Network Development: SFC Online

Wild couple of days… Been stuck in a design/development loop with the SFC Network (built on the Ning platform) http://www.sfconline.ning.com. 

I am pretty pleased so far with it’s turn-out. This is the first to hopefully many Ning integrations that will be done in the Vyne Labs. The Ning platform is indeed “Social Friendly” and I love the easy of navigation presented by it’s interface. Before I started developing on the platform – I visited and joined a few other Networks built on this platform to get a feel for it’s social loop. I would be considered a bandit if I did not mention the Networks I joined… 

1. MediaPRO and… 
2. Smaller Indiana (my home State)

Both of these networks are indeed thriving and rich with content. The Smaller Indiana crew is simply AMAZING and I am looking forward to spending more time within its walls learning the people and “trying” to be a Contributor to an already “savvy” crowd. 

Check out SFC Online - still in “beta” mode and let me know how ya feel so far. 

DISCLAIMER: We are still developing so do not mind the mess… 

Social Networking Strategy: The Mind Map.

About 12 months ago when I first started looking into what’s now the biggest chunk of conversation for me – Social Media, I quickly understood the power of the new medium. Another thing that I caught my attention was the vast amount of possibilities presented by the medium. When I first began I was looking at the front line tools of 2007 – which were quite a few, and to name the obvious IM’s and the such would be redundant at best – BUT if you look at the medium today you can easily see that the number of tools at your disposal, Twitter, Rejaw, Facebook, MySpace, Ping.fm, and countless others grace us with ease of use and of course – connectivity to one another. 

An inherit problem to all of this is organization. This morning I thanked God for Spaces in the Leopard Operating system – because without it… I would be insane. However; another tool that I have used over the last 3 years for ALL types of projects is Mind Mapping. Now – you may be scratching your head – but if you stick around for just two minutes I may be able to share a piece of technology that will give you a toolset that you can employ to help you keep all of this “stuff” organized. 

What is Mind Mapping? Mind Mapping is a way of organization that uses images instead of list or (primarily) words to organize data. A Mind Map is a visual representation of what is in your head… LOL!! Yeah sounds crazy huh? Here watch this Video by Tony Buzan – Creator of Mind Mapping (this is like a primer…) 

Okay… Now that you have this “Old School” version lets get technical with it… There are various Mind Mapping tools – I personally use Personal Brain  It’s light weight and sits right on your desktop with ease. NOW the winning question… How do I use the tool to keep my Social Networking Practices in order?

As “the rules” of Mind Mapping suggest – you start with a central point. This central point is YOU. And from you there are indeed the branches and these are mine… 

1. Blogging
2. Micro-Blogging
3. Networks (Major)
4. Networks (Minor)
5. Publishing
6. Creative

Blogging
Under the Blogging Branch I have any Blogs that I Author 

Micro-Blogging
This is where Rejaw, Twitter, Tumblr – so on and so forth go…

Networks Major
This is the home of Facebook, LinkedIn, Ning Networks and so forth…

Networks Minor
For me.. I list FriendFeed, Mashable, and like networks

Publishing
This is where your Squidoo pages and Zimbio data goes

Creative
You guessed it.. .Flickr and Adobe stuff….

Now this is where it gets nice. Now that you have a clear map of all that you have going on. Adding new sites and tools is not a problem. Your Map gets a LOT bigger BUT you have a clear view of all the madness. At Vyne Interactive – the very first thing that we do for each client is build a Mind Map of what we are doing with them and collaborate this map across our entire team. This way we can keep a solid pulse on where we are and what we are doing. 

This view is Surface at best – BUT this is SurfaceBurn – so what do you expect? What you can take away with you? 

1. A new understanding of Mind Mapping 
2. A Killer tool that you can use for creating your Mind Maps “Personal Brain” 
3. The beginning of a clear strategy to use in your Social Networking practices!

Cheers!

The Millionaires Secret. Revealed.

By way of Kyle Lacy’s blog I discovered Gary Vanerchuk – which I must say, even from a brief encounter, I WILL be learning more, is a Pioneer of the new Generation. No doubt. BUT he (Gary V) said something that affirmed something that a Millionaire told me once. This Guy – Kozel Boren of Gulf Industries told me – he said… 

“Vincent… The greatest thing I ever learned, was the art of buying and selling degree’s…” 

Whoa – NOW that was revolutionary. In a piece that Gary V did on the show Big Idea – he talks about the importance of investing big into your talent. Your people. and it was like a “Ah Ha” moment as it came together for me… Gary – like many other really wealthy people value their people in a way, and invest in them in a way – that brings on eminent success. 

Just had to throw that out there…

How Many Conversations Does it Take to Get to the Center of a Brand?

“I can remember as a kid growing up watching the commercial with the owl licking the lollipop saying… How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop…” 

Now here I am over 25 years later wondering… “How Many Conversations Does it Take to Get to the Center of a Brand???”… And what’s even all the more intriguing is, the idea that some big companies out there are absolutely oblivious to the idea that people are authentically trying to figure this out! 

How many does it take? Do you want me to tell you?

One. 

Yep. One. All it takes is one conversation, over 15 networks and over 5,000 people (maybe a few more or less) talking about your brand for the new wave of “Web Savvy Pioneer” to get to the “center” of a brand. What’s scary about this idea is that what’s discovered at the center just MIGHT not be your best characteristic. It might be that thing that you may have thought was hidden in the Boardroom under one of those yellow tablets of paper that you get from the drugstore on your way to the office – because you know you are going to have that all important “downsizing” meeting that EVERYONE is dreading… Why did I pick “Downsizing”? Because see… THIS is where your brand can unravel in the matter of minutes – where before you could go on, invisible to the world YET highly visible to those affected… Let me dig a bit with you… Trust me, I am not losing my mind. This will help your thought process. 

Take Jack. Jack is a pretty loyal Team Player at your Brand Site (company) and he is a “Die Hard Brand Fan” of yours. Jack attends EVERY company function and does EVERYTHING to a level of Excellence. JACK IS INDEED T R U S T E D by everyone around him, his word is GOLDEN. He is in modern terms – “The Man”. One characteristic about Jack that is working in his favor – is that he is totally “Social”. This guy, at 25 years old knows half of the planet. His Blog is KILLER and everyone admires his drive, and loyalty to his Brand… YOUR COMPANY is second to none.

For the sake of time… Let’s fast forward… 

It’s 9am on August 26, 2008 and your Company is facing some real stuff. Budgets are upside down and things are bleek at best. You know you will have to let go of some of the team – and it’s NOT because you want too – BUT because you HAVE to. You know that you are going to have to cut in order to survive. SO this is where that trip to the Drugstore comes in – THIS is where the yellow pads of paper come into play – SO play attention… 

You arrive at the office (as normal) with some pretty heavy burdens on your shoulders. You make the announcement to the Receptionist (who too is quite the Social Butterfly, and has one of the hottest MySpace pages EVER) that you need everyone to meet in the Boardroom at 10am… 

At 10am you feel like your life is coming to an end… And the meeting starts. So here you are. You and your team, and little to their knowledge - some of them will not make it out this room with their jobs. The meeting starts… Let’s fast forward… because this part is grim. 

It’s 11am and the meeting is over. People are packing up their desk – and among them is Jack and the Receptionist. Jack – is totally dismayed, discouraged and quite honestly a bit confused. The Receptionist is totally blown away because she called the meeting that ultimately took her income away. See where I am going with this? Let’s make it clear… 

Jack goes home and fires up his MacBook Pro (the one he is worrying about making the payments for now) and pulls open his only tool for comfort right now… His Ping.fm account. He pulls this tool out because in an instant he can broadcast to over 15 of his Social Networks with just one click. He starts off with… 

“My company did something really sucky to me today…” 

From there over 1200 of his Twitter friends know that something is up – Jack is NEVER negative, and 500 Rejaw friends, and 1000 Mashable friends, and ummmm… Get the picture? Next post… 

“My company XYZ Favorite Brand fired me with no warning…” 

Whoa – the plot thickens right? Because now people are really listening and chiming in… Someone who was not hired by your company comes back via their Ping.fm account and says something like… 

“Yeah!! XYZ Favorite Brand discriminated against me and did not even give me a chance!!!” 

And this is where it gets really sad… Remember the Receptionist? Well she always felt that the opportunities for her at your company were slanted – just never said anything to you about it… When she get’s home (because she is subscribed to Jacks RSS feeds – this is how she keeps a pulse on what’s happening at your company in “real time”) reads jacks post, and tracks back to the “Discrimination post” posted by someone that was never even working for your company…. The Receptionist writes a Blog post (to relieve her stress) and she does it in MySpace (remember she has like the hottest MySpace page EVER) and she post a bulletin in MySpace that says… 

“THIS IS WHY CORP AMERICA SUCKS… READ MY BLOG…” 

Wow. I could go on… BUT if you are not already thinking… 

1. Corporate Training in Social Media 
2. Social Media Teams
3. Online Reputation Management
4. Conversation Tech’s

Then there is nothing I can personally say OR do that will get you to see the future of brand positioning, or plain good old fashioned brand integrity preservation. Nothing. So I ask again… 

“How Many Conversations Does it Take to Get to the Center of a Brand?”

The Future Company: Kyle Lacy

“Individualized, cunning, agile and most of all – conversational…” 

As I look deeper into what we have now “dubbed” Social Media – I am starting to see a whole new cast of Players that from the surface of things and from Internet Standard, Protocol, or even call it Societal Rules, seem to be only finite pieces to a much bigger puzzle that has been developing over the last decade. However; as I dig – I am truly starting to see the emergence of a totally new level of communication, interaction and most of all influence that I honestly feel will reinvent the model of how we “conduct business as usual”. I am writing this for The Future Company: Kyle Lacy – and the others like, that I have encountered over the past year in this exciting new space – the Conversation Space, or even better, The Human Web. The companies I am writing this for are cunning, agile and conversational in ways that Influencers will have to pay attention to or imminently fade away in a stream of information that will power commerce at every level. 

A couple of days ago – I let the cat out of the bag a bit, and wrote a post called “There is Nobody in the Lobby… An Intro to Social Media”. This post was the result of almost 12 months of observation at a “involved level” – and what I found was what I feel is the key to future enterprise at many different levels. What I found was the ingredients of a totally new approach to web design and development,  public relations, news syndication, and relevant enough – brand evangelism. What is totally inspiring, and a bit perplexing is that instead of seeing big companies get bigger – I am seeing big companies getting smaller, almost a “reverse growth process” that no longer depends on mass media – yet depends on “mass conversation” and THAT is a concept unto its self – Mass Conversation, that should be explored. 

Stick with me on this – and I promise to stop rambling However; let’s imagine this for a second… And before I write this I want to prelude it by saying: THIS IS FICTIONAL, NOT REAL, BUT IS PART OF YOUR FUTURE… 

Welcome to Mass Conversation a Kyle Lacy Company. Why Kyle Lacy? Well just like my finite discoveries over the last year (because there is so much more to learn) – what I am finding is that through the organic and REAL nature of the web – finding the Modern “Rock Stars” does not take American Idol – it takes you being connected to the CONVERSATION – Kyle Lacy is a Social Media Guy - that after I followed his footprint – would indeed be the perfect Candidate for this new venture we are about to embark on…. Easy enough? Let’s move forward… Mass Conversation (the company Kyle Lacy Pioneered) is the new face of Mass Marketing, Mass Communications, Mass Media – blah blah blah… Because in the expiring paradigm each of these modes of “Mass” were directed at us, and not WITH us. NOW THAT IS RELEVANT. Mass marketing was Mass Marketing TO The masses… No REAL feedback, “here take my marketing”. Mass Communications – Talked to a LOT of us… Not with us. Mass Media, had us all experiencing a LOT however; never REALLY asked for our input… But if I stop here, I think you get the picture. Let’s keep this rollin… 

Mass Conversation a Kyle Lacy Company. 
Tag Line: Let’s Talk™
Value Proposition: Opening a channel of multi-level conversation giving the consumer the power to influence global brands with their voice.

Is this far fetched? Of course not… Dell found this out the hard way with the infamous “Dell Hell” episode (sorry Dell, this will pass, trust me…), and many other major players are feeling the same backlash of conversation. Kyle Decided to trump the other “Mass” Guy’s by doing the one thing they were all afraid to do. Kyle let the people talk – instead of always talking to them. Kyle opened the door to brand building, and he made sure that when he aired commercials on behalf of HIS Clients, he made sure that the commercials included real people with real ideals about the brand, risky? YES!!! Relevant? Double YES! See… Kyle is the Future Company. And in our lifetime we will see Mass Conversation “refined”. We see it now in the form of Rejaw, Twitter, and the likes – But very soon we will see it all the more.

Maybe I will write a post called “The Mass Conversation Company” – perhaps not… See I feel that when someone, IF someone reads this post, just like I have learned so far, organically, the post will be written by the people who have something relevant to say…

Something I am passionate about…

There Is Nobody In The Lobby… Introduction to Social Media

One day I went to a friend of mines office building because I was supposed to be conducting a session on the emergence of Social Media and the Networks that drive it. What happened that day was so much more profound – because I received a clear visual representation of what the last shift in online communication ushered in – AND it gave me a base level introduction for anyone trying to wrap their minds around Social Media. SO – what I am about to share with you will help you understand what’s going on online as it pertains to what I have now started calling “The Social Life Cycle” of your brand. This is what happened…

When I walked into the building it was a tremendous site. The floors were highly polished and directly to the front of me was a huge, glass Receptionist desk – and oddly enough there was nobody occupying it. As I traversed across the lobby I could hear the faint clamoring of people that was coming from the long corridor that preceded the immaculate lobby area – from behind closed, what I found out later – to be office doors. My meeting with my Colleague was in about 15 minutes, I was fashionably early, so I had a couple of minutes I could use to catch up with myself – so I sat in the sitting area of the huge lobby area. I was alone.

As I sat there I pulled out my business card and looked over it. Being a perfectionist I wanted to make sure that the print was indeed perfect, and without error. As I reviewed my business card I could still hear the faint clamor of people in their offices – as I gleaned at my business card, smiling at it’s design, because I am a Sucker for great design. Right then in an instant – It hit me…

There is NOBODY in the lobby. Welcome to Social Media.

This experience and observation of the absolute obvious – stirred an idea in me that I have always known but could never line up a situation that demonstrated what is now an absolute “realization” in what’s happening on the web today. Let me explain …

For the past decade we have become familiar with the traditional Web Site. We have built amazing online properties that tell people who we are and what we do – with color, “pizzaz” and “flare”. We have managed to build applications that can take in data and spit out amazing reports that we can use to truly “empower” our businesses. We have battled with Goggle, Yahoo, and other Search Engines to insure that our wonder works of “art” can be found by the masses – and that we indeed get an opportunity to tell our stories. And we spend countless hours insuring that what we have created is INDEED – “perfect”.

For the last 2-3 years the people that we want to see our Web Sites have started to “figure things out” and they are building Blogs, and Facebook pages faster than we can say… “Pixel”…. And they are getting involved in the domain that we have held dear to us as – THE WEB. They are talking among themselves making decisions via services like “Twitter” and “Rejaw” and they are doing it WITH or WITHOUT our amazing web sites. They are communicating and building conversations around the things that are important to them. They are no longer in the Lobby, They are where they want to be – when they want to be there, talking about WHAT they want to talk about.

SO – How does all of this come together?

In today’s web environment it’s no longer about your “pretty” web site. It’s no longer about JUST how “shnazzy” you can make it – BUT it is about the CONVERSATION. When I finally stood up from the lovely couch in the lobby, leaving my awesome business card on the table that was before me – and started walking down the hall and getting closer to the offices that lined the corridors of this immaculate building – is when I started getting a crystal clear view of what the web has become. An orchestration of web services all tied together, powered by the individuals who have something authentic to say, and are not afraid to say it. Each door on this corridor represented a service. MySpace was room 101 and Facebook was room 102, Twitter was full of clamor, it was room room 105, and with THIS revelation I understood even the more, that IF we do not get off the couch – and start walking into these rooms and saying something, we will be left in the lobby.

This is only the half. This experience also gave me a look at Social Media Optimization – and how this new paradigm in online communications basically makes SEO or Search Engine Optimization obsolete. But I will write about that another day…

Are web sites going away, like our traditional Business Cards are quickly fleeting? No. We will all still have pretty web sites, however; the stock that we put in them will lessen over time – and we will start to find that customization of our list of services will be the new standard. Do not be surprised if your Company “Higher Up’s” start a Facebook page complete with your companies logo’s and brand communications… Do not be surprised if a new department springs up, and this new generation of Worker, Team Player, carries a title like: Twitter Technician or Mashable Architect. Do not be bewildered if you are a Web Designer within your organization and your work-flow turns into a Mind Map of services that you have to maintain – because, THIS is the future of the conversation…

Are Web Sites Becoming Extinct?

Now THIS is a big question that has been floating around in my mind for a little over a year now. Being in the Web design industry for about a decade I have seen so many shift in the practice, that coming to this conclusion is not a surprising one at all. To me. The web – as we all know has really grown in reverse, and oddly enough, this “reverse growing pattern” has helped us all evolve as a people, as it pertains to connectivity, interaction and communication at every level. Looking back to the original purpose of the web, as those who treaded ground before all of us, we will find that the web was designed to be a “tool”, a platform for connecting one person with another in a relevant way. To get MY data in YOUR hands for you to glean from and for you to get that data BACK TO ME with your collaborative insight attached WAS indeed the original goal of the web. 

1. Get data out
2. Get data back in with input

Simple right? Well with the added advantage of Geographical freedom – and of course figuring out ways to get “rich data” from one end to the other added complications to the paradigm – BUT at the end of the day… Get data out. Get data back.

Now that I have rambled on a bit – let’s talk about this “extinction” thing. One day – I got the wild thought that maybe I should not be looking at the web as a level, flat, field of information, and perhaps I need to look at it as a completely three dimensional platform – capable of perpetuating information at very high rates of speed. BEFORE YOU CLICK off and deem me absolutely crazy, think about this, and I mean really think about what I am about to say, and I tell you – IF you allow your mind to grasp the “bigness” of the web and it’s TRUE nature – you can literally turn your small business into a Giant and your Giant Business into a viral beast… 

For over a decade I built web sites. Simple enough right? Information on digital documents that anyone, anywhere could access, and get the data they need. At the end of the day THAT was the business. One thing that ALWAYS haunted me about this thought process – was that Clients would 90% of the time come back and say… “Hey – Vince… our web site is GORGEOUS – and ALL of the information is there BUT – what can we do to… 

1. Get more people there 
2. Get them talking to us
3. Make our site “sticky”

SO THEN at this point we would go into SEO and all of the good stuff. We would add forms and applications to the site, and we would further the experience – pulling on budget, all in the effort of making the “site” friendlier, and stickier. But if I am honest, I always felt there was something missing. A human factor that could only be injected by a human. Companies started sprouting up – making it easy to add video and other “human-like” characteristics to web sites – and still, there was and IS something missing.

Fast forward… Web 2.0. All of a sudden Web 2.0 came on the scene, and still to this day I really feel that Web 2.0 was the technical way of saying “The Human Web”, enabling HUMANS to contribute data to the web almost effortlessly, THIS to me, was the beginning of the Humanization of the web – and it was ALSO the beginning of filling a void that was always there but ignored and in some cases adopted. 

Okay – another leap, and please keep in mind that I am speaking about all of this in very plain and straightforward talk. I do not want to complicate this, because I do NOT want to to miss this… Social Web – Again another way of saying “The Human Web”. Many Professionals started talking about “The Conversation” and “Use Controlled Content” – al of these things pointing to… The Human Web. And now – like never before I am passionately in love with the web again. People are communicating in profound ways, expressing themselves in images, words within blogs, and now – chatting away in Micro-Blogs – connecting Humans like never before. I am indeed… IN LOVE AGAIN. 

So is the web about a single web site? OR is it about a collage of tools all working in harmony to communicate a message? Should companies be investing literally tens of thousands of dollars on web projects that isolate them from Humans or should they be investing into Human assets that can be truly effective in a web environment. Should we be investing in bigger web sites OR should we be investing in people who can Twitter the companies message through a well branded Twitter interface? Or perhaps a series of Facebook pages all geared toward particular products or services in truly profound ways? 

So IF I ask – Are Web Sites Becoming Extinct? I would have to say that I feel that HOW WE View and use the web is becoming extinct – and we are entering into a new era of communication. I feel that in only a few years – major Web Sites will be segmented down into smaller scalable, agile presences that can be modified quickly to meet the needs of the conversation – This does NOT mean that ALL Web Sites will go away… BUt what I am saying is that Web Applications are indeed the future – and less we rethink how we use the web, as Market Leaders, we will find that we are falling behind the communication curve. Less we start to realize that our brands are being talked about with or without us – we will find ourselves in a state of continual “brand repair” and not actively participating in the growth of our brands as a whole… 

“I was literally BLOWN AWAY when my 14 year old Daughter said… Daddy, email is for old people…” I am only 35?

Know When to Hold Em’ Know When to Let Em’ Go…

This post is more therapeutic than anything… Over the last few months I have been secretly building what I feel will be the next generation in Online Communication companies. Why a big secret? Well I really wanted to stay under the radar of the Critics, and Influencers that could have helped me abort what has become a laborious task. Sticking to what I believe the web is becoming, killing what it’s not, and last but not least, taking off my crown as a “Designer” and stepping into the shoes of an Evangelist. 

In the Summer of 2006 I saw a big shift happen on the web as it pertained to how we were engaging information, which gave me a “futuristic” view of what’s to come. It was in the Summer of 2006 that I discovered, I mean REALLY discovered Immersive Web technologies, and I started really adopting Web 2.0. This was the same Summer that I realized that at the age of 33 I did not want to re-train myself in the technologies that I felt were going to change how we engaged the Internet. Out of these two assumptions – two have proven to be right so far. 

1. Immersive Technologies and Web 2.0, more specifically “Social Web” is here to stay… 
2. I definitely did not want to gain a “application level” understanding of the technologies needed to continue “building” the Web… 

The positive is that I did concentrate on getting a fundamental and theoretical understanding of not only Social Web and Web 2.0 BUT I also gathered insight into what I feel will be the next evolutionary step in web application – Immersive Web or 3D Web. ALSO known as Metaverse Technologies. I would be an absolute liar if I said that I have become a Genius at the fore-mentioned, however; I can say that I am way ahead of the crowd as it pertains to understanding the relationships between the emerging technologies, and I have some pretty strong ideals as it pertains to how companies should be and more importantly will be using these technologies in the very near future. 

Twittter, Second Life, Facebook, Kwippy, Ping, the list goes on and on, and if are anything like me, the hours spent understanding these technologies are no less than 10 hours a day – everyday – and I am still catching on and learning. What I DO understand CLEARLY, is that there is a generation of Digital Mavericks, “Jedi’s” if you wanna call them that, who dine on the code that makes all this stuff … “Work”.  - So in a blink I had to take off my crown as a Designer/Developer and put my Evangelist hat on again – and become the conduit between the Jedi and the Market Leader trying to understand the “garble” of information coming to them at a rate no less than one hundred miles a min. in high resolution format. 

So – what was all this “jibbersish” about? It’s about shifting roles, and positioning to do great things. It’s about knowing when to hold em, and knowing when to let em go… It’s about being effective. 

Welcome to the next generation of the web…

How and Why I Use Twitter… “Bitten” Idea…

I was doing my normal “Twittering” this morning and ran across JEREMIAH OWYANG’s post where he was thanking his Followers. Now that’s not the interesting part. What WAS interesting is the fact that in Jeremiah fashion he eloquently posted how he uses Twitter on his blog, and used Twitter to link back to his methodology. Genius. 

So with that said, I am going to “bite” his idea and list why and how I use Twitter. OH!! “Bite”… Bite: a slang term meaning “copy” or mimic… 

How and Why I Use Twitter – A not so glamorous approach… 

Let’s start with the how… I am a true to heart info junkie, and I like sharing what I find with people. I do this in the natural context of things, good old fashioned talking and I love to do it online. SO I use Twitter along with Kwippy and about 4 other platforms to “syndicate” data across Social Networks. I tie them all to Ping.fm and I syndicate or broadcast in one clean sweep. SO there are basically ways how I use Twitter 

1. To syndicate data that I find. As an Emerging Tech Guy – I am always “hound dogging” what’s new and what’s hot, so I use Twitter to broadcast my findings, so I use it to SHARE. 

2. I am a information junkie, so I use Twitter as a information source. I follow people for the purpose of gleaning from what they are reading and relating it back to my passion which is emerging tech. I can not be in all places at one time – SO I use the “Twits” of other people to keep up to speed on things. So I use it to GATHER information… 

3. Idea Formulation – I am a compulsive Blogger and sometimes this compulsion does not match my idea pool. SO to breakthrough I read “Twits” and post “Twits” to stimulate conversations that might lead up to engaging content. So I use it to formulate or SPARK ideas. 

Those are the three major ones for me.. Now the “Why”. 

1. Twitter is slick and it follows you. Because I carry the glorious iPhone and iPhone has some pretty cool apps for Twitter – it’s easy for me to strike up conversation where ever and whenever I want to. So it’s CONVENIENT for me to use. 

2. User friendly – The Twitter interface is easy. It’s very intuitive and easy to understand. So even when I have had a long day, it’s not cumbersome to just log in and “Twit” away. So it’s FRIENDLY. 

3. It’s expanding – Twitter is out there. It’s becoming the new medium for conversation and I am a firm believer in “The Conversation” Twitter is a conversation tool like no other… So if I had to sum this one up I would have to say that Twitter is EXPANDING.