Lots of chat at Mashable today about whether or not brands belong on twitter. Interesting topic. Brands that just spout regurgitated press releases and pretty anodyne commentary are really irritatiting for most twitter users. But those that do it well and have an actual conversation with people and reply etc… have a place. I was making a comment the other day about PeopleBrowser (twitter client) and the founder of the company (@WingDude) and his partner both responded to me within 30mins. They’re obviously in brand protection mode but also in customer service mode too. You cannot fault them for either really. It makes sense from both perspectives.

The reality of it is you’re not going to be able to ban brands nor should do. Let brands participate – if they do it badly, its going to be plain for all to see. It also gives them opportunity to offer free or promotional stuff to consumers. No bad thing either. As an example, I saw Blacknight hosting service do this the other day. Plenty more scope for lots more like that. And if brands participate in a real manner, thats good. And if they don’t – then don’t follow them. Its going to be interesting to see how Twitter decides it’s going to monetise. It’s going to have to make some decisions soon you would think.

What do you think? Go have a look at the Mashable page and gather your thoughts.