This has been contributed by Ujjwal Singh Grover, an employee of MindTree.
I want to share a slick web 2.0 application known as 'twitter' (http://twitter.com/) that allows to you to shoot short 140 character updates/response to people on what they are currently doing. It is one of those things that one would find completely frivolous and useless when one reads about it for the first time. You wonder, "Why would I want to do that?" Once you start using it and start following other people’s updates, it becomes extremely interesting and addictive.
It can also be tied to your IM so you can interact with twitter via Gtalk. There is no need to login to the website. It can also be tied up with your cell phone's text messaging so that you can always stay in touch with your updates. It’s fast becoming the telegraph system of the whole web 2.0 ecosystem since it offers an API (API is a way to build your new application using the infrastructure of twitter). That is, if I build a new application, I can use twitter as a pipe for communication between my users. As there is a restriction of 140 characters, one has to be very specific and concise which makes conversations on twitter very crisp.
You might think that it may be distracting to twit while working. But to me it serves as a tool to keep a tab on my own work 2 play ratio.
If you need to access me: http://twitter.com/ujj
Thoughts from Afshan Kirmani, User Experience Analyst
Targeting Different Markets
As compared to the west, this application can be used widely by other markets like India. Its popularity isn’t as high as it is in the other parts of the world. This could be because of several reasons like:
· The lack of informational knowledge
· The lack of motivation
· Poor targeting and marketing
· Poor internet connections
What we really need is the right knowledge, the awareness and the relevance of twitter today. Why would each market need this service? What would they use it for? What drives them towards it? This targeting is essential for a service to be widely known and used.
The whole system is built around conversations and with competitors like pownce, jaiku and plurk, twitter has several reasons to show itself off.
Thursday, 3 July 2008
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