Today a good friend, Chris (@canderson) who is a Startup Specialists at TechColumbus, tweeted something interesting. Funny thing - I saw it come through on Fwitter (Facebook :-P) - and responded.

Here’s what he tweeted:

“wondering does the world really need another social network platform?”

Now Chris is a startup specialist - that means that his job is literally to read business plans and work with entrepreneurs to develop them into something that can be a sustainable business and most often attract a funding round. Considering the popularity of (we’ve all seen the #s lately - FB=220mn users with 3+bn minutes/day spent on. Digg is 34+mn actives. Twitter grew 1,382% yoy in feb… cough-monetize, all of you-cough!) social networking and the noisy coverage major media outlets have given them of late, it’s not surprising that Chris is seeing the next Facebook, Twitter, Delicious and so on every single day.

That said, here’s what I responded:

“maybe. depends if its just an augmentation or if it’s actually building on a communication pattern we havent considered digitally yet. e.g. twitter was transformational and not a replication.”

Another of Chris’ friends responded to me:

“How is Twitter transformational? It is clearly unique in the style and model of communication. From a usage perspective, it has been incredibly successful. Not that I disagree, I just don’t see how it is transformational.”

And I again responded:

“access, at least in current (read early) users. user-base is incredibly flat. from what ive seen, the brevity-ubiquity combo has allowed thought leaders to interact without breaking stride.

mass real-time. very very transformational. completely different than google/facebook (thus recent FB activity)

additionally, the idea that the technology at its core (not the implementation and scaling which is indeed complex) is simple and the real value comes from what can be imagined and built off of a wide open API.”

I think Twitter is transformational for these 3 reasons (I’d postulate more but with a deadline looming, I’m just going to get these out so I can get work done) and here’s a bit more rationale:

Access - the nature of twitter - brevity and ubiquity - truly allows access while maintaining the context of a conversation. I’ve had the pleasure of actually accessing thought-leaders in the fields I’m interested in. In fact, it’s what my following (who I follow) is composed of - thought leaders in economics, strategy, web, angel and vc. Because keen users employ non-invasive tools to consume and produce, busy people making important decisions can quickly and easily reply, even converse, without breaking workflow.

Mass real-time - were I Google, I’d be scared! (side note - beyond their own hardware coupled with android, here’s where I think G will REALLY impact our lives sometime soon <- old story but still real implications) Ok, I wouldn’t be scared if I were Google, but seriously - cached/indexed results are the way of yesterday…today annnd maybe tomorrow (for a while). Think about this - I search Twitter and I find out what’s trending NOW. Who’s mentioning my search term now…. and now… and now… (you get the picture). This is INVALUABLE and Facebook is beginning to understand that. It’s transformational in that it’s real-time data, it’s accessible to anyone anytime, and the data is FREE to be used as you please (which leads me to my next point…)

Simple and open - The input-output for of twitter is simple. It’s short, the interface isn’t complex. Data is relatively flat. Things get interesting with a usable API. I look at it like I look at the Google Generation - the data/answers are out there. You can find them in .027 second. You can probably find 10,000 answers. It’s not about finding it or rote memorization anymore. It’s about application of the data/answer and the context. It’s what you DO with it. (note to teachers - application not memorization). The interface and technology are simple. I’d say they are so simple they are enabling. The real power is being able to step into this room, get your bearings in the midst of this huge conversation, extract VALUE from it and then do something with it. The ability is there (access to said data = great revenue point, dontcha think?), the key is thinking critically about what should be gathered, why, and how/to what it’s applied.

An augmentation of Facebook, Delicious, Digg, even Twitter, isn’t interesting to me. Fundamentally I consider these to be tools facilitating a more ambiently aware population. It boils down to communication and each major player has understood (and perhaps shaped a bit from there) a key characteristic of how we communicate on which it has built. Twitter, most recently, has succeeded in facilitating time and space shift, forcing a distilling of communication, connected, and given us the opportunity to turn our signal which, blended can be noise, back into signal right NOW.

What do you think? Am I wrong? What makes an app transformational versus ‘just another’? Does Twitter qualify? What’s next?

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*Notes

Chris will be facilitating Startup Weekend Columbus 2 April 3-5 @ TechColumbus. We have over 100 people signed up already. Startup Weekend Columbus 1, held last summer, boasted 130+ with 2 companies being formed that are still in operation today.

That same weekend I’ll be facilitating Startup Weekend Chicago (April 3-5). It’s the first time the event is being held in the Windy City. The event is at TechNexus and I invite anyone in the area to attend. We’ve got plenty of space. I know the city has many other tech-related events including TechCocktail and ITA cityLights, but this is a unique event focused on building community and promoting innovation, creativity and critical thinking. Eric Olson is the local organizer and DePaul’s Coleman Center is sponsoring.

First

Great post Nick. What’s missing though is what you mean by “transformational”.

What does Twitter transform? Communications. Human interactions.

Alvin -

What I mean by transformational is that it’s a game changer. You may come back and say, well, define that. It’s like that star athlete - ya, they might have speed, an arm, agility, but they also probably have an on-field/court/diamond presence. They probably have a locker room effect.

I think Twitter is transforming communication, yes, but I think it’s also transforming consumption, ideas about technology and access, ideas about timing and ownership. I also think it’s transforming a population in that access is real-time, globally, and it’s not predicated necessarily on 1st, 2nd, or even 3rd degree connections but rather on content and the aptitude of a generation or perhaps better put a segment ready to pass on, eager to learn and living off of collaboration.

So, just transformational in general, I guess… would that not be a good enough answer for a law prof?

“It’s not about finding it or rote memorization anymore. It’s about application of the data/answer and the context. It’s what you DO with it…”

This is precisely why Google created AdWords/AdSense… the value is not in the search results their search engine provides, it’s what you intend to do with the results.

Simply put, they were able to monetize intention. How can Twitter do the same?

Hey NS, I’m working on a “powered by Twitter” project, would love to discuss with you. Beer? Soon?

great answer. I was just trying to add something other than “great post” to the comments.

Always room for improvement. I mean that’s been the basic model of web2.0 biz since.. well when it started.

Because of its growth and popularity lately, the near real time data mining / search aspect of it is huge. Every brand and PR guppie on the planet is touting that. Smart ones like Zappos show how powerful this tool can be.

Google definitely taking notice but waiting. Perhaps waiting for someone to make yet another iteration on the idea.

Pownce was technically a better product than twitter but just didnt get the right momentum behind it. Twitter was easier but with it, more limited.

Twitter is like a web inside the web. Its has its own culture, its own rules and constraints and it still feels like an experimental product. Only now is Twitter seemingly poised to figure out how to make money off of it. And even now as it continues to grow bigger and bigger, obvious money making plays like advertising seem so lame compared to the idea that at any time Twitter is tapped into your brain.

But its not all gravy, its a fragmented conversation inside. It may be enough to act on for some things, others not, there is room for something else.

So yes I see it transformational in that its something that you either really get or you dont. Its the kind of product that has evangelical crazies, and stern angry haters. Funny when you consider its origins as a simple way to jot out a bit moment in your head.

I’d be hesitant to build a biz off of twitter in that you’re building off a free platform of sorts. It wouldn’t take much for a competitor to see what you’re doing and simply iterate right off your back. So if you do build a biz off a twitter enjoy the advantages while you can. The bigger ventures are building a better pipe.

What a great idea to let us in this whole procedure.Thank you for giving us the opportunity to see how you work and learn so much!