The demise of twitter?

A good post by Guy Kawasaki on Twitterhawk.

In their own words, from their site

TwitterHawk is a real time targeted marketing engine that will find people talking on twitter now by your chosen topic and location, allowing you to really hit your target mid conversation with ease.

So twitterhawk will search tweets, based on your criteria, then send out appropriate responses to tweeters to provide meaningful information. Local stores could find customers looking for a particular product or service in the area. Many people consult their friends for recommendations, this would allow people to eliminate the middle man.

So how could this kill twitter? When I can't ask a friend where to buy rims without having ten Tire stores sending me spam/ads. Twitterhawk does have cost of 5 cent/tweet and spam-prevention policies. The problem will happen when me-too services popup that don't have the same good-hearted intentions. Then when I look for tires I'll get replies about how a fake degree will help me get 17" rims.

Hopefully twitter implements (or already has) safeties in place to prevent this. If not ill-intentioned copies of this service will drive me off twitter

RSS vs Twitter

I have been a huge proponent of NetVibes and start pages in general. RSS has such potential, I still evangelize to friends on the benefits of creating a start page and monitoring their favourite sites. The ability to aggregate great content and not have to actively find it is great. It's basically putting a filter on the web. Sure some articles will lead to others but for the most part I have a "manageable" container of key information.

The manageable concept is a tricky one. As I come across new sites and blogs, I add feeds while deleting few. I find myself now with 9 pages with 12+ feeds per page. There is a lot of great content. The idea of important vs urgent is different in my surfing. A lot of surfing is about staying current. Sticking to the same RSS feeds will keep me current on the topics of my chosen sites but not at a larger view. I as a person look to adapt and stay current. Feeds typically stay focussed on their niches.

Twitter provides a very current view. The noise factor is extremely high on twitter but newer tools like tweetdeck are allowing grouping and filtering to reduce the noise while still bringing current content to the forefront. More and more I rely on my twitter feed for content. People whose blogs I read are a good start, especially those that link. Tracking trends on twitter is fantastic. Many media outlets have multiple twitter feeds which are glorified repeaters of their RSS feed.

Does this mean that twitter will spell the end of RSS. I don't think so, just as RSS hasn't really gone mainstream yet, neither has twitter. Twitter with a more IM feel has a better anchor to draw people in, but RSS still provides a base location for people to find information. Every blogging service / CMS would need to build a direct twitter publishing service without RSS. RSS could become just the middle layer for twitter.

At least until Facebook or Google use their existing offerings to get into micro-blogging...

Continual progression towards automation

Every time you repeat a task, make progress on automating it. It doesn’t have to be big… It just has to be progress

I came across this from one of my favourite twitter feeds venturehacks. Pointing to this article on Emergent Properties of Continuous Automation . There are so many mundane tasks that I have great ideas towards automating and making more efficient. Typically my great ideas require a lot of effort. A more incremental approach could diminish the pain each iteration.

The big point is that it's not a big massively funded project. It's not some impressive consultant it's a mindset a change in your culture. Not easy to do, but immensely rewarding.

Internet Vs. Recession

Keeping up-to-date with the news these days is great way to get depressed. Each day multiple companies are announcing layoffs in the Thousands. The leading indicator - the stock market appears to have settled down but it still takes hits when a few pieces of bad economic news comes out on the same day.

The comparisons between now and previous downturns are relentless. There is one difference. The internet has flattened the world in many ways, both good and bad. News spreads much faster today, and unfortunately bad news trumps good (if it bleeds it leads). We are much more exposed to more negativity than generations before. The economy has been largely quoted as an issue of confidence. With the increase in communication and transparency the economy can suffer much more, much quicker. In a smaller sense the continuous bombardment of bad news can hurt the individual psyche as well. Too much info in dark times can be very painful.

I don't think all is lost. In the same way the internet depresses us quicker, I think it can aid in a quicker recovery as well. Much more meta-discussion and echo points exist due to the internet. Despite our love of bad news we are hopeful and optmistic news can resonate well on the internet. Looking again at the individuals job losses can be an incredibly isolating and lonely event. Having mediums like social networks can do wonders to lift people back up and help them feel connected and optimistic. We're all in this together. Despite the epic lows we seem to be in I think the internet age will change the way the world deals with the ups and downs. We have suffered a very bad blow but together we can recover much faster.

Related Links:
WSJ - Job Loss in the Age of Blogs and Twitter

Exposing fake and real degrees

Three years ago the US Secret Service in concert with Homeland Security busted a forgery ring. DVDs, Rolexes, designer handbags? No. University Degrees. It was called a diploma mill.

A fake university based out of Liberia (yes it's a real country) that provided you with a degree in a subject of your choosing for a small fee. Many people feel rightly outraged at how people have cheated the system. One law school student has had her education and job offer disappear when her fake undergrad degree was exposed. Another consultant's (with a fake PhD) website listed the RCMP and many major police forces as repeat clients.

Yes, what these people have done is dishonest. It is unfair to those who put in all the time to earn those credentials.

Let's talk about those people that took their fake degrees and got jobs. They were hired for their qualifications. People are hired for their skills, experience and knowledge. A degree represents skills & knowledge. If people were hired and successful at their jobs, what does this say about the degree itself? If one scams to get in the door, but doesn't get exposed by their lack of knowledge, is the degree meaningless?

The degree can be used to filter applicants. But does the degree give graduates a performance advantage? If a degree doesn't translate to noticeable real-world performance then employers should evaluate it's weighting in hiring decisions. Perhaps a degree is less about the material but an extended test of intelligence and perseverance. Is a degree just creating an aristocracy into the working world, where as our capitalist market should work on a meritocracy.


Related Links:
Phony Diploma Investigation (The Star)
College vs University

TSN 2 Disaster!

I'm a die-hard Toronto Raptors fan living in the GTA. I have the misfortune of being a Rogers subscriber. Due to what appears to be a fight over money Raptor games are not being broadcasted for a large percentage of the GTA. Despite the Raptors attempts at making themselves a national team it is still a very urban team. TSN is trying to force new subscribers to TSN2 by pushing content they agreed to put on TSN.

David Purdy of Rogers :

We're big fans. We're working on an agreement that makes sense for our shareholders and customers, and we're confident we will see the Raptors' games on Rogers.

read: we think it costs too much and it takes away from our Sportsnet channels.

I am strongly considering the hassle of changing providers. Either way i'm going to get nickel & dimed by whatever provider but if Rogers wants to play like this, then they pay the price. Despite all the raptor games on TSN2 I may not subscribe to it this season. I'll go to a bar, listen on the radio. This sort of behaviour shouldn't be rewarded.

Another blow for the death of customer-service centred organization. I wonder what percentage of the GTA are (or were) Rogers customers? We could create a groundswell against TSN 2.

Next stop: Twitter.

Are you fueling the recession?

If you pick up a paper or watch the news you might think it's economic armageddon. Each day talk of losses in the market, bailouts and handouts all over. The word recession is thrown around like candy.

60-70% of GDP is consumer spending. There are some hurting sectors with people out of work. However, there are many, Many people with stable jobs who are hoarding cash waiting for the pending apocalypse. This is only going to fuel the recession

Let's keep it in perspective. The Bank Rate is now at 50 year lows meaning anyone on a variable rate mortgage has a lot of extra money in their account, or is paying down extra principle. Gas prices have also had a massive decline, filling up that big SUV isn't so painful anymore. Yes everyone's investments are down but with great fear brings great opportunity.

The market and to an extension the economy is built on consumer sentiment. Confidence in the market and the confidence to spend money is crucial. So give it some thought, if your in a fairly secure sector, if you feel safe in your job then Do Your Part. Spend some money!