I normally only write about the interactions between people and technology, but this image evolution site is so compelling I can’t help myself. It tries random mutations on an image to try and get it to match the one you supply. This is quarter of a million mutations.

(Thanks to @toxi for that link on Twitter).

I’ve been asked a few times what the fuss is about, so I thought I’d write it down. I think these are the key points:

1 – It’s more than personal status updates
2 – It has the network effect
3 – It’s very good at the very new

1 – It’s not just personal status updates

Facebook statuses are typically:
“… is wrapping presents”

Twitter can be far more interesting and far more niche:
“Image evolution: a future classic demo of the potential of genetic algorithms/evolution http://is.gd/aYk2″
(thanks @toxi for that one)

Some people work hard to be interesting and informative for their network of followers.

2 – Twitter has the network effect

This is the crux of it. Facebook status updates are privately broadcast to your network of friends, and there they stop. Twitter isn’t (usually) private, and it’s customary to respond to others’ Tweets, and even to ‘retweet’ them verbatim. So there’s a network effect, especially given that some people have tens of thousands of followers.

A while ago, this ad for Motrin painkillers illustrated the power of the network. There was some zealous lambasting within hours, using the tag #motrinmoms. The brilliant “boob job” backlash video, was created and it all ended with the company apologizing.

Motrin hit a nerve, but it was the readiness of a network on Twitter that created the outcome.

3 – Twitter’s very good at the very new

Google constantly trawls the web updating its search database, but there’s a lag between when content is published and when it shows up in Google search. (e.g. I just timed a 12 minute lag on bbc.co.uk, and less popular sites take days.)

If you search Twitter, there’s no such lag. The other day when Gmail went down, Twitter was the place to get updates.

On search.twitter.com, beneath the search box are the current hot ‘trending’ topics. Right now America’s about to be engulfed by snow storms, and the Twitter folk there are using the tag #snowmageddon.

Is this why people and businesses are taking Twitter so seriously

I think so. Many companies are on Twitter already. Dell can’t get enough of it. There’s considerable discussion on whether and how brands should be on Twitter.

Many doubt it, but I believe that there is potential for direct returns on investment.

If your customer complains about you on Twitter and you reply and help out, that’s compelling.

If your competitor’s customer complains about them on Twitter and you reply and help out …

There’s something odd about Twitter. On the one hand, the Twittersphere has great clarity of purpose and a lot being written on advanced use of the service. On the other hand, those who don’t use it seem sure it has little to offer.

This post asks why, and there’s another post brewing (aimed at people not on Twitter) breaking down a few misconceptions.

There’s a theory (described by Geoffrey A. Moore in Crossing the Chasm) that between the early adopters and the mainstream for any new technology is a huge chasm. Anecdotally I believe this to be typically associated with fairly placid sentiments such as “I haven’t tried it”, whereas people who don’t use Twitter are more likely to say “Why on earth would I do that?”.

I can think of three possible reasons:

1 – Twitter’s strapline, “What are you doing?”, is misleading

This was Twitter’s clever way of explaining itself in 4 words. Now, I believe it’s a problem, because it misrepresents most twitter activity. In reality, most people (and especially the interesting people) are answering something else …

• “What’s the latest interesting article you’ve read?”

e.g. “Reports of Web 2.0’s Demise Exaggerated” on the New Group blog. (via @krzimmer) http://twurl.nl/zidj8l @rodrakic

• “What little facts have you picked up today?”

e.g. “Online dating on farmers weekly has 40k page views a week” @Gommit

• “Is there anything your like-minded contacts could help you answer right now?”

e.g. “Is there a particular brand or product you associate with “shaving”? If so, what is it?” @Armano

• “Is there anything people could help you out with right now?”

e.g. “Anyone got some wifi / power I can slurp near ec2v 7ng after lunch?” @mbites

2 – Twitter is perceived as another Facebook status

Facebook asks “What are you doing at the moment?”. They seem identical. They’re used very differently, primarily because Twitter tends to be public and followers often don’t know each other: they just follow each other because shared interests make them either interesting or helpful to each other.

3 – Twitter has a delayed return on investment

Given that the people to whom you first connect are people you have open communication with already, the benefit of Twitter doesn’t manifest until you’re connecting outside your immediate circle, by which time new users might have given up.

What other reasons are there?

ReCAPTCHA have launched a new service which is based on audio recognition of old radio programmes. See here for their blog entry.

I love the concept of reCAPTCHA (concept described below). It’s such a great win-win, it also makes me wonder where other win-wins can be found. Maybe retirement homes should be built in public parks … a pleasant environment for the residents, some watchful security and maybe gardening for the park. One day we’ll have many of these pairings I’m sure, and we’ll wonder why we did it any other way.

Any (better) ideas?

The reCAPTCHA concept

In general a “CAPTCHA” is one of those distorted words that tests whether you’re a human being rather than a spammer’s computer. 200 million are solved each day.

ReCAPTCHA is a special type, in that it sources words from projects that are digitizing books. The words that their OCR software can’t read are the ones reCAPTCHA uses.

Here’s a reCAPTCHA (click on it to go to the reCAPTCHA site to try it).

It’s win-win genius: the authentication process gets words that are known to be difficult to recognize through OCR, and the book scanners get their problem words solved.

According to wikipedia, spammers have grabbed the words and used unwitting human labour on pornographic sites to solve them. By typing the word, the user gets more pornography.

You’ll note that there are two words: the system knows one answer already (which it uses to check the person’s response), and it gathers answers on the second word until consensus is reached. In other words, duplication of labour is the accuracy check.

It brings to mind Amazon’s mechanical Turk, which makes labour very cheap, possibly so cheap that it can be duplicated to achieve accuracy in a similar way.

A couple of people suggested I gather my sporadic bursts of “Have you seen this …” into a regular round up, so here it is. Not all new, but just a collection of things I’ve found interesting recently.

Since I can’t remember where any one came from, a general thanks to all those who send me interesting things, not least this bunch of Twitterati. And if you find it interesting, maybe comment or connect to me on Twitter … make it a conversation.

Picture shop

This is a website for French band’s (free) album. It’s a great site. It credits Pablo Pinasco for the design.

Adobe Pixel Blender examples

This site’s owner (Tom Beddard) says it’s about “explorations into generative and mathematical art”. Dig around, there’s some really lovely work on the site.

Bobblebrook

Lovely little game with 3D flash effect. Take a look at some of their other stuff. Some of the details are lovely, for example in the transitions.

Diller & Scoffidio

Flash-based site of these New York architects.

Eyejot

Easy video messaging via your webcam.

This and the next two (Nabble & Toksta) are services that you can embed on your own site.

Nabble

Online forums (embeddable on your site).

Toksta

Instant messenger, embeddable on your own site. These guys were one of the winners of Seedcamp this year. See their blog post.

New York Times

They supply the tools (or IBM did) to allow you to create visualizations from their data. Great. Reminds me of BBC Backstage, although that’s a bit more challenging.

Alfa Romeo

A very handsome site.

Multicolr Colr Pickr

There are many others like this, but I like this one.

Exactictudes

This is old, but such a gem. It will in an instant destroy any ideas you have about being unique, but make you feel ok about it too.

Nokia

Decide for yourself.

Rubicon

I just stick stuff like this in because designers can’t get enough of it, so if there are any reading they’ll enjoy a moment of inordinate pleasure, which makes the world a better place.

And I like it.

Yammer

Internal Twitter for companies. I know Moving Brands are trying it … what do you think Moving Brands?

Surreal animation

Gadget ball clock

This guy (Adam Bowman) is churning out cute little gadgets, such as you can stick on your iGoogle etc. Check out the comments on his “Fish” gadget. He has many fans.