Maturation of the Twitter Ecosystem

maturation of the Twitter ecosystem
kevinmakice (@kmakice)wednesday, july 22, 2009

this is me

this is me
10 tweets
5 tweets
my wife

this is also me
Kevin Makice
blog: http://www.blogschmog.net
email: kevin@makice.net
twitter: kmakice

this is what i do
The Explanation for Design Ex-plan-ationsEli Blevis and Martin A. Siegel (2004)

conceptual design
The Explanation for Design Ex-plan-ationsEli Blevis and Martin A. Siegel (2004)

It is no longer sufficient to simply master the technical.
More and more, successful design requires a grounded understanding of why you are designing in the first place.

the maturing ecosystem
a history lesson
insights from the ecosystem
iterating the developer mindset

history of the ecosystem
what is past is prologue

growing
November (2008) ~1,000 applications with the API
February (2009) ~2,000 applications with the API
April ~5,000 applications with the API
May ~10,000 applications with the API

growing
Most ideas are not unique. Design is about improving upon the existing foundation of ideas.

growing
Most ideas are not unique. Design is about improving upon the existing foundation of ideas.
Twitter Ecosystem Twinehttp://bit.ly/16Q7LP

the pioneers
early applications of the API

the innovators
applications that found a niche

the future
areas of current interest

we know what we are, but know not what we may be

interaction cycle
follow network
me
stream
tweet
profile
aggregate

properties
Code
ActionScript/Flash
C++
C#/.NET
Java
Objective-C/Cocoa
Perl
PHP
PL/SQL
Python
Ruby
Scala
JavaScript
Eiffel
Systems
GoogleMaps
Flickr
YouTube
Amazon
Twitter
VirtualEarth
eBay
YahooMaps
delicious
Google
Domain
Artisans
Business
Clergy
Construction
Design
Education
Engineering
Farming
Government
Journalism
Legal
Manufacturer
Medical
Merchant
Students
Unskilled Workers
Platform
Browser
Desktop
Mashup
Mobile
Web
Widget
Most popular APIs

properties
Code
ActionScript/Flash
C++
C#/.NET
Java
Objective-C/Cocoa
Perl
PHP
PL/SQL
Python
Ruby
Scala
JavaScript
Eiffel
Systems
GoogleMaps
Flickr
YouTube
Amazon
Twitter
VirtualEarth
eBay
YahooMaps
delicious
Google
Domain
Artisans
Business
Clergy
Construction
Design
Education
Engineering
Farming
Government
Journalism
Legal
Manufacturer
Medical
Merchant
Students
Unskilled Workers
Platform
Browser
Desktop
Mashup
Mobile
Web
Widget
The ecosystem is a multiverse.
Most popular APIs

valueless questions
How much does the application need context?
How quickly is the outcome from the interaction enjoyed?
Is value created individually or through contributions of a user community?
How open is the access to the interface (public vs. private)?
How much does the application focus on Network, Content, or Profile?
Is the intended use of the application Casual or Professional?
Is value created from a single tweet or an aggregation of posts?
Is the valued information reflected or calculated?

valueless questions
Does the application maintain a historical context?
How much does this tool support anonymity?
Are users inherently part of other groups, such as by industry or geography?
How visible is the process?
Does the application service developers, authors, or consumers?
What are the metrics needed to determine the value of use?
How do those metrics influence use of Twitter and suggest behavior?

local twittersphere
applications helping to highlight local use

discovering opportunity
using valueless factors to identify gaps

n-factor diagrams
Good
Evil
Red
Green

n-factor diagrams
Good
Evil
Red
Green
Small
Big

n-factor diagrams
Good
Evil
Red
Green
Small
Big
Valueless terms do not judge the properties of the design.

content
Where is the content focus of the tool?
Profile
Stream

content
Twellowhood
Local Chirps
TwitterLocal
Happn.in
chirpcity
NearbyTweets
Profile
Stream

dataset
What is the range of the data set needed to create value?
Single
Aggregate

dataset
Twellowhood
Local Chirps
TwitterLocal
Happn.in
chirpcity
NearbyTweets
Single
Aggregate

content-dataset
Aggregate
Stream
Profile
Single

content-dataset
Twellowhood
Aggregate
Local Chirps
TwitterLocal
Happn.in
chirpcity
NearbyTweets
Stream
Profile
Single

concept: city mosaic
Bloomington, Indiana
57 followers | following 94
Indiana professor technology student business marketing fun single happy cow Hoosier basketball

the developer’s mindset
in the heart of in the head

1) be secure
expect the unexpected

best practices
don't store passwords (use OAuth)
validate incoming data / FIEO (Filter Input, Escape Output)
make requests over SSL
let your users talk to you (security@yourapp.com)
consider use of random tokens to prevent forgery (CSRF)
cap repetitious interactions (i.e. logins)
make use of activity logs

best practices
don't store passwords (use OAuth)
validate incoming data / FIEO (Filter Input, Escape Output)
make requests over SSL
let your users talk to you (security@yourapp.com)
consider use of random tokens to prevent forgery (CSRF)
cap repetitious interactions (i.e. logins)
make use of activity logs
Twitter Security Best Practiceshttp://apiwiki.twitter.com/Security-Best-Practices

2) know your impact
your use is not their use

developer demographics
may 2009
18-50
Children
Married
Male

developer demographics
may 2009
18-50
√
Children
√
Married
http://bit.ly/tHork
√
Male
√

Developers are rarely an example of a typical user.

one man’s treasure…

3) share
if you create new data, create an API

pay it forward
people invest heavily in APIs (learning)
you have one chance to make a good API and many opportunities to make bad (inheritance)
easy to learn
easy to use / hard to misuse
sufficiently powerful
must be able to evolve
appropriate to audience
Joshua Bloch’s talk, “How to Design a Good API”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAb7hSCtvGw
http://www.webresourcesdepot.com/how-to-create-an-api-10-tutorials/

4) iterate
designs are never finished

people change

5) ask & answer
be a part of the community

resources
Twitter API Wikihttp://apiwiki.twitter.comhttp://apiwiki.twitter.com/REST+API+Changelog (55 fixes & changes)
Twitter Fan Wikihttp://twitter.pbworks.com
Twitter Blogs:http://blog.twitter.com, http://apiblog.twitter.com
Twitter Developer Communityhttp://groups.google.com/group/twitter-development-talkhttp://groups.google.com/group/twitter-api-announce
Follow: @twitterapi, @tweetreport, @Twitter_Tips, and @the_api_book

summary
final thoughts on the ecosystem
finding design opportunities in the Twitter ecosystem

understand the past

look for opportunity
Twellowhood
Aggregate
Local Chirps
TwitterLocal
Happn.in
chirpcity
NearbyTweets
Stream
Profile
Single

change your mind(set)

justify design decisions

We need food and Legos. Please give our dad a job.
We need food and Legos. Please hire dad to do research.
I’m new.

questions?
Thanks!
Kevin Makice
blog: http://www.blogschmog.net
email: kevin@makice.net
twitter: kmakice

10,000 apps
Twitter Fan Wikihttp://twitter.pbworks.com/Apps
Twitdomhttp://twitdom.com/
Go2Webhttp://www.go2web20.net/#tag:twitter
Twitter Little Starhttp://twitterlittlestar.com/
140 Characters Conferencehttp://www.140conf.com/application-directory
Twapplicationshttp://www.twapplications.net/

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Maturation of the Twitter Ecosystem

by Kevin Makice on Jul 22, 2009

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