On Tuesday, October 4th, @Twitter hosted a #party4good that showcased IRL their powerful reach as a social platform.

The Twitter team did this effortlessly by combining the start-up and influential elite together for a night of music by Funkmaster Flex (so amazing) and showcasing a gallery of powerful tweets and images shared via Twitter around the world.

Check out a few of the samples below- everyone from @aplusk to @justinbieber and  @pepsi was showcased. Overall, I think @twitter’s choice of creating a physical gallery of these images was incredibly moving.

Every attendee received a copy of Twitter for Good: Change the World One Tweet at a Time, a book authored by Claire Diaz-Ortez, who leads social innovation and philanthropy at Twitter.

While looking up some infographic examples today, I stumbled upon this twitter-linked, auto-generating, personalized infographic. By simply signing into visual.ly, picking my skin color, eye color, hair color and style, it did the rest. And I’m going to be honest, I love it. I think it’s great that Twitter knows I’m happy :)

Check out the live example here: http://bit.ly/nmvYlo

I think we all know what Boo's profile goal is: Cuteness.

Over the weekend, I had dinner and drinks with a friend from college, whom i have not seen in a few years. While hanging out, I soon found out that she [knowingly] decided to delete all existing profiles and abstain from facebook, twitter, and social media.

Soon after learning this about my friend, I proceeded to think of follow up questions on the matter, and potential reasoning. Maybe she is too busy? Perhaps it was the Facebook privacy scare of 2010 or even the ”delete your facebook account day?” Or it could be resentment from when the activity feed was originally created?

Well, as myself and the group found out – its because she believes that it’s fake.

Essentially, her opinion of the matter is that it’s a game/race to show only the best side of one’s self, and linked this to her thoughts (disclaimer: she works at an elementary school as a guidance counselor) that it is a cause for depression in many young people.

I believe that maybe she quit prematurely, or was not connecting with people in the right online communities or groups – sure, you find people who only showcase some glamourous life (like celebs, etc), but that is only a segment of the overall population. On Facebook, you see status updates, stories, links to blog posts that tell stories across the spectrum of emotion, I think it just takes that extra effort to look beyond clicking through an album of photos from a vacation in Paris to interacting with the content and the person.

When I watched this trailer for the “twitter movie” I almost fell off my chair in my cube.

Hope you have a similar response.

and now for the social network trailer..

We all remember the big buzz on embedding tweets into web pages about a month ago, but to be honest I kindof forgot about it after that… mainly because I half expected information on how to embed the tweets to come up somewhere on the twitter homepage, but it didn’t.

What I realized after doing some additional research on Twitter Media is that this isn’t an official Twitter feature (yet) afterall. As it turns out, the Twitter embed function, deemed Blackbird Pie, is mainly the result of @robinsloan brainpower. [via Twitter Media].

Here’s an example (me trying to be funny…)

Omg #quoteoftheday "social media is not as scary as bears." What kind of bear? #sucharrette

April 18, 2010 3:48 pm via SeesmicReplyRetweetFavorite

@AlanaMarie

alana marie

How to actually do this.

If you’re a WordPress user, download the plugin and use the following shorthand html code: ” There was a problem with the blakbirdpie shortcode ”

If you’re everyone else, use the official Twitter Media BlackBird Pie code generator here. Simply copy and paste your status update URL into the box, press the button. and VOILA, you have some code.

Last weekend, I found myself in the city for a few days. And while I was there, I realized that when you combine NYC, Hot Guidos and a few (hot) chicks on twitter, your total # of followers can increase substantially (and you’re going to have a lot of fun).

And the best part about all of this is that the whole reason I was in New York to begin with is social media (and to visit someone!) — and it just so happened to be the first thing I had in common with the people I met while I was there :)

NYC

Every tourist in NYC has to go and see the tree at 30 rock, even if those who live in the city are morally opposed to taking the trip to see said item. But, regardless, I still took a photo and (first) uploaded it to twitter and (second) sent a MMS to my mother. (she likes Christmas too).

Twitter Followers

My favorite part about this photo is that after both  Niki and Jill uploaded it to TwitPic, my # of followers on Twitter increased. That’s the beauty of someone tweeting “3 hot girls you should follow on twitter.” People listen and start to follow you.

Hot Guidos

After meeting Jill Hanner and Nicole D’Alonzo thanks to George, I was inspired to check out one of Jill’s infamous videos that Niki was telling me about all night…

Like many fellow millennials today, I don’t have cable. Or a home phone.

Therefore, when Monday evening comes around, I have a bit of a situation (since that is when Gossip Girl airs). I either:

a) Find a friend with cable
b) Wait until Wednesday for the new episode to be posted on cwtv.com
c) Try to distract myself so I forget that it’s on.

Full Episodes of Gossip Girl...

I’ve been trying to find good websites that aren’t sketchy to watch tv online for free. But usually you get some sketchy websites. BUT NO MORE.

While talking to fellow Gossip Girl Addict, I was told of a new site – CastTV that streams new video content before it’s available on many other sites (especially on the network sites).

What I love about the site is not just that they have multiple seasons of Gossip Girl available – but that they filter out sketchy sites and expired content (and allow me to catch up on some of my other favorite shows, like Mad Men and 30 Rock.

CastTV also shows videos trending on twitter as well as movies and other content like the 2009 Oscars and Superbowl commercials (in case you were interested).

I get this question a lot. At work, at home, at the bar… wherever.What the F**K is social media, anyway?

Watch my friends, and learn.

Couldn’t agree more. Love this presentation!!!