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Microblogging news, tools and resources: Twitter, Plurk, Seesmic, Pownce, Jaiku, Tumblr, Identi.ca, Yammer

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MobaTalk is a big step forward for video and TwitterOctober 8

I’ve been watching the developments in online video from the sidelines, as somone who is still embarrassed by his time hosting a semi-professional daily webcast, and who has managed to avoid owning a webcam.

I can see why there’s an initial curiosity around lifecasting, but the reality is generally somewhat duller. I do get the idea of Seesmic, but I think to get the most out of it requires a commitment similar to starting out on Twitter, and I haven’t quite yet convinced myself it’s an additional output I need to find time for. I occasionally enjoy 12seconds.tv, but although the short clips are quite punchy and to the point, it always feels like I’m skimming over people’s ideas. (Although I do think @Documentally has really transcended the medium)

But I’m being totally honest when I say Mobatalk has convinced me that video has now arrived for microblogging - and for quick, easy broadcasting to friends and contacts.

Put simply, you go to the site, reco

Twittertise improves measures for corporate Twitter accountsOctober 6

Twittertise is billed as a method of advertising on Twitter, but personally I see it more as a tool to measure the Return on Investment for corporate Twittering - something which arguably has a lot more value than a basic advertising tool. Owner and creator Jon Steinberg got in touch via Twitter, (@jonsteinberg), but it took me a little while to get some questions to him, and I’m glad it did, because this post now coincides with a new release which answers some of the questions I had about the value of the service.

In it’s simplest terms, Twittertise is a free service which builds on Bit.ly url shortening to offer some statistics on referrals through to your website - but the latest release starts to go further than the Bit.ly tool by offering some useful graphing capabilities for overall referrals and individual messages - and graphs are always useful for corporate reporting!

Jon was kind enough to answer some questions about the thinking behind Twittertise, how brands including Comcast, Nortel and the American Cancer Society are using it, an

I’ll try not to be too harsh on the LastFM Love/Twitter mashupOctober 6

The LastFM Love Tweet Twitter mashup was obviously a labour of love for Peter Weitzman, and as he says, it was born out of frustration at seeing other systems auto-generate songs being listened to by other Tweeple.

But I’d recommend not using it for two reasons.

1. Autofeeding any information is annoying. And unless you’re sharing the actual audio of songs you like, it’s pointless - which brings me to 2:

2. Blip.fm.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of last.fm and have a pretty big playlist on there. It’s generally my site of choice for listening to streaming music. But if I want to listen to Tweeple’s music, I head to Blip.fm to get an almost random selection of delights and disasters.

After all, blip.fm is like crowdsourcing John Peel. It’s fun when I’m in the mood, but stumbling across obscure German hardcore trance tends to make me run back to my own selections. And if people start bombarding Twitter with autofeeds, I can’t escape.

No whale but my Twitter experiment FAILEDOctober 5

Twitter works for me . . . . usually

I’ve been using Twitter for about 4 months now.  Because I was a late adopter, I didn’t have to work too hard to get a small list of followers and I was happy with the social chatter and light hearted banter that goes on.  I rather like knowing what is happening in Canada, Singapore, Seattle and around UK as a kind of “ambient awareness”.  I occasionally trade links and tips, and pimp my own blog a bit.

My first Twitter experiment

This week, I got ambitious and tried a little experiment.  Inspired by a list of “e learning experts” who Twitter, I wondered what it is like to follow a social media celebrity.  I do follow some celebs, but I know them personally.  I’ve shared a meal with them - so that is different.  This is following the guru the way other people do.

I picked the first name of the list.  It happened to be @amcafee, the Professor at Harvard.  Good choice, because I am genuinely interested in his work on Enterprise 2.0.

Well, I didn’t get the great social media effect.  I suppose you don’t all the time.  Anyway, @amcafee twittered that he didn’t know why he had so many new followers.  It seemed many people had the same idea as I.  Immediately I replied with a tweet explaining the list that billed him.  Returning from London late the following evening, I half expected an @jotoo Thanks for the i