Twitter has quickly grown beyond “popular,” and is beginning to take shape as an integral part of press and communication. It has become so important that one college has begun requiring journalism students to take a Twitter class.

Australia’s Griffith University, which made Twitter mandatory, says that modern businesses are increasingly demanding that their employees be versed in social media.

“Some students’ tweets are not as in depth as you might like. But I don’t know if getting them to write an essay is any more beneficial,” said Jacqui Ewart, senior lecturer at the university.

Many students didn’t even know what Twitter was, perhaps proving the university’s class requirement. Other students protested that Twitter is pointless, and that using the microblogging site is a waste of time.

It would not be surprising if other colleges soon follow in Griffith’s wake, so be prepared to see other classes on social media in the near future.

The L.A. Times released information today regarding a loophole for protected Twitter accounts. While other Twitter users cannot view protected Twitter accounts without asking for permission, Google appears to bypass that entirely. In fact, a Google search can even reveal some of the protected tweets of deleted accounts.

The Google searches can’t reveal the entirety of tweets unless they are short, but information can still be revealed in the small snippets. Just put “site:twitter.com/username” into Google, replacing the word “username” with that of someone with protected tweets, and view away. For example, everyone has been delighted to see what kind of mood Bill Clinton is in.

Fake Bill Clinton is probably sad you can see his tweets.

Reality check: While the “breach” sent tweeps scrambling and ranting, there appears to be nothing to fear. It seems so far that Google is only showing tweets that were public before the account was later privatized. As for final word on whether or not our protected tweets are safe, we’ll just have to wait to hear from Twitter.

Pepsi recently released a new app for iPhone promoting the Amp Energy Drink. The app is called “Amp up before you drink,” and is aimed at helping customers “score” with different types of women.

The app offers different types of women that users can pick from, and then offers them pickup lines based upon the woman. It also offers different activities that the “type” of woman would possibly enjoy. For example, for the “rebound” there is a list of ice cream shops, or for the “nerd,” it offers the “Wasn’t I in space academy with you?” pickup line.

The app also allows you to add names, dates, and comments about conquests to a “Brag list,” which can then be loaded onto Facebook, Twitter, or other social media sites. Because of this, considerable criticism has been leveled at the app, with one blog using the title, “Want to alienate women? Pepsi has an app for that.”

(more…)

You might have heard the story about Elliot Madison. He was a social worker at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, PA who was arrested on September 24 for using SMS and Twitter to track and report police movements to protesters in the area.

The Pennsylvania State Police didn’t consider this activity, and a hotel room filled with computers and police scanners to be legal given the context, but he was released on bail not long after the arrest.

On Thursday, October 1 , the situation escalated when the FBI spent 16 hours in a raid on Mason’s home in Queens, New York.  According to the motion submitted by Madison’s lawyer the FBI seized, “political writings, notes, political associates and ideas, materials protected by the attorney-client and social work priivileges [sic], as well as property belonging to other persons residing in the premises which have no connection to any pending or contemplated criminal investigation and which constitute the private property of such other persons.” (more…)

Twitter’s not doing so well this morning as it battles a denial-of-service attack.

Inside Twitter HQ [via]

Microsoft’s revamped Bing search engine has harnessed the power of Twitter to enhance the relevancy of the engine’s results.

The Redmond outfit has confirmed that a select number of prolific Twitter users are currently being indexed in the experiment.

“We’re not indexing all of Twitter at this time… just a small set of prominent and prolific Twitterers to start. We picked a few thousand people to start, based primarily on their follower count and volume of tweets,” wrote Microsoft Search Technology Center GM Sean Suchter. “We think this is an interesting first step toward using Twitter’s public API to surface Tweets in people search.”

The initial roster of Tweeple is designed to appeal to a broad range of unique interest groups; provided examples include Danny Sullivan, Kara Swisher, Al Gore and Ryan Seacrest. We can infer that Microsoft hopes to interest the critical Digg regurgitator, chatty Cathy, washed up politician and squealing fangirl demographics with these selections.

Suchter also encouraged users to follow Bing on Twitter.

Until recently I have been a staunch critic of the Web 2.0 movement. I have seen it as something of a fad, a trend, or a passing fancy. Sure, I thought social networking and interactive media were amusing to a degree, but I also found sites like MySpace to be a shallow experience that could not offer me anything exponentially greater than a good forum. My perception of things web 2.0 changed when I found Twitter.

Twitter is brilliant in its simplicity. It’s fast, it’s easy, it’s addictive as hell and, if you are willing to put forth a little effort, can be utilized to forge your own web identity. At first, nearly every user will fail to see the immediate value in the service. The idea that a quick 140 character post can be value added content just seems wrong; it’s too easy, too quick. How could a micro-blog do anything for me? Well, it can, and it has in enormous ways. I will paraphrase Jason Calacanis of Mashable.com: Twitter is becoming web 2.0’s phone directory. The beauty of Twitter is its openness. It’s quick, easy way to meet new people and exchange ideas without making long-term social commitments.

It’s very easy to meet new people on Twitter. Just do a search for a term that interests you, find people talking about that topic, click follow — perhaps respond to something they posted — and you are well on your way to understanding the value of the most powerful networking tool on earth.
(more…)

Trent Reznor is leaving social media. Part NIN QQ, part ragequit, but it makes a good point about idiots online.

Tech blogger Michael Arrington recently insinuated that TV personality Leo Laporte was predisposed to giving the Pre a positive review as he freely received a one-week evaluation unit from Palm Corporation. As you will see in the following video, Laporte does not handle this kindly; he is infuriated by an allegation that calls his reputation and journalistic integrity into question. While the Laporte’s ensuing language is strong, the video is worth watching.

(more…)

In a world…

This spring, one man battled against a Fortune-500 corporation. It sounds like a movie trailer, but in reality, these words describe a contest that happened entirely in the world of social networking. Ashton Kutcher, @aplusk on Twitter, competed against CNN in a race to one million followers. In the spirit of rooting for the underdog, I dutifully followed Kutcher’s account to help him reach the magic million before CNN.
(more…)

The new rumor is that Twitter will be bought by Facebook Google Apple.