Twitter



Twitter was founded in March 2006 by a San Francisco start-up company known as Obvious Corp [1]. It is a website where users can send updates (text-based posts, up to 140 characters long) via an application, short message service, instant messaging, or email [2]. These posts usually note what a particular user is doing at the given time of his/her posting. This type of activity is usually referred to as '[|micro-blogging]'. All updates are displayed on the user's profile page and sent to any other users who are signed up to receive them. Both sender and receiver have the ability to restrict messages from certain users within their circle of friends.
 * Description**

Here are some example postings from the Recent Updates section off the homepage:



This system has been accused of being extremely invasive. Some users claim to feel as though they are prying into the lives of their friends, and others have said that they are constantly bothered and interrupted by the alerts of their friends activities. Depending on how many friends are on your list, you could receive a large number of alerts within a short period of time. And although many people may have these negative feelings towards the system, it is solely based on user activity so whether or not you find the system useful and non-intrusive depends on your settings, your personal activity, and the posting activity of your friends.
 * Analysis**

I would never be interested in using this particular system, but the concept is a good basis for other social networking opportunities. Cyclists may find it extremely useful to have an instant group messaging system in place while they are travelling. They could alert their group of friends where they are headed, what stops they are planning to make, schedule updates, and make propsals for group rides or other collective activites.


 * Bibliography:**

__Twitter: What Are You Doing?__ 2007. Twitter, Inc. 29 Oct. 2007 <[]>.

[1][2] "Twitter." __Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.__ 27 Oct. 2007. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 29 Oct. 2007 <[]>.