Searching Microblog Content
March 16, 2009
The disruptive force of the flakey Twitter service continues. In case you have been hanging out with the goslings in Harrod’s Creek, Kentucky, Twitter is the somewhat unstable, rapidly growing, money losing micro blogging service. A micro blog is a text message that is short, less than 140 character if my addled goose memory is working this morning. Who cares about Twitter? Young people and the young at heart have tons of fun firing out text bullets in real time to anyone with a Twitter account. Unlike email which in theory is sort of a one to one communication, Twitter is spam fortified. Any post gets blasted to anyone with a Twitter account. To filter the stuff, one can “follow” a Twitter user. Dozens of utilities ranging from the silly to the stalker inspired are available.
I found the March 13, 2009, article “Microblogging Will Marginalize Corporate Email” here quite interesting. The idea is that microblogging is a disruptive technology. Over time, its utility will increase, particularly for “notifications” and certain types of marketing functions. I don’t disagree. If you are a Twitter watcher, you will want to save a copy of “I’m Not Actually a Geek’s” article. Ignoring Twitter as a source of useful intelligence is an oversight. The challenge of searching and generating knowledge from a Twitter stream remains an interesting challenge. I don’t think Twitter has a solution. Further, I don’t think any of the vendors whose software I monitor has a solution. Big opportunities in my opinion.
Stephen Arnold, March 15, 2009
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