Version 2.0 of Gnip (pronounced guh-nip) launched this week without much fanfare, but I believe it’s just a matter of time before enterprises that are serious about social media in general and microsharing in particular will be asking how they can tap into Gnip’s Data Streams.

Gnip’s Flow Diagram below explains why: Gnip acts as a one-stop-shop for social media data streams, including public data from microsharing services Twitter and Identi.ca.

Gnip is a one-stop-shop for social media data streams

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Any brand looking to “get” social media must learn to listen, first. People are talking about your company, brands and products. They’re also discussing preferences and desires about the market your product serves.

You can learn a LOT about consumer opinions, trends and wants with simple Google Alerts, Twitter Search and other free search and tracking tools.

Twitter’s huge cloud of remarks being made at any given time has become a powerful new measure of what people think, feel, talk about and find interesting. News breaks fast (and usually, first) on Twitter.

Tweetgrid provides an auto-refreshing at-a-glance display of up to 9 Twitter Searches at once, so that you can easily stay on top of your brand.

• Choose display dimensions (1×3, 2×2, etc.)
• Add search terms (your product name and related keywords)
• Click share this grid
• Bookmark the URL or add it as a start tab in Firefox

Here’s a 3×1 display for my business that searches “Twitter Business” “Enterprise Twitter” and “Pistachio.”

The interface isn’t sexy, but it works. It’s also convenient, free and fast.

Companies that are serious about tapping into the wealth of information in the social mediasphere should use professional grade listening tools, Tweetgrid makes an interesting and easy place to start.

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Tonight I told a friend how Twitter can be lovely company when you’re alone and bored. That it’s a nice place for the sharing of simple joys and concerns.

Though I’m agnostic, I grew up in a strong, compassionate church community (Congregationalist) in Connecticut that I still feel connected to. A ritual part of church was the weekly sharing of joys and concerns. A simple book lay at the entry to the church. Anyone could add a line, and their words were read for all to hear.

This simple, ordinary sharing of joys and concerns is one of the tremendous human strengths of Twitter and microsharing in general. Both can inspire, especially when the concerns are outside ourselves — not self-indulgent, but concerns for others and for the changes that we can make in the world.

Some mistake “social media” for something “new.” But the most compelling truths I notice in this space are simple ones that echo furthest back in human experience. Humans gather. They share joys and concerns. They hope for one another and try to create better things.

Compelling platforms set conditions for people to replicate these in a natural, accessible way. We shouldn’t kid ourselves that it’s the software.

These are wonderful pointers and I really (sincerely) liked them. Overwhelmingly good and useful article by Skellie at DailyBlogTips, and I’m glad I saw it in Chris Brogan’s tweets this evening.

But. I took issue with part of #9: “You don’t want to spend more time reading other people’s content than you do creating your own.” Huh? Seriously?

If your only object is to blog more, sure, write more than you read. But that’s such a narrow and self-limiting view. I’d roundly discourage that in a client. Studying, reading, listening… that’s how we learn and how good ideas get better. I get my best ideas when I’m reading - books, feeds, great links from my friends, etc. I’d much rather post less and go deeper. Cultivate and think and converse until I have something I must write, that I’m really inspired about, that builds on ideas I’ve heard and stuff I’ve learned.

Beware frittering time away in a feed reader, yes. Use tools like friends’ shared items, www.aiderss.com, ranking and social bookmarking sites to find the best content and curtail “wasted time” reading, sure.

But I’m dead against more writing than reading time. If anything, I’d advise spending 5-10 times more time taking information in than spitting it out. More time listening, less time talking. Across any & all social media: blog, socnet, etc. To me this turns the quality conversation way up.

(… If I’m going to be so unkind as to poo on one of the ideas, I’d like to offer something productive. Switching to an offline/online tool (with bookmarklet!) for creating blog posts has made a huge difference in my blogging productivity. I currently use MarsEdit but have heard raves about others too.)