Posts Tagged ‘future of twitter’

What does Twitter do with Our Conversations?

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January 31st, 2009

conversation

What happens to a conversation on a microblogging platform such as twitter? If I have a conversation with you about chess and we exchange a few tweets, then what? The conversation is lost, not indexed or searchable in any way. What if twitter allowed for everyone who’s talking about the same thing to be a part of the same conversation? Right now twittter is like a global chat room and conversation occur on a 1-1 basis or on a many to 1 basis.

Twitter should add a feature that allows for the categorization or organization of conversations. If I want to jump into a conversation with 30 other chess enthusiasts, I should be able to do so, but I can’t. There is a lot of information that is flowing around on twitter but it’s not being utilized. We have to rely on third party sites and applications that allow us do do things with twitter that twitter doesn’t allow us to do. So what could twitter do with all of the conversations?

  • allow me to search conversations based on category and allow me to see who else is participating in the conversation
  • trend the most popular conversations/discussions on twitter, almost like a google trends
  • allow me to tag or bring in other people into the conversation that I think can add value and information
  • a possible business model could be to create a market place around conversations with related products and services
  • allow for conversations to carry over from one platform to another

What are your ideas?  What could twitter do with all of the conversations that are going on online that goes beyond just using twitter search to search for keywords?  What if twitter became something like socialmedian but with instant communication?  It seems like there is a unique opportunity to make the most out of the conversations online, what will twitter do?  what would you like them to do?

TAGS: future of twitter, organizing conversations, twitter conversation, twitter features

Twitter, What We Have Done; What is Possible?

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January 19th, 2009

twitter updates

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that twitter has become a very powerful tool.  Twitter is still a baby but has already changed the whole social media world.  It’s interesting to think about this because tomorrow another tool may emerge that changes the way we look at social media and communicate with each other.  This is why it is so important to stay on top of new tools and strategies.  Let’s take a look at some of the things that people have been able to accomplish through twitter:

  • we have seen people use twitter for fund raising
  • doctors have used twitter to live tweet surgeries
  • companies such a Dell has used twitter to make over a million dollars selling products
  • twitter has been used as an excellent customer service tool, check out my Comcast example
  • companies and individuals have been using twitter to recruit and find new jobs
  • blog posts and stories have been written solely through twitter
  • twitter has been used as a real time focus group and information platform
  • companies like Best Buy are using twitter to allow users to locate product merchandise

I’m sure there are many other things you can point that twitter has been used for (and would love to hear about them in the comments).  Now, let’s try to think of the future possibilities for twitter.  Look at the next 6 months, 1 year, or even 2 years.  What do you think businesses and individuals can accomplish through twitter?

Twitter as an e-commerce platform

What if you were able to purchase products directly through twitter via company/brand channels.  Let’s say I want to sign up for the Comcast triple play media package or buy a product through best buy, will I be able to?  Would I want to?  I don’t know but it’s possible.  Just imagine purchasing your Disneyland ticket or movie theater through twitter.

Twitter as an ordering device

Let’s say I go into a starbucks or some restaurant in San Francisco.  What if twitter was able to pinpoint my location and instantly recognize the store I was in?  Maybe I could place my order directly through twitter.  Starbucks is usually packed (so are popular restaurants) what if I could just tweet my order and the person behind the counter had an instant order request for my late?

Twitter as an entertainment platform

What if we started to see soap operas or reality shows being tweeted out?  I would be able to follow my characters, plots, and conversations directly through twitter, would I want to?  maybe, but is it possible?  Sure.

Of course there are going to be issues that need to be figured out in terms of “how” do you make all of this work and sync together.  The point here is to try to think outside of the box in terms of what’s possible with instant micro-conversations.  I want us to think more “bigger picture” in terms of how we can can begin using tools such as twitter.  Think of integration with shopping carts, GPS, telephones, automobiles, politicians, pilots, laptops, gadgets, devices, etc.  What you you put together and why?

So you tell me, what do you think is possible with twitter?  What you like to be able to do with twitter in the future?

thanks for reading!

TAGS: future of twitter, people using twitter, possibilities for twitter, twitter accomplishments, using twitter