By now, many of you have seen our tweets regarding http://tweet.fabeetle.com/, and you may be asking, "if this is not the main application you set out to build, then why create it?" Fair question. There are two reasons:

1. fabeetle was considering bringing on Brian Cline, and this project was a good way for us to see how we worked together. He kicked butt in our opinion, so...welcome Brian.
2. While the main fabeetle app is in development, we wanted to highlight that conversation is already happening on the internet--both from financial advisors and also from the public--hence the idea for two tabs, FA Tweets and Client Tweets.

The initial idea was simply to create an application that aggregated search results via Twitter's API and display those findings in a compelling way. Then we started to layer ideas on top of that: ratings, comments, etc. What has evolved is a place where conversation is not only being displayed, but created and ultimately evaluated. The site has moved from being a reflection of digital conversation to an instigator of it.

Last week we added the ability to comment on tweets without requiring a Twitter account. This was an idea we had to help centralize the conversation. We are big fans of Twitter as it connects the world in a way that has never been done before. That said, it can sometimes be difficult to track entire conversations. Facebook, on the other hand, does a great job of allowing you to comment and vote on status updates, as well as displaying that information where everyone with access can follow that conversation. The downside is that those conversations are not open to the public. We think our tweet site does a good job of marrying the two in a way that allows people to participate in a broader way.

We use agile development methods as they allow for real time feedback and more flexibility based on that feedback. We have received a ton of great suggestions and also have come up with a few of our own. A few new and yet-to-come features include the following:

• fabeetle tweets every time someone comments on a tweet, with a direct link to those comments.
• We've tweaked ratings so that, much like YouTube and Hulu and other sites, you can see what the average rating is for each tweet.
• The leaderboard has expanded to display top contributors and rated FAs on both a weekly and all-time basis. We'll be highlighting the top FA each week and they will become a bigger part of our follow Friday recommendation on Twitter.
• The small dashboard that logged-in users see on the right-hand side is being expanded to allow you to find tweets of your own that were rated or received comments.

fabeetle hopes you continue to find this site useful. We see it as a valuable way for the financial advisor community to connect with each other, and potentially clients as well. Additionally we see it as a great way for clients and potential clients to find guidance in their search for an advisor or simply to gain more knowledge about finances and investing. We encourage everyone to participate as much as possible.

We've got a lot more changes in the pipeline for both the blog and the tweet.fabeetle.com application. And of course we're still working on the main fabeetle application, which we are confident will significantly impact the world of wealth management for both clients and financial advisors.

Don't be shy about giving us your feedback!