Tag: Biz Stone

Occupy Twitter

Matters are at a division of deep regret. The upstart has begun its ‘ descent’ to become a blue chip multinational demonstrating what makes you great fades with age. The challenger becomes normalized and prepares for introducing fees for usage perhaps, looking to the mobile category to assimilate potential opportunities to generate revenue streams on usage? Whatever is up, Twitter just took a major broadside from its customers. Yes, customers, remember them. The people that got the phenomena off the ground and made it the cultural success it is today. You’ve got to earn to eat and there’s nothing wrong in making money, but is there a way Biz (Stone, CEO, Twitter) that doing right by the customer could be the business model?

Here are a few things to keep in mind. You have most of them in play (for now):

Keep on being heroic
Keep on being different to how it’s been done
Keep on being principled
Keep on being fresh
Keep on being followed
Keep on being a challenger to the rule.

Here’s what they New York Times said this morning: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/28/technology/when-twitter-blocks-tweets-its-outrage.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

Twitter’s Tweet Delete

Information is power. Or so you thought. It seems that growing up means an upstart behaves like a behemoth. No longer free to voice the legacy of freedom’s reign, Twitter announces the ability to block tweets on a country by country basis. This is wonderful news NOT. Why is this good? The sops being thrown our way are democracies such as Germany and France have rules banning pro-Nazi activities (understandably), but what and who do Twitter really mean as they eye global expansion with a record 100m using the service.


What assumptions am I making that I don’t know I’m making? I’ve witnessed many ‘locked-down’ changes and developments from Twitter; controlling this, not allowing that, etc. Has freedom run off a cliff? When Twitter began, founder, Biz Stone said, “It’s like we’re on a rocket ship that we were just painting and suddenly it took off and we’re holding onto the ship with our finger nails.”

Twitter has been famously restless, garrulous and extroverted with a short attention span and a profound aversion to the status quo. Could it become desecrated, unoriginal, normalized and downtrodden as it chases to capture local markets that have the dexterity of gook and the personalities of ash?

Shame on you Twitter for grovelling at the sphincter of politically correct left wing and politically extreme right wing shibboleths. In other words, please be coaxed from your somnolence and find the right balance between sobriety and persuasiveness – there’s a good bird. Here’s how to fly on the right course:

Keep on being heroic
Keep on being different to how it’s been done
Keep on being principled
Keep on being fresh
Keep on being followed
Keep on being a challenger to the rule.

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