Tinker, belongs in my toolbox and I need to start using it. Not only will it allow me to follow the ever-changing trends in the thought stream, but I can create widgets for my clients that empower their Websites, taking a static page and making it an entry point to begin or add to the social dialogue.

Word-of-mouth is the new emerging standard in marketing, displacing the top-down model that once gave print and broadcast media it’s power and revenue. People trust word-of-mouth before traditional advertising so it’s only natural that as the reach of conversation through digital social media increases, the shift away from print-media accelerates. Building a collection and using the tools in your toolbox is an ongoing devotion that pays direct and immediate benefits.

With Tinker I can see a branching categorical listing of posts by topic and follow news and the upcoming in an Event Stream. I can also research and find Twitter users by profession, category or interest.

Now if only the developers would fix it so I can login and make a new account I can get started… whew!

“It’s Alive!” I feel like Colin Clive in the 1931 classic, Frankenstein – the scene where the monster comes to life… I discovered Tinker and wrote this post on October 7, 2009 and have been returning like a puppy to check on it again and again to see if I could actually create and account and fulfill all of the promise it implied… Today it finally works!

Yes! I now have a working Tinker account. Yes, I can accept Beta and all that it implies. Yes, I am excited… cuz this is just like Christmas and I am unwrapping my new set of Tinker Toys – how appropriate a metaphor. This rocks!