Micro-blogging is a form of blogging that allows users to write brief text updates (usually less than 200 characters) and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. These messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including text messaging, instant messaging, email, MP3 or the web. The microblogging concept isn't one that settles neatly among a myriad of more intuitive platforms. Regardless, microblogging platforms like Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce, and PlaceShout are gaining steam in the social media realm with or without you.
If you know and/or follow Lynnette Young, a.k.a. LynetteRadio on Twitter, you would be interested in knowing that she's on the brink of labor, very near to producing a Halloween baby. You'd also be aware that her husband is in New York sans cell phone.
What use is that to the business-minded? At this point, not much. Later, though, as media converges – especially social media – one might imagine contextual advertising for diapers and baby wipes appearing next to the appropriate tweets. (The 140 character or less posts are called "tweets" on Twitter.)
Perhaps that's what Google plans to do with recently acquired Jaiku, a platform similar to Twitter. Perhaps that's where all this is headed as the bubble gets bigger: large companies swallow up social media, interlink them, and monetize them under one umbrella, carefully targeted by demographic.
Until then, we're left with fragmentation teetering on frustration. With so much social media out there, how does one have time to utilize it properly? Well, just like you pick your battles, you're going to have to pick your social network.
Twitter, for example, is stuffed with early adopters, thought leaders, and technophiles. If this your target market, then it's a good idea to be there Twittering too. Verizon's John Czwartacki takes his company's message to the lion's den. In a crowd most likely to be pro-Net Neutrality, Czwartacki hasn't missed the opportunity to present the positive aspects of his company to industry critics/bloggers.
"Microblogging can serve a valuable purpose in an emergency, especially when it can be done via a mobile device. In the recent San Diego Fire, twitter was a great way to communicate with friends and family when the mayor asked us all not to talk on our cell phones. Our local PBS news affiliate created their own twitter account which was great when the power went out.
It was very easy for me to give out my twitter screen name and have my family follow my posts instead of calling me every few hours."
Posted by Srirajeth
