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Twitter Integrates Location into Tweets

“After months of rumors and hinting, Twitter is ready to unveil its new and major foray into the world of geolocation: Twitter Places.

This feature will highlight tweets around a given location. Starting now, Twitter.com desktop and mobile users can tag their tweets with existing Twitter Places and add new Twitter Places, too.

Twitter Places can be explored and will reveal a list of recent, public tweets from that location. Twitter will also show you nearby locations and points of interest, including restaurants and shops.

Twitter Places will be integrated with Foursquare and Gowalla, as well. ” Location is a key component of these tweets, so we worked closely with both companies to associate a Twitter Place with Tweets generated by these services,” wrote Twitter geo head Othman Laraki today on the company blog. Location data will also work with more browsers, including Safari and Internet Explorer.

Twitter is also releasing an API that will allow developers to play with Twitter Places in their third-party apps; we expect details and some interesting discussions will pop up in Twitter’s API Announcements group soon.

“Over the next week, we will roll this out to users in 65 countries around the world,” Laraki continued, “so keep an eye out for the ‘Add your location’ link below the tweet box.” Users of Twitter’s official smartphone apps can also expect upcoming integrations of Twitter Places.

If you’d like to stay up-to-the-minute on Twitter Places, you can follow @geo on the microblogging service.

Twitter first announced its geolocation API back in March, and Evan Williams announced at the Chirp conference in April that the company would soon be launching a Points of Interest feature.

What’s your opinion of this feature so far: Fun and useful, or just more noise?”
~ Source: Mashable.com

For more news on how to use this new feature for your business, contact ebasedEVOLUTION, and our team of search engine optimization specialists.

BP, The Oil Spill, & Twitter

“Check out the Twitter feed @BPGlobalPR, and you might blow a few blood vessels … at least if you’re already angry about that oil spill thingy happening in the Gulf. Or you may just bust a gut laughing.

“We regretfully admit that something has happened off of the Gulf Coast. More to come,” read the account’s first tweet May 19. And, like the spill itself, things only got worse from there.

“Oh man, this whole time we’ve been trying to stop SEAWATER from gushing into our OIL. Stupid Terry was holding the diagram upside down,” read one of yesterday’s tweets.

And today: “The ocean looks just a bit slimmer today. Dressing it in black really did the trick! #bpcares.”

Even if you’re unfamiliar with Twitter, you’ve probably already figured out that this Twitter feed is both as funny and “real” as that of @DrunkHulk. Meaning that @BPGlobalPR is fake — a satirical take on BP’s actual Twitter feed, with 36,622 followers and growing. (The real company account, @BP_America has less than 5,000 followers.)

Since @BPGlobalPR (just barely) conforms to Twitter’s guidelines on parody, commentary and fan accounts and, according to industry publication Ad Age, BP hasn’t requested the account’s removal, the account continues to spew hilarity into the void.

Notably, @BPGlobalPR recently switched its account logo from the real BP’s green and yellow icon to a black and white version featuring an oil stain. Still, the real BP may better serve its drowning public image by avoiding what would seem to many a petty fight in cyberspace, and impress upon the world that all attention is focuses on the company’s more serious problems in the real world.

“People are entitled to their views on what we’re doing and we have to live with those,” BP spokesperson Toby Odone told Ad Age. “We are doing the best we can to deal with the current situation and to try to stop the oil from flowing and to then clean it up.”

Meanwhile, tweets sent directly to @BPGlobalPR reveal that not everybody on the microblogging site gets the joke. For example, @BELGARATH83 tweeted, “@ BPGlobalPR Here’s an idea: How about find a way to fix the oil leaking into the environment faster than the current?”
~ Source: MSNBC.com

Lesson to be learned?! Don’t let this happen to your company! Registering for a Twitter account is fast, easy, and free! We recommend registering multiple Twitter-accounts for your organization, in hopes of avoiding a PR nightmare similar to this. Let our team of SEO specialists help you with Twitter!

Twittering For Your Business

On a regular basis, our team of search engine analysts gets asked “What is the Best Way to Twitter?”. Here are 10 great tips for tweeting!

1) Regular Postings: Now I’m not saying you need to post every day, although that would be nice. You do need to make an appearance on a regular basis. It’s like school - you need to show up to pass. Be a contributor that your followers get to really know and look forward to your Tweets. If you’re the type of person who needs to plan ahead, you can always use a service that allows you to schedule tweets in advance, such as Socialoomph.com

2) Retweet: If you see Tweets posted by other users that you think your followers would like, then retweet them. It only takes one click, and you’ll also be creating goodwill with other Twitter users at the same time. If you’d like, you can add a personal thought or comment before sending it. Also, make it easy for others to retweet your posts by adding RT buttons to your website or blog. It’s easy with the TweetMeme Retweet Button.

3) Be Helpful: Keep in mind Twitter is a form of social Media, so social interaction is key. It’s not all about you. Whenever a chance arises to answer a question, participate in a survey, or help solve a problem, do so. In this way you’re participating in the community. This also will help your brand and image when others know they can count on you for support or feedback.

4) Don’t Be A Follow CopyCat: Don’t follow everybody who follows you. This is probably my biggest pet peeve when it comes to Twitter. So many people turn this feature on to auto follow those who follow them. Why would you want to do this? I’d prefer that those I follow are people and topics I’ve hand-selected that interest me, and not a mish-mash of followers who may be ranting about things I have no interest in. Be selective in who you follow or your Twitter stream could quickly fill up with junk or spam.

5) What to Tweet: Make sure that the tweets you post are helpful and/or informative. Late breaking news pertaining to your industry, as well as any specials or sales you may have going on are always good topics. If you find something you think your followers would like, especially if it’s free or a bargain, share the love. Plus, if your tweets are good, it will encourage others to retweet them.

6) Comment: Particpate in the community by commenting on other people’s tweets. If you can answer a question, do so. It doesn’t hurt and people really will appreciate it when you take the time to comment on what they have to say. It lets them know that others are actually listening to what they have to say in the “Twitterverse”.

7) Say Thank You: When someone takes the time to retweet one of your tweets, make sure to reply to them with a “thank you”. Manners rule online as well as off, and they’ll like the fact that you noticed the retweet and took the time to show some gratitude. It may even inspire them to retweet more of your tweets in the future.

8) Be Personal: Again, I don’t need to know what you ate for dinner, but every now and then you should show your human side with a creative thought, quote, or other statement. Let people know you’re “real” and not just a lean mean business machine. You want to tread lightly in this area. Too personal is overkill, but a little can help in establishing a connection with your followers.

9) Post Pictures/Video: Remember, Twitter is not just for text. It’s easy to post short videos, and pictures too. It’s nice to mix it up a little and share content in other formats as well. Here are some resources - Video Sharing Websites for Twitter.

10) Talk About More Than Yourself: It’s not all about you, so please don’t make all your tweets one big marketing message, such as only tweeting about your latest press release, blog posting, or article that was published. No one will want to follow you if you’re one big commercial. Yes, some of this is fine in moderation, but you need to walk a fine line and mix it up with other helpful, interesting topics.”

~ Source: SiteProNews.com

First came Facebook, then came LinkedIn…

We knew it was only a matter of time before Twitter got a hold of LinkedIn. For those who are constantly updating your statuses on every social media platform, we have good news for you.

It has officially been announced that you will now have the capability to sync your Twitter to your LinkedIn account. Below is the official announcement from Twitter:

“As our platform team works with more and more developers to expand access to information, users are able to tweet and read tweets in expanding ways across the web. Today, LinkedIn launched a smart integration that lets you sync up your account with Twitter to allow for an easy flow of information to take place between your networks.

You’ll be able to set your professional status and display more fresh content on your LinkedIn profile via Twitter. And, showing your stream in places off of Twitter.com will connect you to even more people. Shared interest in tips, news, leaders and perspectives can thrust conversations into virtual brainstorms and even business opportunities.”

For more information on how to capitalize on these social media marketing techniques, please contact ebasedEVOLUTION today!

Google & Twitter… Together at last…

Here at ebasedEVOLUTION, we have several discussions on a weekly basis on where we think search engine optimization is headed, and what new developments will soon be underway. A couple months ago, we predicted that Google would soon be using live “tweets” in their search results, and sure enough, it happened.

Below is the official announcement from Google:

“We believe that our search results and user experience will greatly benefit from the inclusion of this up-to-the-minute data, and we look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months. That way, the next time you search for something that can be aided by a real-time observation, say, snow conditions at your favorite ski resort; you’ll find tweets from other users who are there and sharing the latest and greatest information.”

For companies who have been reluctant to build presence on Twitter, this should be a wake-up call to start tweeting!

How do I use Twitter BEST for my business?

twitter-logoTwitter this, Twitter that. It’s all that anyone can talk about these days.

Well, we’re going to jump on the bandwagon and tell you what we feel are the best ways for your organization to use Twitter…

1) Share a Link: Do you ever read an article that you feel that if other people read, it could be beneficial to your business? Twitter makes it extremely easy to share industry news with your Followers.

2) Build Your Network: Unlike Facebook and LinkedIn, you do not need to gain permission to follow someone on Twitter. The more people you are following, the more exposure your profile will have, resulting in more users following you.

3) Internal Communication: For larger organizations, Twitter can be a great way to communicate internally.

4) Brand Awareness: Twitter enables you to detect any chatter about your organization. If anything negative was said, you will be able to counter it quickly. Or, if you have a new product released, you can ask for customer feedback.

5) Recruiting: There are currently over 14 million users on Twitter. With the unemployment rate at record highs, people are looking anywhere for job openings. Twitter is a great way to recruit!

For more information on SEO, SMM, and SEM, please contact one of our associates today!