A Simple Idea, a Huge Success!

Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter.

By Ed Martinez

March 29, 2009

It all started based on the simple idea of being able to know what his friends were doing—real-time status communication delivered in different ways if you will. That was the concept Twitter’s co-founder, Jack Dorsey envisioned when he launched Twitter back in August of 2006. By the age of fourteen, Mr. Dorsey had already developed software that enabled taxicab companies, couriers, and emergency services to be dispatched right from the Internet. Some of the software he developed then, is still in use today.  

During the nineties, we saw the birth of modern Internet-based instant messaging applications—such as AOL Instant Messenger. These text-based applications grew in popularity very rapidly as more users began to discover the advantages of real-time communication between two or more people, especially since it could be done from anywhere in the world. Mr. Dorsey was intrigued by this communication method and wondered if the status of users could be shared between friends easily. Utilizing his background in software development, he decided to share his idea with fellow colleagues and a blueprint of this concept was created, which eventually morphed into Twitter.

It seems like Twitter is being talked about just about everywhere these days—it has become an incredible success.  Active users have increased 900% in the past year. For a relatively small team of 29 employees based out of San Francisco, this is a huge accomplishment. Many prominent people in our society are using Twitter including celebrities such as Shaquille O’Neil and politicians like John McCain.

So what is Twitter you ask? Twitter is a free service that enables users to communicate and stay connected to each other through the exchange of quick and frequent messages. These frequent messages are referred to as “tweets”—no relation to Tweety Bird. These “tweets” provide a quick current status of the person doing the “tweeting.” You are probably thinking, wait a minute, but we already have phones, update Blogs, use email, and socialize in person with friends and family. Why would I want to exchange messages in a different way?  Can you say communication overload? You are partially right of course! There is nothing wrong with the traditional methods of communication between each other. These methods have worked in the past and have allowed us to feel connected to those we care about by sharing part of our lives with each other.  There are times though that those parts of our day-to-day activities are not discussed with friends or family— for whatever the reason. The traditional communication methods often summarize our day-to-day experiences, and they do not report experiences as they are taking place—important details may get missed. These in-between details about us may be important to others.  That is where Twitter comes in. When you sign up for Twitter, you get your own Blog-style personal website. You can post quick and frequent messages under 140 characters fom a cell phone via SMS text messages and/or a native mobile application.  A computer can also be used with instant messaging software, or by posting directly to your Twitter personal website. Once you have your Twitter account setup, you can search for people by name or user name, or invite friends via email. Your friends can start following your activities in real time. As others begin to follow you, your personal Twitter website will display all new entries from your contacts—including your own entries. You can also set up your account to receive all updates from contacts via SMS text messages, in case you are unable to browse the website for new updates. There are also several Twitter applications for your computer and mobile devices that will also display these updates from your contacts and let you submit a quick update as well.  Among the most popular ones you can find, Twirl, Mobypicture, Twitterfeed and Twitteriffic.  

Some believe that Twitter is just too much communication and can potentially eliminate the need to socialize in person with family and friends. The purpose of Twitter is to ask one simple question, “What are you doing?”—in 140 words or less. It is not expected that you will post a long entry describing your activities in detail. Also, users do not expect a response when they send a message to Twitter. You just  find out what your contacts are up to. Twitter users also have control of whose updates they receive, when, how and on what device.

Twitter can definitely give you an insight into your friends and families—and learn new things about them that your were not aware of.  When you do socialize with them in person, you can discuss in detail your “What are you doing?” updates. Happy “tweeting.”