Twitter Launches Promoted Trends

Twitter users get ready –  Promoted Trends are coming to Twitter. In a global test of unspecified duration Twitter announces that in addition to Promoted tweets, they will unveil Promoted Trends. The next question is obvious. So here’s Twitter official FAQ on the subject.

Q. What are "Promoted Trends"?

A. Promoted Trends are a new advertising concept we began testing this week; they are an extension of our Promoted Tweets platform. With Promoted Trends, users will see time-, context- and event-sensitive trends promoted by our advertising partners. These Promoted Trends initially appear at the bottom of the Trending Topics list on Twitter and are clearly marked "Promoted." As conversations about the topic increase, Promoted Trends may move up the list.

While the brief write-up specifies that this is in testing, we expect to see more from Twitter as far as monetizing. Twitter has become unique unto itself in that it seems to actually respect its users unlike some other Social Media platforms we all know.

Persistent Promoted Tweets as Twitter calls them will appear at the top of the Promoted Trend. Already Twitter has made reference to filters that would keep the topic or trend clean from abuse. That means Twitter is watching for those who would compromise the site with unfavorable or abusive information – yes the s*** word.

We applaud Twitter for their consistent and respectful attitude towards their users and will continue to support their platform. Blackball Online Marketing offers Social media solutions in the form of Twitter Marketing to small business in the Pittsburgh area.

Twitter Monetizes - Finally

…or the Big Dog needs to eat if you want him to hunt.

…or feed the Big Dog if you want him to hunt.

Unless I just missed the memo why didn’t Twitter simply Tweet their intent to monetize and leverage the invaluable feedback they'd get from the very people who have incorporated a steady diet of  Tweeting in their daily professional and personal lives. Twitter could approach this in a number of ways while having a lot of fun with it. Twitter could Tweet surveys, ask for ideas, maybe even a contest for the best Twitter monetization idea, and simply asking what do you think - we’d love to hear from you. 

Twitter would be asking input for one of their most important business decisions from the very people that make Twitter soar. The effect could prove to be very positive. Imagine the creativity from all that input.  There may not be enough bandwidth to hold the explosion of involvement. You could say this has the air of opportunity. If you want to engage and rally a community, here it is. And with such a radical and different approach to a corporate business move it just may create “pause” with those “other guys” and/or possibly raise the bar - if not change the bar’s direction.

I’m saying this because I’ve read some excerpts here and there that Twitter was fretting over their decision to monetize, to what degree only Twitter knows, but this is where Twitter turns the fretting into freedom by way of a dialog that simply says “we’re in business, we want to stay in business, and we’re pretty sure all you Tweeters want us to stay in business, so what do you think, how do you feel about this, and what are your ideas.” Twitter is a fantastic, intelligent and innovative product and with us in the SEO, Social Media and information business we’re finding new ways everyday to use Twitter to help our clients do business better which makes the deal this - what took Twitter so long?

Twitter is a business, and this is America, so why would Twitter fret over this decision? First a little peek into their history tells us something. And what it tells us is this; Twitter began to help, to solve a problem, not so much to make money, and before you know it Twitter is a business, better yet, an “accidental empire.” With this in mind, maybe human nature is the reason for Twitter’s monetizing angst, based on the “fear of offending” which we all struggle with at times. But hell, what do I know, I’m just speculating. Only Twitter knows for sure.

I don’t think Twitter has a thing to fret about.

New Twitter Terms of Service Released

Effective: September 10th, 2009

Everybody that uses Twitter should be aware that new terms of service were released. We at Blackball Online recommend that you read these terms. They lay out the rights, basic terms of service, privacy policy and much, much more. Pay special attention to the links on the right. New API rules have been set forth. Twitter actually has a rudimentary set of rules now. Make no mistake Twitter is on the move. Arm yourself with the knowledge they provide to glean what you can about where they are heading.

Twitter has been in negotiations to sell advertisements or the service as a whole for some time now as reported all over the net. This is no secret. These new terms are far reaching as compared to the old terms and it leads us to believe that the lawyers have gotten involved.

We believe that this is the first step to pave the way for the business to be taken over. Twitter is sure to be bought soon. In our opinion the need to monetize Twitter is more than the inventors can handle. It has become a smash hit and sure to be the prize of a larger more established company. Does Google ring a bell?

Read the complete Twitter Terms of Service - http://twitter.com/tos.

Twitter Help Resources - The Twitter Help Files

Pittsburgh, PA - As our previous posts on Twitter mention at the Blackball Online Newsblog, the Twitter community has been very kind to us. We would like to return the favor by providing some Twitter resources that may be overlooked.

When we started our Twitter experience, like most, we didn’t read the instructions. (i.e. the Help Files) Help files are a very valuable resource. The same holds true for Twitter. No-one could have predicted all the scenarios or uses for Twitter that have been encountered to date with such a diverse user group.

We thought we would share some very valuable Twitter Help File links to common problems and save you some time:

The Twitter Main Help Page - http://help.twitter.com/portal

Twitter has developed this area with resources to aid in Getting Started, Finding People, Official Twitter Text Commands, and Frequently Asked Questions.

The sidebar of the main help page is a wealth of information. It contains this:

Help Resources

Getting Started (25)

Find answers to common questions!

Using Twitter with your phone (10)

Tweet by text: find help using your phone with Twitter!

Trouble Shooting (17)

Having problems? Check out some of our most common issues and what to do about them

Known Issues (22)

Find updates about open bugs and currently known issues. Click the 'subscribe' link to receive email updates when a new topic is posted by Twitter Support.

Impersonation, Trademark, and Terms of Service policies (13)

Find out how to report common Terms of Service or Rules violations, such as impersonation, copyright, trademark, user name squatting and more.

Some roadblocks we have faced and where we went to solve them:

Follow Limits - http://help.twitter.com/forums/10713/entries/14959

Contacting Twitter

More information about Twitter
*@spam: follow our spam profile and report Twitter spam via direct message
*Status Blog: check Twitter's current system status.
*Twitter Blog: what's new with Twitter
*Developer Blog: a technical blog from the Twitter engineering team
*Developer Group: if you're a developer, join our mailing list

A pleasant experience is what we all want from Twitter; we hope we have armed you with some suggestions to help your Twitter experience in the event you experience any roadblocks along the way. Using Help files when they are available is always good practice. Technical Support personnel are always very busy so if you can solve the problem yourself your time can be better spent Tweeting. If you cannot solve the problem or find the solution yourself, you’ll be armed with the information to assist the technicians in fixing your problem and get faster results.

Other helpful Twitter Resources:

This post is fabulous      à http://wiredpen.com/resources/twitter-resources/

Another Great Post       à http://online-social-networking.com/tons-of-great-twitter-resources

This post compiled by Pittsburgh SEO by Blackball Online. Happy Tweeting.

Twitter is Self Cleansing

As we have gone through the process of learning to use Twitter for our business we have tried to take you with us for the ride. We have learned many things along the way which are listed in the Twitter category of the Blackball Online SEO Newsblog. We have travelled this road without a map. None exists that I know of. There are no rules of the road on Twitter. It’s more like asking for directions every so many miles in the Wild West.

We have tried to be courteous of others as we would have them return the favor to us. We have had our share of missteps and been loved and scorned for the exact same practices, go figure. To each their own. With such a wide open medium which is still finding its way, I see no reason to chastise a Twitter user for something that I may find in bad taste or annoying. That is my problem. I just unfollow or pay no attention. Can you imagine walking down the street and having everyone tell you everything they think is annoying? I may never leave the house.

I personally have had a follower DM me for tweeting too much for his liking. Well, unfollow me. That’s OK. I am not about to go to his place of business and set the hours he can open his doors. In retrospect I may have been a little overzealous, it happens. Twitter has set the limit for this and many other things like Twitters you can follow in a day, Tweets per hour, API calls, etc. That is the ultimate law of the land.

In another article Eight Twitter Habits That May Get You Unfollowed or Semi-Followed, the writer goes on to say what is annoying to him. This is fine. That’s what it’s all about, open discussion. Everyone sees and uses Twitter in a different way. That is the beauty of the medium. Like I’ve previously stated, there is no road map.

As reported in the BBC News at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8204842.stm, “Twitter tweets are 40% babble.” We say one person’s babble is another person’s bullion. Gold that is. Define babble by the way. In my estimation it is an opinion; All subjective and all fine.

If you are truly involved in the conversation, and you don’t like it, change it. Everyone has their own personal or business uses for Twitter. It’s uncharted territory. What is important or interesting to me may not be your cup of tea. Part of the beauty of Twitter, and of this world, is that we can peacefully coexist – follow each other, and help each other in a meaningful way without ever interacting if we choose not to. Until a time comes in the future, say a time of crisis, breaking news, or when we find a common topic of interest that we find we are all just people sharing our message and pursuing our dreams. Twitter is just the medium.