Your Future is in the Cards

Costa doing business.

Twitter held a mobile platform event for developers Tuesday night to introduce their new Twitter Cards. Jason Costa, Twitter‘s Platform Lead, kicked off the evening by reiterating Twitter’s importance as a part of today’s communications landscape: More than 400 million Tweets per day, more than 60% of them from mobile devices, and more than 70% of users outside of the United States.

He then reviewed the three types of Twitter Cards currently available and in use in both the Web and mobile Twitter clients: Summary, which gives a snapshot of links and pages; Photo, which displays photos from certain sources; and Player, which allows audio and video within your feed.

“Tweet embeds and Timeline embeds generate billions of moments of engagement.”
Jason Costa– Twitter Platform Lead, 02 April 2013

Costa then turned the stage over to Reeve Thompson, Product Manager of Cards, who announced the upcoming updates to the iPhone, Android, and mobile experiences would include deep linking and three new card types: App, Product, and Gallery.

Deep linking will allow Twitter updates to contain more robust content from your app within individual updates. Users will essentially be able to launch your app from inside the mobile Twitter experience. The updated experiences will also be able to determine if you have the app already installed or not. If you have the app installed, the Tweet will include a link to open the app so you can access the content mentioned. If you don’t have the app installed, the update includes a link which will take you to the appropriate store so you can download it without ever having to leave Twitter.

The new cards, introduced by Mr. Thompson and later elaborated upon by Director of Mobile at Twitter, Jeremy Gordon, will also allow for increased engagement within the mobile experiences, Twitter’s fastest area of growth.

The App Card will be the most interesting for people toiling to build the next big thing. It will allow updates with links to apps to display the name, icon, and description of the mentioned app, as well as other details like price and ratings.

The second new Card type introduced was the Product Card, which has the ability to turn everyone’s Tweeted Xmas wish list into a one-stop source for holiday shopping. By including a product and its link, the new update will display an image and description for the product, in addition to other variables such as price. Just imagine how easy it will be to shop for people this year (hint below).

Rowdies Unveil 2013 Official Admiral Kits and Merchandise. admiral.axissoccer.com/microsite?id=r… twitter.com/RowdiesSoccer/…
— Tampa Bay Rowdies (@RowdiesSoccer) March 27, 2013

Lastly, we learned about the Gallery Card, which will add context to your Tweeted images by including a group of four photos from a shared collection, rather than just one.

The event also included Twitter partners taking advantage of the new Cards, starting with Dave Morin, Co-founder and CEO of Path. Mr. Morin likened Path to a home in the town square that is Twitter, calling the new Cards the “most important distribution tools released this year.”

Next, Brett Wayn, VP of Flickr at Yahoo!, talked about how they wanted to make sure that sharing photos to Twitter was not only easy, but also beautiful. Quoting Flickr developer Chris Martin who worked on the card integration, Mr. Wayn said, “The hardest thing about doing it was keeping it a secret.”

On a personal note, I want to thank Jason Costa, Matt Harris, Carolyn Penner, and Jessica Verrilli for their time and insight after the event. I look forward to hearing what you and Twitter have in store for us next. In the meantime, the new Cards will be available in the updates scheduled for Wednesday. I’m excited to see what’s new in your Tweets when I see you on the ‘morrow, on the Web.

Hashing Out a Champion

Hash marks in football.

Obviously, it’s been a while since my last post here. The reasons are many, and the excuses are mundane, but I’m still closely following the innovations and acquisitions going on at Twitter.

I will be finalizing and posting some of the drafts entries I constructed in the past few months, if only to create an accurate archive of events. Until then, I just wanted to let you know that I‘m still here, I’m still writing, and I‘m still trying to join the flock.

In the meantime, I want to point you to the recent update Twitter sent out regarding Tweets during the Champions League Final. I was surprised that the number trumped those during the 2010 World Cup, but still fell short of both the Super Bowl and New Year’s Eve—despite the size of the each team’s worldwide following. As the number of people using Twitter grows everyday, it shouldn’t be long before another globally shared event trumps the Tweets-per-second record holder.

I’m obviously glad the number of users is growing, and hope to be a part of their continued success some day soon. If that gets any closer, I’ll let you know when I see you see you on the ‘morrow, on the Web.

Headed SXSW

Interacting.

Today I travel back to Austin for SXSW 2011. I love this conference. Yes, it’s too big. Yes, it’s fraught with distractions. Yes, it can destroy you. But I love it because with so many great minds converging in one place at one time, the unplanned is as important as the planned.

I have a staggering wish list of panels and parties and performances, but the most valuable moments for me are the one-on-one connections that occur outside the scheduled events. Running into friends on the street. Making new contacts as a presentation empties out. Discovering a great new band as you’re looking for your next caffienated beverage. These moments bring me back.

I’ll try to continue to post from Austin, hopefully sharing some of the nuggets I’ve captured at the end of each day. If you don’t hear from me, don’t worry; I’m probably standing a few feet away from a cranked Marshall stack, with a big grin on my face, sharing my geo-tagged images on Twitter. Please know, though, that I’ll try my damnedest to see you on the ‘morrow, on the Web.

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.

Twitter iPology

Quick barred.

Twitter launched its new applications for the iPad and iPhone on Thursday afternoon. The announcement touted new features including easier photo uploading, link shortening, and friend finding. And one more thing: the Quick Bar. Then the backlash began.

In the new versions of the apps, the Quick Bar lets you see Trending Topics displayed in a bar at the top of the screen. The constant stream of topics was ostensibly designed to keep people informed about what was going on in the world right now. But instead, it seemed to—
at best—distract, and—at worst—annoy.

Twitter’s Communications Team responded to reporters who were echoing user criticisms of the new changes, but they did so from their own accounts, not the Twitter Comms handle. But what I think is most interesting about this is the fact that Twitter used its own service to improve itself.

Twitter Creative Director Doug Bowman sent out a message that illustrates this best. He acknowledged the feedback he was seeing, and let everyone know publicly that Twitter was talking their opinions into consideration while designing improvements.

Twitter for iPhone users, hang in there. We're listening. http://t.co/CCW5pgYless than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhoneDoug Bowman
stop

In the fall of 2010, the iPhone made up only 8% of Twitters usage. Now, Twitter for iPhone ranks third in the list of how we access Tweets. But the public discourse that erupted about the new applications wasn’t limited to just iPhone and iPad owners; it made it into everyone’s streams of updates, no matter how they were logged on.

By late Friday, Twitter had submitted a new version of the applications to the iTunes store. As we wait for Apple’s approval process, let’s remember that this rapid response is an excellent example of the type of customer service available through Twitter. In a very public forum, Twitter is able to transform an imperfect product into a product perfected.

I’m anxious to see what they come up with as a solution, since this will presumably be the framework upon which they build some sort of advetising model. But that still seems a little bit farther off. Maybe we can discover it together when I see you on the ‘morrow, on the Web.

Vanity Square

Status conscious.

This month’s issue of Vanity Fair features a great piece about one of Twitter’s founders and former CEO, Jack Dorsey. Writer David Kirkpatrick talked to friends, family, mentors, and collaborators to create a profile of a introverted innovator obsessed with simplifying patterns for a more elegant every-day.

“I think Twitter is the future of communications, and Square will be the payment network. We’re going big.”
Jack Dorsey- Vanity Fair, April 2011

Believe it or not, I met Mr. Dorsey once. He was quiet, polite, and gracious with a few moments for me—all before going onstage to fill in for a delayed Biz Stone at the first @SFGiants Tweetup.

In my brief time with him, I was able to discern Mr. Dorsey’s desire, as the article points out, to do good with gadgets that are great. But what surprised me most about the insights in the article—besides finding out Mr. Dorsey had a nose ring, too—is the personality similarities evident in those responsible for the early days of Twitter.

The visionaries behind Twitter all seem to place emphasis on similar things: simplicity, ingenuity, urbanity, and generosity. These qualities seem imbued in the partners’ product as well as the company’s culture. No wonder so many want to work there. And all Jack wants to do is run New York City. It’s good to have goals. One of my short-term objectives is to see you on the ‘morrow, on the Web.

Dude, Where's My Cryptology?

Locks of love.

Where are you reading this post? In a coffee shop? The lobby of your hotel? At an airport? There’s a good chance that if you are using a public WiFi spot for your access, your Twitter account might be vulnerable to attack.

Just look at what happened to Ashton Kutcher while he was at the TED Conference today in Long Beach, California. While logged in to his Twitter account over the Long Beach Performing Arts Center’s network, someone hacked into his account and sent a couple of updates.

Socket to ya.

Now, there was no real harm done; in fact, the prankster used the opportunity to point out the vulnerability in sharing private credentials on public networks.

The basic issue is not where you use the Internet, but what protection the sites you use provides. Ever since Firesheep was unveiled a few months ago, this issue has gotten more coverage. Facebook, Twitter, and Google have added SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) options to their processes, but wider-spread changes have been slow, and not all users are taking advantage of them. Even Twitter had to point out its availability after the Kutcher stunt.

As our expectations for constant connection grows, the burden for keeping our confidential information safe falls not just on our common sense, but also to the entities we choose to entrust with it. So, before you log in here to leave a comment, make sure your connection is secure. If it’s not, hold your thoughts, and share them with me when I see you on the ‘morrow, on the Web.

What Is and What Should Never Be

Happy Twitterversary.

Today marks the one year anniversary of Sean Garrett’s tenure as a Vice President of Communications. I was hoping to be a part of his team by now, but I’ve yet to make that a reality. It seems not-so-long-ago when friends were sharing open positions at a little start up in SOMA called Twitter. One offer was for a “Founder Associate.” Another was for a “Communications Associate.”

“Twitter is defining a new form of communication that is touching people’s lives across the world. We are small but well-funded and building a company to last. We are currently a team of 25 and looking for a few key people who will help take us to the next level.”
Twitter Founder Associate Job Description- Jobscore, 16 March 2009

Both positions seemed exciting, new, and unknown, but I was happy where I was, and had no reason to leave. I was already using Twitter—a lot. I was even using it in my job. And even though I was a tireless advocate of its uses, potential, and evolution as a new communications platform, working there never seemed to make sense. All that changed once It's power to do good started to become more apparent to me.

It’s no secret that when I first moved out to California my goal was to join the forces of good at Google.org. But as their priorities changed, I found myself looking for somewhere else to aim my corporate social responsibility ambitions. I was working for the Intel Education Foundation, but I knew that their focus—and funding—was limited. I longed to find a place to make a greater impact.

Other jobs have come and gone, most with non-profits, and some simply to fund an increasingly more expensive San Francisco existence, but I still feel driven to put my knowledge to use helping others. That doesn’t mean that Twitter’s recent rejection of my advances to join the flock hurts any less; it just means that I need to fine-tune my focus for getting in the door. So my new aim is to harness my interests to bridge the gaps between Twitter’s Communication, Media, and Philanthropic teams.

The details of my focus, what I can offer, and the strategy for getting there are still emerging. But they all start with finishing the application I have been trying to build on the Twitter API for the last few months. Harnessing information and redirecting it into action remains my new creation’s goal. As we’ve seen in northern Africa, information is at its most meaningful when it’s acted upon. So I hope to create an end product which will make that divide much smaller.

As usual, I’ll keep you updated on things as they progress. And I’m sure I’ll post a distraction or two about Twitter news in the meanwhile. But I’ll keep building. And writing. And trying to join the flock, while looking for you on the ‘morrow, on the Web.

Converging Philanthropic Interests

Ready to win the future.

Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone is in Washington D.C. today, announcing that he is joining the efforts of ConvergeUS. The live event will highlight how to amplify the efforts of technology, non-profit, governmental, and academic entities in creating social innovation.

Video streaming by Ustream

I hope they touch on the difficulty of implementing widely adoptable pedagogical changes in a climate of reduced education funding. If ConvergeUS wants to make some real changes, I hope it focuses on using technology to make education less expensive, and teachers more valued. If they come up with anything, we can evaluate it when I see you on the ‘morrow, on the Web.

In the Fresh Air Biz

Twitter frequency.

Although I’m still trying to sort out my feelings over Twitter’s rejection of my advances, I thought I would still let you know that tomorrow’s “Fresh Air” will feature Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone. According to their promotion, the conversation will center on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s speech at George Washington University.

Give it a listen when it airs, or from their site, or through the podcast, and we can talk about it if I feel discussing Twitter when I see you on the ‘morrow, on the Web.

Shot to the Heart

Be mine.

It’s Valentine’s Day, and today’s post was going to be my love letter to Twitter. It was going to compliment. It was going to flatter. It was going to woo. It was going to court. But before I could post it here, Twitter sent its own Valentine to me. And I’m not pleased.

This blog originally started as a means to document my affection for, and appreciation of, Twitter. I was chronically my learning process while creating better journalism, philanthropy, and information with help from the Twitter API. The goal was to join the flock. When a Communications Coordinator position opened earlier this month, the timing couldn’t have been better. I have a work history I am proud of; I have been an avid Twitter user since 2007; and I have this collection of posts about Twitter which show my passion and interest in almost everything they do.

Unfortunately, it seems, these are not enough. The HR Department thinks I’m not qualified to even meet with the Twitter Communications Team. I would love to be able to make my case to them directly, to see if I would be a good fit. But it seems I’ll have to wait a little longer for that opportunity. Maybe at SXSW.

In the meantime, I’m trying to keep my hopes up, and my motivation high. I’m debating whether to take a break from posting here, but that decision won’t be clear unless and until I see you on the ‘morrow, on the Web.

Following Distinctions

Connecting to Twitter Communications.

Did you notice a change on your favorite Twitterer’s home page today? Initially, I didn’t (because I use Brizzly, most of the time), but I did get a heads-up from The Next Web.

The new feature helps put any user into greater context for you. By adding a little insight into common connections, you get a better perspective of any interests you may share. But Connections doesn’t yet go far enough. Maybe this is the first step to a followers recommendation engine?

Before we go on, let’s clarify one important thing: Connections does not show you users who are following you both. That notification only comes when you get the e-mail from Twitter alerting you to a new follower. Let’s look at an example:

Because I want to work on his team, I am following Sean Garret. When I visit his Twitter profile page, I know he has 6,747 followers (and counting), and is following 818. But the only way for me to know which accounts he follows who are following me is in the notification I get when Mr. Garrett follows me. Which he doesn’t. So I don’t know.

As I understand the new system, “Also followed by” is a list of the people who show up on both of your “Following” lists. Continuing with the Sean Garrett profile, of the 818 accounts he follows, I’m only following 15. Those 15 show up in the “Also followed by” list. I follow Twitter Comms. He follows Twitter Comms. Twitter Comms is not following me. But they are on the “Also followed by” list because I follow Twitter Comms and he follows Twitter Comms.

Also followed by.

“You both follow” is a list of people in their “Followers” list who you are following. As I mentioned, Sean Garrett has 6,747 followers. But of those 6,747 followers, I’m only following 15. Again, Twitter Comms is following him. I am following him. Twitter Comms is not following me. But they are on the “You both follow” list because I follow Twitter Comms and Twitter Comms follows him.

You both follow.

It’s a delicate distinction, I know, but an important one. Twitter’s site does not yet have a way of showing me that Mr. Garret is following someone who is following me but who I am not following back.

I’m missing something.
(Image thanks to @teleject.)

At this point, the information provided is only a little enlightening. Sure, you can see which accounts you are both following, and which accounts you follow that are also following them. But I want to know more. I want to learn about another user who is already vetted by someone I trust. What we need is a way to discover a user who is following us, but we’re not following back yet, even though someone we trust is following us both. If Twitter wants to help us find interesting, informative new accounts to follow, we need an easier way to find out from our curated sources who trusts us, and rely on those connections to expand our own trusted authorities.

This update comes at a great time for me, however. I think I’m building an application that will use this new addition to put Twitter’s information engine to greater use for finding out what’s important to you. I’m making steady progress in learning the Twitter API, and have a few ideas on how to build my first application. With this new addition, I might not have to create as much of this code on my own—which is good, because I still have a lot to learn when it comes to coding. But I can tell you more about that when I see you on the ‘morrow, on the Web.

Twinner, Twinner, Chicken Dinner

The fine art of winning.

Last night, Twitter won “Best Overall Startup or Product of 2010” at the fourth annual Crunchies Awards here in San Francisco.

Accepting the award was Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, who was also a nominee in the “CEO of the Year” category. In a brief conversation with TechCrunch Founder Michael Arrington, Mr. Costolo shared some insight into Twitter’s future, and what he believes is their greatest challenge: international growth.

TechCrunch has compiled all the nominees and winners, and collected some video highlights for you—it’s almost like being there, without the Uber ride home. I hope you get more of the inside jokes than I did. If you do, please explain them to me when I see you on the ‘morrow, on the Web.

Governor’s Gaffe?

How do you spell #oops?

Yesterday, I mentioned that the new governor of Florida, Rick Scott, was holding a Twitter Town Hall. Since I had some free time, and was interested in what he would use his 140 characters to say, I tuned in. A lot of people did.

As the more than 30-minute session drew to a close, reports estimated that questions were coming in at a rate of two per second. Now, nobody could answer that many queries in one half-hour sitting, but the deluge gave the governor a great excuse to avoid some of the more pointed interrogations.

I’ll leave the political punditry about which he addressed, which he avoided, and which he ignored to others; I just want to highlight a couple of updates that Florida’s new governor decided were poignant enough to share with all of his followers.

The moment getting most of the press was towards the end of the Twitter Town Hall where Mr. Scott—apparently accidentally—Retweeted a question calling him, “jackass.” Now, I assume it was an accident, because moments later, the update had been deleted from the governor’s stream.

One of these things is not like the other.

You can also see it in this shot from the site that Ron Sachs Communications put together to view all submitted questions next to Governor Scott’s feed.

Executive error.

But the Retweet I think everyone missed was the one which originated from a parody Rick Scott account. I don’t think Florida’s new head of the executive branch really wants Floridians to move to Canada for better health care, do you?

Reverse snowbirds?

Mistake? Probably. Entertaining? Definitely. The ease for errors during something like this is pretty high. Especially when you don’t bother updating more than 24 hours later. But we can talk about correcting Twitter mistakes on the ‘morrow, on the Web.

Making Facebook Make News

Facebook Media and the message.

Facebook is playing catchup. At least that’s what it feels like.

After visiting them last night for the “ONA SF - Facebook Strategies for Online Journalists Meetup,” I get the impression that Facebook wants desperately to be a part of journalists’ lives. But, unlike Twitter, Facebook has yet to be integrated into most news organizations’ daily operation for anything more than promotion. One exception to that rule is NPR.

During his portion of the evening, NPR Senior Strategist Andy Carvin shared some of the many ways they are using Facebook, as well as other social tools, to create, evaluate, and circulate stories to their audience. Additionally, he shared some recent survey results and metrics about audience usage, engagement, and page views.

What I found most important about NPR’s social tools use is that every effort is made to support their broader mission: to create a more informed public. But what I find lacking in their Facebook efforts is not NPR’s fault; it’s Facebook’s.

In the evening’s introduction, Facebook Director of Media Partnerships Justin Osofsky highlighted the resources available on the Facebook + Media page. Sure, there are success stories and best practices, but most point to story distribution and audience engagement. While these are very important for creating and keeping consumers of content, they don’t provide any tools for creating content itself. The next shift for media organizations has to be building social tools for making great content quickly.

Another interesting observation from my trip to Palo Alto was that not one person in the room, during any presentation or subsequent Q&A, said the the word “monetize.” Although I was thankful that the discussion didn’t get hijacked by a debate on how media organizations can make money using Facebook, I was surprised that there was no pragmatic advice on how to effectively and efficiently use limited resources on efforts which yielded no increased income for a struggling industry.

I understand that Facebook is good at letting media brands interact with their users, if they choose to invest the time to do so. What’s more important to me right now, however, is how Facebook, and any other social or online tool, can help news people more easily create good journalism. Twitter is great for breaking news. Facebook is great at sharing news. Who will make it easy to create news? A question that will go unanswered until I see you on the ‘morrow, on the Web.

Transparency on Twitter

We regret the error.

This blog focuses primarily on Twitter. But one of my bailiwicks from a past life is journalism. And while I’ve created blogs primarily devoted to the vagaries of reporting news to audiences who may—or may—not care, those have long since been put to bed. Every now and then, however, I’ll notice some news coverage which gets my dander up. This weekend’s reporting of the shooting in Tucson is the latest example.

On Sunday, I was watching “This Week” from ABC News. The episode included a piece from Pierre Thomas about the alleged shooter, Jared Lee Loughner. In an ten minute profile, one of the still images of Mr. Loughner included a caption with his name spelled incorrectly.

Not “Jarod Lee Loffner.”

Now, I understand reporting errors occur every day; this very post might even have one. But multi-million dollar news organizations should make very few of them, especially when they are devoting so many of their resources to following such a potential ratings bonanza. What’s more important to me, however, is what they do when they discover an error.

That’s why I found a discussion on a recent “On the Media” so interesting. The segment featured a conversation between co-host Bob Garfield and Craig Silverman of Regret the Error about how news organizations handle corrections, if at all. It was surprising to me how many media outlets devote so few resources to updates of erroneous stories.

“... at places like CNN and FOX News and other large broadcasters there was either very little or nothing at all when it came to error reporting mechanisms.”
Craig Silverman- “On the Media,” 24 December 2010

Coincidently, I noticed a conversation on Twitter about a very similar topic. Prompted after the Poynter Institute posted a story calling Twitter an “imperfect news channel,” the discussion (which is embedded below) included recommendations about how newsrooms could signify corrected and amended information in updates.

Correcting conversation. 

Later, ABC World News promoted a story from Monday‘s broadcast, but misspelled the name of Mr. Loughner. I sent a reply, they corrected the mistake in a new update, but made no mention that it was correcting an error. They also deleted the incorrect update. It was minor, but was it transparent?

If we are going to continue to trust news agencies online as much as we do in broadcasts, they are obliged to find a more open way to correct and notify audiences of previous mistakes. Until they do, they are missing an important part of the transparency good reporting, and journalism in general, requires.

With that off my chest, I’ll get back to building with the Twitter API, and tell you about it on the ‘morrow, on the Web.

Sifting Circumstances and Shifting Sources

Congress on your corner. 

As the U.S. turned its collective attention to Arizona today, I was struck by how some news services were gathering and distributing information on the circumstances, victims, and shooter. On television, most of the coverage was comprised of speculation, assumption, and—at times—inaccurate information. Citing “sources close to the investigation” and “some of my contacts in law enforcement,” reporters on the scene, and on telephones thousands of miles away, kept misinforming their audiences during the early hours of news breaking about the attack on U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords.

As I caught up on the story, I turned to Twitter to find out the truth. Because I have carefully curated who I follow, I was able to trust the information I was getting from them, and their sources. The most active, and by far most reliable, stream of information came from NPR’s Social Media Desk Senior Strategist Andy Carvin. He was tracking the story on Twitter as well as other services, continually adding updates to his Storify account of the event. Through careful curation, he could gather first-hand information from Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and other online outlets to add numerous perspectives and valuable context to unfolding events.

These days, I find Twitter, specifically the people I follow, a much more reliable place for news than any other source. I have a relationship with them. I know their biases and tendencies. I know their expertise. I trust them. I am confident that I gain a better perspective on any breaking news story on Twitter than I do flipping from channel to channel on cable TV. While I will never turn to a single source of information, I will favor Twitter’s vast variety of available experts when I need to quickly sift through a sea of speculation.

The circumstances that prompted today’s post are stunning, infuriating, and tragic. I ache for all those involved. Speculation about motives, blame, and justice are for other places on the Web. But compassion should be everywhere, no matter your political views. Please spend a moment close to the ones you love, and I hope to see more compassion on the ‘morrow, on the Web.

I Pledge Allegiance to the Stream

Of, by, and for the people.

Yesterday, I wanted to share a couple of things with you related to authenticity on Twitter. But, due to the limitations of WiFi here in the woods, I was unable to get those links to you. Disappointing for everyone, I know.

Without further adieu, here’s what I would have told you yesterday, had I not wasted all of our limited data availability reading about font felons and streaming stories about a damaged-but-endearing forensic expert from Miami:

Corporate Counsel’s Nicole Hong [no Twitter profile!?] posted a short interview with Twitter’s General Counsel Alexander Macgillivray. He came over from Google to help build and run the department responsible primarily for employment and contracts issues at Twitter. The interview is not very probing, but it does highlight many of the aspects that make working at Twitter so attractive to me, including its emphasis on openness. Mr. Macgillivray seems to be building a team that will actively advocate the continued freedom and independence which make Twitter so indispensable.

Openness is obviously very important to the company, both for users and for its employees. For users, we have to be able to trust the sources that we’re relying on for our news and information (well, except for that one asshole; he’s Portuguese, ya know). But for Twitter’s growing staff, transparency is a vital start to ensuring the longevity of the service. Co-founder Evan Williams emphasized this point at his otherwise less-than-informative SXSW Keynote interview in 2010.

“A window is transparent; a door is open. A window lets people see what you’re doing. A door lets them enter and play.”
Evan Williams- SXSWi 2010 Keynote Interview

This top-down policy of openness is apparent in how Twitter operates. And by building out its legal team with open-Web advocates like Mr. Macgillivray, Twitter is betting its future on the constant and uninterrupted exchange of information between its users, no matter under which regime they reside.

The publishing world recently discovered the importance of Twitter’s authenticity. Viv Groskop posted a piece earlier this month on The Observer detailing Twitter’s role in the publishing world’s hottest topics this year. Since a great deal of the exchange of information occurred through Twitter, the urgency of accurate information grew, and authors and their fans relied on the service to suss out nuggets of truth.

“Unlike some other social media sites, Twitter is fairly bullshit-proof, since it's mostly obvious who the person is and whether what they're saying is genuine.”
Viv Groskop- The Observer, 19 December 2010

Twitter is fast becoming the primary place where we openly debate ideas. It’s one of the most important ways we transmitt and gather information. And this importance is growing every day. As more conversations move to this online platform, relevancy becomes an even larger part of the equation. There is much still left to discuss about building increased relevancy into Twitter, and much left to build. But that is a conversation for another day—maybe on the ‘morrow, on the Web.

A Trickle of Tweets

Bandwidth on the run.

After an invigorating early morning (Pacific Time) run, I sat down to write a few paragraphs about some of the interesting Twitter-related links I caught flying around in the ether today. But, as I mentioned yesterday, here in the woods, bandwidth is as scarce as an Inbound J Church late on a Sunday evening. So, since I think I used all our Internet juice catching up on old episodes of “Dexter” in the wee hours of the morning, I’m now stuck here—with this placeholder post—waiting for the Internet gatekeepers to allow us to exchange a few more bits and bytes with routers and servers of interest.

For those of you with wide-open, readily available pipes for news, information, and general entertainment, I envy you. And, if you are so lucky, please enjoy the following Internet distraction: Blizzard timelapse.


December 2010 Blizzard Timelapse from Michael Black on Vimeo.

If I’m able to get back online, I’ll post the links I thought were interesting today, and see you on the ‘morrow, on the Web.

The People’s Information Network

First-handed First Question.

In another amazing use of an amazing service, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs continued his “First Question” series on Tuesday, answering Twitter followers’ inquiries and posting video responses on YouTube.

In what some have called the new “fireside chat,” Robert Gibbs—and, by extension, the Obama administration—have reopened the doors to the people’s house, allowing us to get a look inside, and get information from those closest to real answers.

I guess this validates O’Reilly Media naming Twitter the 2010 technology of the year. I will continue to use it, but I’ll be taking a break for a few days. So, I won’t see you on the ‘morrow, on the Web. Not until after Santa comes, anyway.