A few minutes between meetings and a lot on my mind… so here's another installment of Quick Hits.

  • I don't get Tweetups.  Especially ones where the attendees have NOTHING in common except being in the same place.  I guess that makes me a Tweetup curmudgeon.  I'm ok with that.
  • I'm starting to care about the munging of my personal and professional lives on Twitter.  Not sure how Twitter will evolve to assuage these concerns.  I'm sure I'm not the only one having them.
  • Tip to those of you creating web services that integrate with Twitter… if you set up a Twitter convention to make your web service "viral", guess what?  It's searchable.  Not only that but search results can be monitored via RSS.  Methinks it is important to launch at the right time less you lose your momentum and are then screwed.  And there is no way to explain that away to prospective investors or business partners.
  • I forgot the name of the service, but I ran across another one the other day that allows you to track your behavior on Twitter over time… it was complete with usage stats by hour, keyword, etc.  Scary.  Perhaps this is why I'm concerned about work & play being too "munged".
  • There has been a lot of talk on the blogosphere over the last few weeks asking whether or not brands belong on Twitter.  I don't see what the big deal is.  Who or what people choose to follow is totally up to them.  If you want to hear drivel from a corporate PR department, feel free.  I don't see where Twitter is any different than any communication medium.
  • Regardless of what you think of Twitter, it has brought about another round of democratization on the Web.  Think back to what sales/partner/business development was like for people ten years ago… tracking people down was really, really difficult.  I used to go to trade shows because that was pretty much the only way to reach an influential person that could help my startup.  Now if you can't reach the right person via the web, blogs, Twitter, etc. you seriously need help with either your product, your approach, or your company's value proposition.

Needless to say, I'm a big fan.  I can't help but think that one of the major players (Google, Microsoft, Facebook) will buy the company (i.e. user base + brand) soon.  They won't be able to resist.  One of many predictions for 2009 that I'll share with you in a week or two after I review my 2008 predictions.