Twitter with a twist, anyone?

Twistori is like having a virtual finger on the emotional pulse of the Twitter community.

Love. Hate. Think. Believe. Feel. Wish.

After scanning tweets for emotive keywords, Twistori then publishes the related posts anonymously and randomly on a visually yummy scrolling billboard. The result? According to ReadWriteWeb’s elegant take: “Be cautioned: Watching the feelings of anonymous Twitter users scroll by can be strangely addictive.”

Have a peep, folks. It’s a free show.

Thanks to Twistori Co-Creators Amy Hoy and Thomas Fuchs for producing this sweet labor of love. 

i wish already that i knew more about twistori, phase 2…

Social media: Pulling it all together

If you thought keeping track of your social-media footprint was daunting, try researching social-media aggregators (the tools that help you track your online social activity).

Luckily, we have Dan Taylor over at Fabric of Folly. Dan provides thoughtful analysis and reviews (complete with screenshots) of 15 key social-media aggregators. Check it out.

Online marketing advice from those who’ve been there, done that

The April 24, 2008 issue of AMA’s Marketing Matters newsletter introduced a new book: “Online Marketing Heroes: Interviews with 25 Successful Online Marketing Gurus.”  The book features advice and insight from 25 online marketing heavyweights. I can’t wait to dig in, especially after reading the reviews.

Political appeals: Not so appealing

From both major parties and its candidates, I am hearing the same modifiers over and over again – describing people…voters like you and me…

Everyday people…Common people…Ordinary people…

Everyday = Routine, ordinary, not unique
Common  = Lacking special status or distinction; Unexceptional
Ordinary  = No exceptional degree of ability or quality

I could think of many ways to describe the people of America. And “ordinary” is not one of them.

If you want to truly communicate and connect with your audience, I recommend:

1. Learning as much as you can about your audience
2. Elevating, rather than denigrating, your audience

I am not sure why the politicians need any such modifiers to describe the majority of the people. In the end, it only creates an uncomfortable division between the speaker and the audience. In the case of the primaries (for both major parties), it feels more like the “Great Divide.”

FOR YOUR REFERENCING PLEASURE: My favorite dictionary – The American Heritage Dictionary of The English Language – is worth its weight in gold. That’s saying a lot these days!