I, like many others, get sick of hearing the (at this point) age-old quip “but I don’t care what you had for breakfast

” specifically in reference to , but also to the use of social tools and social web behaviors in general.

So, for all of you naysayers, let me paint a picture for you…

Tehran, Iran – circa June 2009

Let me explain.

There are many questions to be asked regarding the “election”, not the least of which may be whether or not it matters who is president in a supreme-power theocracy. However, it is the events surrounding the recent happenings which are intriguing – a convergence of global social behaviors, technology, now-web and modern web application development practices and theory. In short, the techy geeky “stuff” which you presume to be a fad, isn’t. It is communication now; it is communication of the future. The results are profound.

Ingredients:

Global Social Behaviors

– We live in a global economy and society. If you don’t believe that, please crawl back under your rock. It’s not just about multi-hemisphere conglomerates and international relations anymore, though. As is the common theme these days, it’s about the individual. Social technologies have connected the Common Joes of the world and they are genuinely interested in listening, talking, sharing, teaching, helping and learning from each other. From Bengal to New Hampshire they are participating in each others’ daily lives and having trivial(?) conversations.

Technology

– It’s cheaper, more powerful, more accessible and better mastered than ever in history. We all know a computer as powerful as my iPhone used to be the size of an entire room… blah…blah…blah. The amazing capabilities of technology today, IMHO, are not so much computational, but connective combined with the ease by which they can be applied. You can connect almost anywhere. You can connect with almost anything… and that’s the point… YOU can do it.

The mobility of technology is also a key component. Mobile phones and smart-phones are of the utmost importance.

Modern Web Application Development Practices and Theory

– Non-technicals stick with me here… there are a few crucial aspects of how people and companies develop web applications these days. Namely, the primary focus is on the engine – the core functionality. Many developers build and release (SDKs), most commonly (APIs), for their applications. These tools, libraries, protocols and services allow other developers to leverage the engine in unique ways – pulling, pushing and mashing up data and interfaces. If you’ve ever seen a in it, you’re seeing the result of an API. Users and developers find new uses for applications and engines all the time. Google is releasing it’s APIs for it’s new project – – to developers around the world long before the application will be accessible to the public. The idea is that thousands of progressive and diverse minds will help to finish the product, find new uses and  make it better. So, applications are being released “unfinished” and “wide open”. *Note -Ownership and monetization are another story!

Still shrugging and saying ‘so what?’, huh? -

Tehran – People are trying to mobilize, trying to tell the world what is happening, but communications are being shut down. Traditional media are being . Sites are being blocked. But remember – people around the world are watching, people around the world want to help, people around the world care. Technology is accessible, connective and collaborative and our good friends at Twitter are aligned with the API-empowered web community.

What does this mean?

This means that because Twitter has an API, Twitter.com is not the only access point to the engine. It means that there exist 1000s of 3rd party applications through which people can read and publish tweets. Tehran can’t block them all, they don’t even know about them all. Fantastic! The masses with their mobile phones can be anywhere, communicate with each other, organize, assemble, and keep the rest of the world up-to-date while foreign journalists are being “controlled” and ().

Well, what about connectivity? Internet access? If you can’t connect, you can’t tweet. Tehran certainly has control over access, right? Yes and no. Enter software engineer in Oklahoma who is interested in the situation and wants to contribute. He configures his laptop as a and whala – people in Tehran can connect to TwitterFall through his computer and communications resume. That is, until Tehran finds him, and blocks his proxy. But then, another pops up in the UK, in Florida, in Singapore… you get the picture.

So let’s summarize that. People in Iran can communicate with each other and with the rest of the world while their government is scrambling to block things as quickly as they can because they have mobile technology, the global community cares, is interested, can facilitate connectivity, and because modern web applications focus on the what, not the how/when/where.

Does it matter? I sure think so. A major geopolitical occurence was consumable in real-time and not only that… but it was MADE POSSIBLE in real time because of this convergence. Still not convinced it matters? Well, the State Department decided it did too… – a small group in a loft in – and asked them not to go offline for scheduled maintenance because… well… Twitter was contributing to democracy.

How da ya like DEM apples?

Today a good friend, Chris () who is a Startup Specialists at , tweeted something interesting. Funny thing – I saw it come through on Fwitter ( ) – and responded.

Here’s what he tweeted:

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

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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. is 34+mn actives. 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, 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, <- 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 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 . 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 . 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?

___________________________________________________

*Notes

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

That same weekend I’ll be facilitating (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 and , but this is a unique event focused on building community and promoting innovation, creativity and critical thinking. is the local organizer and is sponsoring.

i use twitter primarily for consumption. im not one to thank those following me. per my model, i assume im somehow adding value as they are consuming what im tweeting.

that said, i wanted to take a little time to thank all of those who im following. i really and truly enjoy diving into (my new desktop twitter client of choice) and feeding on my twitter stream. i primarily follow industry (web) folk, VCs and angels, economists, journalists, and media. i also follow some friends around the country and some colleagues, friends and acquaintances in town (columbus, ohio).

i depend on my stream to a)

provide great links to things im interested in: web, technology, economics, politics and current events

. the stream ive built does this phenomenally. they are people who want to be on top of things, who NEED to be on top of things, who truly believe in horizontal sharing of information and the incredible results of realtime sharing and conversation. b)

provide a diverse perspective . my stream is composed of some incredible people in different walks of life, in different parts of the country and world, working on and interested in myriad things. the information and topics im exposed to because of them allow me to be a more balanced and learned person. [ *** IMPORTANT NOTE - 2 key realities of the twitter-dynamic surface here 1) the access to people that twitter provides - i can consume (even if im not interacting with) thought, conversation and information from people i otherwise would not have access too and 2) the nature of twitter and the BIY stream actually creates a push model (to me) so that i can access tons of info without digging through what i now (i didnt used to) consider a smothering volume in a RSS reader ] c)

just be flat out interesting.

seriously. the people i follow are observant, curious, innovative. links and important information aside… i love reading witty, insightful, hilarious tweets. they remind me that people are thinking, that life is happening to everyone, that there is a human condition (as fractured as it may be) and that people do notice the things that i do.

twitter isnt for everyone (individual or company), but its definitely for me.

so, thanks, people i follow, for being interesting and deciding to share.