In the future, location will not matter…

Say goodbye to cubicle nation…

Think about this:  The Future of Work is YOU!!!

Wherever You are…

If you would like to see the above video as slides:

10 Years Ago, Social Networking didn’t exist.

20 Years Ago, the Internet didn’t exist.

Who knows what jobs will exist 10 years from now?

The Future of Work:  The Best and Worst Jobs of 2010

Loic LeMeur (founder and CEO of Seesmic.com) has:

- 34 predictions about the future of twitter -

• It will reach masses of people
• They won’t use the same tools as we do
• It will not be only about Twitter
  -status updates will be open across social software
  -all social software will have status updates
  -Facebook has 40+ million updates a day
• Twitter will still be dominant in status updates
  it’s the motherboard on which we plug in
• We will laugh thinking we were updating them all manually
• The social graph will also open up
• Twitter will be big to get an idea of a person or a brand reputation
  not by number of followers but mostly influence with retweeting and lists
  lets you think like that person thinks

• Twitter will replace SMS for millions of people
  -it is portable and archives across devices
  -you don’t need to remember a phone number
  -you are not tied to a mobile operator
• Twitter might replace Chat for many people, too
  -a DM exchange is very similar to a private chat
  -Twitter lists are very similar to a public chat room
• Location will be one of the most widespread status update
• Private updates will be bigger than public updates
  (my kids say…)
• Public ecommerce status updates won’t work
  buying things is very intimate
• Live reviews of any place and product will deeply influence it though
• Promos by brands and retailers will have big success for last minute deals
• Talking to shops and restaurants via Twitter will become standard
  and will get opt in coupons as we enter a shop, based on location
• Web will be a fraction of mobile use
• Dating over Status updates won’t be big
• Twitter won’t display ads in your main feed
• Users will get too angry at unsolicited ads
• Other revenue opportunities such as pro accounts for businesses will be enough
• There will be more devices publishing updates than humans
  wifi scale, planes, trains, cars all posting updates
• Corporations will have entire teams devoted to Twitter and status updates
• Hyperlocal news sites with Twitter geotagging feature
  (thanks, @stevefarnworth)
• Google and Bing will be the dominant ways to search Twitter
• Google will have its own Twitter and won’t acquire Twitter
• There will be a few alternatives for niche search such as brand monitoring
• Internal Enterprise Twitter like services will become standard
• Vertical Twitter apps will start to appear
• Stocktweets is the first one
• Twitter will remain mostly used outside of Twitter.com
• Language will evolve adapting to 140char, concise, ignore rules (thanks, @bernard_d)
• @mentions spam will grow and become a tough to solve issue
• There will be less and less bullshit in public events and in general
• It will always be about you, not the tools

These 34 predictions are from Loic’s blog

@MiaChambers is a Web Traffic Controller and owner of Acumen Works Virtual Assistance. (Mia on LinkedIn) (Mia’s Blog)

E x p l o r i n g   t h e   S t a t e   o f   N o w

Danielle Smith Video Blogging Interviews from the 140 Characters Conference (@140Conf) being held at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, CA, October 27-28, 2009.

From Jeff Pulver’s “Exploring the State of Now”:

“At the #140conf events, we look at twitter as a platform and as a language we speak. Over time it will neither be the only platform nor the only language. #140conf is not an event about  microblogging or the place where people share twitter “tips and techniques” but rather where we explore the effects of the real-time Internet on Business.

The original scope of #140conf was to explore “the effects of twitter on: Celebrity, “The Media”, Advertising and (maybe) Politics.” Over time the scope expanded to look at the effects of twitter on topics ranging from public safety to public diplomacy.

The first #140conf in New York City brought together people with many diverse backgrounds but the one thing which everyone had in common was twitter. The schedule for the event was unique and fast paced. It was my intention to provide a platform for as many people as possible to share their thoughts and engage in conversation with the attending delegates. You will find individual talks set to: 10 minutes; “Featured talks” 15 and 20 minutes and the various panel discussions are set for 15 and 20 minutes.

The take aways from this event will provide the attending delegates knowledge, perspectives and insights to the next wave of effects twitter and the real-time internet will have on business.

Watch this video to hear Jeff Pulver’s take on the Real-Time Internet /

 State of “NOW”

Follow Kent Beatty on:  Twitter

Mashable asked 5 of the web’s most experimental, influential and knowledgeable thought leaders to share their perspectives on twitter:

Thought Leaders Twitter Perspectives:

Big Bloggers Tweeting More, Blogging Less – Chris Pirillo

Chris Pirillo says more and more bloggers are tweeting instead of blogging.  He says, “…twitter augments blogging, it’s a different medium…”

The Evolution of Twitter as a Platform – Guy Kawasaki

Guy Kawasaki, co-founder of alltop.com says that twitter is moving away from personal chatter and becoming heavily used by brands.  Guy says, “Twitter is emulating the internet, and isn’t just turning into a marketing platform, but simply becoming a platform used for multiple things.”

Semantic Intelligence – Brian Solis

Brian believes that the next big twitter trend will be “a more intelligent Twitter experience” and “the future of Twitter is semantic intelligence, where what you click, what you read, and what you do, act to determine what you like, with applications serving you the tweets you really want.”

Twitter Curation – Steve Rubel

Steve believes that the demand for finding tweets of interest will continue to grow as there is more interest in organizing collections of tweets and Twitterers with the goal of packaging tweets into more digestible streams.

User Generated Twitter Lists – Leo Laporte

Leo believes Twitter’s new “Lists” to be huge and very important for improving the overall twitter experience (twitgeist) along with immense potential and power to all Twitterers.

More on Trends:

 TrendsMap – Real-Time Local Twitter Trends (scroll across or zoom in on map of world)

TrendsMap Screencast at screenr (instant screencasts for twitter)

15 Fascinating Ways to Track Twitter Trends – Mashable

If U are interested in Twitter and Trends U should be following these Twitter Thought Leaders: 

Brian Solis, Guy Kawasaki, Steve Rubel, Leo Laporte, Chris Pirillo, Jeremiah Owyang, Laura Fitton, Chris Brogan

Note:  This post is largely a summary of Top 5 Twitter Trends to Watch Right Now post by Jennifer Van Grove at Mashable, posted on October 17, 2009 – she blogs here.

This “How To Throw A Killer TweetUp” post written by Kim Redd (@RedSmitty) was originally published at Kim’s Blog: The Adventures of Reddsmitty, on August 31, 2009.  Kim is a charismatic Social Media Coach, Sales and Marketing Diva, Event Planner Extraordinaire, and Road Warrior who seeks out new business, opens doors and uncovers new opportunities.  A consultative problem solver, she analyzes business situations at a glance and offers strategic solutions.

Kim Redd

Have you ever wondered what your Tweeps are like in real life (IRL)?  Ever wondered if they really look like their avatars?   Why not host a TweetUp!  No matter where you live or what you do there are others on Twitter nearby and there’s nothing quite like meeting your favorite Tweeps in real life (IRL).    Just ask @RobinWalker or @MisterNoodle…I hugged them when I met them at a TweetUp.  Besides hugs you may also find job leads, sales leads, new connections, and folks with whom you can barter entrepreneurial services…I know I did.  So what’s stopping you?

 Here are 7 tips for hosting a successful TweetUp in your neck of the woods:

1. Select the Venue -  Choose a location that’s central and easy to navigate.   Find a spot with plenty of standing room as well as seating for those with “barking dogs”.  Convenient parking and/or public transportation is key.  Free WiFi is a consideration if the event is in the morning or midday when Tweeps are tethered to their laptops.  Be sure to talk to the owner/manager of the establishment prior to the event for their blessing and possible sponsorship.  Make sure you visit the venue before publicizing the event.

2. Choose the Date - These days it seems there are local social media events every night of the week.  Try your best to avoid scheduling conflicts.  Run some dates by a few of your local Tweeps before committing.

3. Tweet it Up -Spread the word via Twitter.  Invite local celebs, Twitter Elite, bloggers, entrepreneurs.  Use www.twtvite.com or www.meetup.com to collect RSVPs and share more details than a single tweet allows.

4. Invite the Media – Contact your community newspapers, business mags, etc via phone, email, or Twitter.  Tweet your local TV anchors and invite them to attend.  You may be pleasantly surprised at the attention you receive.

5. Feed the Tweeps - Find a Sponsor or see if your venue will “throw in” some food for your hungry mob.  Even if Tweeps have to pay for food individually make sure it’s available. If it’s an after-work event no-one’s probably eaten since lunch.  Fed Tweeps are happy Tweeps!

6. Wear Nametags - Not everyone is great at remembering names.  Providing nametags will save Tweeps from possible discomfort and/or embarrassment. Be sure to use 3M nametags (Yes splurge.  The adhesive will stick to all fabrics and the backing comes off easily).  Consider bringing sharpies in various colors, pens, a sign-in book (notebook, guestbook, sheets of paper, etc), a fishbowl for biz cards, and a stack of your own cards.

7.  Have Fun! - No matter how many or how few, how hot or how rainy, enjoy yourself and your TweetUp guests. Expect hugs!

So start planning your next TweetUp today…your future awaits!

Got a Tip, Comment or Question?  Please Comment below.

Follow Kim on twitter!

Kim Redd on LinkedIn

“The twitter phenomenon continues to swirl unpredictably  in the vortex created as technology empowers human interaction and communication, re-defining the laws of natural flow and engagement.” – Kent Beatty

#HunkAlert is the hash tag associated with the frenetic twitter activity known as, wait for it:   the “HunkAlert”.  This (recent) website traces it’s (recent) history back to the “hunkalert” and “babealert” tweets that Sarah Marshall and friends started just a few months ago.   If you do a little analysis you can trace all this hunkalert/babealert stuff right back to the synaptic activity in Sarah Marshall’s frontal cortex.  Actually, I suspect that she enhanced her theta brain waves, perhaps with the help of this audio file, resulting in an extreme state of relaxation, creativity and vivid mental twitter imagery –).  Fortunately for us, this EEG of Sarah’s brain was taken just moments B4 the 1st #hunkalert tweet was released into the twitterverse -).

Sarah’s “treat for the ladies of twitter” enables “twitter ladies” to nominate their favorite twitter hunks as a #hunkalert.  There are normally more than one hundred nominations per day!  If you would like to take a peek into the #hunkalert and #babealert world just do a tweetdeck or twitter search on “@Americanwomannn” (Sarah Marshall’s twitter name) [notice there are three “n’s”]. 

The #HunkAlert site describes it’s basic purpose:  “… to recognize and honor those individuals for their Twitter community participation, social interaction and outstanding qualities…”.  The “outstanding qualities” are not defined and I’m afraid to ask!

To send a nomination, just post a tweet on twitter containing the nominee’s twitter username followed by #hunkalert #nominee,  i.e. “#hunkalert #nominee @druckenmiller”.  4 more examples just check out @Americanwomannn’s tweet stream or see the tweets below.  Confidential nominations may be sent by DM (direct message) to Sarah.  She will take care of the nomination for you.

Sarah Marshall is the creative twitter genius who has brought her HunkAlert site into being.   She is very Tweative and energetic.   Visit her site (hunkalert) to see galleries of nominees and get in on the fun!

See Also: 

The Psychology of Twitter with Dr. Drew

The Hierarchy Of Tweets – Analyzing The Psychology of Twitter 

The Psychology of Twitter

Provided below is a representative sample of tweets to or about @Americanwomannn and #hunkalerts:

a representative sample of tweets to or about @Americanwomannn and #hunkalerts:

4 more on tweetdeck go here.

Are you ready for some football … on Twitter? Many NFL players are. Twitter popularity among NFL players is on the rise, and not without a little controversy.

While the NFL has issued some rules restricting NFL players, coaches, and staff on tweeting, overall the organization seems to be embracing social media, or at least accepting it. And why not? Twitter allows fans to follow their fav players and get a more indepth glimpse into their lives. And the players seem to enjoy the outlet (though they better be fairly careful with their tweets).  The biggest restriction imposed by the NFL: No tweeting during games. Players, coaches, and staff cannot tweet 90 minutes before game time until after the post-game interviews have been completed. While that might be the NFL’s main rule, some coaches and teams have imposed even stricter rules (just ask David Clowney).

NFL player/twitterer, David Clowney (@davidclowney) learned what not to post the hard way. New York Jet’s coach, Rex Ryan benched Clowney after he tweeted, “1 play in the 1st Half, 4 plays in the 2nd half. A bit disappointed about my playing time but very happy and satisfied about the win.” Though a mild complaint, this tweet was enough to upset Coach Ryan and earn Clowney a seat for the next game.

Not surprisingly, Terrell Owens (@terrellowens) with the Buffalo Bills is also an active Twitterer.  Owens recently responded to former Patriot Rodney Harrison’s (now an NBC analyst) criticism with tweets about Harrison’s past suspension for steroid use. “Hey Rodney if I really considered using them, could u please lv instructions on how & where 2 stick the needle just like u did 2 assure …”

Perhaps the MVP of Twitter is Chad Ochocinco (@OGOchoCinco) of the Cincinnati Bengals. He joined Twitter in late May and has 8, 049 tweets as of this post. If you followed his tweets last night, you’d have seen pics of Jerry’s World as Ochocinco watched Monday Night Football from a suite at Dallas’ new high-tech stadium. He posted this tweet, clearly impressed with the new stadium: “Jerrys World is one of those things you never forget, like your first kiss or when you lost your vir..ty!!! Words can’t describe what I saw!”

While players might have more Twitter rules than the average Twitterer, they don’t seem to be letting up on the tweets. And that’s good news for fans! NFL and Twitter fans win every time with this match up. Search for you fav NFL player and start following their tweets today.

These numbers should leave no doubt about the meteoric rise of Twitter and other social media outlets.  The thing that sets Twitter apart is that the conversation is in real time.  Look at those Twitter numbers especially the number of Tweets per day.

Twitter:  23 million unique visitors/day;  3 million tweets/day

YouTube:  85 million video views/day

Facebook:  300 million active users, 122 million visits/day

LinkedIn:  43 million members; 13 million daily avg visits

Blogs:  133 million currently indexed by Technorati.

Source:  Circle Research

This ““Mad Men” vs. #Twitter – An Opinion on the Fortune 10” post written by Beth Frysztak (@bethfrysztak) was originally published at Beth’s Blog:  Network Your Life, on September 6th, 2009.  Beth is a cool twitterer, charismatic leader, successful marketer & Mom of 2 who thoroughly understands how to satisfy customers.  She is passionate about networking and “all things connected”.

Beth Frysztak

When I meet people IRL (in real life) – new acquaintances, peeps that I know well, friends, co-workers, and even family, there are only a handful of people who “get it” when I talk ‘Twitter’.

I speak so often to companies that I work with – as well as new corporations I am strategizing with – to talk about the value that their brand can receive through the right use of Twitter.  So, why is it when I ask a standard response is, “Yeah, we’re on Twitter”… I then ask them, “what does that mean?”.

DO LARGE CORPORATIONS REALLY GET IT?

Many large corporations do not.  They are struggling with the change from a world with ‘Mad Men’ media – to a world where messaging is cluttered, media is fast paced, multiple channels are available, and ‘Social Media’ is perceived to surpass other forms of media in short order.  So, what does this mean to your brand?

HOW DOES A BRAND BECOME EFFECTIVE IN 140 CHAR?

They don’t. A large corporation must understand that Twitter is not just here for them to promote themselves – PLEASE do not just promote.  People today want to have a personal relationship with your brand.  Twitter can help you to engage with your customers, potential customers and lapsed customers.  Just setting up a Twitter account is not enough.  Fortune companies that engage – are those that will make this change with ease.   The days of just “being there” are over.  ENGAGE!

TALK TO YOUR FOLLOWERS – DO NOT JUST PROMOTE YOUR COMPANY!

We do not care, nor really want to continual tweets about your product, service, offering or anything else.  We want to know YOU – the person behind the brand.  It does not matter if you have folks that support you in the US or other countries although, you need to engage and speak with those that follow you.  Realize that I am an extension of your brand – with the ability to promote you negatively or positively.

LOOK AT THE STATS BELOW OF THE FORTUNE 10 – AND THEIR FOLLOWINGS

Please note:  Some of these companies have more than one blog – if anyone has information on how to figure out WalMart – do let me know – I got tired of trying to find them – and what they did on Twitter!

Enjoy!!

The Fortune 10 on Twitter:

If you look above, you can see that most of the companies that engagement and involvement is extremely important to the number of people that are following a specific brand.

It would suffice to note that – those companies that are not engaged….or are just on Twitter to promote….will never have a following that will impact their brand.

It is time to realize that how consumers interact with your brand has definitely changed – specifically via Twitter.  In my humble opinion, Twitter is a media in which you engage, communicate, assist and as the individual behind the brand – you promote without being intrusive.  I would love your thoughts my followers!

Please feel free to comment!

Follow Beth on twitter!

• Beth Frysztak on Facebook
• Beth Frysztak on LinkedIn

This post is based entirely on the post Statistics Show Social Media Is Bigger Than You Think – by Erik Qualman (which he posted August 11, 2009)

Video compilation of Erik Qualman explaining his Socialnomics with relevant social media statistics.  The book is in stores now.  Got mine last week! 

social media isn’t a fad,

it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate

Erik Qualman has written a book called:   Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business.

Socialnomics Contents

Socialnomics Chapter One in PDF

Socialnomics book at Amazon

Erik Qualman’s Photostream at Flickr

Stats from video after the jump:

Stats from Video (sources listed below by corresponding #)

1. By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers….96% of them have joined a social network 
2. Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
3. 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
4. Years to Reach 50 millions Users:  Radio (38 Years), TV (13 Years), Internet (4 Years), iPod (3 Years)…Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months…iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months.
5. If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s 4th largest between the United States and Indonesia
6. Yet, some sources say China’s QZone is larger with over 300 million using their services (Facebook’s ban in China plays into this)
7. comScore indicates that Russia has the most engage social media audience with visitors spending 6.6 hours and viewing 1,307 pages per visitor per month – Vkontakte.ru is the #1 social network
8. 2009 US Department of Education study revealed that on average, online students out performed those receiving face-to-face instruction
9. 1 in 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum
10. % of companies using LinkedIn as a primary tool to find employees….80%
11. The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females
12. Ashton Kutcher and Ellen Degeneres have more Twitter followers than the entire populations of Ireland, Norway and Panama
13. 80% of Twitter usage is on mobile devices…people update anywhere, anytime…imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?
14. Generation Y and Z consider e-mail passé…In 2009 Boston College stopped distributing e-mail addresses to incoming freshmen
15. What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook…
16. The #2 largest search engine in the world is YouTube
17. Wikipedia has over 13 million articles…some studies show it’s more accurate than Encyclopedia Britannica…78% of these articles are non-English
18. There are over 200,000,000 Blogs
19. 54% = Number of bloggers who post content or tweet daily
20. Because of the speed in which social media enables communication, word of mouth now becomes world of mouth
21. If you were paid a $1 for every time an article was posted on Wikipedia you would earn $156.23 per hour
22. Facebook USERS translated the site from English to Spanish via a Wiki in less than 4 weeks and cost Facebook $0
23. 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
24. 34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands
25. People care more about how their social graph ranks products and services  than how Google ranks them
26. 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations 
27. Only 14% trust advertisements
28. Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI
29. 90% of people that can TiVo ads do
30. Hulu has grown from 63 million total streams in April 2008 to 373 million in April 2009
31. 25% of Americans in the past month said they watched a short video…on their phone
32. According to Jeff Bezos 35% of book sales on Amazon are for the Kindle when available
33. 24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation because we no longer search for the news, the news finds us.
34. In the near future we will no longer search for  products and services they will find us via social media
35. More than 1.5 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on Facebook…daily.
36. Successful companies in social media act more like Dale Carnegie and less like David Ogilvy Listening first, selling second
37. Successful companies in social media act more like party planners, aggregators, and content providers than traditional advertiser

The above statistics and “Social Media Revolution” video tell the story, social media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.  Please feel free to share with any non-believers!

Below are the sources used to compile this video.   

1. Source: Grunwald Associates National Study – Info highlighted on Trendsspotting Blog
2. Source: Huffington Post
3. Source: McKinsey Study also posted by David Dalka
4. Source: First Stats: United Nations Cyberschoolbus Document

   Facebook Stat: Mashable

   iPhone Stat: Apple

5. Source: Facebook

6. Source: TechCrunch

7. Source: comScore

8. Source: U.S. Department of Education Study 

9. Source:  Attempting to relocate

10. Source: Jobvite Social Recruitment Survey  Note: 80% will use social networks in their assessment.  95% will use LinkedIn in their assessment.  When we revise the Video needs to be updated changing “their” to “a” primary tool need to see if we bump 80% to 95%

11. Source: Inside Facebook Blog
12. Source: Twitter & World Population Data
13. Source: Attempting to relocate

14. Source: Metro Newspaper

15. Opinion, not a statistic

16. Source: TGDaily

17. Source: www.wikipedia.org – calculated based on # articles per language category

18. Source: China Internet Information Center, Technorati, Wikipedia
19. Source: ClickZ Stats SES Magazine June 8 page 24-25 Chris Aarons, Andru Edwards, Xavier Lanier Turning Blogs and user-Generated Content Into Search Engine Results
20. Opinion, not a statistic
21. Calculated based of Wikipedia article data found at www.wikipedia.org

22. Source:  TechCrunchThis says 4 weeks so I may have been a little off here as my source at Facebook had said 2 weeks adjusted above

23. Source: Marketing Vox and Nielsen BuzzMetrics SES Magazine June 8 page 24-25 Chris Aarons, Andru Edwards, Xavier Lanier Turning Blogs and user-Generated Content Into Search Engine Results

24. Source: Universal McCann’s Social Media Research Wave 3

25. Opinion, not a statistic

26. Source: July 2009 Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey (actually 90% now – updated above but video still shows 78%)

27. Source: “Marketing to the Social Web,” Larry Weber, Wiley Publishing  2007

28. Source: “Marketing to the Social Web,” Larry Weber, Wiley Publishing  2007

29. Source: Starcom USA-TiVo

30. Source: Nielsen

31. Source: Solutions Research Group

32. Source: Henry Blodget Silicon Alley Insider http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-kindle-sales-now-a-shocking-35-of-book-sales-when-kindle-version-available-2009-5

33. Source: Yahoo Finance

34. Opinion from Socialnomics

35. Source: Facebook

36. Music in video provided by Fatboy Slim “Right Here, Right Now” (1999) – if you like it buy the single

See Also: 

Did You Know? Video by Karl Fisch and Scott McCleod

What the H**K is Social Media: One Year Later – Slide Deck by Marta Kagan

Behind the scenes filming at a Social Media Addicts Association meeting, with members discussing the problems caused by their addiction in graphic detail. Be warned -…

The epidemic is spreading rapidly with every age group.  Grandparents on Facebook, 12 year olds on twitter, those hopelessly stuck in MySpace and the ever increasing senior population on social media.  @jerrysmaa founded the Social Media Addicts Association in the spring of 2009 to help people beat their addiction to social networking sites and reclaim their lives! 

See Also:

First U.S. Rehab Center for Internet Addiction Opens Its Doors

Founder interview – Social Media Addicts Association

This house in the city of Austell, Georgia, is tweeting to find a new owner.  It seems to be lonely since it’s current owner decamped for Charlotte, N.C.

@PrinceSammie one person that lived here: Buccaneers fan. His wife: Carolina Panthers fan. Talk about #Drama

RT @BizWriterKristi got sort of an odd letter from Home Depot thanking me for being a loyal customer. [owner never goes-I'm in good shape]

Follow this house:  @3394PendleyRd

See more tweets by this house after the jump:

See Also:  Twitter.com Cofounder Biz Stone’s House For Sale

Follow this house:  @3394PendleyRd on twitter.

Follow @KentBeatty on twitter!

In times where money is tight and Twitter is booming, Twitter might just find itself the next big locale for elopers, er, online elopers that is. Think about the cost and time savings couples who choose a twedding could enjoy. No booking a flight to Vegas or even driving to a chapel. No tux rentals or overpriced wear-once dresses. No stress choosing music or flower decor. No long winded vows (remember you only have 140 characters). The savings are endless!

Of course, there would be some drawbacks to a twedding. How would the couple exchange rings? What about the ever-important first kiss? Would you tweet your vows from the same location or would you be tweeting from a distance? Many couples look forward to sharing wedding pics with family and friends but tweddings wouldn’t have pictures, or would they? Would you take a picture of you and your spouse-to-be tweeting each other? Would screen shots serve to commemorate the occasion?

Perhaps the most important question of all is will people WANT to get married on Twitter? Will people be willing to trade traditional weddings for an online, 140-character “I do”? While this possibility leaves more questions than it answers, chances are it will take place sooner or later–and probably sooner.

Those willing give tweddings a try need look no further than Michael Buchino, AKA @buchino. This online (of course) ordained pastor posted a Craig’s List ad offering to conduct Twitter marriage ceremonies. According to an article by Scott Kleinberg, he’s already found one couple interested in a twedding. He’s still working out the state laws regarding such a ceremony but be sure to stay posted for the first twedding soon. And if you’re interested in a twedding, contact Buchino on Twitter.

Follow Jessica on twitter!

Continuing change means new options to consider:

One new result of rapidly converging trends is the mobile restaurant or Restaurant 2.0:

Cupcake Stop Truck in NYC

Following the example of digital delivery, and driven by the factors listed below, we will begin to see an increase in physical delivery of services to the customer. 

Even restaurants are being swept up in the sea change swirling around us today.  The mobile restaurant is a new development of our times:

The drivers of this new culinary entrepreneurial development are:

• Twitter – Mobile restaurants can economically broadcast where they are as well as where they will be.  Also narcissistic consumers can tell people they are waiting for a truck to serve them .
• GPS Technology – To help locate restaurants on wheels.
• The Recession – Gives hard hit businesses the spark to innovate new approaches to serve their clients, causes consumers to be thrifty in their choices for “eating out”, and amplifies the high cost of gas to drive to a restaurant.

What’s next?

• Crowdsourcing – the truck can converge on the location most tweeted about.
• iPhone & Mobile Apps – Will show you which restaurant trucks are in your area, sorted by cuisine, location and length of the line.
• Tweeting a Password – For a Free topping or appetizer on special days.
• Selection specialization – Trucks will tweet their “Daily Special”, with different selections on different days (of course influenced by the desires of the twitterverse.)
• Mobile Businesses in a truck – These “businesses in a truck” would offer quick response to a request for their services by travelling to their client while also taking advantage of twitter, GPS and mobile restaurants to schedule their en-route meals

Of course these mobile restaurants would be most well received and most effective in metropolitan areas such as NYC (at least in the beginning.) 

Twitter is sorta like your own radio station, rather than pay for advertising spots on the radio, just tweet your message!

Related Links:

NYC Waffle Truck on Twitter,  Sharing Restaurant Space Saves Energy,

@waffletruck (waffle truck on twitter)

Temporary Spaces and Creative Infill, Things to See in NY – Cupcakes on Wheels,

Turf War at the Hot Dog Cart