Twission is the final piece in the Twitter puzzle
Apr 9th 2009NiaLLLarkinUncategorized
Twitter almost solves the biggest baddest puzzle of our time.
But its not there yet.
And I think Twission is the final piece in that puzzle.
So what is the biggest baddest puzzle of our time.
In short, too much of a good thing.
Information overload.
We live in an age where we are easily
overwhelmed by the constant flood of
high value information.
Information makes you smarter.
Until it becomes overwhelming.
Then it makes you dumb.
Drinking from the firehose is not the best way to quench a thirst.
So how can we cope?
Well, Twitter helps a lot.
It delivers the first part of the solution.
It enforces brevity.
And that’s good.
It also deliver the second part of the solution:
Finding what is relevant to you.
By using friends as filters.
The third part of the solution?
Real-time search of real-time discussion.
This is why Twitter purchased ‘Summize.’
The final part of the solution.
Is real-time search within the bounds of ‘friends as filters’
This delivers real-time results most relevant to you.
This is exactly what is provided by Twission.
Check it out. Twission.
Note: its quite slow at the moment, but you’ll quickly get the idea
5 Comments »
Campbell Scott on 09 Apr 2009 at 3:50 pm #
Niall,
I wasn’t familiar with Twission, so I will take a look, as the problem you highlight is the big problem of our time.
I have another view as to how to bring the best and most relevant content to the top - based on your trust network - so we must catch up to discuss
NiaLLLarkin on 09 Apr 2009 at 8:21 pm #
@Campbell
re: Relevant media delivered through trust networks…
Yes we must organise time to for a chat. Ping me with a date and we’ll grab some lunch.
re: Twission
I just learned about it myself yesterday. I’ve been standing back from the firehose for a while now. I was nice to dip back in a find this wee treat when I did. Its the latest from Iarfhlaith of Webstrong.
Iarfhlaith Kelly on 10 Apr 2009 at 8:01 am #
Thanks for the great write up Niall.
The inspiration for building Twission came from watching events like Obama’s inauguration, Dragon’s Den, and other TV shows that people live blogged on Twitter using the hashtag convention (#obama09, #ddire, etc.).
Twitter comes into it’s own during events like these. And more often then not I’d be more entertained by what was coming through on the Twitter feed then I would be with the actual TV content.
But as this activity becomes more popular (and if Twitter usage is anything to go by, it’s going to be huge), it becomes less relevant to you as your own network of friends get drowned out by the crowd.
Twission tries to fix this issue by filtering the search results based on your own Twitter network. It’s not a perfect execution because like you said, it is a little slow. This is because of the sheer number crunching involved in calculating the degrees of separation between you and the people in the results. But I’m working on making the whole thing faster and more reliable.
I’ve also got some further ideas about enhancing the filters and giving more control to the user.
Finally, a big thanks for helping to get the word out, I really appreciate it Niall. I’ve had more then 300 new visitors since you wrote this up so it definitely helped to spark the interest of the community.
NiaLLLarkin on 10 Apr 2009 at 10:08 am #
You’re welcome.
There’s no doubt about it. Twitter really does come into its own with hashtag events. Twittering the first Dragon’s Den reminded me of student days sitting on a couch and spinning crappy daytime TV into comedy gold with a bunch of mates. It really enhances the experience.
I see the issue of speed as par for the course. And I also see it as a huge opportunity. If you become the de facto expert on squeezing efficiency from this number crunching routine. You’ve got the kind of value that made summize an acquisition target.
All-in-all Twission has got me excited. I think your onto a real winner here. And I’m only too glad to say so. Fair play man.
Iarfhlaith Kelly on 14 Apr 2009 at 11:56 am #
Twission has been shortlisted for a Net Visionary Award. In both the Web Developer Excellence and Best Use of Social Media categories.
Would really appreciate a vote or two: http://short.ie/awards