Twitter Taking Notice Of How Users Interact

Twitter has been sitting up and taking notice of how it's users interact with each other and is rolling out some "new" features based on those observations. Over the next several weeks, Twitter users will see two new features, Lists and Retweets, both of which have spawned from user-generated innovation.

According to this New York Times Article "“Twitter’s smart enough, or lucky enough, to say, ‘Gee, let’s not try to compete with our users in designing this stuff, let’s outsource design to them,’ ” said Eric von Hippel, head of the innovation and entrepreneurship group at the Sloan School of Management at M.I.T. and author of the book “Democratizing Innovation.”"

Innovations such as the referral of other users by the "@" symbol preceding their user name and the "#" tag identifying a topic where also user generated and are very much embedded in the Twitter vernacular.

Twitter User Celebrates 104th Birthday

Ivy Bean of Bradford, near Leeds, is an active twitter user with 27,000 followers. She tweets about the highs and lows of her life like many of the rest of us, only Ivy is 104 years old and is believed to be the oldest active Twitter user. Ms Bean tweets from the care home where she lives, Hillside Manor, "We're trying to do something different than knitting or crochet," says Pat Wright, the home's manager.

Before Twitter, Ivy was an active Facebook user, where she had maxed out her 5,000-friend limit.

Source: CNN

Canadians Can Twitter Via Cell Phone... For A Price

Since November Canadians have not been able to receive tweets from Twitter on their cell phones via SMS as Twitter cut the service citing prohibitive costs. Yesterday however Bell announced that it would now allow the SMS tweets but there is a cost. "Because Twitter is a third party service, the messages are considered premium and not covered by our plans. This aligns with industry standards regarding third party premium messaging," said Bell spokeswoman Julie Smithers. Bell will charge users of the service 15 cents for each incoming or outgoing tweet, even if the user has an unlimited texting plan.

Source: CBC

Do you Tweet?

For some, blogging is a chore. A lot of people try it and quickly tire of it, or they want to try it but can't find the time in their busy schedule. There are however a number of new services such as Twitter or Jaiku that offer a quick solution to those wanting to keep their friends and followers informed but don't want to invest the time in blogging. Twitter for instance simply asks "What are you doing?" and provides 140 characters in which to respond. The site can be updated through a traditional web interface, via Instant Messenger (IM), or by texting a message on your cell phone (sms). I've had a Twitter account since March of this year, but have not been very good at keeping it up to date. Thankfully there are a number of Twitter applications that enhance the Twitter experience. As of today, thanks to Twitterfeed, my Twitter account will be updated daily with posts to this blog. Even if I don't tweet regularly, my Twitter followers will be able to see my recent blog posts, and to complete the circle if I tweet you'll be able to see it on this blog... scroll down the page, just above my links. I've found blogging a little easier to get into, but I also know of many people who have abandoned their blogs in favor of tweeting. Big media and celebrities alike are utilizing both, so if you've been debating the merits of blogging why not give tweeting a try?