Twitter as Discourse

On a first encounter with Twitter, one may understandably think: ‘what are these twittering twats tweeting about!’ The twats bother each other constantly with utterances too short to be meaningful. A common reply is: Just try it for yourself!

Twitter, a micro blogging platform, is not about individuals expressing their personalities or giving ground breaking analyses. Twitter is about sharing everyday thoughts over a period of time. These thoughts, written down in one or two sentences, are not interesting until you see them in the greater context, which is created over time. The attraction here does not lie in the content of these messages, but it’s the creative complement or personal touch to the already-going-on narrative that is the interesting and fun part. The story is to be part of the story.

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Webkare: a new web 2.0 application

Last week a new sort of web 2.0 application was launched in Japan. Web-Kare (Web-Boyfriend) is a social networking site for Japanese girls, which allows the girls to date a virtual boyfriend. There are four cartoon boys to choose from, and by interacting and flirting with these virtual boys, a relationship with one of them can be created. According to TechCrunch the site ‘..is a huge hit over here [Japan]..’, maybe a bit exaggerated, since those ten thousand members are part of a country where 130 million people live. Nonetheless, the concept is very interesting.

Once You’re Luck, Twice You’re Good: Book Review

Sarah Lacey, columnist for BusinessWeek, thoroughly describes the stories of young entrepreneurs who created groundbreaking new websites such as Facebook and YouTube, giving an insiders view into the world of entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley. In the book she actually manages to describe the world of offices and conferences in a rather exciting way; Silicon Valley is depicted as if it were a war zone in which entrepreneurs rise and fall and millions are easily spent. Lacey gets along pretty well with the rich fellas in her book…