using the tools available to create the right platform and venue for creating positive outcomes.