Twitter Updates #Music With New Ways to Discovery Artists, Scan Music Library Feature, and ……

Twitter has updated its #Music app today to bring new ways to discovery music by focusing on artists that you follow on twitter or other artists on the top tracks. The app also scans your music library now to suggest more relevant artists to you. Finally the app has been localized in more languages now.

A fresh approach to finding new music by using Tweets and follows to power discovery. The most well loved new music and emerging talent on Twitter right now. Follow your favorite artists and see which artists they follow.Listen Now via iTunes, Rdio, or Spotify.

What’s New In This Version:

We’ve added a bunch of new ways of learning music. Listen to artist’s top tracks, similar artists, and the artists that your favorite artist follows on Twitter.

We also scan your iPhone’s music library now to suggest more relevant artists to you. And we show you the artists that you’ve Tweeted about so you can always get back to them.

Finally, we’ve localized #music into all of your favorite languages. If you’re one of those excellent looking people living in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, or Switzerland then we’ve got you covered!

You can download Twitter #music from the App Store for free.

               

Nearly 1 billion tweets per week – Twitter marking 5th anniversary

Tweetdeck Officially Launches for Android

It’s about time! The ever well loved twitter app, Tweetdeck, has finally come to Android. Just announced, Tweetdeck 1.0 can now be downloaded after a few months of beta testing.

Tweetdeck had a whopping 36,000 beta testers prior to this launch in an effort to make sure the app worked without fail.

What is fascinating about the release, is that this particular version of Tweetdeck happens to be the most recent version of the app that has not even been tested for iPad’s or iPhone’s yet. Usually, it comes to the iPad and iPhone first.

Twitter has a lot to prove in 2011

Twitter

Twitter, which was made by a 10-person startup in San Francisco called Obvious, is a heady mixture of messaging, social networking, “microblogging” and something called “presence,” shorthand for the thought that people should delight in an “always on” virtual omnipresence.

Twitter’s rapid growth made it the object of intense interest and a honest amount of ridicule, as it was derided as high-tech trivia or the latest in time-wasting devices. But its use in Iran in the wake of the disputed presidential election of June 2009 to organize protests and disseminate information in the face of a news media crackdown brought it new respect.

“Twitterers” or “tweeters” send and receive small messages, called “tweets,” on Twitter’s Web site, with instant messaging software, or with mobile phones.

When a user is logged in through the Web or a cellphone, it questions one simple question, “What are you doing?” Users answer in 140 characters or fewer. While some of these tweets have the profundity of haiku, most are mundane, like “Sure is pretty out tonight” or “My eyes itch. I am very aggravated.”

Unlike most text messages, tweets are routed among networks of friends. Strangers, called “followers,” can also choose to receive the tweets of people they find fascinating.

In April 2010, Twitter rolled out a much-anticipated plot for making money from advertising, finally answering the question of how the company expects to turn its exponential growth into revenue.

The advertising program, which Twitter calls Promoted Tweets, will show up when Twitter users search for keywords that the advertisers have bought to link to their ads. Later, Twitter plans to show promoted posts in the stream of Twitter posts, based on how relevant they might be to a particular user.

In its small history, Twitter has become an vital marketing tool for celebrities, politicians and businesses, promising a level of intimacy never before approached online, as well as giving the public the ability to speak directly to people and institutions once comfortably on a pedestal.

But someone has to do all that writing, even if each entry is barely a sentence long. In many cases, celebrities and their handlers have turned to outside writers – ghost Twitterers, who keep fans updated on the latest twists and turns, often in the star’s own voice.

It is not only celebrities who are forced to look to a team to produce real-time commentary on daily activities, but also politicians like Ron Paul, who have assigned staff members to make Twitter posts and Facebook personas. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign used Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

In 2009, people in Iran and Moldova made their own searchable tags on Twitter to organize protests against their governments and share information with each other and the world. In April, Moldovans used the network to rally more than 10,000 young people against their country’s Communist leadership. And in June, Iranian opposition supporters mad over presidential election results used Twitter and other forms of new media to share news on rallies, police crackdowns on protesters, and analysis.

With the authorities blocking text-messaging on cellphones, Twitter has become a handy alternative for information-hungry Iranians. While Iran has also tried to block Twitter posts, Iranians are skilled at using proxy sites or other methods to circumvent the official barriers.

In a notable moment during the Iranian protests,  State Department official e-mailed Twitter to request a delay in scheduled maintenance of its global network, which would have cut off service while Iranians were using Twitter to swap information and inform the outside world about the mushrooming protests around Tehran.

Twitter complied with the request and briefly postponed its upgrade. The episode demonstrated the extent to which the Obama administration views social networking as a new diplomatic tool. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton talks regularly about the power of e-diplomacy, particularly in places where the mass media are repressed.

The New York Times

Twitter Puts The Kibosh On Automatic Ads

I first saw the news on Twitter, with a link from @blogherald to their post Twitter Kills “Pay Per Tweet” Companies (The Twitterverse Rejoices).

It looks like Twitter has finally made up its mind regarding third party tweet ad services (like Be-A-Magpie, BeTweeted and the infamous Sponsored Tweets via IZEA) and the verdict is “no ads for you!”

Then I head over to Sponsored Tweets and check out what they’ve got to say: Changes Coming to Sponsored Tweets

We are going to make some changes to the way Sponsored Tweets works. We will no longer be publishing directly to your account through the Twitter API. Instead you will have to write the tweet yourself in whatever Twitter client you see fit.

Yes, it will be a more manual process. Yes, we liked the ancient way better too. But we want to comply with Twitters guidelines and be a excellent ecosystem partner. We have always made adjustments to our system to remain in compliance. Twitter has allotted 30 days to make this change, we will try to get it out as soon as we can. Until then it is business as usual.

Seems some people are thrilled, and some are absolutely irate. Basically, Twitter seems to not be telling us what we can and can’t post, but rather HOW we post it.

… we will not allow any third party to inject paid tweets into a timeline on any service that leverages the Twitter API. We are updating our Terms of Service to articulate clearly what we mean by this statement, and we encourage you to read the updated API Terms of Service to be released shortly. (Twitter Blog)

So it’s not that you can’t, it’s just that by doing things this way, it makes it more annoying for you and they’re hoping you give up entirely.

They claim it’s for the “long term health of the Twitter ecosystem”. Some feel that it’s simply because they don’t want anyone making money until they do.

What are your thoughts?

US Disaster Relief Officials Look to Harness Power of Social Media

The massive earthquake that devastated Haiti earlier this year showed disaster relief officials in the United States the powerful role social media can play in responding to disasters – natural or man-made. U.S. officials say they are increasingly looking at ways to harness the power of the Internet and social media to improve the government’s response to emergencies.

Tales of people using social media or the Internet to call for help when other means are unavailable is becoming increasingly common. The tale of a Canadian woman who was trapped in the rubble after the Haiti earthquake in January is one of many examples.

The woman sent a text message to Canadian foreign ministry officials thousands of kilometers away. The message was relayed back to Canadian authorities in Haiti who were able to find and rescue her.

The American Red Cross sponsored a summit on social media data in Washington this week to discuss ways that emergency managers, government agencies and aid groups can harness new communications technologies.

Noel Dickover, who works with the U.S. State Department’s office of eDiplomacy, told participants at the conference that Haitians trapped in collapsed buildings texting the U.S. Marines and Coast Guard personnel for help was a first.

“And you reckon about the process – they send a text, somebody picks it up, sticks it in to a Ushahidi [a crowd sourcing online crisis network] platform where the diaspora is translating in an average of 10 minutes,” said Noel Dickover. “It gets place online in some way; okay this appears to be valid, and then first responders act on that. That is an incredible chain of events. And the real fascinating question is, ‘What’s that going to look like in two, three four years?'”

According to a public opinion survey conducted by the American Red Cross, one in five respondents said they would use e-mail, Internet websites or social media to seek help if they could not make an emergency telephone call.

Fourty-four percent said that if they knew of someone who needed help, they would question people in their social network to contact authorities; 35 percent said they would post a request on an agency’s Facebook social media page.

Perhaps the most telling figure for disaster relief officials, analysts say, is that 69 percent of those surveyed said they expected emergency responders to monitor social media sites and send help quickly.

Jack Holt, the chief of new media operations at the Department of Defense, notes that even his agency, which has stringent information controls, is finding ways to treat the Internet as a field in which to maneuver and not a fortress to defend against.

“The thing about social media is that wherever that crisis happens, it is now local for us,” said Jack Holt. “We are all neighbors now.”

Holt adds that when a crisis happens, people who have been affected and the information that they can provide make a local, instant command system.

“That instant command system is not for us to be in charge of, but is to give us the information that we need to get resources on the ground to place them to action,” he said.

Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, says that in understanding how social media can improve emergency response, it is crucial not get lost in the technology.

He says technology ultimately is a way to empower people to help one another.

“It [technology] is merely another way that we need to continue to empower the public to have greater ownership and know the roles and responsibilities they have, and to provide them the knowledge, so they can make the best possible choice for them and their families in a time of crisis,” said Craig Fugate.

American Red Cross officials note that while more than 60 percent of government agencies are involved in social media, most are merely sending information out to the public rather than bringing it in and analyzing it. Experts say that finding ways to pull in more information and determining what information requires action are only two of the many challenges emergency responders face.

Gabi Gregg the new MTV’s Twitter correspondent

MTV’s newly-minted “TJ” Gabi Gregg may be a fresh hire, but she’s already hit the ground running. The 23-year-ancient fashion blogger landed the primo gig Sunday night as MTV’s Twitter-based correspondent, and since then it’s been “very overwhelming — but in a excellent way!” she said in a phone interview she squeezed in between Tweeting, moving, and doing other press.

MTV approached Gregg a few months ago to compete in the “Follow Me” web-based contest that culminated in a televised finale on Sunday. Gregg and other social-media-savvy would-be stars proved their web prowess, but only one could snag the $100,000 and year-long gig as the behind-the-scenes correspondent for all things MTV. Gregg says she was “confused” when MTV first questioned her to participate, “but after they clarified what my job would be, I was super excited. And the salary didn’t hurt.”

Gregg made Young, Stout & Fabulous after graduating from college in 2008. “I hadn’t found a job that I loved, and I wanted to pursue fashion journalism,” she says. She’d been maintaining a personal LiveJournal “since high school,” but YFF was her first real foray into the expansive blogosphere. She sees it as more than a outfit-a-day outlet, too: “It has a message beyond fashion, about accepting yourself at any size, and feeling stylish.”

Plus the clothes are but one aspect of her personality. “Fashion’s just one side of me, but it’s certainly not my only interest. I like pop culture,” she says. Her new gig as MTV’s first TJ will certainly help foster that like. Though the specifics of the gig are still up in the air (on her MTV.com blog, she acknowledges that there “is a ton of room for experimentation”), in general she will be MTV fans’ eyes and ears to how the network operates, blogging and tweeting the on-the-scene experiences with an emphasis on dialogue. Want a hint as to what to expect? She cites ?uestlove’s Twitter stream as the gold standard of fan interaction.

“I meet people [through Twitter] that I’d never have the opportunity to know,” she says. “It’s been a fantastic way to give and get feedback from my readers, for blogging in between posts — when I got started, I had no thought how cool it was.”

Social Media for Defense and Government Conference

The Institute for Defense and Government Advancement (IDGA) is pleased to announce its 3 rd Social Media for Defense and Government Conference : , scheduled for October 18 – 20, 2010 in Washington, DC.

Web 2.0 and Social Media strategies have been implemented throughout most of the government and the Department of Defense. But, simply having a Facebook page, Twitter
account, YouTube channel or Linked In page is not enough; organizations and commands need to be strategic in developing and integrating communications strategies using social media.

IDGA’s Social Media for Defense and Government Conference : will bring together key choice-makers who are advocates of advancing the use of social media for the DoD and government. Speakers include Dr.
Mark Drapeau, Director, Innovative Social Engagement, Microsoft U.S. Public Sector (Twitter: @cheeky_geeky), CAPT John Kirby, USN, Special Assistant for Public Affairs to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Twitter: @thejointstaff), CAPT David Werner, USN, Communication Integration and Strategy, Navy Office of Information (Twitter: @NavyNews), Charles J. “Jack” Holt, APR, Sr.

Strategist for Emerging Media, Office of the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (Twitter: @jack_holt), and MAJ Juanita Chang, USA, Director, Online and Social Media Division, Office of the Chief of Public Affairs, US Army (Twitter: @juanitachang), among others.

Attendees of IDGA’s 3 rd Social Media for Defense and Government : will hear powerful case studies that support the use of new media strategies for achieving organizational goals through a comprehensive social media approach. They will learn ways to establish metrics to justify more quantitatively how new media strategies have and will positively impact organization’s basic goals. Furthermore, attendees will learn how to police organization’s reputation in the online community and ensure a consistent message of organization’s presence through internal and external new media campaigns.

In Lady Gaga’s Concert, Britney Spears Tweets To Let Her Fans Know

Last night was the first highly anticipated Lady GaGa Monster Ball concert held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The stars came out to see the performer, including Britney Spears who took to Twitter to let her fans know that she was going to the concert. Lady GaGa has taken the world by storm. With each and every new hit song, she gains more fans who can’t wait to see what next part of the singer’s artistic vision will be expressed in future projects. She is a global superstar who writes her own music, and yes, certainly has the voice of a superstar.

Spears wrote via Twitter:

“On my way to go see @LadyGaga – Brit”

Even Perez Hilton joined in on the tweeting, and said to his followers:

“@ladygaga Britney is in the building! #PayingRespect”

Britney Spears is reportedly getting ready for her return to the world of music as she is working on her next album.