Twitter just made a major change to their network which is going to effect businesses substantially. I am not sure how many brands are going to appreciate the shift (to start with), but if you read this blog I will try to give you a head start.
::The Basics::
What is Fast Follow: Fast follow lest you follow any twitter account (even if you dont have one) via SMS.How it works: Send an SMS message to 40404 in the message text enter "follow @[username]"
What Happens: You then will receive SMS updates from that twitter feed when the status is updated.
Fast Follow will likely follow the same rules that filter out messages starting with @[username] already in place.
Why it matters:: Fast follow gives businesses the ability to offer customers discounts, features, and news via text. For Free! If brands are smart they should leverage this feature with Fast Follow accounts. On all print they can provide Fast follow sign-up steps and offer a discount in store. Suddenly you have a follower and a broadcasting platform. Fast Follow accounts would give smart brands the ability to quickly reach mobile users. However it should change their behavior on twitter so they don't annoy fast followers.
In my opinion Re-tweets, Linking to blogs, links to news, and late night/early morning tweets should all be off limits for these accounts.
Your thoughts??
