Twitter 140conference 7 – Twitter as an information service & how it saved the hamster

This talk by JP Rangaswami, Chief Scientist at BT investigated Twitter as an information service. It could also have been called: amazing things that happend on Twitter. It contains the heart-warming tale of the lost hamster.

14:50 Interested to hear someone describe Twitter as an information service.

It’s not a news service.. though of course, we often use it for that: the Hudson plane crash or the Mumbai bombings.

However, we’re moving towards the internet of things. We are moving towards a world where you will have to start subscribing to car parks, or traffic lights. Where you check their feed to see if the park is full or if there’s jams at one junction.

News is about changes within specific entities. Alerts.

The news that is on twitter is not just news – it’s information. Alerts, advice and assistance are what you get on Twitter.

14.55 Advice: daughter’s hamster jumped thru the floorboard. Asked Twitter what to do and.. apparently broccoli and rhubarb help attract lost hamsters. Try finding that out through a google search. But cause they can’t jump you need to build a hamster ladder, use a knitted tie or a plaited belt.

Next morning the hamster was back.

Another example: Needed a visa to go to Ireland, didn’t get it in time to go on family holiday, put it on Twitter, and got a phone call next morning saying “I don’t know who you know, but there’s a lot of pressure to give you a visa, we’ll give you an appointment this morning.” Got the visa.

14.57 Final example, Twitter as an assistance service:
Wanted to get a Canadian folk rock album only available in hard copy in Toronto. Found a follower in Toronto, who bought the record for him and sent it to him.

The power of many of is vested in the new system, advice and support is in that form. Everyone of those people can add value back to you the way you did to them.

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Shiny verdict: great great stories. How lovely Tweople are!