It’s basically the same Tweetdeck application but now you can have a dedicated pre-set column for the latest news from both websites, as well as a shiny Mashable or TechCrunch logo on your Tweetdeck skin.

But are they worth changing to?

Personally, I can’t see the major benefit at this time. Yes, it’s great that now both Mashable and TechCrunch have their logo on Tweetdeck’s interface. But will that really expand their brand?

I’m guessing that most users who already have Tweetdeck installed know about both websites. And you can always just set up your own preset column in the standard Tweetdeck to watch the Mashable and TechCrunch feeds.

What about new users? Mashable promotes their version by saying it’s great for new Twitter users to “get up to speed”. I’m not so sure – new Twitter users might be better getting used to Twitter itself first before trying to control a multi-column app.

Comments on both websites are mixed – some think it’s great while others think it’s a waste of time.

I have to say that I’m with the second camp at the minute. It’s always interesting to see brands experiment with ways to get their name into people’s collective. I’m just not sure this is it.

And with some Tweetdeck users still complaining about performance issues (the new iPhone app crashing, memory hog, etc), wouldn’t it be better for Tweetdeck to concentrate on that first?

What about you? What’s your take on Mashable and TechCrunch’s new Tweetdeck app?

Would it make you question their bias when discussing third-party Twitter apps? How can they make real use of it down the line? Will you be downloading one of them?

photo credit: dprevite

Branded Tweetdeck – Great Idea or Waste of Time? originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

The full list of the finalists in each category can be viewed now at the Mashable Open Web Awards website. Voting ends 11:59 EST on Sunday, December 14th. Your votes can also be cast via the voting form below.

Congratulations to the finalists and good luck in the voting rounds.

Mashable Open Web Awards 2008 Finalists Announced – Last Round of Voting Begins originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

Looking at the names that have been nominated, there’s a good mix of new and underrated companies and applications as well as the usual suspects. For example, it’s nice to see the likes of Kiva in the non-profit category after a year when the micro-lending company really came into the online consciousness.

The first round of online voting for the Mashable awards will run from 9am PST today until 11.59pm PST on Sunday November 30. Once this initial round of votes are in, the final round of voting will begin on Wednesday December 3, with the winners announced on Tuesday December 16.

You can begin casting your vote via the round 1 voting form below.

Mashable Open Web Awards 2008 Online Voting Round 1 Now Open originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

With 26 categories this year, there are more chances than ever that the smaller names and players can be recognized. This is the beauty of the Mashable awards – everyone has a chance.

If you haven’t voted yet, the timeline is drawing near for your final nomination:

• 11.59pm PST on Sunday November 16.
• 02.59am EST on Monday November 17.
• 07.59am GMT on Monday November 17.

Once the nomination phase closes, the votes will be tallied and the finalists announced for the first round of voting. If you haven’t nominated your favourite web application, blog or tool, now is the time to do so. You can use the voting form here.

(Of course, if you wish to vote for me, all votes are kindly accepted via the preset voting widget in the sidebar).

Full details of the nominees moving forward into the finalist stages will be announced Tuesday November 18, with voting starting the following day.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment and subscribe to my RSS feed or via email to ensure you can enjoy the latest post(s).

Mashable Open Web Awards 2008 Preparing for Winners originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

• Voting timeline
• Rules for Voting and Nominations

The categories for this year’s awards are as follows:

1. Mainstream and Large Scale Social Networks
2. Embeddable Widgets
3. Blog Plugins
4. Social News
5. Social Networking Applications
6. Social Bookmarking
7. Search And Social Search
8. Sports and Fitness
9. Photo Sharing
10. Video Sharing
11. Start Pages
12. Places and Events
13. Travel
14. Music
15. Social Shopping
16. Fashion
17. Celebrity and Gossip
18. Mobile Applications
19. Dating and Romance
20. Wiki
21. Politics
22. How-To
23. Environmental
24. Non-Profit Causes
25. Online Games
26. Niche and Miscellaneous Social Networks

You can vote nominate your company, application or preferred nominee using the Mashable voting form below:

Mashable Open Web Awards 2008 Open for Nominations originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

Recognizing the major innovations in web technology, there are 26 categories overall. These include mainstream and large scale social networks, blog plug ins, wiki and many more. Now it’s almost time for the 2008 awards.

Nominations for the categories will begin on November 5 and remain open until November 18 2008. At that point, the first voting rounds will begin a day later on November 19, and last until December 15. The votes will then be tallied by polling partner Polldaddy with the results announced shortly thereafter.

The Open Web Awards 2007 received over a quarter of a million votes, and with double the amount of blog partners this year – 100 as opposed to last year’s 50 – it looks as if that figure will be topped with this year’s awards.

The nominations will be made public on Wednesday November 5. As an official blog partner for the awards, I’ll be bringing you all the latest news as it’s announced – from nominations, to People’s Choice Awards and more. It promises to be a great end to the year for the social network arena – I hope you stop by for the news as it happens, or check out the main Open Web Awards site itself.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment and subscribe to my RSS feed or via email to ensure you can enjoy the latest post(s).

The Mashable Open Web Awards 2008 originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

One of the foremost branding and communications firms in North America, Comet Branding combines traditional branding and marketing with social media and all that has to offer. Their radio show has included the likes of Brian Solis, Jennifer Leggio and others and looks at how to build brands using traditional PR, social media, eco-friendly approaches and more.

The founder of Comet Branding, Al Krueger, kindly offered an invitation to discuss the social media press release. I’ll be appearing with Jason Kintzler, founder of Pitch Engine; Todd Defren, Principal of Shift Communications; and Mike Volpe, VP of Marketing at HubSpot. It looks set to be an interesting discussion – I hope you can join us.

In other “special appearance” news, myself and fellow social media advocate Susan Murphy recently collaborated on a guest post at the blog of author and Emmy award-winning former CBS corespondent David Henderson. This came about after our responses to one of David’s posts on social media and its perceived non-effectiveness in business use. It was an enjoyable partnership and my thanks to David for extending the invite – you can read the guest post here.

Finally, I just received confirmation that I will be a blog partner for this years’s Open Web Awards, or Webby’s. Run by the good folks over at Mashable, the Webby’s recognize the major innovations in web technology. There are 26 categories, and nominations run between November 5 to November 18 2008. The actual voting will take place between November 19 and December 15 – make sure you stop by.

I’d like to thank everyone for inviting me to take part in these events and discussions, and I’m looking forward to hearing and sharing the views of some of my peers and contemporaries.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment and subscribe to my RSS feed or via email to ensure you can enjoy the latest post(s).

Interview on Comet Branding Radio and Other News originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.