I have been using Twitter for a few months. If you do not know about Twitter, an explanatory video is here. I use it basically to follow a few friends and to get quick news on natural disasters, Miami events, etc. As a breaking news source it is on a par with any television network (without video) but it covers everyone's local news throughout the world through its large number of users.
Twitter is basically IM meets social networking or the logical extension of text messaging and email in a Web 2.0 world. Enterprise versions of Twitter are now emerging with restricted access only to a corporation's employees. Yammer is perhaps the best known example, but a post today on Web Worker Daily references twenty "microsharing" applications.These networks are a substitute for email, which has bogged down under heavy volume and little advance in the related technology.
Enterprise Twitter is of course an excellent example of Web 2.0 crossing over to the corporate side. Another good example of Web 2.0 meets corporate is the new features on LinkedIn, such as a Facebook like "status" and feeds for member's blogs. The most interesting example perhaps comes from Lijit. Tara Anerderson, the head of customer service at Lijit, discusses how she monitors Twitter for customer service issues related to Lijit or any other mention of the company. Tara's monitoring of Twitter is exemplary customer service and a leading indicator of where customer expectations will be in a year or two when it comes to customer dialog with a product or service provider. (Somebody please tell Verizon.)
Of course, we should all start monitoring Twitter for comments on the competition. May prove to be a target rich environment for new customers.
Note: the video link for Twitter came from Tara's blog.
