I don't know if Scoble will beat me to the punch (he's blogging this too) but I got to say this: You don't need hashtags any more. The reason? Real-time search and filtering exists and works well in the places where hashtags are primarily used. If you don't get it, dwell on that for a bit. Once it sinks in, you'll know.

Image via CrunchBase

We all know that Twitter has jumped the shark. The recent additions of the suggested users list, the influx of celebrity and brand accounts (and all the silent, creepy stalker accounts that follow them), and the incredible gaming of the friend/follower system demonstrates that quite clearly. But that's not why I say it's time to take our tweets and go elsewhere.

Image by Raymond Yee via Flickr

Where are the business plans for social networking & social media ventures? Do any exist? Really? Because I keep hearing how they're needed, but never any evidence that they exist.

Image by mattbatt0 via Flickr

FriendFeed 2.0 came out in beta today, the social aggregator showing off a number of changes to its service. It's a lot nicer than the classic FriendFeed, but I'm not here to talk about what's new and improved; half the blogs out there have already covered that ground. Instead, I'm going to complain about the move to real-time.

Image by kungfootv via Flickr

Last night, at Energize IT (hosted by Microsoft Canada at their Mississauga headquarters), I got to talk with Joey deVilla about a few different things. One of those topics, which I'm pleased to share with you now, is an upcoming Coffee and Code for Durham Region!