Twitter blazes new trail with @anywhere
March 15th, 2010Author: Alex Payne
Apparently no one told Twitter co-founder Evan Williams the old Texan proverbs “If you’re ridin’ ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it’s still there.” In his keynote address at the South by Southwest Interactive Conference in Austin today, @ev announced Twitter’s intention to blaze a new trail with their @anywhere platform.
If you haven’t heard, the new platform will integrate with some of the world’s top websites. It will allow you to follow a journalist’s byline or tweet about a YouTube video without leaving the page.
While some may see this as an attempt to connect with the world like Facebook, I see it as Twitter fully embracing their destiny. In my opinion Twitter has always been a platform for quick communication. Whether it’s been link sharing, reporting news, or laughing at the latest meme, Twitter has always been about communicating through a platform to the community that formed around it.
While the Twitter community that has grown is spectacular, it still leaves a lot be desired. It lacks the everyman attitude of Facebook and the dominance of Google. While Twitter would always have a large fan base, it wouldn’t necessarily be enough to sustain itself.
That’s why I think @anywhere might be the best trail Twitter has blazed so far. By combining the content we love to share with a platform that everyone knows, Twitter has a chance to weave itself into the very DNA of the web. By thriving as an communication platform, Twitter can survive and grow as a community and a company.
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Tags: Evan Williams, Facebook, South by Southwest, Texan, Texas, Twitter
