There seems to be some buzz lately around Twitter (at least on nextNY). For those who don’t know, Twitter is a service that allows you to publish exactly what you are doing throughout the day. According to the company, “Twitter is for staying in touch and keeping up with friends no matter where you are or what you’re doing”. You can publish this information on your web page using widgets and Twitter can receive your updates via IM or SMS. Overall, pretty cool technology and I plan on trying the service out, but I have a few questions.
Why would I want to publish this information?
Who really cares that I’m watching Seinfeld or on a flight to San Francisco for a business trip? Even if I did care to publish this information to my friends it takes time to do so. They have streamlined the process a bit through the use of SMS and IM, but I still need to carve out segments of my day to publish updates. It would be one thing if the information was considered valuable, but I hardly think “going to the gym be back in an hour” is.
What are the privacy implications?
Yes, I know you can restrict the information published and to whom, but am asking what can go wrong. Can someone do bad things based on this information? Sure, but they’d also have a start with following your blog. We are getting more comfortable with publishing personal information online, but Twitter takes that to the next level by enabling detailed transparency to our daily lives. I don’t have all the answers on this one, but nevertheless worth thinking about.
Other Applications
To me, Twitter could be used in many different ways. How about Sales Reps on the road using it to post back information to their team? This would enable other team members and constituents to get update-to-information about a recent office visit or travel delay. How about delivery services using it to better publish package tracking information? Twitter could be utilized in any context that requires semi-real-time information and better team connections.
In conclusion, most peoples’ lives are boring. That’s why we watch movies, TV and surf the Internet. We want to be entertained. With Twitter we’ll really know how boring they are.
What do you think?
