SxSW Tweethouse: Tools and Trends: Innovations in The Real-Time Web

Here’s the description from the Tweethouse page:
Tools and Trends: Innovations in The Real-Time Web

What are the latest developments in the world of monitoring the Twitter stream? Many technologies originally created to assist in brand monitoring are now being used to grade movies and predict grosses, and in this session covers how various players are using social data to stay on top of the buzz surrounding their brands as well as analyze the sentiment surrounding movies and media.
3:30pm – 4:00pm / Speakers: Moderator: Jim Louderback, Dom Sagolla, Robert Scoble, Mark Milian, Brian Wong

They had some tech issues making some of the conversation inaudible but here were the (audible!) highlights from my perspective:

Jim Louderback started off by moderating in his usual bold and boisterous style, and jumping right into it.

Jim Louderback : GoogleBuzz – is this the next generation of realtime tools? or a soon-to-fade fad?

Robert Scoble: Buzz right now is in it’s infancy…pretty soon the team at Google is going to ship out a bunch of new stuff that will make it much more useful for everyone, but also for addicts like me.

Louderback: Don’t you have to be plugged into gmail in order to use it? Because I can’t figure out how to use gmail without having Buzz get in the way.

Scoble: I actually moved my Buzz from my gmail content so I wouldn’t get any social media cluttering up my gmail inbox. I’ve written some filters to remove anything that buzz puts in my gmail.

Louderback : Dom, what do you think of Google Buzz? As one of the creators of Twitter, do you look at it as imitation is the most sincerest form of flattery?

Dom Sagolla: It took me an hour to try to use it. I’m still trying to understand what it’s good for. The gmail connection is sort of a downer…as is the auto-following. I started by following 700 people, accidentally. And I’m still trying to understand where that number came from!

Mark Millian: Yea, I agree. When I first tried Buzz I was not impressed. I guess it’s another avenue to feed your twitter account…the idea made sense, but it’s impossible to use.

Louderback: Robert, how do you use it?

Scoble: I have a 24-inch monitor and I just watch it stream down…and if something comes up I like it or comment on it. It’s not a great reading experience right now, but I keep all the people I follow –VC’s and entrepreneurs and brands– in separate lists, which is much more useful to me.

Dom: I’m looking for that moment that I can find something on Buzz that I can’t find anywhere else. Robert, have you honestly found something there that you haven’t found on FB and Twitter?

Scoble: No, not really yet. I really like photography on Buzz. Thomas Hawk and others.

Then the Tweethouse lost power. And the panelists and moderators tried to yell their questions and answers over the din of the partiers in the back. It was not a blog-worthy experience!

When it came back on here were the best final comments:

Dom: The thing I’ve been thinking about lately is with Facebook and Twitter, they’ve accumulated so much personal data. These tools know so much about me…why can’t they use that data to feed back to me more relevant content, people and search results? They all want you to work the way they’re designed to work. When I try a new tool like Buzz, I can use it to a certain degree, but after a while I want it working for me.

Louderback: We’re the shiny new object people…but who will be using Buzz in 3 months from now?

RS: I will be. I bet there will be SEO [benefits] that come from using Buzz the same way it happens with all of the other Google properties. For example when you add a YouTube video into the blog post, your blog post gets ranked higher [by Google because they own YouTube.]

Mark: I have my blog in GoogleReader, and I pour Buzz into it but I won’t use it as another destination.

Dom: Absolutely – I will check it once in a while to see who is connecting to me and depending on how useful it becomes I may integrate it into my daily tools, but only if it’s easier to use.

Brian Wong: There are some tools and features that are useful. You can see what everyone is talking and saying and liking.

Scoble: I like reading [Buzz] on a mobile phone better than on a large monitor, because you can see things quickly. On the iphone it’s a much better experience [than on a browser]. The Google team said they will be adding more features and experience it differently then Facebook and Twitter. We haven’t seen it really come out yet. We still need 3-4 months of work before we see the Google team devote enough time to their vision, and build it into something real.

[question from the audience about Augmented Reality]

Dom: The nice piece about Augmented Reality is that it helps you expand your periphery. When you check in to foursquare, what do you learn? I find out who is here that I don’t yet know I need to connect with.

Louderback: But aren’t apps like foursquare just about getting noticed?

Scoble: If you’re just on foursquare to get “noticed” you’re missing at least 2/3rds of the value. When I check in here, it augments my experience. I find out all these cool places you can eat, things you can see, people to meet. It’s more than just getting noticed.