RyanJin.me

In a day that I thought would never come, Twitter has officially announced that they will be unveiling their upcoming ad network in the nearby future… possibly SXSW. I know we all knew it was coming, but I think the actual news of it all is shocking to say the least.

So what does this mean for Twitter as a whole? Who knows, but I can give you my two cents.. if you already haven’t figured it out by now.

Although I don’t think Twitter is losing its popularity.. too much, the idea of Twitter as the service is kind of dwindling. Sure, it made popular the actual act of Tweeting, but that act is now so widespread through other avenues (Facebook, Buzz), Twitter, as in Twitter.com is kind of seeing a loss, or at least a temporary plateau.

Is this information surprising? Yeah, I think so! Although you could say this does not take into account everyone on their phones or other local applications. Which brings me to my next point… everyone is on phones and local applications!

If Twitter plans on creating an ad network for their service, sure we can expect to see ads on the side of our tweets just like in search or whatever else, but what about people who only access Twitter from Hootsuite, or TwitterBerry, or TweetDeck, or whatever else? Do these companies need to reconfigure their applications to support Twitter’s ads.. or should we expect to see ads coming in the way of the tweets themselves? You get what I’m saying here? If we begin to see ads in the tweets themselves, I am guessing you will also see people abandon the service for Facebook or even Google Buzz!.. I know that is kind of ridiculous sounding, but as Twitter user myself, I really can’t imagine Paid Advertisements.. (from Twitter) in my streams. That’s like having Google place their Paid Search ads in and amongst your organic search results.  Because interactivity is such a vital player in both search and tweeting… I feel this plays a much larger burden on people then say sponsor commercials in Hulu or YouTube videos.

Although I use Twitter, I know my tweets to my followers mean very little to them if they really don’t know who I am in the first place, or haven’t become a Twitter celebrity. Although brands have an edge in this arena, the bulk idea of having followers is proving more and more like last year’s popularity contest… which is having less and less relevance to this year’s popularity icons. In Facebook, I know I will be able to get more discussion and more interactive interest, so why shouldn’t I focus my efforts there?

It’ll be interesting to see what Twitter does with their ads, and for their own sake.. I hope it will not be as invasive as I think it could be.

Peace

In my recent attempt to switch from platform maker to platform user, I’ve started thinking more and more about the correct way to create a model for content that is suitable to today’s Web 2.0 audience. Interaction, Yes! That is the goal, but to what extent do I show the true side of the content, in other words, how transparent is my agenda?

If you’ve noticed, the last few posts here at RyanJin.me have focused more primarily around the idea of content and how it is the essential life blood of everything the internet stands for. Really, it is! But as content becomes saturated with fluff, echoes, and ‘how-tos’ for idiots, the idea of content as a serious factor in success has become a hard topic marketers need to grapple with. Top Ten Lists won’t cut it any more.. except if you’re trying to target wannabe social media experts, in that case… welcome to the party. Everyone has left, or has grown up.

But honestly finding the right content and mode of delivering that content is a hurdle for many people these days. Sure you can find your niche and build your reputation organically, but where to begin?

Taking a step back, I’ve been watching Andrea lately and her habits on the internet. Every day, she visits her favorite blogs, favorite discussion forms, and favorite sites. Like clockwork, she manually updates her internal RSS feed to make sure she is up to date on everything and anything associated with what she feels is important to her online experience. From this perspective, should it seem ridiculous that every niche has this kind of network? No! It’s really a simple concept, and it is expressed in everyday user experience of the internet.

When Web 2.0 came out, I thought the concept was hilarious. But quite honestly, it has become the most important changing factor in how consumers AND producers use the internet. For this reason, blogs became the big thing, but then came micro-blogs. As if a concept for the ‘everyday blogger’ Twitter is turning more and more into the Second Life of today. As I see myself using less and less of the application, I feel like I am trying to fix this through other means of ‘reaching out’ or ‘communicating’ with others around me. This is not to say I am retired of Twitter, I just think the program as a singular entity is becoming outdated. Once private networks, or private HOSTED networks become the core of how Twitter or micro-blogging tools connect, there could be a new influx in use, but for some reason, saturation in Facebook, iPhones, or whatever else has rendered the service hard to justify. So what is next?

Even with all of the new talk of Twitter, and then this gradual fall, blogs have still remained. Actually, as people have seen they can be heard (or read) through Twitter, more and more are adopted actual blogs. I think this is absolutely great. With everyone’s blog however, simple RSS reeders are going to get their work cut out for them.

My prediction for 2010 and 2011: Organization of social media is going to become very very important. Twitter will remain, of course, but it is already evident that there needs to be an internal organizational change to make the service more enticing for new and retired users. Association of blogs and personal sites… RSS readers will become the new TweetDecks or Twitterifics. When there is something new to read that is seriously from a valid source… you know as well as me that we’re both going to read it.

Peace

As more and more websites fill our browser histories and/or fan pages on Facebook, a looming question for some becomes apparently obvious. How do I create the mass amount of content needed to stay ahead of my competitors? I suppose this kind of questions isn’t really suitable for some people who only ‘microblog’ or have some sort of physical or service oriented product. (Although I could be wrong)

When social media gurus talk, a lot of times, they speak to content. It’s like a runway for an airplane… without it, you can’t take off.. or land back on earth, but then again, without the airplane, you wouldn’t get anywhere in the first place. If only we could apparate or use floo powder.

So while content is important, how are some websites like Examiner.com, or Gawker.com coming up with up to the minute stories and articles? 6 words… It’s like open source magazine publishing. In all actuality, it’s basically what many people today think of as ‘Community Blogs’.  With a few exceptions. Remember About.com?

The content on About.com is surprisingly decent for how diverse the articles and information is. From fixing a grand piano to cooking Thai food, to learning PHP… you can basically learn or read about anything from About.com. The reason you remember it so well (or are still finding it pop up in your search results today) is because that content is intertwined with all the other content on the site. In other words… it was like the Wikipedia of it’s day.. but without the ability to freely write whatever you want. Instead of opening the editor to just anyone and their dog, they decided to ‘hire’ what are called Guides. As Wikipedia explains:

Guides are compensated with a base stipend plus bonuses for increased traffic; according to About.com, several guides are averaging over $100,000 per year, although the exact number is not disclosed.

To learn more about how Guides are paid or even how to become one.. check out About.com’s Be A Guide section.

So why is this important? – As social media becomes even more and more important to people, businesses, and organizations, the whole ‘Content is King’ deal… really becomes a forefront issue.

So should I or Jim at Jim’s Tri-Coutny Electrical Repair build our own content platforms and hire hundreds of high schoolers to write about different things? Of course not! That’s not my point. What is my point is.. these platforms exist FOR you, not BY you. If you think you’re an expert at plumbing in Phoenix, check out Examiner.com and see if you can add your own input or even publish your own works to the community. You never know exactly what you’ll find.

For those of you who ARE in the content business…

Well I think we all know it really isn’t a one person job. Try the model out sometime if you’re interested… I bet you’ll be surprised by how much more ’stuff’ you are able to put out there then when it was just you in your cubicle at work -_-.

Peace.

With the recent turn of events for Andrea and I, we’ve often discussed and pondered the idea of how public to take our exciting news. Yesterday, after finding out our little bundle of joy would be a little boy, we decided, “to heck with it… let’s tell Facebook“.

Although we were originally against it, we decided to take up the social network to essentially make easy work out of what would have been a timely task. So whats the big deal?

When you have friends on Facebook… better yet, a lot of friends, a certain thing happens that Facebook really has helped fuel. The return to old friendships. Although depending on who you ask, this might not be so evident with others. Why? Just look at the sentiment revolving around social networks right now. They aren’t conducive to real physical relationships… they help foster them… but that’s it.

When I joined Facebook.. in December of 2004, there were approximately 1 million active users (www.insidefacebook.com). Let me repeat that statistic for you… 1 million active users! With over 350 million registered users on the network today, it seems like forever ago when you had to have a college email address to even join.. let alone an email address from a college that was in their database.

So what am I getting at?

As more and more people find my profile on Facebook, I am continuously reminded of all the friends I have, have had in the past, or just simply family members I have yet to meet in the future. But although I might not talk to you, I am able to communicate with you. Doesn’t that make you think that high school reunions in the future won’t be as awkward as they were 10 years ago? Maybe not, but it makes a difference when you already know whether or not someone has a baby or even a spouse

On the other side of this story is the growing popularity of the commercial ideal for Facebook. Ask yourself this question… do you have friends on Facebook who you’ve never met in person? If so, about how many? For me, there is 1 person on my Friend List that I have never personally met. If that seems weird to you, then you and I are obviously using Facebook for two different reasons! – Back to my point…

So when I say I’m telling Facebook something, better yet… when you tell Facebook something, who do you think is reading it? Your networks? Your groups? Old friends? Who knows… But just remember… when you do meet that old high school classmate from 10 years ago… know that there’s a good chance they know more about your professional life (and of course, social life) then you may think. I’m constantly watching you… whether you like it or not!

And yes, we are having a boy!

Peace.

P.S. Check out www.insidefacebook.com for more cool info or visit Facebook’s Timeline

For a long time now I’ve really been thinking hard about the issues revolving around social media and brands/businesses. It doesn’t matter who you talk to, everyone has an opinion, and quite frankly, they should. But as these discussions continue to evolve and change, there is one key ingredient that keeps coming up.

Communities are the catalyst to social media.

Plainly put, communities, no matter what size, shape, or form they take on, represent the actual catalysts for how social media is played out. I know you may be thinking.. “it is the conversation”, or “it is the free give-aways”, but really, those are all what are stemming from communities. The question that comes to my mind however, is where do brands build, versus when do brands join?

Let’s take a look at ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover. Any ways, the premise of the show is centered on good will towards others who may be less fortunate, have gone through a hardship, or whatever else. Basically, Ty Pennington and his team of carpenters and designers come in, tear down your old decrepit house, and build a new one centered and personalized to your specific needs. Great premise, but what does this have to do with community? I say lots.

First, it is important to realize that this team travels every week to the location of their new project. They aren’t  just building an apartment complex and waiting for people to get up and move. They’re actively seeking families or individuals whom they can help.

Secondly, they focus a whole hour on each and every project. Now because they’re on ABC, they do have a little bit of an advantage of spreading their word and distributing their success, but still, one week, one hour, one project.

Finally, the level of personalization, makes the end-all-result, all the more special for the family they are helping. Maybe a little too personalized in some cases as the show takes every detail and every concern the family has, and somehow incorporates that into their projects. When the family returns, they ultimately feel that the house is personalized just for them.. and it is!

Coming back to the main question at hand, Extreme Home Makeover seems to be finding and reaching out to these individuals in order to help. They aren’t building the community, but joining ones that already exist. Even though they are specialized in their services, they understand that as soon as they go about building their own community, the overall impact on the outside individual diminishes. Not good!

So let’s compare this to Twitter!

Back in the day, when brands were experimenting with new approaches to using Twitter, companies would have a Twitter account and broadcast news, updates, and whatever else was associated with the brand. As this theory became a foundation for how many brands used Twitter, a new approach, a more specialized approach, began to evolve. Instead of relying on @NYTimes for your New York Times news, you now have @nytimesbooks, or @nytimesstyle, or @nytimessports… and so on. (There has got to be at least 100 NYTIMES accounts out there now) Essentially, @NYTimes had the idea that by splitting up their sources (Music, Television, Business, etc. etc) they could essentially build the communities where only certain people could be ‘fans’ of certain groups. Doesn’t this seem like that ‘we build it, you come to us’ example I mentioned earlier?

So what is the solution?

Try not to make things overly complicated! Instead of creating complex networks of Twitter accounts that people just have to keep following, go out and search for where your help is needed! If I received a Tweet from someone saying “Hey I see you’re into this, why don’t you check this out” – I would definitely go and check it out. Actually, that just so happened with a new restaurant, Smashburger, in Tempe, AZ. About two weeks ago, I received an email saying I was invited to their Social Media/Blogger’s night… In the end, I had some good free food, got to speak to their VP, and now I’ve got a new place I can eat in Tempe! It was really quite a simple, and quite an enjoyable experience. (Makes me want to write more about restaurants Any ways, when you are waiting for people to come and talk to you, you risk losing a big ‘ol heap of discussions later on. You aren’t the new kid at school anymore! New kids deem themselves successful these days by introducing themselves and explaining why ‘friending’ them would pay off in dividends. (I’m going to make sure my future son or daughter does exactly this).

Peace

Twitter Tip! Want to Build your Brand on Twitter?

Here’s a suggestion, Think of Something NEW to do!

Every day, and I mean every day, I see people on Twitter saying this exact same thing… “Want to Build your brand on Twitter? GO HERE.. to my blog!!! http://www.LINK.com” In other words everyone in social media knows how to build brands on.. social media. Do I doubt them? No, not really, but I really don’t think their idea is the end all supreme idea of brand building. Sure they may have something really really good. Or maybe they have a great system for getting followers quick and then blasting them with gimmicky ‘click here’ tweets. I dunno. But the one thing I do know, is that really successful branding initiatives on Twitter… are never copycats.

Think of it this way… say for example, I own a company. Ryan’s Magnificent French Onion Soup Co. Basically, I sell soup.. in restaurants and grocery stores. Now lets say I have a competitor… Bill’s Best French Onion Soups. Bill sells soup in restaurants and grocery stores too. Now lets say for example, Bill hires Michael, a “social media expert” and comes up with a great social media campaign which has helped him grow tremendously. Michael now says. “Want to build your brand in social media? I’ve done it!”. This is all great and good, but will Ryan really want to follow Michael’s suggestions? Wouldn’t that make Ryan look pretty stupid in the French Onion Soup biz?

Back to the social media thing. Now I could go on and lecture you about how social media, Twitter especially, is all about communication and not about the broadcasting, but I hope you’ve read some of my other posts and have a firm grasp on how I feel about this. In a nutshell, yeah, it is about communication. So what?

I could also explain why creating content or products is so important, but I hope you already understand that without content, you really have nothing to talk about other than yourself in the social networks You know who you are.

So how do you build your brand?

Darned if I know. I don’t know you, your content, or your products. Why should I (I’m not talking about me… I’m talking about people who claim they are ’social media experts’) dictate how you should sound or act on Twitter or even Facebook? I shouldn’t! Heck, maybe you’re selling something that SHOULDN’T be on Facebook or Twitter. I’m not sure what that might be, but who knows?

To make a long story short, if you think about it, there is no set rule for how companies should construct their television commercials, right? There are no set rules for how magazine ads are created right? Your brand is yours, and if you want to start or optimize your branding campaign in social, do it because you know your audience is there. Gimmicks are fine, to a certain point, but don’t come across as a spammer. In this day and age, it’s pretty dang easy to see who and who is not a spamming Spam’ophile.

I know what you might be thinking now.

But what about those brands or people who just suck at Tweeting or Facebooking..? Social will always have its place.. whether its in or out of your brand’s solution is up to you. Are you actually on Facebook? What about DMOZ? How about Yelp? Or maybe a Local Business Listing on Maps. What about Flickr? Or Youtube? Blogsearch? If you’ve hit all of those, then you’re good. (Just kidding) Find your place… and make it your own. It’s about  being different..right?

Peace.

My first real job out of college was at a company devoted towards leveraging the local search market. Marchex, BlitzLocal, and many other companies out there today see local as the blossoming form of main stream search. Essentially, they are banking on the fact that what people actually search for online will change to a more centralized and local base. Is this the case, and should we too be seizing this opportunity? Hell yeah! Well at least to some degree.

Today, applications and websites such as Google Maps and Yelp have helped pave a new local channel for people to funnel through in order to reach their destination. Local restaurants, service companies, and tech savvy independent business owners have harnessed this evolving channel in hopes of capitalizing on the trend that is local. Bring Twitter into the discussion and this shift is hugely magnified

If you browse through the millions and millions of Twitter users out there, you might just notice something. There are a lot of businesses, corporate accounts, as well as things which I would like to call community broadcast accounts. One example of a community broadcast account I personally follow is @CenPhoTV (Central Phoenix). So what do I mean by local broadcast account? With the ease and simplicity that Twitter represents, many people today are creating their own news feeds much like how a year or two ago,  RSS and other numerous technologies were helping people decide what is and what is not read-worthy. With Twitter, what was once a personal news feed for Joe who works in accounting, is now a public news feed for many other people who are interested in the same thing Joe is interested in. Even more, communication and chat can be added to the picture. Do you want to know what is happening downtown? What local restaurants are having specials tonight? Do a Twitter search and see if you can’t navigate your way through the TRAP (Twitter Crap.. I should brand the term – Look for a blog post later!) out there, to something that is meaningful AND LOCAL to you! Maybe a wine bar is hosting a tasting for $20 tonight. Entertainment on a Saturday? Sure why not. Plus… it’s local.

So why does this matter?

Let’s just say a map represents a grid. Like an X/Y grid. Oh.. this is an easy comparison. Google Maps has come a long long way in terms of shoving data into the actual maps. Restaurant locations, addresses, barber shop phone numbers (I don’t use a barber.. I use a very sophisticated beautician) and everything else you can think of is displayed on these maps. But as more and more information gets published, the more the clutter we need to sift through.

Real time statuses, reviews, and specials offers a totally different thing…

Put these two things together, and you have the capability of creating some of the most complex XYZ three-dimensional models out there. It’s like walking down the street and hearing every single person’s word of mouth blurb. … they should make an application that lists the most referenced restaurants on Twitter in a given city. Talk about word of mouth!

Alright, so while this might not be the best example, it does show a lot of what I’m talking about.

Today’s searching community is smart and can pretty much put two and two together. I know real time Twitter updates on Google Maps is just about here (maybe it’s already here and just not mainstream.. or maybe I’m totally out of the loop. I dunno), but we don’t need an application to do that kinda stuff for us! (Then again, we don’t need an application to decide on where we’re going to eat dinner tonight).

Maximizing Twitter, Maps, Yelp, Review Sites, Facebook, and everything else out there, searchers and social media users today are living proof as to why Local is now here more then ever. You know who you’re looking for. Do they blog?

Peace!

I really do hate schemes and programs dedicated to making people pay a fee for learning how to make a living in an at-home career. From becoming your own affiliate marketer to reaping the rewards of Google AdWords… yeah I know there is money to be made, but come on. I should create a new get rich quick scheme aimed at creating get rich quick schemes…. I think they already have that (the infomercial to this program is hilarious). It’s called a fricken pyramid scheme people.

The other day.. more like 2 or 3 weeks ago, I stumbled across two sites dedicated to pumping up your follower lists. Like the naive person I am, I decided to check it out, so I logged in with one of my faux Twitter accounts. After a welcome screen, I was prompted that in order for me to get the followers I wanted, I had to follow ‘ALL of the VIP members’ as well as ‘40 of the regular members’. I know what this is.. I just mentioned it above! Any ways, wanting to proceed in my horrible experiment, I went ahead and followed pretty much every single face on that page. Did I have a choice? Sure! but I wanted to test this service/get followers quick, even though my mind was pretty much already made up.

After I was done, I did pick up some followers. In the process, I also picked up around 60 new people I myself was following… maybe 1 of them, worth reading. So what is my point?

Everyone wants followers right? Okay, well maybe not everyone. Many people want followers. In essence, many people want friends. Look back at Facebook. Do you remember when you needed a college/university email address to actually access the social networking site? Well back in the day, your friends were like currency. The more friends you had, pretty much… the more popular you were. You may disagree with me, but is that not the determining factor in popularity?

Twitter is no different. Followers means you are relevant. Popular… okay maybe, but mostly relevant. This is important because in our evolving view of social media these days, relevance in and of itself really means popular… and what does popular mean? You guessed it, money. How many new social media consultants have sprung up over the last year and a half? Your guess is as good, and as wrong, as mine!

In theory, followers are good, but those people who tell you to follow someone so that they may follow you back… they are dumb. Yeah there is maybe a 5%-10% chance they’ll follow you back, but do you really want them to? Let’s say for example I like to write and tweet about my ‘Get Rich Quick’ program. If I go out of my way and follow like crazy and get other people to follow me like crazy, am I really offering them content that they’ll want to hear about?

If you’ve got some time, do this simple simple game. 1. Go through your river of the latest tweets, and look for people who you do and do not recognize. 2. Now look at the content they are pushing. 3. If you think that they offer you no real value, please stop following them. However, if you do think they are offering you value, @ reply them and tell them so. But make it look personal. Have I told you yet how much I hate automation. We’re already building Robots for our social networks, because we’re too effing lazy. Does that make sense…. look up the term ’social’ in the dictionary, and make up your own mind.

Now that I’ve thoroughly gone off topic, I suppose I should come back to these ‘get followers quick schemes’ and wrap up this post about whatever. In a nutshell, if you want followers, lots of them, then create your own way of luring them to you. If you want to do one of these stupid schemes, go ahead. Just realize that the value you add and the image you are trying to portray in all your efforts, is probably going in one ear and out the other with these people. Not saying they’re dumb… just saying they aren’t interested. Try making that first engagement yourself. You might be surprised.

Peace.

Credits for the heading images go to: Follow-Train.info and TweeterFollow.com

to be written by the dummys in the world.

I’ve long held the belief that people who post comments on videos on YouTube are slightly dumber then the average person. Or maybe a lot dumber, I think it depends on the video. Yeah, I’ve commented a few times on videos, and I can sometimes see the urge to really express my soulfelt opinion, but then I realize, “whats the benefit?” Usually, if I say something, it is because I want to correct another comment where the person may not have known 100% of their facts. I’ll never say something like, “Wow!”, or “Haha” or “LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL.” I’ll save those for you know who.

YouTube loves YouTube comments though. Maybe not, I’m merely guessing, but giving people the option to hate or love something, allows everyone and their dog to see the full benefit of putting something up on YouTube. It is a traffic generator! Remember when Google admitted to not knowing how to monetize YouTube?… Have you seen it lately? I think they may have figured something out, or at least are close. And how do we promote repeat visitors. Hell, never mind, that is already in the bag.

So traffic generation… wait a minute, lets go back to our stupid commentors. Take a look at some cool and interesting videos on YouTube. Chances are, those videos you thought were cool and interesting, are not cool and interesting to me. That being said, you’ve now uncovered the true greatness that is a YouTube search. Let me tell you the reasons why a YouTube search is better then a Google search.

1. Results are in picture format

Yeah, thats pretty much it. If you are looking for something in YouTube, you probably already know what it is, and what it will look like. Its a damn video! (Now I realize there are Rick Roll’d videos out there, and spam crap, but lets just forget about that stuff for the time being) Search in YouTube is pretty efficient, so I personally have to venture a guess and say that the people who click on videos and realize that the video they clicked on is not what they were looking for… are slightly more stupid then the average user. Even more so, people who click on videos because they know they’re going to hate it, but want to watch it anyway… don’t you have something better to do?

Which brings me to the point in why we have idiotic YouTube comments. If there is something you like and you watch it, and you’ve seen someone else write a comment about why they don’t like it, you naturally are going to have the urge to explain why they are wrong. Most of the time, these conflict comments are sparse (remember YouTube search… we’ve weeded out the non-dummys). But the ones who want to hate, have made it in. Deng it!

Language below.. sorry.

Do you see sorta what I mean. This video by so and so, has these kind of comments, however, the video still has a rating of 4 stars. There are WAY more people who love this chick then people who just want to come on and say they hate her. Still, they’re willing to go on a board and tell everyone. Maybe they just want the attention. I dunno.

So, to make a long story short, if you find the need to make a comment on YouTube because you don’t like a particular video, ask yourself this..”Why am I here in the first place? Am I just being a hater for no reason?” And maybe you can get a few other people to calm their jets as well. Unless you’re just looking for attention, in that case, get a life.

Do you want to test out YouTube’s naturally excellent search? Do any YouTube search, and compare the number of videos with 4 or more stars to those with 2 or less, heck 3 or less! People know what they are looking for and like what they are looking for. No guesswork.. usually.

Peace

No its not.

So I was on Facebook this morning, when for some reason, I accidentally clicked an ad. I’m not sure what the ad said, or looked like, but I think I clicked on one. I move fast. All of a sudden, I’m taken to this….

Image taken from: washington-reporter.com - DUMB

What a well done phishing job!

So after I saw the post, I had to admit that the site looked legit. First I looked up at the URL… http://washington-reporter.com/gibberish. Then I read a few paragraphs. Then I checked out the picture of the dude, read the caption, then scrolled down to see if there were comments. Sure enough, there were. I didn’t click on anything though. Let me just get that point across. There was no clicking whatsoever.

Any ways, after thinking that this could possibly be a true post, I did some searching myself and found the actual Piece of Crap link to Twitter Profit House. (That was a SEO joke.. did you catch it?) – After looking through the site, I soon began to realize that this could be a total piece of douche baggery going on here. Back to the article again.

After a glance at the comments, I soon realized that there was not an ounce of negative reaction to this article. Everyone was 19 and making hundreds in their parents basement or something. I dunno. But the picture for the 1st comment killed me.

Everything about this image is hilarious!

Tell me, what does AdSense for content have to do with Twitter?

Any ways, if any of you have ANY experience with Twitter and AdSense, then you should find that picture just hilarious. – By this time, I began asking myself, whether it was companies like these that push those freakingly dumb tweets out there that try to make you click stuff. You know, the ones that say… “Just found a great site! Free $100 Visa Gift Cards! – http://bit.ly/AnEKT” Probably right?

With this recent influx of crap that is floating around on Twitter, I think it is important to reevaluate the metrics that we hear about on almost a daily basis. Yeah its growing substantially. Sure there are lots of famous people out there. But maybe, just maybe, there is a bit of falsity going on here. I mean, what is with the increase of spammy accounts out there? Oh maybe these people follow @NYTimes and want to emulate the way they tweet. Who knows.

Peace.