BlogSchmog | We live as if the world were as it should be, to show it what it can be.

I have been tweeting since early March, just before Twitter exploded into the mainstream Internet with a strong showing at the South by Southwest conference. Since that time, I have followed the growing interest in the service and saving hundreds of links that I will try to process over the course of the next week.

Twitter surpassed a half-million active members this fall. Their interest is not only as producers and consumers of content, but also as developers of desktop applications, information visualization, mashups with other Internet tools, and the creation of completely new services not possible before Twitter. Tweets have been used to alert local communities to emergency situations and to play games. They can even facilitate the sale of beer. Twitter is not without its critics, but it seems clear that microblogging is here to stay as a communication channel.

Over the next week, BlogSchmog will explore different aspects of Twitter based on eight months of use.

A brief history of microblogging
How did Twitter get its start?
Twitter stood on the shoulders of giants, IRC and IM status messages, to gain traction. There are several entrants in the domain of microblogging, but the combination of simplicity, an open API and good timing give Twitter a dramatic edge in any race.

Twitter utilitarianism
How do people use Twitter?
People rely on Twitter for different reasons. Some want to share the details of their lives, while others prefer to share news and links. About one in eight just want to chat. People tweet to educate, to market products, to promote causes, and to entertain.

Innovating Twitter
How is the community improving Twitter?
The open API has generated a mass of member-developed tools to publish, access and otherwise manage tweet content. Many services are being made better through the mashups that connect to the Twitter community.

Visualizing the information stream
How is Twitter information being understood?
Whether it is pictures built from member profiles or blocks indicating connections between authors, Twitters many information streams are being visualized in interesting ways that go beyond answering the basic question, “What are you doing?”

A paradigm shift towards presence
Is microblogging something new?
Young services like Twitter and Tumblr are seen by some as a natural evolution of personal presence on the Internet, filling a gap between blogging and social networking. Some say it is in the process of obsoleting email.

The social effects of a tweet
How is Twitter changing lives? (TBA)
The biggest payoff of adoption is a greater sense of connection to your community of interest. The reward comes in the form of timely information and virtual proximity to those you care about, and an increased sense of connection is bound to alter behavior.

Criticism of Twitter
Why do people hate Twitter? (TBA)
The haters fall into two main categories—those who never tried it, and those who don’t get it. There are some members, though, who gave it a go but got sick of the technical problems or the level of distraction it afforded.

Academic interest in microblogging
How will Twitter impact scholarly research? (TBA)
The University of Maryland published the first academic study on Twitter, analyzing the content and membership to come up with four types of members. The service has merited some mention in a few other publications, but 2008 should be a year when Twitter is the talk of the lecture circuit.

I hope I can keep to the schedule. A simple search for “Twitter” on this blog underscores my interest in this young service:

• "Twitter"—my first review of Twitter on March 13, 2007
• "WP plug-in directory"—the WordPress community made early use of the open API
• "Value in the Network"—Shannon Clark’s meshwalk made some use of Twitter
• "Meebo Rooms"—group chat would be dramatically improved with Twitter notifications
• "Ah, Tweet mystery of life"—why I like Twitter, circa May 2007
• "TweetVolume"—early data mining, comparing use of keywords in public tweets
• "Conflicting Messages"—a tweet inspires some reflection on parenting and education
• "Steven Wright is not Not Steven Wright"—identity issues with my favorite comedian
• "Art a’Twitter"—creative use of tiling software and Twitter profile pictures
• "Twit, Twitter, Twitterer"—a June 2007 overview of the Twitter phenomenon
• "Tweeting the red pill"—a visualization of a tweet stream
• "v1d30 f0r l4ughs"—one of the early spam tweets I wound up liking
• "Digg Vision"—admiring the work of Brian Shaler, who would become an uber-twitterer
• "Click-up lines"—creative use of Twitter to get referral book sales with Amazon
• "Directory 2.0"—was tipped off to this site through a tweet
• "Remember the Milk"—a great application leveraging Twitter for posting
• "Getting the low down with FeedUp"—making use of Kosmix’s FeedUp to track Twitter references
• "VCs want traction"—reacting to news that Twitter got funding
• "Invitation to Web 2.0"—hawking some beta invites, including one to Twitter competitor Pownce
• "CoComment"—just a small mention of wanting to share information via Twitter
• "You don’t ping me flowers anymore"—this needs a Twitterrific-esque desktop application
• "Hide ‘n Tweet"—a great use of Twitter: as a mixed reality game of hide’n’seek
• "IMified"—another way to post tweets
• "Bloomington not yet a’Twitter"—imagining local information flow if more people used Twitter
• "The Local Tweet Stream"—trying to get a handle on the local early adopters of Twitter
• "31Og Day"—three of my 31Og Day recommends are in my tweet stream
• "Intertubes 1.0"—laughing at Patrick Marshall’s rejection of Twitter
• "PingSchming"—Twitter and some related feeds are part of my blogroll
• "Twitter rules"—exploring Scoble’s rules to ignore for Twitter etiquette
• "Twitter and Google-Jaiku can co-exist"—reacting to news that Google bought Jaiku
• "Artistnet"—using Twitterrific as a metaphor for information alerts
• "Emergency 2.0"—the first news of a local sniper came as a tweet
• "Tao of Twitter"—how to market on Twitter
• "A world of wiki" and "Highlights of WikiSym 2007"—wishing more people would tweet WikiSym 2007
• "Tear It Down"—found a new political site through a tweet
• "New APIs for Pownce and Meebo"—opening APIs for a competitor and an ideal partner
• "Joss Whedon on Writers"—following the Writers’ Strike on Twitter
• "ClipMarks addiction"—changing habits of information processing
• "Designed interruptions"—how Twitter can fit into one’s life
• "BOOM (shuffle)"—news from my personal information stream
• "Hidden communities"—two non-Twitter examples of the power of transparency