With the launch of the private beta of Pownce, the new microblogging network launched by Digg celebrities Kevin Rose, Daniel Burka, and Leah Culver, people are claiming that it is the Twitter killer. After a somewhat heated debate with a friend, I’m not so sure that’s the case. At the present time, each microblogging platform has its pros … and its cons. Let’s look at the benefits to each and evaluate to see who is the victor.

Round 1: Interface.

Part A: Layout

Here’s my cute little public page on Pownce.

Compare that with my cute little public page on Twitter.

At first glance, Pownce is the clear winner. The interface is a lot more sleek than Twitter.

Layout Results: Pownce 1, Twitter 0

Part B: Layout Personalization

Let’s take a look at the layout functionality and personalization options.

Pownce doesn’t give you much customization options. You can only choose one of four available themes.

On the other hand, you can upload a background of your choosing to your Twitter page.

89%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Am I really that addicted? Are you that addicted? I can’t wait to see what Barry’s score is.

Oh, and if you want to know how safe my blog is for younger audiences, here’s the rating:

[via Mingle² - Online Dating]

As I promised in my earlier thread, besides answering the typical question, “What are you doing?”, Twitter has many additional uses. What are my top picks?

1. Twitter as a tool to communicate during conferences. After attending SMX (I’ll post something on that soon) and SES NY, I realized that Twitter is a useful tool for conferencegoers to communicate their whereabouts or to share breaking news and announcements. This was particularly prevalent during the South by Southwest conference several months ago, which helped fuel Twitter’s growth. The SXSW Twitter feed helped many communicate with each other and even allowed for individuals to meet for the first time. Similarly, Michael Twittered during SES in April. So did I. I also did so during SMX.
2. Twitter as a tracking device. This is an interesting and unconventional way of using Twitter. Personally, I haven’t seen it that often (with the exception of this cute little flight post Barry wrote about me), but I think it has potential. Last week, when I went to Seattle, I was in a timezone that put my family three hours ahead of me. Still, they were interested in my whereabouts and wanted me to email them. When email is unavailable, there’s almost always SMS. It’s much easier to send a text message to 40404 than to buzz your sleeping family member letting them know you landed. Have them check your Twitter page to see that you are safe and sound. If you’re someone who spams Twitter often, your family (and friends) should see a lot of updates from you.

Ah, right. Despite my little blurb on Search Engine Roundtable about the overrated nature of memes, I still got tagged. That leaves three memes that I haven’t answered, and I feel that I have to do my duty. Don’t get upset if these answers don’t impress you; I don’t think they’re that insightful.

I’m going to go in chronological order, from the first meme that I got tagged in and didn’t answer.

What magazines do I read offline?

Barry tagged me in the over-a-monthlong-old meme asking me what magazines I read offline. I somewhat answered that one on Twitter, but it’s fairly obvious from recent blog posts that I read PEOPLE magazine on a weekly basis. Given that I still have a ton of book-reading to catch up on (yes, still), I don’t read much else on a regular basis, but depending on where you find me, I might be reading Popular Photography, Newsweek, Time, Money, or any other magazine I have in my magazine stand from several months or years ago. I really have lost track of my to-do reading pile, but there’s a lot I have to catch up on. Without even volunteering names of my magazines, earlier, I was ready to give Vanessa’s answer, where she so eloquently said what I wanted to say:

Another meme has come to town, and this time I’m answering this one here (my last meme was posted over at 10e20.com — 5 things you don’t know about me). Nathan Weinberg (still no relation) tagged me and Barry, among a few others, and while I’m totally under the weather with an awful cold, I decided that I have to oblige right away because I’m going to be inundated with family and conferences over the next week.

So, why do I blog? Upon giving it more thought, here are my reasons:

• I love to write. On my About page, I write about how I wanted to be an author. That never quite materialized (attempting to realize your parents’ dreams at a very impressionable young age almost always does that to you). With my blog, I can freely express what I want and can finally see myself as a writer.
• I love to learn. My blogs (well, there are actually six of them) have enabled me to open doors and learn new things.
  • 10e20 gave me the opportunity to explore the blogging arena in the area of SEO and social media, using strategies learned at an older job.