This latest development will enable users to log into 3rd party sites using their Facebook log in details and also to see which of their other Facebook friends are already using the site, among many other benefits.

Dave Morin , Senior Platform Manager, confirmed Digg to be the first partner using Facebook Connect and we’re sure many more will follow suit.

As an update, when I was in Austin I ran into a lady who had Gill’s iPhone cover which is now with Andy Budd… let’s hope he keeps the chain going. The idea is that every month the hugs are passed to someone new and we’ll get them back after a year and see from the journal where they’ve been. That’s the idea anyway…

If you have 5 minutes to spare, it’s definitely an interesting read.

Everybody that I know now has a Facebook account. When I’m out in bars, guys no longer ask for your number (maybe it’s just me!) but instead they check whether you’re on Facebook. I have my suspicions that this is so that they can remind themselves of what you look like the next day, but that’s a whole different subject matter.

For me the introduction of Facebook Chat means a couple of things (positive and negative) :-

For a start it means that I won’t have to try and explain AIM to my friends and family any more. For some reason, the fact that Facebook have introduced it means that they will trust it, embrace it and be chatting like chatty chattersons in no time. I think it could become for instant messaging what the internet explorer icon still is as a browser for many people.

However, for myself, it also brings some issues. I have a number of work contacts as Facebook friends as well as just my old school friends and “weekend buddies”. Whilst I love the idea of being able to use Facebook Chat with my non-tech friends to cajole them into getting ready a little quicker on a Saturday night – I’m also opening myself up to chatting with lots of people that I don’t know that well and it can become a little overwhelming, not to mention time consuming.

In an ever increasingly busy world, Facebook (and Twitter) provide a low maintenance method of keeping in touch with the people in your lives – just glancing at status updates tells you what’s going on in their lives without having to spend time on the phone or writing emails (tip: mothers always appreciate calls home this said!). What I love about this is that you can choose when to get in touch – it’s not intrusive, or should I say – wasn’t intrusive.

Facebook Chat appears to be the complete opposite of everything that I loved about Facebook. Unless you specifically choose to appear offline, any of your contacts can start chatting with you whenever they feel like it. To quote Lisa “email used to be the productivity enemy number one!” but I can easily see Facebook Chat quickly overtaking. Michael Arrington soon discovered this when he went out for dinner having forgotten to log out of Facebook, only to return to a swarm of messages.

Feedback on the Twitterverse has been mixed, but many people, myself included, are planning to stay permanently offline. Could that mean the sound of tumbleweed for Facebook Chat? Only time will tell…

SXSW made something abundantly clear to me, the way that Twitter is used can change hugely depending on the following things:-

* your location
* your social circle
* your mobile device

Bear with me, let me explain some more…

The way in which I use Twitter changes dramatically depending on where I am at the time. Whilst Twitter’s become the poster kid of the web, it hasn’t reached mass adoption (yet!). I’m still repeatedly telling my friends that it’s like Facebook status updates only better. So, if I’m tweeting from home in the UK, where fewer people use it – as opposed to somewhere like the Bay Area – I’m likely to share random facts about myself (blog style) or stay in touch with my friends stateside.

However, take me to the States where far more people use the app, it becomes much more of an outreach / conversational tool – enabling spontaneous meetups (read: booze-ups) and easy organisation between friends.

When I’m not making random videos and twittering nonsense, my day job of course involves organising Future of Web Apps, so what do I think is the future of this web app? It’s going to be fascinating to see how Twitter’s gravitational pull grows and its potential usage enters a whole new dimension. More and more companies are already using it as a reputation management tool, especially given the emergence of sites like TweetScan that provide immediate feedback on their products and services. That’s bringing about a whole new level of customer service (thank goodness!), and research and development.

Something that’s fascinating me at the moment is the rise and rise of the ‘personal brand’. @Garyvee did a great talk on this at FOWA Miami and is one of the best examples I know of someone that has built a fanbase and brand around their personality. Gary recently said that building a personal brand is the best way of “recession-proofing” and it’s easy to see why. Twitter allows you to wear your heart on your sleeve and for the community to feel like they’re getting to know you (even if this means realising that you’re a little nuts) as well as an insider’s look at the company you work for. Being able to track @melkirk means that I can respond directly to people and maintain close relationships. On the flip side you also need to develop a bit of a ‘rhino’s skin’ – what some people say on the web but never in person always amazes me!

A final thought, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you are, there is nothing better than Twitter for breaking and spreading news right now. The impact of seeing a Tweet on my desktop is ten times greater than a mail in my inbox. Normally from the people “on the ground” without spin. Unedited content. I love that.

As if that wasn’t cool enough, $1 from every sale will go to Médecins Sans Frontièrs and 4 winners will share the $8,000 prize money. So get submitting!