Saturday, May 03, 2008

Corporate Tweets

On my drive up to Maine last night, I was listening to TWiT, one of my fav tech podcasts (Leo, I'm a chick and I listen!), and they kept coming back to twitter, as everyone does.

I'll assume all three people who read this blog know what Twitter is...140 characters of continuous connection. The new zeitgeist meter. And like the best internet innovations, a single vital piece of infrastructure. It is the first mobile broadcast medium, keeping you connected with your followers, in real time across multiple devices. When you hit "Update", your message goes to everyone who has subscribed. So simple.

To really see the implications of this, imagine Miley Cyrus posting daily updates on her favorite store, restaurants, clothes. Or a Presidential candidate.

People ask me why use Twitter. Until recently, it had been good for finding parties at SXSW. But in the last few months, more useful applications are beginning to surfacing.

LA Fire Department
www.twitter.com/LAFD
Of course it started with the CA forest fires, now the LAFD uses twitter to post info about what it is busy responding to. The messages are posted out to your device of choice: computer, blackberry, cell phone. Handy if you're in the rapid response business...

Comcast
http://twitter.com/comcastcares
Comcast's new approach to customer service...

JetBlue
http://twitter.com/JetBlue
These guys are trying lots of things. Giveaways, flight delay alerts, promotion of new routes...

Why use Twitter? Conversation, real time, with your customers.