Great interview with Twitter‘s Biz Stone (Transcript and Audio here). I love that they get that the API development has been a key factor in Twitter’s growth and success. From Twittervision to Twitteriffic, the apps built on the API make Twitter a more interactive, easier to adapt tool.

I’m waiting (and waiting) for Pownce to get this. The AIR apps are not my friend.

(Via ReadWriteWeb.)

I’ve dabbled with Social Media for years. RSS feeds for news, a blog here (Blogger), or there (LiveJournal), started a MySpace that didn’t really excite me, all – nice – but nothing really exciting. I loved learning new technologies, systems – but my real passion was testing productivity applications and services (much more fun than that looks written down here).

Then came Twitter. I joined in Dec 2006 – don’t remember how, although I blame/thank Daring Fireball – and I was instantly hooked. Love at first Tweet.

I wasn’t completely faithful. I was one of the people that followed Leo Laporte the night he left for (and broke!) Jaiku. Then came Pownce. I’m enjoying my Powncing and my friends there, but Twitter is still where I end up.

I also like the Twitter crew. They use their own product, are smart, they work hard and seem to treat their employees (and others) with respect. Not just because they gave them all iPhones (although that didn’t hurt). I wish them much success.

Twitter has opened me up to an entirely new sphere of influence. It has introduced me (not actually – in a stalker-kind of way) to developers, strategists, bloggers and personalities that I’d have not met (easily) elsewhere. Through these contacts and ‘friends” (in the social networking sense) I have expanded my knowledge, made significant contacts, started two blogs, changed jobs, have been asked to speak on Social Media and also contribute to a book.

In a very real way, Twitter changed my life.

Robert Scoble is the most prolific and influencial blogger in the Tech space today. From his time as the “Microsoft Blogger”, Robert has shared interviews on new tech advances, processes and people. He’s also a HUGE proponent of Facebook and uses it extensively as a means of communication – he posts videos (exclusive content), links, wall posts and comments each day.

I was on Twitter for a few months before I found Scoble through someone I was “following”. Through his Tweets (and blog, Facebook, etc.), I get an insight into Silicon Valley culture and personnel, that as a Silicon Alley girl, I would never have.

In this Fast Company article, Robert discusses the Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku microblogging services and their applications in business. I’m on all three and use them each differently – but Twitter has my heart.

(Via Scobleizer.)

I’ve been on Powne for about a month and, while it hasn’t integrated into my life as easily as Twitter has, I’ve found new “friends” (different from Twitter and Jaiku). And I have noticed my use growing in the last 2 weeks. So it’ll be interesting – especially in light of Twitter’s new VC money – to see how these two services evolve.

A Social-Networking Service With a Velvet Rope – New York Times: “”

SLIPSTREAM
A Social-Networking Service With a Velvet Rope
By JASON PONTIN

Published: July 29, 2007
The hottest startup in Silicon Valley — minutely examined by bloggers, panted after by investors — is Pownce, but only a chosen few can try out its Web site.

(Via NYTimes.com.)

EDIT: Epicenter – Wired Blogs has posted a reaction to the NYTimes article, “Kevin Rose Pwns The NY Times“. They compare Kevin Rose to Steve jobs, and make the point that the NYTimes didn’t speak to Rose when writing the article (does this make it more of an opt-ed piece?).