Twitter just passed the 140 employee mark, an important milestone for the company that was founded based on the constraint of 140 characters. As they continue to raise the intensity it is interesting to look at the direction that has been set by CEO Evan Williams.
When Ev spoke with Umair Haque at SXSWi 2010 he explained the principles that now drive Twitter. Notice the evolution from Inside Twitter from a year ago.
- Principles, not product.
- Be a force for good.
- Openness as a survival strategy.
- Organizing for experimentation.
- Doors v. windows.
These stated principles are very interesting, but if you read between the lines of conversation there are some more foundational ideas that emerge.
- Ev aiming for win win win situations, but it is difficult.
- Letting a thousand flowers bloom, why limit it?
- Ecosystems need shepherding
- Fully open isn’t necessarily a good thing
- SMS is super important for the digital divide, and SMS is how twitter started
- Riding the wave of the promise of the internet, that anybody can put content there.
- Region based perspective, referring to ‘countries’ on twitter.
- Wondering how long the firewalls will hold up in China, Australia, etc
- “We don’t expect it all to be profound” in the message content
- “The only guy who loses is the one who isn’t adding any value to the ecosystem”
- What would i do to make Walmart better?
Where will this lead in a few years time? How about 10 years time?
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