When Will Twitter Really Go Real Time? And What Will Change When it Does?
In its current state, Twitter is a strange mix of real-time features like search and the slow polling mechanism that desktop clients use to grab new messages. As Twitter puts a limit on how many times per hour a client can check for updates, most of the conversations on Twitter are slow and arduous. When Seesmic released its new desktop and web applications last week, however, the company also mentioned that its applications would soon be able to update Twitter streams in real time, including @replies and direct messages. While the Seesmic team was tight-lipped about how exactly they are going to do this (maybe by tapping into Twitter's Streaming API?), we can't help but wonder how this will change the dynamics on the service.
Twitter as a Chat Room
Currently, conversations on Twitter are asynchronous and sluggish. If they happened in real-time, however, Twitter would start to look and feel more like an IM client. Even on FriendFeed, which was once seen as a possible Twitter challenger but which never quite got any mainstream traction, conversations now happen in real time. While Twitter is often mentioned as a vehicle for real-time conversations, in reality, conversations on Twitter aren't happening in real time at all.
Once Twitter turns into more of a chatroom, both Twitter's website and third-party clients will also have to improve the way they display these conversations. Seesmic's 'message' view looks like a step in the right direction. The Seesmic web app features a TweetDeck-like column-based view of your Twitter streams and searches, but it also separates 'real' conversations that you participate in from the rest of the application. Other desktop apps like Nambu for the Mac feature rudimentary support for displaying conversation threads, but most clients currently don't do a very good job at highlighting conversations and mostly look at Twitter as a broadcast medium.
Once our streams really start moving on Twitter, we will also need better ways to filter and manage our subscriptions (including better spam filters). Right now, scanning a list of updates is easy, and most clients support search and the ability to create groups, but maybe automatic filtering based on the kind of messages we pay attention to will also help us to manage the information stream.
What Do You Think?
We will have to see how all of this will play out in the next few months once Seesmic (and others, we assume) will release their updated clients, but we think that this could potentially take Twitter into a completely new direction.
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The challenge with too much real-time is that we'll need to have it well organized so that the little in-progress trends don't end-up derailing our attention unnecessarily.
In their rush to provide real-time, I'm seeing vendors just dump more noise than signal into the stream, leaving us to sort it all out.
If this all becomes like watching tick by tick a stock's movement, it could be problematic because only professionals can make sense of a 30-min real-time stock chart.
As important as it is, let's hope that more real-time in social media doesn't make us more hyper-active before it makes us smarter or more "in the know".
I'm reserving comment until I see it in action, but Friendfeed has some great filtering capability that Twitter and the Apps would need to emulate if real-time is to be useful.
I would not be so quick to write off Friendfeed. It took Twitter three years to hit mainstream adoption, and it is still working through that marketing bell curve.
Unlike facebook, which is realtime, twitter is a community of people who are more frequently engaged with blogs and other social networks. This is why I see twitter heading more in the direction of replacing people's RSS feeds rather then being a chatroom. People use twitter to get personal updates, advise, and feedback more so then a medium for one on one (or multiple) communication. It would be disappointing for twitter to head in a chatroom-esque direction. Perhaps they're trying to grab a younger audience?
Hi Frederic, My name is Charlotte, I am a student journalist and am writing a piece on Twitter. Your piece really interests me - would I be able to set up a phone or email interview with you about it? My email address is charlottehanger@hotmail.com.
I'm wondering if the Google Wave will be Twitter's competition. The definition of real-time may change if we can see what people are typing AS they type it. Also, being able to see who is currently online would be a step up from Twitter.
It will be interesting to see where Twitter is in a year and if they can appeal to the younger demographic.
I am not one to stand in the way of progress, but do we really want the Twitter as a Chat Room? Isn't this just like Ebay moving away from auctions to an Amazon 'instant buy' model, and losing their core base of users.
As WM (comment #1) says the noise to signal is already an issue for some, plus I can see a point where those who entice me to follow them then just ejaculate thirty urls a day will become wearisome. It is a real bore logging in then seeing that someone has blocked your whole page and pushing back people with their monologue of found articles.
I think that what would improve the quality would be a two simple filters within the core system (and not just those that orbit it). First one that groups multiple posts from the same person using a plus/minus, leaving us the choice to expand them and the second that allows us inner and outer circle attribution similar to the feed follow filter settings that have come in on FBook, but perhaps using some color highlighting.
Hi,I not are of your contry(Sorry for my horrible english)
I´m Mexican,very well your article on twitter and more,of course