Twitter -- A Tweet for Congress and You

Many of us remember how the U.S. presidential campaign for President Obama was made successful largely in part to mobilizing supporters through online grass roots effort such as his campaign website (which was a good example of Web 2.0 connectivity and design).

According to a post on the Washington Monthly, many Republicans in Congress have finally embraced technology and are countering Democrats by reaching out to constituents and supporters via Twitter, a free online social messaging service. Twitter lets users leave one-line comments (called "tweets") up to 140 characters discussing what they are currently doing. Users can also connect with others and "follow" others' daily tweets.

In fact, according to a news story yesterday on KCBS, 2/3 of Congressional Republicans are on the Twitter service. The most active "Twitter'er": Texas Republican John Culberson. On the Democratic side, the winner of the most tweets goes to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. And the most followed Twitter user? Former presidential candidate John McCain who admitted having little computer saviness and referring to his vetting process for his running mate as a "Google".

Not only is it an effective tool for informing others of one's daily thoughts, status or political ramblings, but Twitter can also be a highly useful marketing tool for a business. Businesses can tweet about latest deals, upcoming discounts, new product arrivals, etc. and have clients follow them and stay "in the know" for when that good deal comes along. It's a perfect solution to the old adage "out of sight, out of mind". And Twitter connects to other social network sites such as Facebook, letting businesses reach even more audiences.

It's easy, popular and free, so go ahead and try Twitter. I think you'll find it a real "tweet"!

Website Spotlight : LenderOffender.com

With the flood of home foreclosures -- especially here in California -- many bank-owned homes are going not only unsold but also apparently unmaintained. Dried up grasses, nasty weeds, unsighty trash, and even holiday lights on foreclosed properties are tarnishing beautiful neighborhoods and home-owner mantra and perhaps property values.

To the rescue: LenderOffender.com. This website allows other home owners to report neglected, orphaned bank-owned properties in your area with the goal of not only calling attention to orphaned homes but also to get banks to wake up and do something about them. It's quite a user-friendly website, with easy-to-find items and intuitive icons. The website even ranks the worst offenders (including Fannie Mae).

It's good to see useful websites like the above being put to good use to induce a public "call to action" on things they may not know about in their own cities and neighborhoods. If you have an idea for improving your community and want to use the web to get out the word, my San Jose website design firm can help put your idea into action. Don't neglect your own innovative idea today!

Facebook Facing the Book from Users

A controversial policy change that purportedly allows Facebook the rights to its users content after users cancel their accounts received fire recently and is now under review.

Many users of the online social network site complained about fears of Facebook owning the rights to using their written content and personal photos after canceled their accounts. Facebook in return clarified that if users canceled their accounts, any of their information (such as photos) posted to other users' pages would still remain on those pages until the owners of those pages canceled their own accounts.

A new message at the top of each Facebook user's page now states that Facebook is reverting to its previous user bill of rights while reviewing the new policy. Facebook says a new policy will be released in a few weeks after getting feedback from Facebook users.

Are you feeling 'social network challenged?' Are you a budding entrepreneur thinking about starting your own social networking site? My San Jose website design firm Design ForSite can help you with designing and creating a new social network site that will engage your particular audience while achieving your goals. So what are you waiting for? Get your new idea off the ground today!!