Well, it certainly lends credibility to social media AND especially Twitter, doesn't it?

I'm hoping this move by an Indianapolis-based company will kickstart a COMPREHENSIVE (rather than piecemeal) social media initiative in Indianapolis city government. Last July, I gave a social media presentation in the Mayor's Conference Room which I had hoped would lead to the use of social media in the city's delivery of services as well as its branding efforts. I cited the use of CoTweet by the city of San Francisco (see slide 7) and I see that Houston and Albuquerque are now also "on board" so I'm hoping. I think I'll give it another try!

IF I were Google, i would buy Twitter! The big question is: At what price?

Then, Facebook wouldN'T be able to get their hands on it & "mess it up" as I fear they'll do with FriendFeed. At least, that would be preferable to killing FriendFeed which I fear even more!

Anyway, as one who has "bet my brand" on Twitter, I am most concerned about its long-term future which is STILL an open question as far as I am concerned.

Yes, YOU had a very good year!

I prefer Diigo to Delicious although Google Sidewiki is starting to get my attention for its annotation capabilities which are similar (thought NOT as powerful) to those of Diigo.

Although I follow many brands for "deals" or contests, I have many great examples of great customer service provided to me by companies via social media channels such as @GriffinTech and @iGo. I've told these stories to many folks, but I guess I ought to blog about it as well, shouldn't I? ;-)

I heard from a Youth for Christ (YFC) staff member who works in YFC's Asia-Pacific region that YFC Taiwan is using Second Life in a powerful way!

If you eat Nong Shim ramen http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PDLBBO you'll actually think that you're eating quite well. They really do taste better!

In the "spirit" of Step 4, I'd like to suggest there are cases when it is OK to talk about yourself...or at least, for your AUDIENCE to talk about themselves! We ought to encourage them to share their passions and other aspects of their lives (especially via social media) so we can learn their spiritual gifts in order to harness them for God's Kingdom or to minister to them more effectively, for example.

Then, with respect to Step 8, we'd know WHO we're dealing with. In a nutshell, we are less likely to fail at social media if we help OTHERS (those who we serve) to be SUCCESSFUL at social media.

It's also a good idea to put some kind of screen over the drain. My 14-year old daughter has LOTS of hair! :-)

Is the "hysteria" a result of the belief that people will sacrifice ONLY IF they believe that a catastrophe will result if they don't?