Re #9 – Aardvark is a handy social search engine with Twitter (and IM etc) functionality which allows users to ask a question which is then directed at many strangers whom the service believes may know the answer.

Tools like these which integrate different platforms and technologies are becoming increasingly effective, and within the context of this discussion is a means of refining the likelihood of getting a question answered correctly and swiftly, beyond the ‘tweet & cross your fingers’ approach, which often relies on strong follower/following lists, and enough human interest in the initial tweet for it to be noticed and then retweeted from amongst the constantly moving surf of twittering.

For me one of the most interesting (and useful) things about Twitter is how twitterers have found ways to most effectively use the platform for their own needs, and been able to then quickly develop informal but entrenched protocols, which are then peer-communicated. It strikes me as a time-shrunk version of how bulletin board culture emerged, with all its foibles and nuances.