I certainly can’t take credit for discovering this cool little diddy. But if you’re among the folks in the Twitterverse who likes to keep up with what folks are saying about you when Twitter is in one of its moods, you can check out tweetdeck at tweetdeck.com.

It integrates a number of tools like Summize.com (Twitter’s Google equivalent) and allows you to create groups, follow your time stream with your Twitter buds, see your replies and direct message right on one panel.

Thanks @shermanhu and @dewaldp for hipping me to this very cool tool. Watch the video below for a little more on how it works and where you can make suggestions on its continuous improvement! –Carol Dickson-Carr

I’m primarily a FaceBook girl for a number of reasons, despite MySpace having a bigger share of the social network pie, but I am going to to be keeping an eye on them more often since it appears they are changing their interface, according to this article. A big thanks to Jim Turner for making me aware of this article!

Some of you reading this, might be thinking, “What the heck is ‘Twitter’?”,

while others might be thinking, “What’s the POINT of Twitter? Sounds like a pointless waste of time to me!”

while still others are thinking, “Twitter is so cool! I’ve built many wonderful friendships and collaborative relationships there, and have learned heaps!”

You can guess which camp I fall under! But there is still so much to learn about Twitter–not to mention the many applications and associated websites than help your marketing efforts and your market research, in addition to building and strengthening your relationships. That last point is the most important!

If you want to really be “in the know,” tune in tonight (June 13) as Deborah Micek, Biz Coach AKA mover and shaker in Hawaii and Warren Whitlock talk about the different Twitter Applications as they continue to create content for their Twitter Handbook. You can find out the details by clicking here! You’ll be glad you did! If you can’t make it live, I am almost certain that it will be archived for your listening pleasure later.

And if you don’t already have a Twitter account, sign up at twitter.com and start “tweeting” your expertise and interests and making your presence known.

Update June 17, 2008: If you’d like to listen to the show, click here. After ironing out logistics, they really get started about 15-20 minutes. Well, worth the listen!

–Carol Dickson-Carr

Check out this entry from The Independent and this entry from Jim Turner’s Pit Bull Marketing Blog… And take heed!

Bea & I have been notorious for being transparent over the years with our clients and prospective clients even before the advent of Web 2.0 was even on our radar. And fortunately most folks respect our humanity. But as a part-time (adjunct) Professor of Economics at Southern Methodist University, I read with much interest an article in the New York Times today entitled The Professor as Open Book, where the debate of being transparent with one’s students is alive and well and Facebook is right in the middle of that debate.

I personally love Facebook. I was like a deer in headlights last year when I was assigned a huge 90 student lecture when I had been used to the 20-30 student class size. So when a colleague at SMU mentioned Facebook, I was intrigued. This way, students who are interested in finding out more about me can do so easily as part of my profile being visible in the SMU network. And if they’d like me to know what they’re up to, they will simply add me as a friend and I will confirm them.

This works well with my personality, but not everyone is as inclined to give up the details as I am. That’s perfectly fine. But keep in mind that Facebook has recently updated their privacy options so that you can actually choose which friends you want to see certain elements of your life, not just the networks and the public.

And I’ve done an incredible amount of networking on the business end of things on Facebook, so my answer to the Friend or Foe question with respect to Facebook is definitely: Friend! No pun intended.

Our next 6-week program starts Weds, May 7th!

In reading an op-ed piece in the WSJ about the Microsoft-Yahoo merger, I wondered if we could attribute a personality type that paralleled these Internet giants to our own businesses. The prevailing opinion seems to be in Google’s favor. Where do you think you stand? Inquiring minds want to know!

According to an article by Jessica Vascellaro in today’s Wall Street Journal, MySpace plans to step it up a bit and add more cool features and activities to their site to combat its slowing growth rate. Check it out here!