To Twitter friends… Thanks for the introductions, the conversations, the questions, and the answers. For teaching us about brevity, prodding us to be thoughtful, reminding us to be more inclusive, asking us to be generous, encouraging us to be deliberate. ~300 words
Since its inception, our generation has struggled to pin down an answer to the question, “What is Twitter?” I’ve seen attempts at describing Twitter as microblogging, a messaging platform, a broadcasting tool, a social network, an information network, an interest… ~1,300 words
We’re expanding the Twitter Design Studio. Whether you’ve ever thought about working at Twitter or not, think about it now. We have a few open spots that we’re looking to fill in the next couple months. ~700 words
Starting today you’ll begin to notice a simplified Twitter bird. From now on, this bird will be the universally recognizable symbol of Twitter. ~200 words
https://twitter.com/stop/statuses/144894330967035906…
I’m seeing lots of other folks building out their own archive. In the interest of providing a rough starting point, I’m making the WP theme files for my tweet archive available here. ~200 words
A year ago, today, I joined a small startup with a penchant for brevity. Many of my friends were using it. My mom had only heard mentions of it. I noted some risk, but saw greater reward. Variables were undefined.… ~200 words
In the past, I’ve wanted to browse or search through my own tweets. Viewing my Twitter profile is one way to do that. But if I want to browse back through history, it’s a chore to go back very far.… ~700 words
Though this may not completely eliminate liability if a publisher or artist rewraps a whole series of your tweets in a different shell, Zeldman makes an interesting point on the limitations of copyright in regards to short phrases (i.e. tweets):
As messages sent via Twitter cannot be longer than 140 characters, they cannot be copyrighted. However original, witty, or profound they may be, nothing more than good manners protects your original expression of authorship. If you wish to let other people quote or use your Tweets, you need not “license” them; indeed, technically, you cannot license them, since they are in the public domain the instant you publish them.
Craig directed me to this piece today after I complimented him on the new version of Twitterrific for the iPhone, stating how much I love seeing different approaches to Twitter client design. I hadn’t seen his post (from December 2008) before today, but it’s a good read that gives insight into some of the decisions behind Twitteriffic’s design that are still applicable now.
Personally, I welcome this competition. Seeing the work of other developers whose work I respect and admire acts as an inspiration. Looking at how other developers tackle a problem domain often adds insight into solving similar issues with my own code. In other cases, it shows me how I don’t want to implement a feature (without the need to prototype.) In short, competition will make Twitterrific better.
Part 2 of 2 (here’s Part 1) Yesterday was my first day at Twitter. Yes, it’s true. After reading a bit of speculation over the past few weeks, I’ll confirm here that I am, indeed, joining Twitter. I don’t… ~500 words
If Twitter existed in 1937, and farmgirls had web access, this is how we would see one teen girl’s account of daily life during the Depression. Fascinating in a strange, time-travel kind of way. Here’s the back story and a few answers to FAQs from David Griner, the great nephew, who is maintaining the account. (via Biz)
