There’s been a lot of discussion about the new “chocolate and peanut butter” pact that enables cross-posting between Twitter and LinkedIn. My reading of LinkedIn’s description of the new functionality is that people will have the option to selectively cross-post tweets to their status update.

I offered my thoughts here, here, and here, so I won’t stay more on this now. But there is a bigger question: What’s LinkedIn doing?

The new Twitter-LinkedIn arrangement has Twitter’s fingerprints all over it (extending to LinkedIn a service that’s already available to Facebook and MySpace users). LinkedIn hasn’t even tried to explain how this might be of use to its users–just how to use it.

LinkedIn is six years old, and the site looks it. You can’t even customize a font right now. Rather than focusing on add-on features, the company would do well to look at its core usability and the customer experience. Sure, they don’t have a lot of competition right now–but would you want to bet your business on the market environment maintaining the status quo?

The good news about having to abruptly leave a conversation is that you keep pondering the unfinished thought. For me, that conversation was Tuesday’s hashtagsocialmedia tweetchat, organized by Marc Meyer and moderated by Jason Falls.

The topic was Twitter and, when I cut out, people were having a vigorous discussion around Twitter’s value to business. I’d offered two key values for me: the ability to crowdsource quickly and globally; and ambient discovery (of people, information, and ideas). But I left something out, and it’s really important.

Web 1.0 led to data democratization. One consequence is that small businesses, including mine, finally had access to a lot of information that previously was only available (without a long lag time) to organizations with deep pockets. The amount of information was minute compared to what we see stream by on Twitter every minute—but it was the starting point.

Now Web 2.0 is leading to the democratization of access, as people can identify, reach out, and talk to everyone from athletes to rock stars to CEOs. Twitter’s helping to facilitate that.

What do you think: Are data and access leveling the playing field? How can you use these to transform your business?

Photo by biblioteekje (Flickr).

I’m a big believer in personalizing my invitations for several reasons:

• I’m inviting one person to join my network, not sending out a mass mailing.
• It’s a valuable way to follow-up with someone and tell them why they matter to you.
• Not doing so is lazy and impersonal–and leaves me concluding that maybe the person is all about numbers, not people.

Now LinkedIn seems to be stripping the personalization potential, at least where invites are concerned. Recently, I’ve run up against a 200-character limit. It takes 86 characters (including the spaces) just to send the standard message to a person with a four-letter name. That doesn’t leave much room to say more, unless you start abbreviating like crazy–and then you might as well send a tweet.

My short-term solution has been to send two e-mails: a follow-up from my account, and then a LinkedIn invite. While I’m sure people are loving all this attention, it seems a bit redundant not to be able to do it all in one.

Have you come across this problem? If so, what’s your workaround?

Call it Web squared or just a data explosion, but the universe isn’t the only thing that’s expanding. So is the volume of information out there in bytes and megabytes.

Take Twitter, for example. When I first signed up, I wasn’t following enough people to need any group functionality. That quickly changed. So I created a “Faves” group in TweetDeck to make sure I didn’t miss tweets from the 50 or so people I interact with most or whose Twittersteams provide other value. But then that Twittersteam started to grow, so I created a second group–this time of local folks.

That’s when it hit me: by default, I’m filtering in more and more information. Whether on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Reader, or another site, I’m increasingly looking for tools to help me receive and process–rather than avoid–the growing data stream.

What about you? How are you filtering information, and has this changed over time?

Photo by catspyjamasnz (Flickr).

As with (likely) everyone else who attended, I enjoyed BlogPotomac last week. Geoff Livingston deserves kudos for bringing the Washington region’s communications pros, techies, and bloggers together for a broad-reaching discussion around social media and the social Web. And his format, short talks and lots of discussion, is a great way to evolve a conversation. (For example, Andy Carvin’s remarks led to a discussion about filtering information and identifying trust agents.)

My big takeaways involve data–where it’s coming from and how we will package and use it over time:

• Sean Gorman, FortiusOne, talked about the application of geo-location and data mapping for everything from humanitarian relief to marketing.
• Jane Quigley, Crayon, identified three emerging Web trends: simplicity (to facilitate ease of use and participation), localization (i.e., Brightkite, Groupon), and the real-time Web (i.e., Google Wave).
• Peter Slutsky, Ning, talked about niche social networks. Interesting factoid: at Ning, you own your data. Seems like a big value add to me.

What’s your BlogPotomac takeaway?

Photo by ghbrett (Flickr).

Apparently I had too much on my plate when the IABC Research Foundation study on information overload was released last year because I missed it completely. Big mistake, because it contains some useful takeaways–which Julie Freeman discussed in her Heritage Region Conference session.

The authors highlight six paradoxes that can help us shape our communications efforts to reduce overload and “get attention, comprehension, and retention”:

1. Familiar Surprise–communicating in a novel yet understandable way (i.e., intriguing graphics, visual metaphors)
2. Detailed Overview– telling readers what to expect (i.e., executive summaries, word clouds)
3. Flexible Stability–using standard structures, formats, and terminologies
4. Simple Complexity–reducing messages to their essential elements (i.e., maps, step-by-step animation, or just picking up the phone)
5. Concise Redundancy–making a message accessible to different people in different ways (i.e., using facts, diagrams, numbers, models, and/or stories)
6. Unfinished Completeness–leaving opportunities for people to respond (i.e., polls, comments, or leaving your readers with an open-ended question)

A couple of other takeaways from the conference:

Bob DiBiasio talked about the way “the reduction of uncertainty” is guiding how the Cleveland Indians communicate internally and externally (including getting bad news out quickly, avoiding self-inflicted wounds, and communicating directly with those who matter most). He also stressed that “it has to be an absolute mindset of a company” to communicate with stakeholders.

Tim McCleary did a terrific session on how to stop telling people what to do and instead start involving your employees to foster change. There was music, cinnamon,  garlic, basil, and a green tricycle. Storytelling matters.

Photo by TonZ (Flickr).

I turned down a ticket to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame yesterday, opting instead to bring another online relationship offline. So I had drinks with Sonny Gill, a super-cool community manager and basketball fanatic with whom I’ve been tweeting for some time.

The great thing about Twitter is that it facilitates relationships. Meeting someone in real life is like a second date, after you’ve already gotten past all the intro questions and are ready to have a real conversation. We picked up our conversation without those awkward pauses that happen when you’re trying to feel out what topics to pursue.

Rock and roll, at it’s best, is about telling the stories of ordinary people. So is social media, only we get to tell our own stories and connect the dots to others.

Photo by Phil Romans (Flickr).

Technology Overload. All I needed to know was that my route went to Breezewood, onto the Pennsylvania Turnpike, to the Ohio Turnpike, and then turn off to Cleveland. But now we have too many satellite views, and the mapping companies feel the need to tell you about every turn—but not the big picture. (Yes, I got a little lost getting into the city. But then the old-fashioned telephone got me back on track.)

Comfort Music. I didn’t realize this until I ripped CDs on Saturday morning, but I needed a weird mix of new wave, country rock, 60s pop, indie rock, and a little salsa.

More from Cleveland later. Cleveland Indians’ Bob DiBiasio is starting his talk about PR in the baseball realm.

Our relay team poses for a quick, post-race picture.

The Baltimore Running Festival turned 9 this year, and I’ve run either the half-marathon or the relay five times and signed up and been unable to run a couple more. In other words, I love this race–and it isn’t for the unrelenting hills.

Here are a few of the highlights:

• Corrigan Sports, which is a race organization nonpareil. They do a great job, ask for and incorporate feedback from runners every year, and are quick to apologize when something goes wrong. Plus they send me a “happy birthday” email every year; how cool is that?
• The Gummy Bear Man, who I know has a real name (but I don’t remember it). He’s moved away, but he comes back to Baltimore every race day to hand out hundreds of pounds of gummy bears to thrilled runners around mile 23.
• The wacky crowds, who come out in every neighborhood and cheer for the elites and stay until the last, slowest runner has gone by. My fav this year: “Eye of the Tiger” man–tiger suit, standing on the hood of a car pointing at runners as we went by, with the Survivor single playing on an endless loop.
• The volunteers, including police, water station attendants, and the guy who handed me that silver crinkle blanket to keep me warm at the finish line.

And, of course, the runners — who somehow in Baltimore get that we’re all in this together. One year heat and ferocious head winds took their toll: I was hurting, everyone around me was hurting, and just about everyone was walking. A stranger looked at me and said, “We’re going to finish this race together.” And we did.

We spend a lot of time talking about online communities, and how to create and nurture them. I wonder if we sometimes forget the examples offline that are happening all around us. In Baltimore, there’s a race day community that I’m proud to be a part of each year.

I don’t have a time turner, so I haven’t figured out yet how to be in two places at once.

News flash — I don’t find the time, I make the time. It’s all about prioritizing. Family and friends, client work, business development, networking, learning, and so forth. I can’t tell you how to organize the 24 hours in your day, but I can tell you there’s no magic formula.

So next time someone asks you how you find the time, remind them it’s all about setting priorities.

Photo by TCM Hitchhiker (Flickr).