twitter

Here's Web 2.0 at its finest: A Yahoo programmer has combined his own project, Yahoo BOSS (Build Your Own Search Service), with Twitter and Google App Engine to create a new way to determine what news is both new and important.

The service, called TweetNews, presents Yahoo news search results in a different way, using results from the same search on Twitter to determine what should get high placement, according to a blog posting about it by BOSS engineer Vik Singh.

BOSS supplies Yahoo search results in a form that can be repackaged, processed, and published for free, … Read more

The rapid-fire spread of a close-up photo of the US Airways plane that crashed in the Hudson River Thursday resulted in the service that hosted the picture going down.

TwitPic, an application that allows users to take pictures from their mobile phones and append them to Twitter posts, went down after at least 7,000 people attempted to view the photo of the airplane taken from a commuter ferry by Sarasota, Fla., resident Janis Krums.

According to Noah Everett, the founder of TwitPic, who still runs the service by himself, after the photo of the plane was re-tweeted by a … Read more

On Tuesday, Twitter acknowledged what much of the Web 2.0 world has discovered but doesn't discuss nearly enough: it is a huge open-source beneficiary. However, Twitter isn't content to simply use the fruits of others' work. Twitter is also a significant open-source contributor:

When we plan new engineering projects at Twitter, we measure our requirements against the capabilities of open source offerings, and prefer to use open source whenever it makes sense. By this approach, much of Twitter is now built on open-source software.

In some cases, our requirements--in particular, the scalability requirements of our service--lead us … Read more

Last month, Twitter posted a job listing saying it was looking for someone who knew business, and now it looks like the microblogging site has found one--the first of several, it appears. Twitter has hired Kevin Thau, a veteran of tech companies Buzzwire and Openwave, as its director of mobile business development.

According to Twitter stats app Twitterholic, Thau has been using Twitter since early March of last year. He's been hired in part to handle the "crushing amount" of partnership proposals that Twitter receives. The mobile front is particularly important for Twitter, as it's the … Read more

One of our favorite Twitter applications for iPhone and iPod Touch, Twitterlator is a glossy offering that adds geotagging and organization to its Twitter management tools. It can even optimize the application for lefties. No explanation is needed here to post geotagged photos and tweets from Twitterlator or direct messages to friends. To reply to a tweet, tap the back arrow; to flag it, hit the star; and to view a link in Twitterlator's in-app browser, just press the 'forward' button. There's also a field for searching Twitterstreams and separate screens for the public time line and personal … Read more

LAS VEGAS--There are millions of people who use Twitter--the microblogging site where all messages must be 140 or fewer characters long--but I can't think of anyone more active on the service than self-proclaimed "tech geek blogger" Robert Scoble.

Not only does he have nearly 48,000 people who follow him (read his Twitter posts which are called "tweets") but he follows nearly 21,000 people. I ran into Robert at the Showstoppers reception at CES where I asked him how he can possibly keep up with that many people on Twitter. After that I asked … Read more

LAS VEGAS--After writing several how-to books about computers, Web development, and other aspects of technology, Dave Taylor decided to take his show to the Web by creating AskDaveTaylor.com, a Q&A site focused on tech. He says that the site, which carries advertising, is bringing in enough money to support him, making him something of a role model for others who are looking for career options. He's also an avid Twitter user, which he says helps him build traffic for his Web site and enhance his other businesses.

At the Showstoppers event at the Consumer Electronics Show, … Read more

The debate over whether you should follow everyone who follows you on Twitter has raged on ever since the popular microblogging service gained traction. Some say following everyone eliminates the real value Twitter provides--connecting with others of similar interests. Others say that following everyone actually provides more value.

But if you consider some of the finer points of following everyone who follows you on Twitter, I think you might come to the realization, just as I have, that following everyone is not just a responsible move on your part, it's good of the entire community.

Nope, there aren't rules, but there is etiquette

There aren't any rules forcing you to follow your followers on Twitter, but that doesn't mean it's not the right thing to do.

If someone has found you compelling in some way, shouldn't you give them the benefit of the doubt and follow them back? It's not like you can't block them in the future if you think their tweets are inappropriate.

To me, Twitter is all about the community. And by signing up, that community has made the conscious decision to interact and share interests, ideas, and personal information. If someone follows you, they're saying, in effect, that they want to hear what you have to say and care about your ideas.

I don't see anything wrong in following them as a gesture of appreciation and confirmation that you're willing to hear what they have to say, as well. After all, if you want to become a part of the community, isn't it only right that you hold up your end of the bargain and give them the same respect they've given you?

The 'noise' argument holds little water

Whenever I discuss my reasoning for following everyone who follows me on Twitter, I invariably receive the same response from those who disagree: "following everyone is too much trouble and you can't find all the conversations you actually want to engage in."

Rubbish.

I currently follow over 2,400 people on Twitter and I've never had an issue finding really interesting and relevant information. Sure, some of it has nothing to do with me--discussions about grilled cheese sandwiches, for one--but there's quite a bit that my followers discuss that I'm interested in. I'd say that more than 80 percent of all the updates that flow through my stream are worthy of discussion. And I don't think I'm unique.… Read more

Western civilization may never again be the same.

Grant Robertson, who goes by the Twitter handle, @grobertson, used the microblogging service to propose marriage to his girlfriend, Christina Warren, known in the tweetosphere as @film_girl. (Thanks to Erick Krangel for bringing this to everyone's attention.)

This isn't the first time nerds have turned to technology for amorous pursuits. But it's about as cutting edge--or lame, as it gets. All depends on your point of view. So sound off and vote in our poll to the right.