I tried it a while back, when you still needed invites to join the beta. I very much liked, though I stopped using it, because it didn't have the functionality to download files directly in the browser (like what one would use these services for: http://mashable.com/2007/05/23/7-ways-to-send-hug...)

Does it have browser links to Wuala files, without the need to install it? Or is that still being worked on?

"people first and company second" I will quote the heck out of this ;)

It seems like marketing was all about professional, impersonal brands just a minute ago and now it's about talking to the people. If social media leads to a decrease of poorly targeted advertising and to a increase of good costumer service, I will be happy and companies' wallets will be less strained.

I agree except for one point: Twitter personas are essentially a bad idea. Just compare Britney Spears' brand with the brand of MC Hammer. In theory, one would think that Britney has a massive following due to her revamped brand and that MC Hammer is nowhere (he's certainly nowhere to be seen in Europe - I don't know about the US) Yet, MC Hammer's following on twitter is (slightly) higher than Britney's. I'm inclined to think that the cause lies within Britney's tweets: there are tweets from her team as well as, supposedly, from herself, while MC Hammer's tweets feel like they're from himself.

http://twitter.com/mchammer
http://twitter.com/britneyspears

Nobody want's to sign up for an advertisement, but if I have the chance to talk to someone I'll do it.

News media may have a little advantage over the other brands, but judging by @ricksanchez popularity on twitter and comparing that with his status at CNN I conclude that a person with a bit of an agenda is much more appreciated and embraced than a brand. It's all about being yourself, as cheesy as it sounds ;)

Amongst social media evangelists there seems to be a consesus on the "do or die" nature of social media. I beg to differ (only slightly). While for most companies, clubs, social groups etc. social media is already, well, uncircumventable, there probably will be a small space for a number of companies that consciously choose not to be accessible by our young communications channel to preserve some sort of (perceived) exclusivity. However, I don't think that it's generally a good thing to advice a company not to use social media/new media/web 2.0 (whichever term you prefer).

I think that social media channels will get pretty crowded pretty soon. Therefore I wouldn't bet on traditional media or traditional marketing and PR (or costumer service for that matter) to disappear anytime soon. Moreover, social media complements traditional methods and channels beautifully, adding a new layer, with a lower threshold and higher potential for dialog, so I see synergy ahead rather than competition.

I think that the low threshold and low complexity of twitter is precisely what makes it powerful, since it's exactly this simplicity that's one of the main advantages of new media.
Essentially, i think that twitter is the prototypical new media web app and due to its perfect timing and nice momentum I'm guessing it will be alive and kicking for quite some time.

Thanks for your insightful post :)