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Twitter + Google Maps = Twittervision

2007-10-18T12:02:00Z

David Troy has built a nice Twitter/Google Maps mashup that shows Twitter updates on a world map, as they are posted (with a delay, depending on traffic levels):

The green and orange buttons let you indicate whether or not you like the particular update. I don't know what their effect is, though. (Any ideas?)

It also provides an alternate view, where you can see where a particular Twitter user has posted from.

Lastly, in true Web 2.0 spirit, he even provides his own Twittervision API. An API for an application built on the Twitter and Google Maps APIs. How very "meta"!

Flickr + Twitter +TinyURL = TwitterGram

2007-10-06T19:19:00Z

It's still experimental, but Dave Winer has opened up his free TwitterGram service, which allows you to post your Flickr updates to Twitter, with the photo title and a link to the photo.

(via BijanBlog, who says he's been happy with the private beta)

DC Commuting Information on Twitter

2007-10-06T19:03:00Z

I speak from experience, when I say that commuting in and out of Washington, DC can be a challenge. Fortunately, there are many routes in and out of the city. Unfortunately, you don't often know where the traffic jams are until you're in the middle of them.

Now, there are two new Twitter-based tools to help commuters get in and out of our nation's capital more efficiently:

For drivers, there is Twitter: thebeltway, which lists up-to-date traffic alerts from Traffic.com and Yahoo! Maps.
And for commuters who take public transportation, there is Twitter: WMATA to let us know when there are delays on the Metro.

All you need is a cell phone and a Twitter account, and you can adjust your trip in or out of the city, accordingly.

A Critique of the Twitter Redesign

2007-10-05T13:14:00Z

Boulder, Colorado-based web designer Andrew Hyde has a really thoughtful and specific list of criticisms for the new look on Twitter.com:

Color: The original color scheme ... work[s] really well, and the new colors really are not needed.

Unneeded/ Off Whitespace: Twitter is a simple web app, why isn’t the design simple?

Nav is Sloppy: Is this really the nav you need?

Countdown Clock: Distracting movement on the screen for every character I type

Update Box: Is it a box?

I have a lot of respect for designers and UI guys, and this is exactly why: they see some things that I don't (e.g. problems with the color palate), and can articulate other things that I cannot (e.g. the countdown timer just seemed "weird"). Kudos, Andrew!

A Strange Definition

2007-10-04T16:45:00Z

azcentral.com provides an internet marketing glossary, including this bizarre explanation of Twitter:

Twitter - A new form of social media used for posting "away" notices on instant messaging. For example, I could notify everyone in my network if I am heading out to dinner and want company or just need some time alone.

Well, yeah, you could use it for that. But they totally miss the mark.

I've sent an email to the author through her site, which claims she's "responsive like a Porsche 911 Carrera", so hopefully I'll get some sort of insight.

Update: Amanda Vega informs me (with impressive speed) that her much longer explanation was heavily edited. I have updated this post accordingly. Thanks, Amanda!

Use Twitter from Outlook

2007-10-04T12:58:00Z

The How-To Geek has a nice tutorial on how to use Twitter from inside Microsoft Outlook. He introduces us to OutTwit, one of the most popular Windows clients for Twitter and includes several screenshots to show how it works.

Twitter.com Redesign

2007-10-04T02:14:00Z

Lots of tweaks on Twitter.com: the fonts, the tabs, the colors. Most noticeably, the "characters left" indicator is larger. What do you guys think of the new look?

Ron Paul is on Twitter

2007-10-03T20:54:00Z

The campaign of long-shot Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul (Twitter: RonPaul2008) has an official Twitter account now.

His less-than-100 followers pale in comparison to the audiences of Democrats Barack Obama (Twitter: BarackObama) and John Edwards (Twitter: johnedwards), who have and 5,000 and 3,600, respectively.

But Paul is known for having some seriously dedicated followers, and I wouldn't be surprised if he narrowed that gap.

Twitter or Blogging? Both.

2007-10-02T12:49:00Z

I came across this interesting anecdote of a bloggers's first 90 days on Twitter:

I “get” Twitter. I like the idea, I think there’s a lot of uses for the service, and I’m pretty happy with the feature set. I’ve found some people who are using Twitter in interesting ways, and two real-life friends also Twitter. When it’s good, Twitter can be a lot of fun.

On the other hand, using Twitter feels like shouting down a well most of the time. I can count on the fingers of one hand the people who’ve actually had any interaction with me on Twitter (including the friends). It’s hard to stay enthusiastic about something when you get so little feedback.

All in all, I’d give my first 90 days with Twitter a B. I’m not inclined to stop Twittering, but it’s in no danger of replacing my blog any time soon.

It's a reasonable assessment, though I have had better luck getting dialogue going.

But I don't know that Twitter is supposed to replace blogging, any more than IM is supposed to replace email or text-messaging is supposed to replace phone conversations.

Some things (e.g. a song recommendation) don't necessarily merit a blog post. Others (say, anything longer than 140 characters) don't fit into Twitter, literally or figuratively.

I believe these pairs of technologies complement each other. I've said before that everyone should have a blog, and I'll also say that everyone should have Twitter. Your thoughts, ideas and observations are interesting. Share them with others.

Integration between Twitter and Facebook Status

2007-09-30T15:01:00Z

You can now update your Facebook status via Twitter.

After the launch of an official Twitter application on Facebook, observations on several blogs noting the similarity between Twitter updates and Facebook statuses, and even a quickly-silenced hack for integrating the two services, blognation Japan reports that the much-anticipated integration of the two platforms has begun.

Previously, you could update your Twitter through Facebook; now the communication goes in both directions.

Facebook has also taken steps to solve the problem of Twitter updates flooding the already-crowded News Feed on its homepages:

Please be aware if you Twitter often, the updates are NOT automatic. The Twitter app in Facebook updates approximately every 30 minutes or so which means if you Twitter often, every update may not immediately appear right away.

Note: I think it does update both Twitter and Facebook status immediately if you post your update via the Twitter FB app itself, instead of Twitterrific or the like.

It appears that the only way to disable this new feature, once you've enabled it, is to go to the Facebook application settings page, edit your settings for Twitter, and uncheck the box that says "Status Updates: Application may update my status without notifying me." To re-enable it, you have to go back to the Twitter app itself.

Also, this does not solve the problem of updates that would be nonsensical outside of Twitter (e.g. direct messages to your Twitter friends).

Definitely a work-in-progress, but updates that fit within the vanilla "status update" paradigm will work well.

For example, my latest update — "Going to Hard Times Cafe for chili and to meet some local entrepreneurs." — fits seamlessly into both Facebook's "Joe is ..." and Twitter's "What are you doing?" contexts.

Twitter: Bad for Community?

2007-09-30T13:18:00Z

Over at Blogcritics, Ginger Haycox makes a strange off-hand remark about Twitter:

Then too, there are the social sites such as MySpace and Twitter which are further eroding the sense of community that blogs originally fostered. These “social media sites” look more like newspaper inserts for Wal-Mart, Sears or Kohl’s.

Barring a more fleshed-out explanation of why she dislikes Twitter, I am filing this one under the the subset of people who don't "get" it and therefore trash "it" (in this case, Twitter) as useless or even damaging.

First, she gives no indication that she actually used Twitter before dismissing it. Meanwhile, Eric Berlin, the Executive Producer of Blogcritics, gave it an honest try six months earlier and was sold: "The more I play with Twitter, I think it's a keeper."

Second, Twitter doesn't look like anything; it's a platform. It can appear in formats as varied as IM, cell phone text messages, your feed reader (e.g. Bloglines), a desktop client (e.g. Twitterrific) or the Twitter.com site itself. Twitter doesn't have an appearance.

Third, what sense of community did blogs originally foster and how does Twitter "erode" this, rather than provide a new avenue for connecting with other people?

Online communities, such as Usenet, bulletin boards and group sites like Slashdot, predate blogging by years or even decades.

But blogging provided another way for people to communicate with each other, and so does Twitter. Again, from Berlin's post:

At its essence — I've spent some time thinking about this — I think that Twitter is yet another shortcut to meeting the compelling need for people to express themselves and partake in the ever quickening Internet conversation. (emphasis mine)

Twitter provides a new form of community. You read what other people have to say. Other people read your updates. I have met new people, and learned more about old friends, via Twitter. In fact, it is a quintessential community site — without followers/following, it useless. The connections between us are Twitter'ss raison d'être.

So give it a shot, Ginger. I would be happy to introduce you to the vibrant Twitter community. You can find me at Twitter: josephgrossberg.

Tracking or "Stalking"?

2007-09-29T12:33:00Z

Silicon Valley gossip site Valleywag seems half-gleeful, half-spooked by the new tracking feature I covered earlier:

Now Twitter is rolling out a handy tracking service that will help you procure new [stalking] victims. Now you can simply call up your trusty mobile sidekick, anonymously text, say, "TRACK Arrington", and every little mention of the man will be Twittered your way.

My initial reaction was "so what?" — if people want their information to be private, they shouldn't be publicly posting it on Twitter. But this adds a new twist — not only do you follow a person, you can follow what everyone else says about them too.

Creepy, cool or both? What do you think?

An Easier Way to Follow People on Twitter

2007-09-28T00:47:00Z

Today, Twitter also announced a way to follow and find out about other people on Twitter.

This is really nice, for people who have a crippled browser (e.g. JavaScript is disabled) or are using their phone or IM. To follow someone, simple send an update like follow josephgrossberg.

One problem I found: their documented command for un-following someone doesn't work. Follow me, and you'll get this message.

You'll receive a message every time josephgrossberg updates. To disable, send OFF JOSEPHGROSSBERG. For more commands send HELP.

But if you send that, the account in question is still in your "following" list and it appears as a normal update.

One other feature they mention (this does not work in Twitterrific): send whois josephgrossberg, on Twitter.com and you'll get my mini-bio.

Tracking Tweets

2007-09-28T00:20:00Z

Today, Twitter announced an interesting new feature: you can now track any text that appears in a Twitter update.

Using this, you can track three interesting things:

Topics: Want to know every time someone posts about your company? You can track something like "Parakey" or "WhyGoSolo" — or even a multi-word company like track Revolution Health. One downside: tracking something like "sushi" or "Iraq" is bound to result in too much traffic to read.
Direct messages: You can also track any time your username (or someone else's) appears: track @josephgrossberg
Links: This one is a little more flawed, but you can track when anyone posts with a particular tinyurl in it. For example, I did track http://tinyurl.com/yv9mp9 for this site. The problem is, if they use urltea or another service, or they link to a page within your site, you won't get notified.

Like all Twitter features, this one is available on your phone or IM

The interface is very simple:

track [whatever] and untrack [whatever] to start or stop tracking something.
If you want to stop tracking everything, send track off.
To see what you're currently following, send track or stats.

Alas, this last part doesn't work with Twitterrific yet; you need to be on Twitter.com to see the message.

"I Don't 'Get' Twitter"

2007-09-25T22:35:00Z

If you don't understand what the big deal is with Twitter, you're not alone.

Dick Costolo, creator of FeedBurner (which was purchased by Google for $100 million), didn't "get" Twitter for a while:

I remember the first time I saw Twitter and thought “I don’t get it”, and then somebody explained it to me and I thought “uh-huh. I don’t get it”, and then somebody explained it to me again, and I thought “Ah!... I don’t get it.” Only after I saw somebody using it in a way that I found valuable did I finally get it.

Me too. I'd heard of it for months before I got into it.

What doesn't help is the appearance of its front page. Until you have an account, it is a barrage of everyone's public updates. It was like being a psychic on a crowded subway car.

Even after that initial barrage, it seemed like blogging for people with ADD. Or a series of iChat status messages. Or a publicly-visible train of thought. Or time-delayed IM. (And it sort of is all of those.)

Yet here I am, four months and almost 2,000 updates later.

What was the segue for me? The social aspect. I found friends who used it and started following them. I'm only slightly more interested in what they had for lunch than in total strangers' noshing, but it was a start.

Before long I saw some more interesting things go by. I learned that there is midnight yoga on Capitol Hill and that the Department of Justice makes their employees use a crippled version of Internet Explorer. I saw some cool links. I saw one guy's father passed away and that a friend was interviewed by Fast Company magazine. I started using it as a non-disruptive way to communicate with my girlfriend throughout the day.

So, just have patience. Add a few people you know. Listen to them for a few days. And you'll "get" Twitter soon enough.