Twitter on Bing

So the deals are done and now the big boys get to play with all of Twitter’s up-to-the-minute data. Google looked like they had to do a spot of positive reputation management of their own – quickly pushing their story in response to a better prepared Microsoft. But now it’s official there’s lots of discussion about how the tweet stream will be integrated into search results, and indeed what use that might be.

Of course it raises some big questions – how will all this new data be used in the wider ranking algorithms? Is this the clear starting point for real time social metrics to be part of web ranking (although there is some anecdotal evidence to show Twitter might already have some influence)? Will this change how Google works with all the nofollow links in Twitter (basically all of them!)? Can tweets actually be useful to searchers? How will the search engines deal with real time spam?

Beyond those big issues, another area where this could have a massive impact is reputation management. Real time reputation management could clearly be a nightmare – even if it is highly transient.

There are quite a few ways a dirty little tweet could ruin someone’s prized front page ranking. At first, it may just be a case of relevancy – tweets about a restaurant (good or bad) may show up next to the proprietor’s website listing simply because they mention it by name (or even include location meta data if sent from a mobile device).

It probably won’t take the engines long to build in more advanced matching protocols – there’s lots of conjecture about social status being used as a proxy. But what if someone famous has a hissy-fit about their meal? How can you remove a negative tweet from an account with millions of adoring followers from your hard-earned SERP? Because of the social standing of the account, might those tweets be more persistent? Even a week is a long time online.

Moving even further into conjecture, but bear with me, what if you could make these tweets more persistent, perhaps even permanent, by using more standard SEO techniques? Throw a few links at an individual tweet’s page, and potentially you’ve a tactic that could be used in either direction.

With all of these questions, and plenty more in the minds of better men than I, we’re likely going to have an even more complicated time trying to keep our reputations clean and our rankings solid.

Over the years of punishing work schedules and trying to advance myself in the rat race, at the same time as raising our young family, learning a bunch of stuff, and trying not to be too much of a pillock, I’d forgotten about this pastime.

Now my grandfather’s been elsewhere for quite some time, but of course I still have moments of fond remembrance. And I’ve taken a few leaves from a few peoples’ books lately about what exactly we’re doing on this crazy planet; why are we here? It certainly isn’t to make money, or anything else to do with all that crap. One of the things that’s somehow clicked with the importance of being idle and the things I used to do as a child and things that can bring great joy without any real tangible reward is this search.

Searching for a 4-leaf clover is a never-ending task. It’s nigh on impossible. And even if you’re successful, ah well – the next thing to do is start all over again. There’s something unnervingly comforting in the fact that it’s almost pointless, especially when coupled with the notion that the reward is fleeting. I guess you could draw the parallel to life itself – that adage about treading the path and not the destination.

There are, of course, ways that you could liken it to web search (being presented with lots of haystacks every time you look for the same thing for starters), but I don’t want to dwell on that side of things too much at the moment. Maybe that’s for when I’ve got my other hat on. Or should I say head? Whatever.

The last time I can remember finding one of these elusive four-leaf clovers was when I was around seven years old. That’s a fair bit of water! But seeing as I’ve had a few years off, I’ll not be too harsh on myself. I’m dedicating as much time and energy as I can to my renewed search, and when I strike it lucky I’ll no doubt be all giddy and joyous on twitter. Probably shortly followed by the anguish of the realisation I have to start again.

To save myself going round in more circles, and of course to also provide more time for me to spend on the search, I’ll simply ask you to spend some time doing nothing. Or doing something that is thoroughly enjoyable, but isn’t really constructive towards anything. Once the realisation that it’s a fabulous way to live hits home, it’s a fabulous way to live.