Facebook and Twitter. They are common topics over here at Revenue. Not only because most of the staff is using both platforms, but also because our readers are curious about how to leverage each of the applications.

Personally I have found both to be incredibly useful. Naturally, I connect with friends, old classmates, former co-workers, but I also use Twitter and Facebook to poll my community of friends on current hot topics.

If I want to know if a particular tradeshow or event is worthy of attending, I ask my Facebook pals. Recently, I did just that and a handful of people responded nearly immediately. Now I am attending PubCon in Las Vegas in December based on that positive feedback.

I have also been able to ask specific people in my little network about stories I am working on and get immediate feedback. It has made for richer and deeper understanding of subjects by getting input from a wide variety of voices.

Twitter is also useful for connecting with my network of friends at live events. I can find out who is going where and meet up with them quickly. I hate to be left out of the cool kids loop. Sure, there are lots of messages about people’s pets or what they are eating or the little intimate details of their daily lives that I could do without, but some ways that’s what also makes me feel more connected.

Both Facebook and Twitter have taken off by leaps and bounds over the last four months. I’m astonished when some well-connected friend tells me they are not using either application. I encourage them to get on right away. Most thank me; only a handful have said it’s just not for them.

I know that my blogging efforts have decreased over the last several months as well. That seems to be the case for others as well including A-list blogger Robert Scoble. And I send much of my email via Facebook. I find that people are responding quicker to my messages than when I send from my corporate account.

My old boss and friend David Churbuck, vice president of Global Web Marketing for Lenovo, had some great points about the topic of social media marketing. BTW: If you’re not already reading David’s blog you should.

I would love to hear more about what you are doing (photos, video, marketing messages, groups?) with Twitter and Facebook. Please, let me know.