Scott Rosenberg on his new book, Say Everything

Here's a short interview I did earlier this week with Scott Rosenberg, the co-founder of Salon.com and author of the new history of blogging, Say Everything.

Do Twitter people spell better?

Just got a press release from GooseGrade.com with results of a study that Twitter users, on average, actually spell better than the average schmo.

The study was conducted last week and consisted of one hundred random*, English-speaking participants who either identified themselves as users or non-users of the Twitter service. Each group was then asked to write 100 words about what they did that day.

He found out that while Twitter users maul the grammar, they seem to spell well--once they're operating outside the cramped confines of 140-characters. But why would they (or we, since I'm a Twitterer)continue to cut corners on grammar outside the Tweet box, but improve the spelling? Ideas?

Wyclef bails on Ning

Celebrities can be a boon to social networking sites, but they can also be a liability if they become unhappy with a site.

Ning, the service that lets you create your own social network, is growing quick and attracting some big names. Author Seth Godin used the platform to start a private forum for marketing experts. Rapper 50 Cent has attracted such a following on his network, Thisis50.com, that other hip hop artists have started advertising on the site to find new fans.

On Wednesday, Wyclef Jean announced to his Twitter followers that he was abandoning Clef Zone, the Ning network that he only recently created. His specific objection to Ning is unclear (we have a call out to Wyclef, who for some reason posted his phone number on Twitter the same day), but he says on Twitter that "i want my own server" and "I wanna be in full control of my vision." The performer also hints that he's concerned about the security of internal messaging on the site, saying (sic) "I DONT TRUST A SOCIAL NETWORK WERE THEY HAVE YOUR EMAILS."

Guess who responded? Ning CEO Gina Bianchini, who frequently gives her users personal attention -- particularly the A-listers. Wyclef's complaint and Gina's response are below. I'll update this post if I hear back from either party.

Update (2:15 PM Eastern): Looks like there's no hard feelings between Wyclef and Ning...

And Ning spokeswoman Morgan Seal provides this statement:

We love when people experiment with Ning. Based on the tweets you reference, it looks like Wyclef and his team decided they wanted to develop a social networking application on their own servers with their own developers. While Ning provides an easy way to create and customize your own social network and gives Network Creators full access to member data and control of their content, we fully respect and understand that Ning may not be right for everyone.