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Tag: Biz Stone

  • Twitter’s Biz Stone Calls Out Fortune Magazine

    Fortune Magazine put out an article called Trouble@Twitter as its cover story, complete with the web-based counterpart to make sure people actually read it.

    The story talks about the “revolving doors” of leadership at Twitter and other issues. Specifically, the sub-title of the article pretty much sums its basis: “Boardroom power plays, disgruntled founders, and CEO switcheroos are clipping the wings of this tech high flier.”

    “U.S. traffic at Twitter.com” has “leveled Off” in the past year, it says, though this is hardly indicative of user interest in Twitter, given that it’s wordwide (and instrumental in revolutions), continues to be nearly everywhere in the media (not just stories about Twitter, but the media actually using it), and a great deal of users access the service in ways besides going to Twitter.com.

    Co-founder Biz Stone put up a blog post in response to Fortune. He wrote, “What took so long for somebody to write the article that says we are falling apart? The normal press cycle is to put a company on a pedestal and then knock it down. It’s much more interesting that way. Twitter has had so many ups and downs you’d think we would have had more negative press. To me, it’s like watching the movie Rocky—he’s up, he’s down, he’s out, he wins!”

    @biz
    Biz Stone    My personal blog post about press cycles, ‘The Trouble Bubble’ http://t.co/UPnLxuv 7 hours ago via Twitter for Mac · powered by @socialditto

    Twitter continues to have “Fail Whale” issues on a regular basis, despite efforts to reduce them. But it doesn’t seem to deter users much. That’s a good sign. How many sites/services that you so often have trouble connecting to would you continue to use?

    ‘Fortune magazine finally stepped up to knock us down with a cover article, ‘Trouble@Twitter.’ Here are some examples of how this works,” continued Stone. “After mostly positive coverage of Facebook, Fortune finally published an article in April of 2009 titled, ‘Is Facebook Losing Its Glow?’ However, later that year they published, ‘What Backlash? Facebook Is Growing Like Mad.’ Google received similar treatment. In July 2010 Fortune published, “Google, The Search Party Is Over.’ Later that year, they published, ‘Google Continues To Gain Search Marketshare.’”

    The bottom line is that big brands (this includes celebrities, politicians, etc.) will always get both good and bad press. That’s just how it works. The more attention you get, the more scrutiny you get. The bad is often exaggerated, but then again, so is the good.

    As far as Twitter U.S. traffic leveling off, the recently-returned Jack Dorsey has made one of his biggest priorities getting users to realize why Twitter can be useful to them. Since his return (just last month), Twitter has already tested a new homepage and updated its search feature with greater focus on user discoverability. They’ve also made Twitter Search three times faster.

  • Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone Talk Twitter on Piers Morgan

    CNN’s Piers Morgan had a show all about Twitter this evening, at a very interesting time in the company’s history. One co-founder that has been gone for years is back, and another one is basically gone (he’s still on the board).

    Morgan had co-founders Biz Stone and Jack Dorsey on, along with other guests including Martha Stewart, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Alyssa Milano, journalist Nick Kristof, the Wall Street Journal’s Katherine Rosman, and social media wine guy Gary Vaynerchuk.

    Unfortunately, there was no juicy company-related news or any discussion about the new change in leadership. That’s not to say it was a bad show. It did provide an interesting look at how Twitter was intended, what it has turned into, and how it is used in different ways, from tweeting mundane things, to preventing brutality, raising money for causes, etc.

    Some quotes from new Executive Chairman Jack Dorsey:

    “It’s extremely humbling to see how quickly the velocity of the service – how it’s taken off.” (note: Dorsey seems to use the words “humbling” and “velocity” a lot.)

    “Early on we knew how engaging it was and how magical it felt, but had no idea what the users would do with it.”

    “It’s always been focused on the recipient. You can write something and it goes out to the world, and people choose to follow it or not….They follow their interests, what they’re passionate about, and then they talk about it on the service with their friends.”

    “The amazing thing is it depends on the content. There was a man in a boat in the Hudson River. He had 20 followers. A plane landed in the Hudson, he took a picture, and suddenly he was in the national conversation within a minute. So it’s not so dependent on the followers The followers certainly help direct attention, but it really depends on the content and what you’re sharing with the world.”

    On mayoral use of Twitter: “It’s amazing what people are doing with it, and they redefine the service every single tweet.”

    Years ago, you may recall that the biggest Twitter-related topic of discussion was about what it is for. Interesting to see now that this is still being discussed, and that getting people to figure it out is still one of the main goals for Dorsey.

    When asked, “Should you drink and tweet?” Biz Stone said, “Absolutely not.” Dorsey concurred.

    The subject of Evan Williams did not come up. Square came up briefly at the end of the show as a simple, quick plug.

    @jack
    Jack Dorsey    In the green room with @biz @MarthaStewart @CoryBooker waiting for the @piersmorgan show to start 1 hour ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto

    @biz
    Biz Stone    Hanging out in the green room of @piersmorgan with a bunch of superstars #hummusfight 1 hour ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto

    @piersmorgan
    Piers Morgan    Live pix of @jack and @biz on @PiersTonight set right now. #cheerupyourebillionaires http://yfrog.com/h376kxtj 1 hour ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® · powered by @socialditto

    @jack
    Jack Dorsey    Talking @Twitter & taking money from @PiersMorgan w/ @Square tonight. And then no appearances for a long while: work! Unless @Oprah calls… 5 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto

  • Biz Stone Joins Huffington Post, AOL As Strategic Adviser

    Biz Stone Joins Huffington Post, AOL As Strategic Adviser

    Biz Stone, who could already count himself the cofounder of Twitter, a former senior specialist at Google, and a former creative director at Xanga (among other things) can now add one more title to his resume.  This morning, the Huffington Post Media Group and AOL named Stone “Strategic Adviser for Social Impact.”

    The development’s arguably a big win for the Huffington Post and AOL.  Twitter’s reputation as cutting-edge tech could do a lot to improve AOL’s image if any sort of partnership eventually results.  And Stone’s advice should be valuable on its own, considering his history of success.

    That’s not to say Stone will try to make tons of money for AOL (or receive lots of cash in return for his services).  An official statement on the matter indicated that he’ll just “advise on social impact and cause-based initiatives, develop a platform to facilitate people doing service in their communities, rally other companies to invest in and deploy best corporate practices, and create and develop a video series spotlighting leading companies and executives at the forefront of philanthropy and corporate responsibility.”

    Still, AOL might be able to put some of that information to use in other areas.

    It sounds like Stone will have the ear of the highest-ranking person around, as well.  AOL CEO Tim Armstrong said in the same statement (which covered a few other topics), “I’m especially thrilled that Biz Stone will be helping us to refine one of our core goals: using innovative approaches to do good and give back while putting a spotlight on solutions.”

    We’ll be sure to report anything interesting that occurs as a result of this development.

  • Biz Stone: “The Tweets Must Flow”

    Biz Stone: “The Tweets Must Flow”

    The Egyptian government’s decision to shut down Internet access doesn’t seem to have gone over well with Twitter cofounder Biz Stone.  While Stone was diplomatic enough not to name the country, a new 400-word post on the official Twitter Blog very much speaks to the situation, stressing the importance of freedom of speech.

    Stone wrote this afternoon, "Our goal is to instantly connect people everywhere to what is most meaningful to them.  For this to happen, freedom of expression is essential.  Some Tweets may facilitate positive change in a repressed country, some make us laugh, some make us think, some downright anger a vast majority of users.  We don’t always agree with the things people choose to tweet, but we keep the information flowing irrespective of any view we may have about the content."

    Later, perhaps addressing the idea that the Egyptian government might ask his company to hand over protestors’ info, Stone continued, "Our position on freedom of expression carries with it a mandate to protect our users’ right to speak freely and preserve their ability to contest having their private information revealed.  While we may need to release information as required by law, we try to notify Twitter users before handing over their information whenever we can so they have a fair chance to fight the request if they so choose."

    So although Egyptian authorities have largely made this a moot point for the time being, Stone’s blog post helps further establish Twitter’s stance on censorship and cooperating with repressive governments.

    On a side note, it also indicates that the company’s still growing fast, with Stone inviting people who have a similar outlook to work at Twitter.

  • Is a Twitter News Service What Consumers Need?

    Many are getting a substantial amount of their news today from Twitter, but Twitter appears to have higher aspirations for becoming an important news service. Note: this article has been updated following recent developments.

    Co-founder Biz Stone told Reuters this week, "From the very beginning this has seemed almost as if it’s a news wire coming from everywhere around the world….I think a Twitter News Service would be something that would be very open and shared with many different news organizations around the world."

    Should news organizations use Twitter as a newswire like the AP? Tell us what you think. 

    According to Reuters, Stone says he’s "eager" to utilize Tweets to help create a news network. 

    Update: Since the Reuters story ran, there have been some conflicting reports about Twitter’s actual plans. In fact, tweets from Twitter communications guy Sean Garrett indicate that Stone was just being imaginative, and that there are no real plans for a Twitter news service (via TechCrunch). 

    Ask @biz a "can you imagine Twitter doing…" Q, & he’s going to get creative and imagine. Related: No plans for a "Twitter news network".Wed Nov 24 18:59:17 via webSean Garrett
    SG

    @ojchiang: @biz pondered how news orgs could do this on their own (or together). Perhaps w/ direct access to Twitter data. all hypothetical.Wed Nov 24 19:10:50 via webSean Garrett
    SG

    But even Stone said right in the Reuters interview that the service wouldn’t be run by Twitter anyway. It would be partnerships with news organizations. The way he describes it in the video clip below, makes it sound similar to how other entities are already utilizing Twitter APIs:

    The exact quote from Stone as seen above is: "A Twitter news network would not necessarily be run by Twitter, but would be in partnership with several news networks with all of them getting access to our data and doing different things with it…specializing in different ways. One news network may only want news out of Japan. Another may only want what links are people passing around today…"

    This is actually not the first time Stone has expressed such sentiments. He wrote on the Twitter Blog nearly two and a half years ago, following an earthquake near LA, "Many news agencies get their feed from a news wire service such as the Associated Press. ‘Strong quake shakes Southern California’ was pushed out by AP about 9 minutes after people began Twittering primary accounts from their homes, businesses, doctor’s appointments, or wherever they were when the quake struck. Whether it’s updates from best friends, internet pals, companies, brands, or breaking world events, the real-time aspect of sending and receiving Twitter updates continues to motivate our work."

    Biz Stone of Twitter Talks News Service Aspirations

    Twitter is Already a Big Part of News Reporting

    Twitter has obviously come a long way in two and a half years, and news organizations have of course latched on. A recent Fast Company article by Ellen McGirt says: 

    There’s also the possibility, of course, that Twitter is becoming the CNN for the 21st century. Sladden [Chloe of Twitter’s Media Team] walks me through the Twitter activity around the attempted coup in Ecuador in late September. Following the sequence of bystanders uploading photos, she shows me people milling nervously, then police in riot gear, then smoke. "You can feel the growing tension and violence," she says. "I can see the Ecuador coup unfolding before my eyes in real time, with just a basic Twitter search."

    This is just one of the ways Twitter can use its more than 160 million users worldwide to do news gathering. "Twitter is a democratic medium," Williams [Twitter co-founder Evan] says. "We can democratize information." And Twitter can package that content through its new interface to deliver not just real-time updates but also commentary, photos, and, yes, even video.

    There are plenty of ways news organizations can tap into Twitter. Tthere’s no question the content is out there. It is already fueling and complementing news reporting to a great extent. What Stone seems to be describing would simply formalize and organize it. The interesting thing would be to see how news organizations could improve on what’s already there. I’m guessing this wouldn’t be much more than glorified versions of Twitter’s exiting "lists"  – a form of authoritative content curation and syndication. 

    All we can do is speculate at this point, but  if news organizations could tap into an AP-like Twitter newswire, it could make Twitter even more of a mainstream news source for non-users. 

    The Good, the Bad, and the Reality of Twitter as a News Source

    The reality is that news often breaks on Twitter before it breaks by a traditional publication or even a blog or news website. See Stone’s earthquake example. Twitter is immediate, and it’s right from the source, whether that be a person in power making an announcement or an eyewitness report from a citizen. 

    Another advantage Twitter offers is the ability to reduce spin. Granted, any single Twitter user has their own biases, just like any single reporter, but if it’s coming directly from the source, the content is at its root – it’s purest possible form, before it makes its way into the newsroom to be curated or elaborated upon by a third party. There’s something to that. 

    Of course, on the flipside of that you get a lot of noise and a lot of credibility questions, and that’s where that curation comes in. It’s up to the news consumer to establish sources they trust, and Twitter can actually be good for that too, thanks to search – the crowd. Different perspectives from different users. 

    However, there is a difference between a tweet from some random person and one from a well-known figure, in terms of credibility. For example, if John Doe tweets that Google is buying Yahoo, that’s going to require a higher level of scrutiny for accuracy than if Google CEO Eric Schmidt tweets the same thing. 

    It’s interesting to see how Twitter is affecting not only the news, but journalists themselves. An article at the Daily Beast looks at the phenomenon of journalists bashing each other via Twitter in order to promote themselves as the more authoritative sources (although this isn’t much different than what some are doing on TV or radio). If this kind of behavior continues to run rampant, as it no doubt will, users may find that they’re better off skipping the middlemen and going straight to the sources anyway – many of which will be tweeting actual news while the "reporters" are busy bickering. Twitter caters to that much better than TV or radio.  

    Hopefully any use of a Twitter-based newswire-type feed will be able to effectively filter through this kind of thing too.

    Twitter spokesperson Matt Graves simply says, "We’re not thinking about creating a Twitter news service. It already exists — it’s called ‘Twitter.’"

    Should Twitter start its own news service? Share your thoughts in the comments.

    Related:
    How Bloggers Can Find Journalistic Credibility
    Can Twitter Make Google News Better?
    How the Crowd is Changing the News (SXSW)

  • Twitter News Service Here: “It’s Called Twitter”

    To set the record straight, there’s been a lot of confusion around what Twitter may or may not be doing, stemming from an interview Reuters did with Twitter co-founder Biz Stone. 

    Stone originally appeared to indicate that the company was considering partnering with news organizations on some kind of new Twitter news service. Since then, the company’s communications team has assured us that the company has no plans to do so.

    Twitter’s Matt Graves went so far as to say, "We’re not thinking about creating a Twitter news service. It already exists — it’s called ‘Twitter.’" 

    Twitter’s Sean Garrett says Stone simply "pondered how news orgs could do this on their own (or together). Perhaps w/ direct access to Twitter data. all hypothetical." 

    Another tweet from Garrett said, "Ask @biz a "can you imagine Twitter doing…" Q, & he’s going to get creative and imagine. Related: No plans for a ‘Twitter news network’". 

    That does not mean however, that news organizations can’t use Twitter in different ways like an AP-like newswire service. For more on this concept, see my original (yet updated) article on the concept, which includes the embedded Reuters video interview and actual quotes from Stone. Here’s the video again:

    The bottom line is that the company has no plans to create its own news service, and already considers Twitter itself such a service. When all is said and done, Twitter is an important source of news, and news organizations will likely continue to look for new and ineresting ways to present this news. 

    Ben Parr at Mashable suggests that Twitter release some kind of news-based Firehose for news organizations to tap into. Twitter has made no indication that it plans to do this. In the meantime, all that public Twitter data is there to be consumed and distributed. It’s all in the curation of that data, and Twitter’s existing lists can aid this cause greatly.

    Interesting that it took two days for Twitter to clear all of this up though, since the Reuters story was published Monday. And no clarification from @biz himself yet. 

  • Twitter Founders Discuss The Origin Of The Name With Jimmy Fallon

    Last night, Twitter founders Evan Williams (@EV) and Biz Stone (@Biz) were guests on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and pair discussed the origins of the Twitter name, and a few that didn’t quite make the cut.

    According to Biz Stone, the names that were initially kicked around were, "Jitter" and "Twitch", but those seem to much like a "drug addict". They wanted a name that depicted speed/urgency, so they happened to look in a thesaurus and Twitter was mentioned along with the other possible names… and the rest, as they say, is history. (You can watch the interview for yourself below)

    Do you think Twitter would be as popular with a name like "Jitter" or "Twitch"? Tell us what you think.

  • Russian President Joins Twitter

    Another very significant person has come to recognize the value of Twitter.  Today, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stopped by Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco, met with the company’s executives, and sent his first tweets.

    Medvedev’s very first tweet, available in either Russian or English thanks to the creation of twin accounts, read, "Hello everyone!  I’m on Twitter, and this is my first tweet."  He then sent four more tweets in quick succession, which seems like a good sign he’ll stick with Twitter.

    Another indication: Medvedev, who’s gaining followers at a rapid pace, at one point wrote, "Thanks everyone for visiting my Twitter page.  I hope to keep your interest."

    Meanwhile, as you might imagine, Twitter’s representatives were all smiles.  On the Twitter Blog following Medvedev’s visit, Biz Stone wrote about being "honored" by the president’s "generous" decision to stop by.

    Stone then worked in a mini-commercial for his site, adding, "Recognizing the power of new technology and learning to leverage it to advance humanity in positive and meaningful ways is a powerful display of leadership.  It was a great chance for us to share our passionate belief that the open exchange of information can have a positive global impact."

    Anyway, in addition to Twitter, President Medvedev will visit Apple, Cisco, and Yandex while he’s in California.

  • Twitter’s New “Forces of Good” Stream

    Back in January, Twitter launched Hope140.org, a site dedicated to showing the ways that Twitter is helping the world. Now, they’ve launched a Twitter account for it. Today, co-founder Biz Stone tweeted about it:

    We’ve set up a new account called @hope140 and it will be Good.Wed Jun 23 12:55:33 via Twitter for iPhoneBiz Stone
    biz

    It’s a bit surprising that this Twitter account had not been set up until now, given that it’s run by Twitter itself, but either way it’s here now, and you can follow it.

    Here’s the description of Hope140.org as displayed on the site:

    At Twitter, one thing that drives us is our desire to make a lasting impact as a company. Being a force for good is at the heart of that mission. Looking outside the walls of Twitter HQ we see lots of good stuff happening all the time, which invokes an incredible sense of hope that keeps us going.

    The open exchange of information is just beginning to become an everyday part of how the world communicates. As folks like you spread positive knowledge through the platform, we’ll be collecting it and highlighting good social movements that you might want to get involved in. So drop in every once in a while to see what’s happening.

    So far, there’s only a single Tweet on the new Twitter account, but based on Biz’s promise in the above tweet, it’s going to be good.

  • Twitter Promoted Tweets – Advertising With or Without Them

    Twitter has finally unveiled its business model in the form of "Promoted Tweets". The company refers to this as a "non-traditional" and "easy" strategy that "makes a ton of sense for Twitter." Promoted Tweets are described as ordinary tweets that businesses and organizations want to highlight to a  wider group of users.

    Would you pay to promote a tweet? Let us know.

    Promoted tweets are clearly labeled as "promoted" when they are paid for by advertisers. However, in many cases, they will simply begin as regular tweets that are organically sent to the timelines of those who follow the account. When a tweet is promoted, it will still have the functionality of any other tweet, such as replying, retweeting, etc. This sounds similar to status promotion tests we’ve seen from Facebook.

    To start out, Promoted tweets are appearing in Twitter search results. Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone says the company wants to make sure they’re useful to users so they’ll attempt to measure whether they "resonate" with users. Indications of resonation include engagement activities like replying, retweeting, and favoriting. If a promoted tweet doesn’t resonate, they’ll stop showing it.

    Stone calls the launch the "first phase" of the Promoted Tweets platform, indicating that there will be improvements made as time goes on (and more partners added). So far, Best Buy, Bravo, Red Bull, Sony Pictures, Starbucks, and Virgin America are using Promoted Tweets.

    Starbucks Promoted Tweet (Via AdAge)
    Image from AdAge

    "Before we roll out more phases, we want to get a better understanding of the resonance of Promoted Tweets, user experience and advertiser value," says Stone. "Once this is done, we plan to allow Promoted Tweets to be shown by Twitter clients and other ecosystem partners and to expand beyond Twitter search, including displaying relevant Promoted Tweets in your timelines in a way that is useful to you."

    "Since all Promoted Tweets are organic Tweets, there is not a single "ad" in our Promoted Tweets platform that isn’t already an organic part of Twitter," says Stone. "This is distinct from both traditional search advertising and more recent social advertising. Promoted Tweets will also be timely. Like any other Tweet, the connection between you and a Promoted Tweet in real-time provides a powerful means of delivering information relevant to you at the moment."

    "There is one big difference between a Promoted Tweet and a regular Tweet, he adds. "Promoted Tweets must meet a higher bar—they must resonate with users." This sounds kind of like Digg’s ad strategy.

    If Twitter’s own promoted tweets don’t strike a chord with you, there are other options for advertising on Twitter. Sponsored tweets, for example, has been around for quite a while. Earlier this week, TweetUp was launched as an AdWords-like concept for Twitter. These are just a couple examples.

    Of course Twitter also offers businesses plenty of ways to reach and interact with their audiences just by using Twitter in general. Here are a few tips:

    1. Get in front of journalists. More of them are using Twitter and Facebook according to a recent study.

    2. Use things like Twitter share buttons on content to promote sharing of content (once it’s been tweeted, it may get retweeted repeatedly).

    3. Remember that brands on Facebook and Twitter are favored by consumers.

    4. You can learn some things about audience engagement from Justin Bieber. Seriously.

    5. Get found in real-time search (here are some tips for that).

    More details about Promoted Tweets are expected to be shared by the company this week at an AdAge conference, and at Twitter’s own developer conference, Chirp.

    Note: WebProNews reporter Abby Johnson provided some video coverage of today’s Twitter news:

    Do you think Promoted Tweets is the right way for Twitter to go with its business model? Share your thoughts.

  • Twitter Announces @anywhere Platform

    Twitter Announces @anywhere Platform

    Twitter should soon become more ubiquitous across the Web.  Today, the company’s cofounders announced something called @anywhere that should help integrate the Twitter experience into standard sites, and a number of impressive organizations have agreed to take part in the initial rollout.

    Evan Williams essentially handled the SXSW side of things this afternoon, discussing @anywhere during his keynote address.  You can read our liveblogged coverage of that talk here.

    As for what Biz Stone was up to, he explained on the official Twitter Blog, "We’ve developed a new set of frameworks for adding this Twitter experience anywhere on the web.  Soon, sites many of us visit every day will be able to recreate these open, engaging interactions providing a new layer of value for visitors without sending them to Twitter.com."

    Stone then continued, "Our open technology platform is well known and Twitter APIs are already widely implemented but this is a different approach because we’ve created something incredibly simple.  Rather than implementing APIs, site owners need only drop in a few lines of javascript."

    Amazon, AdAge, Bing, Digg, eBay, The Huffington Post, MSNBC, The New York Times, Yahoo, and YouTube are among Twitter’s first partners in this effort.  Target dates and many other details remain unknown, but it looks like Twitter’s set to give its own version of Facebook Connect a solid start.

  • Twitter Reaches 140-Employee Milestone

    Twitter’s long been associated with the number 140; it is, of course, this number that defines how the site’s users communicate with each other.  And the number now represents the size of the company’s payroll, too, as Twitter’s hired its 140th employee.

    Biz Stone announced the milestone late yesterday by simply tweeting, "Today we are celebrating our 140th employee at Twitter!"  No details about whether the newest staff member is a janitor, programming whiz, or high-ranking exec then followed.

    Still, Kim-Mai Cutler was able to list some recent talent acquisitions and make an observation about Twitter’s growth rate.  She named "Robin Sloan, who handled strategy at Al Gore’s Current TV; a few developers, Michael Busch and Dan Webb; and a user interface designer Mark Otto, among others.  They also hired Alexa Lee, who used to produce videos for VentureBeat."

    Cutler then continued, "There are many, many others but the hiring pace represents a level unseen at the company.  During the summer in July and August, the company had between 60 and 70 employees."

    The interesting thing will be to see where Twitter goes from here.  It’s possible that the company will choose to stick with 140 employees for a while out of a sense of humor.

    Also, even though Twitter recently acquired a new space for its headquarters, said space only measures 31,000 square feet, meaning employees probably don’t have tons of room.  With 140 employees, an even split (ignoring the need for a reception area, bathrooms, conference rooms, etc.) would leave each individual just a 15 foot by 15 foot area.

  • Twitter Earns Itself a Candy Heart Phrase

    Twitter Earns Itself a Candy Heart Phrase

    You know those candy hearts everybody has around Valentine’s Day with the little sayings on them? Showing just how much of a stronghold Twitter actually has on pop culture, this year, one such saying that will appear on these candies is "Tweet me."

    NECCO    , the company that makes Sweethearts announced today that this (and "Text Me") were among the top user-generated choices for sayings to appear on the hearts this year. In the past, they have said things like "Fax me" and "Email me." Twitter hasn’t exactly toppled email, but is "all the rage" right now to say the least.

    Tweet MeI can’t figure out if this is better marketing for NECCO or for Twitter. On the one hand, you will have the increased exposure of the tweeting culture to a wide candy-hungry audience (which will likely include some who have absolutely no idea what tweeting is referring to), and on the other, you will have a generation of Twitterers possibly considering Sweethearts over circus peanuts the next time they go to buy candy. I guess it’s a win-win. Sweethearts are also coming in new colors and flavors.

    "Sweethearts have long been America’s favorite Valentine’s Day candy for sharing a sweet sentiment with loved ones," said Jackie Hague, vice president of marketing at NECCO. "The new tastier flavors, vibrant colors and modern expressions will ensure that Sweethearts continue to delight people of all ages and help them say something sweet to those they care about."

    "It’s great that America chose ‘Tweet Me’ to be a new Sweethearts saying," said Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, Inc. "Twitter is a new way to communicate in 140 characters or less and Sweethearts have been helping people communicate using short phrases for decades."

    There is also an iPhone App that works with a user’s Twitter account and allows them to personalize up to five Sweethearts with up to 25-character messages on each. These digital Sweethearts can then be sent to prospective Valentines.
     

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