Lijit looks useful. It is a search application installed on this site as a WordPress plug-in. You can see the Lijit search widget about halfway down the sidebar on the right of this screen.

In theory Lijit improves WordPress search and drags in social network content. I've seen no evidence of this.

So far, after a month or so of using the plug-in it's been used a total of 16 times. Over that period there have been more than 5300 visitors to the site, so the strike rate is incredibly low. No-one has clicked the button in past week.

There was a fancy-looking Lijit widget, but this was the slowest-loading part of my site, so I switched back to the plain text version. This may explain why there's so little activity.

I'm going to persevere for a few more weeks, but unless I can find a good reason to stick with Lijit, I'm going to drop the application.

Is there something important about Lijit I'm not getting here?

Update: I've removed Lijit since writing this.

Canadian public relations practitioner Dave Fleet says Twitter has moved through the Gartner Hype Cycle to the point where it will now quickly become unfashionable. In his  Five Potential Effects Of Twitter's Shift To The Trough Of Disillusionment Fleet charts the technology's progress and predicts what will happen next.

Fleet's analysis is on the money. But there's something else going on with Twitter. After a period of stability, the service is changing. Earlier this week the company altered the way users propagate messages – a process known as retweeting.

In other words, Twitter is still evolving. It will probably be a different beast by the time it resumes its progress through the later stages of the Garter Hype Cycle. Or maybe something else will replace it.

Journalist Simon Sharwood aimed this advice at public relations people, but the same basic principles apply to anyone new to Twitter.

Basic rules are don’t be selfish, don’t be evil.

Post 7, 2009. Twitter Do’s and Don’ts for PRs « JargonMaster

It was time to act when an email appeared titled “making money w/mlm is now following you on Twitter!”

That’s one follower I certainly won’t be following. This spammer did little to hide his or her intent, other Twitter spam merchants are slightly, mind you only slightly, more stealthy in their approach.

I've learnt to weed them out this way:

How to spot a dodgy Twitter account

• Giveaway names
  ‘Making money w/mlm’ is a dead giveaway. Names are slightly more obtuse or lyrical and yes, spammers also hide behind real-sounding names
• Glamorous photographs
  Let’s face it, attractive young blond women who look vaguely like supermodels or Playboy pin-ups are unlikely followers. Of course there are good-looking people among my genuine followers, but spammers use over-glamorous photographs as a lure.
• Number following
  Nobody, but nobody, has 3000 friends. So people who are following large numbers of Twitter accounts are automatically suspect. The exception to this rule are people in roles such as tech support.
• Following follower ratio
  Someone who follows many people but only has a few followers in return is automatically suspect. You can find tools to help automate the process of purging these from your follower list.
• Location
  I’m sorry if this offends anyone, but I  don’t know anyone in India or the Philippines. Of course that doesn’t make everyone from those places a spammer.
• Bio
  If the bio includes a phrase like “Entrepreneurial marketing leader – passionate about brands marketing technology” the person behind it is almost certainly a spammer. Incidentally this bio is a real one from someone who followed me yesterday.
• Links
  Web links with terms like erasedebt.com richness.com and so on are dead giveaways.

If a new follower arrives and I can tick the boxes on more than two of these bullet points, I’m going to block them.

Can you think of any warning signs I may have missed?

Update: if you haven't seen Twitter spam, this explains it: Something's Going Down @Twitter

You can Twitter all you like. Poke half the world on Facebook. And polish your Linkedin profile until its buttons shine. But according to Jason Falls, social media activity on its own won't find you a job.

He says if you're seriously looking for employment, you need to get out and meet people or, at least, get on the phone.

Falls is right. We all know that. But two things make his point valuable.

• First, he offers his own personal story as evidence.
• Second, Falls is a director of social media and his view was published on his Social Media Explorer web site.

Why Social Media Won't Get You Hired In A Recession.

Many knowledge workers like Twitter. I'm not a fan.

We'll leave criticisms for another day.

For now let's just say I don't find it as useful as other applications in the social networking toolbox.

Twitter is probably at the peak of inflated expectations on the Gartner Hype Cycle at this moment. And the potential for spam-style abuse is huge.

However, many of my friends and colleagues swear by Twitter so it can't be all bad.

While getting started guides to twitter guide are a dime a dozen right now, this tutorial from CIO magazine is one of the best. It's not gushing and talks about why you might bother and what you can expect to find.

Update: Since I wrote this I've returned to the twitter fold – find me at @billbennettnz