ReadWriteEnterprise

Are you seemingly stuck with trying to suss out what to do with Twitter? Don't know how to get started? Does 140 characters seem daunting? Then you might want to take a look at a new O'Reilly book called Tweetsmart. There are lots and lots of Twitter-related books out there (Amazon lists more than 1600 books, including more than 500 of them available digitally as Kindle editions), this is the first one that is short and sweet and to the point. It is written by JS McDougall, the co-owner of a Web design firm who has written eight other tech books.

It's no exaggeration to say that we each receive hundreds of pitches every week at ReadWriteWeb. Companies, through their PR and marketing folks, go to great lengths to get a little "free" press for their products. The problem is, most of them are doing it wrong. That probably includes your company, unfortunately. The good news is, it's really not that hard to get it right. Just ask Mike Maney.

Inmagic is launching an idea management system called IdeaNet this week, claiming to deliver the "right mix of culture, process, and tools to support open and fluid lines of communication across organizational communities and silos." That's quite a mouthful, not to mention a lot of Big Ideas right there.

The Internets have always been a place that cultivates the odd duck, the passionate one, the recondite techie who doesn't quite fit in. Lately, it seems that, just like being an airline passenger, things are getting a bit nastier as we get more crowded in the clouds. The friendly skies are somewhat less so.

Anil Dash posted a wonderful piece this week on his blog entitled, if your website's full of a**holes, it's your fault and I thought I would take a moment to agree with him and amplify his remarks. He says, "When you engage with a community online in a constructive way, it can be one of the most meaningful experiences of your life. It doesn't have to be polite, or neat and tidy, or full of everyone agreeing with each other. It just has to not be hateful and destructive."