I am not a big fan of the RT (retweet) custom on Twitter. I think it wastes space, and is unnecessary. It often ends up in an awkward stumbling over one’s self to give credit to someone who hasn’t done much more than tweet a link. (If you disagree with me on this point, join the crowd.)

Worse still, the RT leaves room for misquotation, misunderstanding and even fabrication of tweets. Tonight, by random coincidence, I observed an argument about a tweet by @GMVolt. A number of people were doing RTs that @GMVolt had tweeted “GM has a lot of problems, but it HAS sold more EV’s and hybrids than the carnival barker who runs Tesla.” Unfortunately a Twitter search discloses only the RTs, and no original tweet from @GMVolt with this content.

A careful examination of the search results reveals what happened.

@jkp1187 tweeted the first instance “: @GMVolt GM has a lot of problems” etc. @cbarger misinterpreted this and posted it with an RT, indicating @GMVolt had posted it, which did not actually happen, or at least, there is no evidence that it did. (The tweet is not in @GMVolt’s archive either).

What happened here appears to be a simple mistake, but it points out yet another tragic flaw in the RT, and an acute risk for corporate spokespeople who can be exposed to misquotation, etc.

Tags: Twitter RT, misuse, abuse, corporate risk, @GMVolt, Tesla

At exactly the same moment Ashton Kutcher and a couple of other people found out about Twitter from their marketing folks, Twitter stopped being cool. And for many, it stopped being even tolerable. Twitter has shown phenomenal growth this year, but at the same time, it is already in danger of becoming the next MySpace (synonymous with a moribund user base and questionable relevance). And when that happens, where will everyone go? While some have gone to alternate Twitter universes like Plurk, or microblogging clones like Identi.ca, FriendFeed, once thought of as a Twitter supplement or add-on, seems to be the most obvious place.

What has FriendFeed got over Twitter? Better integration and the ability to cross post to a multitude of services like Facebook, Flickr, Google Reader, Digg, StumbleUpon, etc. Real time updates to the feed without requiring a “refresh” button.” Real time search of all updates or just your friends’ updates. Actual image and video embeds. Friends’ lists, aka groups. What does Twitter have over FriendFeed? More users. And that’s not necessarily a good thing. FriendFeed also has a very clean interface and thus far (though they haven’t had to scale like Twitter) no indications of IT “anomalies.”

Have you noticed any of your friends’ tweets starting with “Liked”? Chances are, they clicked the FriendFeed “Like” button, indicating they liked something they saw on their feed. This single click also (optionally) autoposts this to Twitter. (That’s the integration and cross posting I was talking about.)

Like Facebook, FriendFeed’s user interface recently went through a major overhaul, and among loyalists and newcomers alike, it’s getting high marks. “Follow the money” emerged from the Watergate story and the movie All The President’s Men to become a popular expression. I propose we update that for social media to read “Follow Scoble.” Scoble mastered Facebook almost the moment it was open to the public, then joined Twitter and amassed a huge number of followers before shameless follower amassing was chic. He has been a FriendFeed booster since its introduction.

One thing I haven’t figured out yet is how to see who has subscribed to my feed, but for whom I haven’t subscribed in return. (If you’ve subscribed to my feed and wonder why I haven’t returned the favor, that’s why).

Right now, FriendFeed is relatively free of spammers. (I haven’t seen any yet, but just wait until Business Week reports FriendFeed has jumped the snark or something and we’ll all need to find another place to go to escape the noise.)

If you want to try out the next big thing, or you’re a social media snob, sign up for FriendFeed. It’s really worthwhile and you might find it more productive and useful than that other brand of microblogging/status updates.

NOTE: I just discovered (after publishing this) Jesse Newhart published a post about FriendFeed on April 23 and used both “cool kids” and “jumps the shark” (although I used “jumping the snark.”) I just saw Jesse’s post on FriendFeed, so I wanted to set the record straight. (I had not seen it, at least consciously, before posting this.) I apologize for any appearance of impropriety and bow to Jesse.

Tags: FriendFeed, Twitter, Robert Scoble

I am becoming increasingly annoyed (even for me) at the number of times I see bloggers using what I call phantom links. A phantom link is one in which the blogger refers to and links to information on someone else’s blog, but can’t be bothered to give credit, by name, to the blogger he or she is linking to. Here’s an example of the right way and wrong way to link to someone’s blog:

Right way: Steve Rubel, for example, suggests that the use of Twitter direct messages as a medium for PR pitches might be a “practice that journalists can live with.”

Wrong way: Many have suggested that the use of Twitter direct messages as a medium for PR pitches might be a practice that journalists can live with.

Sometimes the use of the phantom link is just sloppy writing. At other times it is used because the blogger wants to appear to have “done the right thing,” but at the same time, would like to claim credit for some of the source blogger’s ideas. If I, or some other blogger, has laid the groundwork for a post, or produced a post worthwhile enough to reference, then I think it’s appropriate to give credit where due.

Tags: phantom links, attribution

By now nearly everyone knows the story of the Ashton Kutcher vs. CNN Twitter challenge to be the first to amass a million followers. But I’m trying to stay a step ahead of the game, so I have some ideas on what Kutcher should do next.

Both CNN and Kutcher agreed to donate 10000 mosquito bed nets for World Malaria Day. I have never purchased mosquito bed nets, but I imagine in that quantity they are a few dollars each, and while I can’t afford to make that kind of donation right now (see below for what I’ve agreed to do), it’s nothing in the context of the media budgets for either party.

Kutcher has quickly understood and taken advantage of the power of Twitter, remarking, “I found it astonishing that one person can actually have as big of a voice online as what an entire media company can on Twitter.”

Arguably, though, neither CNN nor Kutcher “get” Twitter in the classic sense. Even Kutcher’s notion of a “big voice” is very telling. Where are the “big ears?” with which to listen? As I write this, CNN is following six people and Kutcher is following 80. If you’re OK with a one-way feed from a celebrity or a news organization, this is not a problem. But if you’re a fan expecting a conversation, forget it. Unfortunately, this dialogue is a harbinger of what Twitter will soon become: a Web 2.0 shopping mall and Cineplex with 12 million reluctant “customers” wandering about, seemingly stunned, unable to find the Conversation Hut on the mall directory. But I digress.

Is Kutcher’s drive to amass a million followers from a sense of obligation or altruism, or is it merely a way to create a huge distribution network through which Kutcher can promote himself and his Blahgirls venture?

If it’s the latter, then Kutcher has, as many headline writers have already suggested, Punk’d Twitter. He has out-scammed all the 10,000-followers-in-10-minutes scammers who have been reduced to small change in the world of @aplusk and @CNNbrk.

If on the other hand Kutcher’s intentions are pure, and he hasn’t simply manipulated the Twitterati for his own personal gain, then I know exactly what he should do next. He should transfer his account to the charity of his choice. It’s easy enough. Find a charity like Roll Back Malaria (sponsors of World Malaria Day), Amnesty International, or Habitat for Humanity. Tell followers what you are doing and why to give the charity a head start, change the avatar, and account name.

And I should do my part, so if you unfollow me on Twitter, I’ll gladly donate a dime to any of the charities above. Just leave a comment below indicating you’ve unfollowed me and I’ll make the donation June 1. Or just click the World Malaria Day banner on my sidebar and make a direct donation.

Tags: Roll Back Malaria, World Malaria Day, Amnesty International, Habitat for Humanity, CNN, Ashton Kutcher, Punk’d, Twitter

In response to recent news out of the UK that primary school priorities may shift from traditional subjects like history and geography to make room for social media education, I offer my views in my April Talent Zoo column Why Johnny Can’t Tweet on when and where children should receive formal training in social media.

“Many things are either so intuitive that they can be largely self-taught, or take five minutes of instruction and years of practice (like riding a bike or tying a shoe), that they have no place in school.”

I hope you’ll take a moment to read and respond to the article.

Tags: social media education, primary school, UK, Great Britain