The Twitter co-founder talks about Obama’s social media savvy, what makes someone popular on Twitter, and why people are like birds.
Below is an excerpt of the interview.
“MJ: What makes somebody popular on Twitter? I mean, how can I make my Twitter feed popular?’
‘BS: I think there are a few ingredients. First of all, being an active user. Having something compelling to say, and that doesn’t mean it has to be this genius content because it really depends on who is following you. Like I said, the other day I heard music outside of my house and so I typed ‘music, playing, concert, Berkeley’ into Twitter Search and I got an update that was a minute old from someone who said they were at a Radio Head concert at the Greek Theater which is near my house. So I said, oh ok, question answered. But all they wrote was ‘listening to Radio Head at the Greek in Berkeley’ which in and of itself isn’t that compelling of an update, but at the same time it was very meaningful to me. So you want to be a fairly active user. And you want to engage a little bit with other people. So if you see that you’re getting ‘@replies,’ which are just a public way of addressing another Twitter user so that others can see you’ve addressed them, if you see you’re getting these in your replies tab, occasionally to respond to them in kind. That usually shows signs of life activity. Once you create that engagement you start creating feedback loops which make the whole experience more compelling and attracts more people to follow you.”
For the full 13 minute audio, click here:
MoJo Interview: Biz Stone | Mother Jones.
Nice interview from the co-founder of Twitter, pointing out the service’s direction, platform, andhow you explain Twitter to your grandmother.
Note: Twitter’s growth climbed at 600% last year to over 4 million active users. Already they have incorporated real-time search functions that host instant goings-on around the world. Important for journalism and breaking news. Twitter is expected grow to over 9 million users by the end of 2009.
