With a $1 billion valuation, Twitter is becoming, according to Co-Founder Evan Williams, an information network, a practically priceless exchange for connections, information, and the resulting activity that ensues.
Indeed, Twitter appears to have evolved into a human seismograph, a lifeline interweaving people through conversations, reciprocity, and connections inspired by the interests, ideas, passions, causes, and observations that move them.
Twitter’s core and most loyal users are at one with the service. Their daily actions hinge on the availability of Twitter (#whentwitterwasdown) and flourish with every new application introduced to improve the experience. Much more than a social network, the 140 character tweets that populate our attention dashboards lead us on unpredictable paths that connect us to new people and information – changing and evolving every time we log in.
A recent study by ChubbyBrain documented Twitter’s ability to foster a dedicated technology and business ecosystem. According to the report, angels and VCs had invested $23.27 million by June 2009 in Twitter-based startups. Two years ago, there was only one Twitter app. Today, there are over 50,000.
Call it Twitter economics.
Social capital and its ties to the attention and trust economies is earning undeniable prominence and stature in business and social ecosystems. It is earned and measured through our actions and words and reinforced through recognition, interaction, and reciprocity.
In real life and in business, we earn the relationships we deserve. And, the status of social capital is a reflection of our investment in its growth and definition.
The Market for Connections and Conversations
As social media defines the framework that establishes, cultivates, and leverages social capital, individual social networks are simultaneously building exchanges dedicated to defining the systems and values governing network economics. Twitter has created a thriving network economy rich with relationships, conversations, and the empowerment of its users to effectively and successfully build and cultivate communities and nicheworks around its brand and core values in and around Twitter. Simultaneously, Twitter created a dedicated ecosystem for applications and developers by opening up the platform for customization and opportunities.
Essentially, Twitter created an architecture that allows businesses to build experiences on top of it, ultimately creating a Social Operating System (OS) not unlike what Microsoft and Apple created for Windows and Mac.
While at LeWeb in Paris, Twitter’s Director of Platform Ryan Sarver announced that in three years, over 50,000 applications have been registered using Twitter’s API’s. It’s an incredible milestone as just a few years ago, the Twitterverse was populated by 1. It’s also indicative that the Twitter economy is burgeoning. While Twitter itself is finalizing its revenue strategy, developers are already turning profits while facilitating new systems for collaboration, communication, analysis, and entertainment.
Sarver also announced a new leadership program designed to further stimulate and strengthen the Twitter economy (as sourced from TechCrunch).
Twitter’s 2010 Focus:
Transparency: Increasing communication regarding public policy and intentions.
Communication: Actively communicating to include developers in the true state of affairs and technology.
Utility: Continue the expansion of rich and robust APIs to empower third-party developers to thrive.
Profitability: As quoted, “When our partners succeed, we succeed.” Read, “stay tuned in early 2010.
To commemorate its commitment to its developer community, Twitter also announced that it will launch a new online resource center, including status dashboards, tutorials, contacts, etc.
read more : Brian Solis
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