Understanding Twitter & Social Dynamics

Stephan Baker's blog post plus link to the BW Online story below:

Here it is. Got held up a bit because BW Online wanted to run an edited version. This is what I sent Tuesday night. Please suggest fixes and adds.

It’s easy to laugh at nonsense on Twitter, the micro-blogging rage. “my nose is leaking,” writes someone called Zapples. “so imma go to sleep now…” But I’ve heard lots of similar drivel (and even produced some myself) on the phone—an important technology if there ever was one. The key question today isn’t what’s dumb on Twitter, but instead how a service with chicklet-sized messages topping out at 140 characters can be smart, useful, maybe even necessary.

Here's why I'm looking. In the last few months, the traffic on Twitter has exploded, growing far beyond its circles of bleeding-edge tech enthusiasts and hard-core social networkers. Businesses such as H&R Block and Zappos are now using Twitter to respond to customer queries. Market researchers look to it to scope out minute-by-minute trends. Media groups are focusing on Twitterers as first-to-the-scene reporters. (They were on top of the May 12 China earthquake within minutes.) Loads of new applications and services are growing around the Twitter platform, leading some to suggest that the micro-blogging service could become a powerhouse in social media.

Blogspotting The Twitter Story I've been working on - BusinessWeek