TED2009
Evan Williams: The voices of Twitter users
Filmed:
Readability: 4.4
1,267,194 views
In the year leading up to this talk, the web tool Twitter exploded in size (up 10x during 2008 alone). Co-founder Evan Williams reveals that many of the ideas driving that growth came from unexpected uses invented by the users themselves.
Evan Williams - Twitter co-founder
Evan Williams is the co-founder of Twitter, the addictive messaging service that connects the world 140 characters at a time. Full bio
Evan Williams is the co-founder of Twitter, the addictive messaging service that connects the world 140 characters at a time. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:18
Four years ago, on the TED stage,
0
0
3000
00:21
I announced a company I was working with at the time
1
3000
2398
00:24
called Odeo.
2
5398
1909
00:26
And because of that announcement,
3
7307
1677
00:27
we got a big article in The New York Times,
4
8984
2062
00:29
which led to more press, which led to more attention,
5
11046
3277
00:33
and me deciding to become CEO of that company --
6
14323
2677
00:35
whereas I was just an adviser --
7
17000
2000
00:37
and raising a round of venture capital
8
19000
2353
00:40
and ramping up hiring.
9
21353
1647
00:41
One of the guys I hired was an engineer named Jack Dorsey,
10
23000
3846
00:45
and a year later, when we were trying to decide which way to go with Odeo,
11
26846
3938
00:49
Jack presented an idea he'd been tinkering around with for a number of years
12
30784
4662
00:54
that was based around sending simple status updates to friends.
13
35446
3554
00:57
We were also playing with SMS at the time at Odeo,
14
39000
2246
01:00
so we kind of put two and two together,
15
41246
1846
01:01
and in early 2006 we launched Twitter as a side project at Odeo.
16
43092
4953
01:06
Now, it's hard to justify doing a side project
17
48045
2478
01:09
at a startup, where focus is so critical,
18
50523
2353
01:11
but I had actually launched Blogger as a side project
19
52876
2339
01:14
to my previous company,
20
55215
1323
01:15
thinking it was just a little thing we'd do on the side,
21
56538
2462
01:17
and it ended up taking over not only the company,
22
59000
2600
01:20
but my life for the next five or six years.
23
61600
2400
01:22
So I learned to follow hunches
24
64000
2337
01:25
even though you can't necessarily justify them
25
66337
1863
01:27
or know where they're going to go.
26
68200
1429
01:28
And that's kind of what's happened with Twitter, time after time.
27
69629
3371
01:31
So, for those of you unfamiliar,
28
73000
2000
01:33
Twitter is based around a very simple, seemingly trivial concept.
29
75000
3461
01:37
You say what you're doing in 140 characters or less,
30
78461
3215
01:40
and people who are interested in you get those updates.
31
81676
3324
01:43
If they're really interested,
32
85000
1446
01:45
they get the update as a text message on their cell phone.
33
86446
3138
01:48
So, for instance, I may Twitter right now
34
89584
2416
01:50
that I'm giving a talk at TED.
35
92000
2044
01:52
And in my case, when I hit send,
36
94075
2709
01:55
up to 60,000 people will receive that message in a matter of seconds.
37
96784
4266
01:59
Now, the fundamental idea is that Twitter
38
101050
3372
02:03
lets people share moments of their lives
39
104422
2439
02:05
whenever they want,
40
106861
1215
02:06
be they momentous occasions
41
108076
2308
02:09
or mundane ones.
42
110384
3538
02:12
It is by sharing these moments as they're happening
43
113922
2830
02:15
that lets people feel more connected and in touch,
44
116752
3774
02:19
despite distance, and in real time.
45
120526
2180
02:21
This is the primary use we saw of Twitter from the beginning,
46
122706
2972
02:24
and what got us excited.
47
125678
2359
02:26
What we didn't anticipate was the many, many other uses
48
128037
3485
02:30
that would evolve from this very simple system.
49
131522
3081
02:33
One of the things we realized
50
134603
1997
02:35
was how important Twitter could be during real-time events.
51
136600
3282
02:38
When the wildfires broke out in San Diego,
52
139882
3297
02:42
in October of 2007,
53
143179
1911
02:43
people turned to Twitter to report what was happening
54
145090
2205
02:46
and to find information from neighbors
55
147295
2034
02:48
about what was happening around them.
56
149329
1772
02:50
But it wasn't just individuals.
57
151101
1305
02:51
The L.A. Times actually turned to Twitter to dispense information as well,
58
152406
3583
02:54
and put a Twitter feed on the front page,
59
155989
2017
02:56
and the L.A. Fire Department and Red Cross
60
158006
2088
02:58
used it to dispense news and updates as well.
61
160094
3096
03:02
At this event, dozens of people here are Twittering
62
163190
3063
03:05
and thousands of people around the world are following along
63
166253
2663
03:07
because they want to know what it feels like to be here
64
168916
1982
03:09
and what's happening.
65
170898
1576
03:11
Among the other interesting things that have cropped up
66
172474
3080
03:14
are many things from businesses,
67
175554
2049
03:16
from marketing and communications and predictable things,
68
177603
2642
03:19
to an insanely popular Korean-barbecue taco truck
69
180245
3237
03:22
that drives around L.A. and Twitters where it stops,
70
183482
2256
03:24
causing a line to form around the block.
71
185738
5016
03:29
Politicians have recently begun Twittering.
72
190754
3046
03:32
In fact, there are 47 members of Congress
73
193800
2090
03:34
who currently have Twitter accounts.
74
195890
1751
03:36
And they're tweeting, in some cases,
75
197641
2430
03:38
from behind closed-door sessions with the President.
76
200071
2474
03:41
In this case, this guy's not liking what he's hearing.
77
202545
2598
03:44
The President himself is our most popular Twitter user,
78
205143
3523
03:47
although his tweets have dropped off as of late,
79
208666
3887
03:51
while Senator McCain's have picked up.
80
212553
4791
03:56
As have this guy's.
81
217344
3184
03:59
Twitter was originally designed as a broadcast medium:
82
220528
3865
04:03
you send one message and it goes out to everybody,
83
224393
2032
04:05
and you receive the messages you're interested in.
84
226425
2056
04:07
One of the many ways that users shaped the evolution of Twitter
85
228481
4320
04:11
was by inventing a way to reply to a specific person
86
232801
3681
04:15
or a specific message.
87
236482
2306
04:17
So, this syntax, the "@username" that Shaquille O'Neal's using here
88
238788
3169
04:20
to reply to one of his fans,
89
241957
1704
04:22
was completely invented by users,
90
243661
1840
04:24
and we didn't build it into the system until it already became popular
91
245501
3033
04:27
and then we made it easier.
92
248534
1967
04:29
This is one of the many ways that users have shaped the system.
93
250501
2831
04:32
Another is via the API.
94
253332
1769
04:34
We built an application-programming interface,
95
255101
1904
04:35
which basically means that programmers can write software that interacts with Twitter.
96
257005
4317
04:40
We currently know about over 2,000 pieces of software
97
261322
2683
04:42
that can send Twitter updates --
98
264005
1352
04:44
interfaces for Mac, Windows, your iPhone, your BlackBerry --
99
265357
4488
04:48
as well as things like
100
269845
2392
04:51
a device that lets an unborn baby Twitter when it kicks
101
272237
2400
04:53
or a plant Twitter when it needs water.
102
274637
3103
04:56
Probably the most important third-party development
103
277740
2625
04:59
came from a little company in Virginia called Summize.
104
280365
2760
05:02
Summize built a Twitter search engine.
105
283125
2271
05:04
And they tapped into the fact
106
285396
1810
05:06
that, if you have millions of people around the world
107
287206
2207
05:08
talking about what they're doing and what's around them,
108
289413
2408
05:10
you have an incredible resource to find out about any topic or event
109
291821
4827
05:15
while it's going on.
110
296648
1645
05:17
This really changed how we perceived Twitter.
111
298293
2340
05:19
For instance, here's what people are saying about TED.
112
300633
4180
05:23
This is another way that our mind was shifted,
113
304813
3289
05:27
and Twitter wasn't what we thought it was.
114
308102
2360
05:29
We liked this so much we actually bought the company
115
310462
2417
05:31
and are folding it into the main product.
116
312879
2431
05:34
This not only lets you view Twitters in different ways,
117
315310
3384
05:37
but it introduces new use cases as well.
118
318694
2440
05:40
One of my favorites is what happened a few months ago
119
321134
2712
05:42
when there was a gas shortage in Atlanta.
120
323846
2547
05:45
Some users figured out
121
326393
1740
05:47
that they would Twitter when they found gas --
122
328133
3013
05:50
where it was, and how much it cost --
123
331146
2276
05:52
and then appended the keyword "#atlgas"
124
333422
2514
05:54
which let other people search for that and find gas themselves.
125
335936
3678
05:58
And this trend of people using this communication network
126
339614
2329
06:00
to help each other out
127
341943
1376
06:02
goes far beyond the original idea of just keeping up with family and friends.
128
343319
3843
06:06
It's happened more and more lately,
129
347162
3167
06:09
whether it's raising money for homeless people
130
350329
2486
06:11
or to dig wells in Africa
131
352815
1736
06:13
or for a family in crisis.
132
354551
2264
06:15
People have raised tens of thousands of dollars over Twitter
133
356815
2824
06:18
in a matter of days on several occasions.
134
359639
4452
06:22
It seems like when you give people easier ways to share information,
135
364091
5077
06:28
more good things happen.
136
369168
2568
06:30
I have no idea what will happen next with Twitter.
137
371736
4232
06:34
I've learned to follow the hunch,
138
375968
2064
06:36
but never assume where it will go.
139
378032
3144
06:40
Thanks.
140
381176
2184
06:42
(Applause)
141
383360
5885
06:48
Chris Anderson: We're not quite done yet.
142
389245
1771
06:49
So, look, if we could have this screen live.
143
391016
2338
06:52
This is actually the most terrifying thing that any speaker can do
144
393354
2368
06:54
after they've been to an event.
145
395722
1662
06:56
It's totally intimidating.
146
397384
2976
06:59
So, this would be the Twitter search screen.
147
400360
3120
07:02
So we're going to just type a couple of random words into Twitter.
148
403480
3735
07:06
For example: "Evan Williams."
149
407215
5400
07:11
"Evan Williams, give people more good ways to share information and follow your hunch at TED."
150
412615
4308
07:15
"Currently listening to Evan Williams." "Currently listening to Evan Williams." "Evan Williams --"
151
416923
3077
07:18
Oh.
152
420000
814
07:19
"Evan Williams is just dying on stage here at TED.
153
420814
1908
07:21
Worst talk ever!" (Laughter)
154
422722
3138
07:24
Evan Williams: Nice. Thanks.
155
425860
1554
07:26
CA: Just kidding.
156
427414
2370
07:28
But, literally in the eight minutes he was talking,
157
429784
2754
07:31
there are about fifty tweets that already came on the talk.
158
432538
2353
07:33
So he'll see every aspect of the reaction:
159
434891
2601
07:36
the fact that Barack Obama is the biggest Twitterer,
160
437492
2260
07:38
the fact that it came out of TED.
161
439752
1385
07:40
I don't think there's any other way of getting instant feedback that way.
162
441137
2954
07:42
You have build something very fascinating,
163
444091
2277
07:45
and it looks like its best times are still ahead of it.
164
446368
2323
07:47
So, thank you very much, Evan. EW: Thank you.
165
448691
1708
07:49
CA: That was very interesting.
166
450399
6601
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Evan Williams - Twitter co-founderEvan Williams is the co-founder of Twitter, the addictive messaging service that connects the world 140 characters at a time.
Why you should listen
Evan Williams helps the world answer the question "What are you doing?" Twitter, the tiny, free world-changing app Williams helped launch, has become a vital connector of people and communities (as well as a fantastic way to keep up with Shaq and Demi Moore).
Before Williams worked on Twitter, he was part of a previous revolution in mass communication, Blogger, while working at Google. He left Google in 2004 to launch the podcasting service Odeo, and Twitter spun out from this in 2006 as a side project based on an idea of Jack Dorsey's.
Evan Williams | Speaker | TED.com