Yes. Twitter does seem to replace the old school AIM experience. But I think it is going to challenge email in ways we haven’t seen yet. I find myself direct messaging people on Twitter instead of sending them an email. It is even MORE informal and quicker than email. And Twitter is communal. It is shaping up to be a very powerful tool and social trend.

Joel Mark Witt

…one word: OpenID. Yes – it will be a wonderful day for the internet nerds (and the general population alike).

Interesting thing is facebook is now at over 175 million users, compared with breaking 1 million just last August (i think that was the date). They must be approaching some sort of a critical mass for this stuff.

Also had another thought – Twitter is just replacing AIM. I remember IMimg friends on AOL 10 years ago (literally) when I was in high school. There were girls that maybe I was too shy to call, but I could chat with them via AIM. You could also meet people that you didn’t even know. There was even a “what I’m doing” feature that you could update. I think Twitter just capitalized on the popularity of IM’ing and the fact that AIM had about worn out it’s technology.

I think a lot of companies attempt to connect everywhere because they feel like they have some sort of obligation to be everywhere.

Many companies seek social networks to connect with people and in general that would be a great accomplishment. But really, connecting to the right people at the right time is much more effective than just connecting.

This is the difference between service and function. The principals of why a company connects with people should be decided before they create accounts anywhere.

I agree with Joel about the unified login, this would help more niche social networks to flourish and widget makers to create.

Thanks for the thoughts. I would love to hear more thoughts on *service* vs. *function*

I actually do see a lot of companies building Facebook and MySpace pages. Are you saying that smart companies are building these but aren’t spending a lot of time worrying too much about them?

Joel Mark Witt

That’s why companies aren’t wasting time building a presence on “soon-to-be-extinct” services like MySpace, Facebook, etc. — because they’re not learning how to use a *service*, they’re learning how to maximize the value of the *function* those services provide. And that lesson will translate to any next-generation service that comes along. It may take a moment to understand *how* a new service does what it does, but you won’t have to re-learn *why*.

Joel thanks for the comments and compliments. I still firmly believe that organizations can benefit from using social media even if it is a changing “river” that flows from one fad to another.

And just because there is an oxbow left behind it doesn’t mean there isn’t still water in it. There are still millions of people on MySpace for example.

And Twitter – where do I start with Twitter? I think the idea of Twitter is here to stay. I would even go as far as to say it may replace email in a lot of ways. Not totally but about 80% of email’s function can be achieved using Twitter. And it’s social. I think the Twitter idea will outlast the company Twitter.

But there are companies that will end up as oxbow lakes – and eventually dry up. That is the nature social media and how the crowd moves like a river.

As a side note: My dream is to “sign in” to the internet when I log on and have my creds and profile follow me around as I go. And I’d put my money on Google to get this done. They already have OpenID and Friend Connect and Chrome. This is coming – and very soon. All your online accounts will be merging into one online profile that you carry with you.

Joel Mark Witt

I might point out too that this pattern may create a barrier (at least a cognitive barrier) of entry for organizations thinking of getting involved in a particular new media. “OK, what’s the point in investing all this time into creating a facebook page or teaching someone to use twitter if we’re going to have to do it again for a new platform in just a year or two?” I could imagine that this thought may go through the mind of many a marketing director or executive director.

Another question to ask ourselves is how much of the success of a given social or new media format is due to the novelty of it? Which is to say, every new media has a certain level of novelty about it that is in part responsible for it’s popularity. Well over time the novelty will fade, but it’s long term success will be proven by a purpose, practicality or value that outlasts it’s novelty. Take Wikipedia, for example. There is a certain novelty to being able to access encyclopedic information about almost ANY topic – no matter how obscure or new the topic is. But over time the practicality of Wikipedia may or may not outlast the novelty of it.

(btw – love the new look of your blog)