Social Media Landscape in July 2009

Juliette Powell, John Perry Barlow and Paul Krugman talk about the social media landscape in 2009. From commercial brands to big business, all eyes are on Facebook, Twitter, and the digital generations.

How To Track Twitter Follower Growth? Twitter Counter!

If you're starting to get really addicted to Twitter and want to track the growth of your followers, TwitterCounter.com is the application to do it with.


It helps you track the growth of who's following you on Twitter, who you're following, and also your Tweet frequency. Below is a look at my stats:


I still need to figure out how to post the widget as it doesn't seem to want to work for me right now.

I'm also waiting for someone to develop an application that can roll this data in with actual Tweets data and who followed you when to see what is driving your growth. That would be worth more to me than my pimped out Honda monster-truck civic.

Twitter 101 for Businesses

Twitter takes a while to get your head wrapped around, but if you're interested on behalf of your business, a great place to start is Twitter 101. In case you've been stuck under a rock for the past year, Twitter is a real-time communication platform that enables businesses to stay connected to their customers. Businesses can quickly share information with prospective clients/employees, gather real-time market intelligence and feedback, and build relationships with customers, partners and other people who care about your company.

Download the deck and discuss it with your boss; it's good stuff.

Steve's 5 Starter Steps for Twitter

Great video from Steve Isaacs on 5 tips he wishes he knew when he was just getting started. Hope you find it useful as well!

Twitter Tips for Newbies

Great video by Chad where he explains how to use Twitter in a simple and easy-to-understand fashion.

Here are the quick take-aways:

1.) Define your purpose - what are you hoping to use Twitter for?

2.) Start following people, because many of them will follow you back.

3.) Start tweeting immediately - the sooner the better - but don't overdo it!

4.) Use the @Reply function to engage in conversations.

5.) Don't send spammy messages.

Twitter Raises $100b to Install Gold-encrusted Toilet Bowls.

Just joking. Twitter announced that it's raising $100b USD to fund the next phase of its development. By all accounts, the micro-blogging platform has had an excellent year with massive growth in the months of April (+ 13 million uniques, ~70% m/m) and June (+ 7 million uniques, ~20% m/m).

An interesting detail is that news worthy events (often times violent or shocking) typically spur user signup and usage, as the application becomes a crucial source of real-time information sharing as events are unfolding. Twitter saw spikes in usage and signup following the tragic Delhi bombings in September of last year as well as the June elections in Iran. As more of the world's population comes online to use social media to share what's happening in their lives, it will change the way we experience events (both good or bad).