A Twitter with no replies

Don’t you think it’s annoying to read all the reply tweets on a Twitter profile? Yes, I do too. And guys at Twitter as well. When you visit a Twitter user’s profile, you may want to read original content rather than conversations.

Since June 2012, when you visit some verified profiles, you’ll see their tweets without replies. That is, you won’t see tweets that begin with a @username. But you can always switch to all tweets.

By the way, tweets beginning with a @username are only seen by people who follow both the tweet author and the @username at the beginning of the tweet. Let’s hope we’ll see this features on every profile then!

New Twitter pages for events

Twitter launched its first TV commercial about a new hashtag-related page. Here it is.

In Mashable’s words: “Twitter explained in an email that the hashtag event page, launched for Sunday’s 2012 Pocono 400 NASCAR race, was aimed at detailing the race experience and not the NASCAR brand“.

By the way, Nascar had no editorial control over what was displayed on the #NASCAR hashtag page. This may confirm that these pages are not for brands.

The hashtag page collected content from fans, but also drivers, their families, commentators, pit crews, celebs and media. Twitter said they plan to continue using the page for future races. I guess more examples of these pages will show up as long as this first experiment proved to be successful.

Twitter? You’re doing it wrong

This morning we had another big earthquake in Northern Italy. Buildings collapsing, people without a house, at least 13 corpses so far.

It goes without saying, people is using Twitter a lot. People is tweeting useful information such as how to open wifi networks, which telephone numbers you can call, where to go and donate blood, and so on.

Moreover, some people used the hashtag #terremoto for business purposes:

Groupalia wrote: Scared with the #earthquake? Let’s give up and go to #SantoDomingo! (link). Brux Sport and Prenotable did pretty much the same thing. Of course, many people felt the urgence to insult the poor common sense of these businesses. Take a look here. Eventually Groupalia did a public apology.

My point: Twitter defines itself as a “real time information network“. Groupalia obviously did it wrong, but people using the main hashtag #terremoto to insult Groupalia is also a pain in the ass. It’s white noise. It’s like you have to make an important call and the phone lines are too busy. Besides, I don’t like people blaming the first available target. The ground isn’t stopping to shake because of your indignation.

Just saying.

More of this: 1 2 3 4. Reply @lorenzograndi4 if you wish.

Your tweets live longer on Twylah

Twilah is a new service to display your tweets in a page and make them live longer. Here’s my page:

How do they describe themselves?

we’ve designed a unique context and experience for your readers that shows them who you are and what you’re about at a glance. This context drives engagement well beyond a single tweet and into the whole of your content and biographical information, providing a richer platform for your mission, your messages, and your offers.

It’s interesting to find ways to display your content effectively and increase engagement.

You can also display your Twylah page as a subdomain of your website. Just follow the instructions.

Facebook ADs are getting expensive

Facebook is making significantly more money per ad now, charging 23% more per 1000 impressions than at the start of 2011.

Still, ads pointing inside Facebook cost 29% less, and ads that specifically ask users to become a fan of a Page cost 45% less than those linking anywhere else. Why is Facebook offering this incentive? Because internally pointed ads keep users on the site where they can continue to be exposed to ads.

Moreover, Sponsored stories are getting a 46% higher CTR, which is a win-win situation both for investors and Facebook itself.

Where is all this going? If prices keep rising, we’ll see which new advertising markets investors will invade. Twitter, for instance.