If you don't want to sign up for Twitter, don't ignore their search, which might the best place to find information across brands, cities, and up-to-the-minute news.

If you're new to Twitter, congratulations.  I've found it incredibly helpful since I started in late 2009.  First up, new twitter user: go get Tweetdeck.  Or Hootsuite.  Right now.  The Twitter website is lacking some basic functionality that both of those do a lot better.

Next, a starter's guide to those funny signs floating in the tiny Twitter messages:

• Putting @ before someone's name is like "tagging" someone on Facebook.  So starting a post with @adamstober would specifically address me, making me more likely to see your post, even if I don't follow you.  Saying "adamstober" without the @ means I'll probably miss the message.
  
• Using the # "hashtags." flags something to be found more easily in searches.  A public post that says "it's nice in Boston" would be searchable if someone just happens to search for Boston.  On the other hand, "it's nice out #Boston" gets grouped into public posts that are specifically about Boston.
  

NOTE 8/23/2010: It looks like Weebly lost my original article so this is an abridged, updated version of that posting.

• Related follow-up posts: Tony Hsieh of @Zappos Mentions Me! and Itty bitly links BEFORE going viral
  

An online coupon craze kicked off in late 2008 based on a simple economic premise that most of us are already familiar with: larger purchases yield lower prices per unit. 

What hoards of web services starting having success doing was using the internet to provide bulk buying without the bulk, giving consumers individual-level access to 50%-90% discounts.  Typical deals last for a limited time only--say 24 hours--and apply to a specific local service such as a restaurant, spa, gym membership, city tour, or haircut.

Groupon and LivingSocial were among the most popular in the United States in 2009, with Groupon joining Wagjag and Teambuy.ca in Canada in 2010 then buying Europe's Citydeal and Chile's ClanDescuento.

The list of social commerce players has exploded and become downright overwhelming in certain cities.  What does this all mean for you?  That answer depends on where you are.

• If you're in a market that is "less developed," or you really like to just keep things simple, you're probably best off signing up for one or two major services, which generally provide the best deals.
• If you're in one of the very-developed "social commerce" markets like Chicago, New York, San Francisco, or London, you could stop tracking all of the new sites and start having deals delivered to you that are specifically tailored to your tastes.  By setting up preferences one time with Yipit.com, you can outsource deal hunting and filtering, receiving only those deals that are relevant to you in one single email digest.  This can be helpful for those who like to minimize email and spam.  While Yipit is inevitably going to miss an occasional deal of interest, that's a price I'm willing to pay to save my inbox.

This gold rush has inspired rise to an army of  entrepreneurs who have had varying degrees of success.  One sign you're doing alright is if you inspire flat-out Chinese clones,  like Groupon and Yipit have already done.  I wonder if Yipit's Co-Founder minds?

Happy shopping!

One popular way to legally enjoy free music online, tailored to your taste, is trying out Pandora by clicking this link.  Just enter a song or artist that you like and Pandora will instantly create a radio station based on similar music.  If you want to refine your station further, you can add more songs or artists, or click "thumbs up" while listening to a specific song you like.  This will give you more similar music in your station, or a "thumbs down" will give you less of it.

I spend a lot of time doing work at my computer and enjoy listening to a calm mix of ambient background music.  If you like that kind of music as well you can listen to my "studious chill" radio station on Pandora by clicking here.

Note: While Pandora is only available in the United States for the time being, free software like hotspotshield may allow international users to access the service outside the United States.