Twitter is DEAD! Long Live Twitter! Thoughts on Scott Fox's Recent Post.

Great post and great series of question from Scott Fox regarding Twitter and if it has "jumped the shark"...making itself irrelevant in the future of online communication and marketing. Entitled Twitter has Jumped the Shark, Mr. Fox lists five reasons why he feels that Twitter is "over" and this is the beginning of the end. His reasoning is very interesting...and includes (along with the great Among his reasons are:

1. Twitter's usability threshold is too low: Basically, the combination of 140 characters, zero cost, and semi-legal moral standing has overwelmed the benefits of the service.

2. Twitter's value assumes synchronicity...where in reality, it rarely is. In short, Twitter requires both parties to be actively involved to be valuable. That is very hard to do given the world we live in.

3. Twitter is ruled by the elites: Those that "have" thousands (or millions) of followers get proportionally better clicks / follow-up. Those that don't...well, don't. Given that no one auto-follows anymore growing beyond a few thousand users is an almost impossible feat.

4. Twitter is F*ing everywhere: Twitter's APIs are awesome...but the tools that have spawned from this level of access are almost out of control. As Mr. Fox notes, "it easier than ever before to pre-schedule, re-tweet, and manage multiple Twitter accounts with little added value (or human presence!)."

5. Twitter things it should advertise too: It was one thing when individual Tweeters made money through the likes of Sponsored Tweets or Be-A-Magpie, but now Twitter itself wants in the game. All that means is more noise in the already crowded Twittersphere.

So...what do you think? I think Mr. Fox has done a great job asking if the Emperor really has no clothes, though I am not sure I would declare Twitter dead just yet either. From a business standpoint, I find great benefits with Twitter in finding new ideas, sharing thoughts / articles / blogs and finding new contacts and professionals in my area of expertise. Yes, a lot of this communication is "one-way"...though that isn't necessarily a bad thing either. Frankly, I don't always want (or need) a two-way conversation and Twitter helps me share information in a reasonable manner. While occasionally I may "miss" something on Twitter, I have learned that the most interesting things tend to show up more than once...and sooner or later I catch on.

That being said, do you agree with Mr. Fox? Is the future what he stated: "Will Twitter evolve to be just another alerts service? Or simply a quick delivery mechanism for 140 character teasers of meatier content posted elsewhere?"

Tax Advice: How to get the best tax benefit when deciding to sell or donate a car

Well, it is tax time again, and if you are like me, you are busily trying to figure out the best way to pay your taxes. Best, of course, means not only paying what you owe, but also making sure you have made the right deductions for the previous year.  Ensuring you handle your deductions correctly can mean all sorts of things, but one of the best ways to make sure you have the right balance is to make a charitable donation. And one of the best charitable donations is donate a used car to a charitable organization.

Unfortunately, recent changes in tax law have made donating a car a much more complicated process. Whereas you used to be able to get the full "blue book" value, today, that is only the case in certain situations. In fact, for most donations, you are most likely to receive only a few hundred dollars in credit vs. the thousands you received years ago. With this is mind, sometimes it is better to simply sell the car.

This helpful guide should assist you in making some of those decisions. Of course, you should always speak to a tax advisor for "real" advice...

How to get the best benefit Between Selling and Donating a Car (tax vs. cash)