Twitter’s Artistic Sheen

Special art.

On Sunday afternoon, after catching up on one of my favorite podcasts, I noticed an exchange that I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss: a moment of almost pure commerce on Twitter.

Taking inspiration from the very public unravelling of Charlie Sheen, Mule Design Co-founder, designer, and artist, Mike Monteiro, created another one of his signature pieces of art. He posted it on Twitter. It was publicly admired. And it sold. Quickly. Very quickly.

Sold.

Now, the application I have been churning on for months would be very helpful here, if I ever get it finished. Information was shared, interest was expressed, and a transaction was conducted. But both parties still needed to leave the Twitter interface to complete it. Why can’t we implement something that allows the transaction inside Twitter?

This is the problem I have been trying to solve. I think it would be a huge advantage for non-profits, small businesses, and corporations alike. Think of it as the same democratization that Square is bringing to vendors. Or what texting donations did for disaster relief. The advantage for Twitter is that it will enable users to complete any transaction from within their framework, keeping users on their site, in their application, and, potentially, seeing their ads.

Mike Monteiro’s art sale exemplifies why I think building a transaction engine into Twitter is important, and why I have been spending considerable time and effort on it. While it won’t be ready for release in time for SXSW, I hope to have it done soon. I’ll be sure to keep you updated on its progress when I see you on the ‘morrow, on the Web.