Open up your mind and say, ahh...

Twitter confirmed Tuesday that it has raised a “significant round of funding led by the venture firm DST Global, with the participation of several of our existing investors.”

The announcement comes just weeks after rumors suggested that Twitter was in the process of raising $800 million in funding at an $8 billion valuation.

In a post on the company’s blog, Twitter talks about expanding the company’s reach with the new funding. “We will use these resources to aggressively innovate, hire more great people and invest in international expansion,” the company says.

The company, however, does not disclose the size of the round, its current valuation or whether it will cash out early employees and investors, as suggested by earlier reports. If the previously reported $800 million figure is accurate, Twitter has raised more than $1.15 billion in funding to date.

The round’s lead investor, Digital Sky Technologies, is a prominent late stage venture firm with sizable stakes in Facebook, Groupon and Zynga.

A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment further on the funding round.

Part Three of Three

Nicheworks are highly coveted or soon will be as no brand is an island. Attention and interests are focused within social streams and as individuals are empowered to define their online experiences, connecting the dots proves pivotal. If conversations are markets, nicheworks represent the glue that binds disparate conversational ecosystems. And through effective engagement, we make inroads towards community and being the construction of bridges between our brand and each desirable market.

While many creative initiatives find their way into social networks extemporaneously, it is the intentional and manual act of linking content to new and traditional influencers. This, for the moment, is the most genuine and authentic way to demonstrate intent and drive awareness and activity among the very people we’re hoping to reach and galvanize directly within the communities where their attention is focused.

Hybrid Theory Explained

Hybrid Theory is the fusion of creative and communications, combining earned and paid media to enliven ideas, unite communities, amplify stories and spark desired outcomes. It unites marketing, advertising, service, and public relations (note: not PR) with engagement and digital influence. This is about applying influence to rouse response where attention is focused. As such, Hybrid Theory requires a cross-breed of communications professional, one not tainted by the acts of storytelling through press releases or communicating through mass messaging and broadcasting. This new breed of communications professional essential becomes the influencer they wish to engage through the embodiment of what I call the “5I’s,”an evolution of the 3I’s introduced by Forrester Research in its Future of Agencies Report.

1. Intelligence
2. Insight
3. Ideation
4. Interaction
5. Influence.

The 5I’s are rooted in peer-to-peer networking where the individuals with whom they connect are viewed as equals and conversely, those making contact are qualified as worthy of attention.

In a conversation several years ago with Doc Searls, Chris Heuer, Robert Scoble, among others, Searls’ described social media as the “live web.” It’s a name that resonated and is now a fully-realized prophesy. Indeed, this live web has evolved into a hyperactive conversation ecosystem that encourages and rewards real-time content creation, collection, and distribution. As social consumers, we willfully drink from the firehose and as such, Hybrid Theory introduces the strategies and means necessary to not only compete for the moment, but also inspire a more vested form of participation that fosters presence and affinity.

If we were to visualize the 5I’s into a workflow for Hybrid Theory, everything would begin with intelligence and the data necessary to inspire insight, innovation, and a corresponding action plan that officially brings creative to life. It is during this process that influential voices who reach and influence other individuals within our desired markets surface.

Ideas are then tested against an influence filter to gauge the viability of meaningful vs. promotional engagement. As such, channel diversity is then explored to chart effective courses for direct connections and the social objects commensurate with conversations within each. Concepts are then transformed into campaigns, stories are packaged as social objects and highly personalized social hubs are constructed to host, define and steer the user experience.

As the campaign goes live in its respective mediums, the hybrid team is then tasked with optimizing content for search in traditional search engines and also social networks. This form of inbound marketing, speaks for the program when consumers seek out related content outside of proactive outreach. Once optimized, social objects are then syndicated through all channels previously identified to reach our audiences and prospective participants as they search for relevant content.

But, it is the last mile where our connections with influential people brings our campaigns to life. This is where we connect the brand, its persona, its mission and purpose, and extend value to our consumers and the markets they represent. It is how we engage and with whom that defines the reach, velocity, and ultimately the resonance of our campaign. And, it is our participation that either credits or debits our social capital.

The state of brands in social networks is measured by the multiple axes of resonance and fortified by the relationships we earn and the actions we merit. Hybrid Theory introduces a human framework that marries best-in-class attributes of data analysis, sociology, advertising, marketing, communications, and service to connect people and brands through relevance, empathy, and empowerment.

Without relevance, we cannot trigger resonance, and without resonance, we cannot establish significance in social media.

By Brian Solis: www.briansolis.com

An important reminder that you are on the right path…

Social Media marketing is not new nor is it widely established or even understood. However in 2010, it will completely transform the way businesses attract customers and the way consumers find the businesses and services that matter to them. And like that, an overnight landmark, which really is over a decade in the making, will challenge business owners, more so than today, as they now compete for the future, right now.

Social Networks are no longer the playgrounds we once perceived. The simple truth is this; social networking is not for just for kids or people with too much free time on their hands.

Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, FourSquare, and the like, are now pervasive, becoming an extension of who we are, and forming valuable social hubs that connect people who share interests and tastes. As a result, the activity within each network is influencing the decisions and referrals consumers ultimately make, usually without the benefit of our participation.

The are over 500 million registered accounts on Facebook, over 100 million on Twitter, even the up-and-coming location-based network FourSquare boasts over 1 million users. And, for the record, the average age of a person using Facebook is 38 and those using Twitter hover around 39. Even MySpace boasts a median age of 31.

What does that mean for you?

The socialization of media and the democratization of influence is changing everything, from how consumers find places, products, and services, how and where they share their experiences, and eventually, where they will spend their time and money. Without an understanding of, or participation in, social networks, we are absent from shaping or contributing to the decision making process of those who define the health and success of our business. Yes, right now, decisions are made with or without us.

We can no longer ignore or minimize the changes unfolding before us. Everything begins without fully knowing what to do, why it’s important and whether or not we’re doing everything the right way. But it is in the process of engagement that we learn and mature.

While Social Media cheat-sheets and short cuts are available almost everywhere you look, the truth is that we have some work ahead of us. In short, you get out of it, what you invest.

Engage or die!

By Brian Solis: www.briansolis.com

Image Credit: Shutterstock