Twitter refers to the data that streams through its service as a Firehose. As they prepare to launch their new relationship model known as @anywhere (at anywhere) – you can expect to get "Twitter wet" by visiting any number of social media sites they have partnered with.
Open Format
One feature that distinguishes Twitter from other social networking and marketing sites is their open format. With Twitter, there are no hurdles to building friendships. No permissions are needed. You are free to follow anyone and they you.
This seems to have been Twitter's business model from the beginning. They suggest they wish to be friends with everyone. And recently they have forged relationships with Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft – three companies that you never would have expect to be playing together in the same sandbox.
@anywhere changes all of that. It is a new technology launch that allows participating sites to share in Twitter's stream of data right on their home site. The initial partners are represented by the logos above. As you know, Bing is with Microsoft, YouTube is with Google, and Yahoo is Yahoo.
Real-Time Benefits for You
What this means is you can go deeper with your Twitter experience by remotely accessing it from all of these other sites. So, for example, you will be able to Tweet about a video directly from YouTube – which you can essentially do with features like ShareThis. However, you will also be able to engage with new Twitter users directly from YouTube.
The message I am getting from this is that Twitter will be a force to contend with because they have managed to remain a neutral participant, and as a result, a trusted (possibly necessary) friend for all. This just may be what some of us have been looking for to make our use of Twitter more engaging – as it was during friendlier times (less crowded) a couple of years ago.
@Anywhere
If you aren't familiar with APIs – and you don't need to be, this is the technology that makes all of this possible. The social Web is sometimes referred to as an ecosystem, and these APIs are what make that happen by allowing for the seamless integration of multiple social media sites.
What does this mean for you? If you have worked with Twitter or Facebook at all, you understand there is some effort involved in connecting sites together so that you can share data. Through ventures like @anywhere, these APIs take care of that for you. All you have to do is drop in and start a conversation.
The cool aspect of this is Twitter is not limiting this to mega players such as Yahoo, The New York Times, and Huffington Post. They are looking to license their technology to just about anyone. Anyone, I suppose, that can afford it.
This is the future of the Web – open and sharable.
This is also why attempts by restrictive governments such as China, and now potentially Venezuela, to impose limitations on what Google Search can and cannot do, are likely to be met with great resistance.
It's hard to stop a firehose once it is open, even if you are fighting it with fire. Look for more sharing like this to come. And the next time you get together with your geeky friends, you can confidently acknowledge …uh huh, sure. … APIs.
Follow Us!