The "Experiential Gap" . . . and the Growing Cosmos of Twitter Applications
By Tom Foremski - September 17, 2008
A description of Twitter: being able to send a text message of no more than 140 characters to a self-selected group of subscribers via a cell phone or computer.
That doesn't seem very exciting. Yet there continues to be a lot of chatter about Twitter and it is well deserved because this simple application has become tremendously useful to growing numbers of people.
But communicating why Twitter is so interesting is one that cannot be conveyed unless you are in it. This is one of the hallmarks of many important applications such as blogging, Facebook, etc. You can't and won't be able "get it" unless you are in it.
We have moved beyond "generation gap" differences in technology use and moved into the "experiential gap" in terms of use and understanding. Your experience with an application such as Twitter provides an understanding that cannot be communicated by reading about it or even being told about it.
Twitter is simple--another hallmark of powerful applications. Blogging is simple. RSS is simple. These are all important technologies that characterize this second major phase of the Internet--but you wouldn't know that unless you use them, unless you are involved with them.
Twitter has spawned a growing number of applications that sit on top of this simple platform and extend its usefulness. Twhirl is one of those Twitter applications--it helps organize your "tweets" with a simple user interface. Twhirl was acquired earlier this year by Seesmic, the "video conversation" site.
I've been using Twhirl but recently shifted to TweetDeck, which does a much better job of presenting "tweets" than Twhirl. (Look for some interesting acquisition news on TweetDeck very soon.)
And we will certainly see more and more applications built on top of Twitter and also Twitter-like applications. Yammer is one of those, which recently won the TC50 competition (to howls of fix).
What will be interesting is how Twitter will survive. It hasn't yet figured out a business model and its infrastructure is weak and doesn't appear to be very scalable.
No matter, if Twitter doesn't make it long term the concept will certainly survive and others will provide the platform. And someone will likely eventually roll up all the Twitter apps, or at least their functionality, and own the entire stack--maybe that will be Twitter.
By Tom Foremski - September 17, 2008 | Permalink | Comment
| Category: Silicon Valley
| SVW Toolbar | SVW Newsletter | SVW Mobile
- NEW STORIES:
- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the heart of Silicon Valley
- Silicon Valley Heads for Germany as Governor Schwarzenegger Pushes for Cebit Trade Show Alliance
- Thought Leader Interview: - Sabrina Horn Says "Sell Like Hell!"
- Thought Leader Exclusive: Olaf Swantee Head of Euro Telco Orange Mobile Says Sustainability Biggest Challenge
- Steve Ballmer Warns Financial Crisis Will Impact Tech Sector
- Steve Ballmer on Search Strategy, Why Silicon Valley Matters Less, Ad Business Myths, Energy, Education, and Fixing Windows...
- The Financial Crisis and its Impact on Journalism
- Worth Watching: Silicon Valley Turns Out for Steve Ballmer at Churchill Club
- Citrix Says it Can Ride Out Economy
- Intel Experiment Could Save Millions in Data Center Power Costs
Comments (2)
Tom,
Sounds like it might be a case of "design to the rescue!" I've been expecting that one of the next waves of innovation will come in the form of design solutions to information/data problems. Visualizations, aggregation but with more compelling visual presentation layer (and thus better or at least more interesting interactions!).
The title of your piece had me thinking that the service finds doppelgangers -- twins of interest and like mind. Are they approaching that one also? Ability to find doppelgangers based on user behavior?
cheers,
adrian
Posted: September 24, 2008 1:50 PM
Hi Tom,
I enjoyed your "Experiential" piece on Twitter, as this has been my exact experience. Initially I couldn't see what all the hype was about, but I succumbed to the wave of growing publicity and gave Twitter a try. Even then, I was a little circumspect but several weeks later and I am benefitting from Twitter immensely, in various ways. I have tried to explain Twitter to my colleagues, but they still look at me as if I'm crazy - like you say, you have to be "in it" to understand it.
Kind regards,
Kevin
Posted: October 2, 2008 8:21 PM