On Tuesday night, self-confessed “twit” Piers Morgan devoted his hour on CNN to a discussion of the social media phenomenon of Twitter, from its role in the recent wave of revolutions and popular uprisings in the Middle East to its use by celebrities–both to raise money for Japan relief and to advance Charlie Sheen‘s “winning.” Wine guru and author Gary Vaynerchuk described Twitter as “the listening platform of our generation,” saying the ability to find out in real time what people are saying about “you, your business, what genre you’re in” is often overlooked.

It’s a New Yecade! I am going to keep saying that until it catches on. But either way, we’re four days in and everything feels COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. Actually, and weirdly, it sort of does — maybe it’s because of all the decade-end stuff, but “2010″ looks, well, normal. Which is a very good sign. Which means we can now share all our shameful secrets from 2009. Like loving “Party In The USA.”

Wine video blogger/social media maven/author/New York Jets fanatic Gary Vaynerchuk is all about transparency. That’s why he’s such a proponent of communicating via Twitter. And when he tweets something crazy – like he did in promising free shipping for an entire year from his new venture, Gourmet Library, if the Jets won Sunday – he’s not saying it into a vacuum. And the Jets got the win.

I use Twitter a lot, but I was not among the very first to see the new Lists feature. I can now, though. And what I find much more interesting than actually using the feature myself is the fact that I woke up this morning to find that I was on dozens of other people’s [...]

It’s a Mediaite Book Club edition of Mediaite Office Hours today. Joining us for our show, from Livestream.com’s studio live at 3pmET today, will be authors Gary Vaynerchuk, Duff McDonald, David Sax…and some surprises as well.

Here comes the fall book season — which means here come the websites, blog posts, Twitter feeds and viral videos that have become necessary counterparts to the excerpts, readings, interviews and lectures that were once the only way of promoting a new book. These days, having a built-in audience is essential to making not only waves but sales — so authors better be able to tap into that.

Outside of the rapidly growing but still relatively cultish world of social media, he’s some crazy wine guy people may have seen on The Today Show, Ellen, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, or, most recently, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Inside that world, depending on whom you ask, he’s either a rock star or the new media version of [...]