The Smub blog recently had the opportunity to ask five Smub-related questions of The Expert — the Twitter influencer who recently played a substantial role in raising awareness for the Twitter phenomenon surrounding Eric de la Cruz. If you’re unfamiliar with this opinionated, leather-clad, Bronx native, check out his Twitter stream to bask in the glory of his “expert” opinions on all topics, various and sundry. Trust him, he’s an expert!

Could you introduce yourself, please?
Name:  The Expert
Occupation:  Dependently Wealthy.  My wealth depends on whether or not I’ve got a freakin’ job.
Favorite Colors:  Black and White

How did you hear about Smub?

Heard abut Smub from David Weir.  Tried it once and was forever hooked.

How often do you *smub* a link?
I probably smub about five times a day on average.  Sometimes more.

How do you use Smub?
I mostly use smub as a link shortening tool, but that coupled with the
ability to bookmark the link is what makes it valuable to me.  I mostly smub
on Twitter, but I also routinely use the smub links in emails.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
To move through time.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever seen on the internet?
This is VERY old, and somewhat tasteless.  Many years ago, there was a video
making the rounds among producers.  It was put together by someone who had
worked for a televangelist.  Needless to say, it went viral …

… And then the internet came along and …. Well … http://smub.it/theexpert/preach

So far today, two very different stories have really been making the smub rounds on Twitter.

First up is the the news that the New York Times has appointed its first Social Media Editor, Jennifer Preston.

According to @marshallk’s Read Write Web (whose tweet first brought the story to our attention), although Preston is a journalist, author and adjunct professor at Columbia, her online footprint is, as yet, rather small — with very little indeed known about her personal use of social media. So, what exactly does a Social Media Editor do? Read more at http://smub.it/gf9!

The second story revolves around Twitter’s most-followed celebrity, Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk).

Following the news that Twitter has entered into a “lightweight, non-exclusive” reality TV development deal, Kutcher tweeted his discontent: “Wow I hope this isn’t true. I really don’t like being sold out. May have to take a twitter hiatus.” CNN has the story at http://smub.it/gi1. @TheExpert’s (who first tweeted the smub) reaction? “OMG! The horror! Ashton Kutcher threatens to leave Twitter [...] How will we survive w/out his pithy commentary?”

What interesting smubs have you seen today? Sharing is caring, smubbers!

Hello, Smubbers! My name is Marie and I’m Smub’s new Social Media Manager. I’m a Sagittarius, my favorite color is pink, my favorite video game is Portal and my top three favorite animals are, in order: tigers, foxes and dogs.

That’s me in a nutshell.

Among the many things I hope to do here at Smub, attending to this blog and our Twitter are major priorities. I would love to use both not only to share with you the latest news and updates from the Smub team, but also to talk about all the awesome people who use Smub and the awesome ways they use it! So, if you ever have any comments or interesting smubs to share, I would love to hear from you! I’m almost always online, too! You can reach me via email or on Google Talk at m.kare [at] smub [dot] com.

Pleased to meet you!