Twitter as the universal
information stream
Richard Dale
twitter.com/rdale
Social Media Jungle, Boston
Social Media Jungle Boston
March 10, 2009

An unconventional look
at unexpected uses of a
new technology
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Disclaimer: All these are personal opinions and not
those of any other person or entity.

Anyone can put information in the stream,
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anyone can take information out of the stream,

Anyone can put information in the stream,
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anyone can take information out of the stream,
a d e e yo e o s e e t e st ea s
and everyone knows where the stream is.

We have lots of
ways to keep track
ways to keep track
of the stream

There is hard information on twitter already
Th i h di f ti t itt ld

What if we added a flood of tiny drops of data?

Traffic flow status, from every
sensor, on every block, every minute
sensor, on every block, every minute
What if we added a flood of tiny drops of data?

Traffic flow status, from every
sensor, on every block, every minute
sensor, on every block, every minute
What if we added a flood of tiny drops of data?
Location (zip code) and product
purchased each time someone buys
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something from a soda machine

I don t want to follow all this boring
I don’t want to “follow” all this boring
automatic data…
But I do want to aggregate or drill down to the
But I do want to aggregate or drill down to the
data that is meaningful for me … mashing it up
using filters, counters, spreadsheets and maps.
using filters counters spreadsheets and maps

What if every prescription
was posted anonymously by
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the pharmacy network (just
zipcode, medicine and dose)?
id di i d d )?

What if these devices twittered,
telling your friends what you are
watching, and perhaps telling the
world (anonymously, in aggregate)
what everyone is watching.

And what about at
checkout…
checkout…

Or at home, reporting
power usage with
“Tweet‐a‐Watt”
Tweet a Watt

But, … aren’t these all a little
artificial for Twitter?
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NO … because
Twitter is an information stream.

Twitter is already being used for
automated broadcast of information,
and for automated reading/searching…
g/ g

Because with Twitter, anyone can put
information in the stream, anyone can
take information out of the stream, and
,
everyone knows where the stream is.

So let’s put ALL THE DATA into Twitter,
because then we know where it is.
And with the right search tools, I can find
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just the data I want, all in one place

Perhaps I will extract
Perhaps I will extract
data on weather and
prescriptions from
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across the country…

… or data on sales of soda
or data on sales of soda
and chips just in my zip code

Yes, Twitter is Social Media
It is also Universal Media
A Universal Information Stream

What data stream can
you imagine on twitter?
you imagine on twitter?

Please feel free to contact me
Richard Dale
richard@sigmapartners.com
hd
www.sigmapartners.com
twitter.com/rdale
venturecyclist.blogspot.com
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