Why Twitter Facilitates Smarter Communications

What is the impact of Twitter and the real-time Web on business? Jeff Pulver, producer of 140Conf, and Matt McGowan, publisher of ClickZ, Search Engine Watch, and SES discuss the evolution of social communications and what that means for business in this online interview that took place on Twitter. 140Conf San Francisco takes place on Wednesday, Aug. 19, during Connected Marketing Week in San Francisco.

Matt: @jeffpulver lets begin... first and foremost... what is #140Conf? #140intvw 11:00 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan more information can be found at http://140conf.com #140intvw 11:02 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan #140conf is a platform where we explore the effects of the real-time web on both people and business. #140intvw

Matt: @jeffpulver What motivated you to start the #140Conf? #140intvw 11:02 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan motivation was my observation about how twitter was becoming a platform in: Media, Celebrity, Advertising, Politics #140intvw 11:04 AM Aug 5th

Matt: @jeffpulver speakers @140Conf are limited to 10 minutes each. How did you come to set this time limit? #140intvw 11:05 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan I've been creating/producing events since '96. With #140conf I wanted to introduce a new conference experience #140intvw 11:07 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan also the time limit of 10 minutes. I believe the average attention span is 11 minutes. :) #140intvw 11:09 AM Aug 5th

Matt: @jeffpulver what most excites u about #140Conf SF (Aug 19) @ConnectedMktgWk? Is this the 1st time u have co-located the event? #140intvw 11:10 AM Aug 5th via TweetDeck

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan What most excites me about #140conf SF are the people. The characters who will be speaking + attending. #140intvw 11:11 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan I have co-located #140conf events this year at Mobile World Congress (Barcelona), at SXSW in Austin and in DC. #140intvw 11:12 AM Aug 5th via web in reply to matt_mcgowan

Matt: @jeffpulver what's Google up to with the Global IP Solutions (VoIP) acquisition? This is a field you know much about #140intvw 11:13 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan The acquisition of GIPS fills a checkbox and a gap in Google's Codec technology portfolio. It made sense to me. #140intvw 11:14 AM Aug 5th via web in reply to matt_mcgowan

Matt: @jeffpulver can you elaborate a bit? I know we only have 140 characters #140intvw 11:15 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan GIPS provided the difference when Skype launched and Google knows that. The GIPS team is smart and out of the box - #140intvw 11:17 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan GIPS makes the things that make other thinks work better. #140intvw 11:18 AM Aug 5th

Matt: @jeffpulver understood, very interesting. Just a few more q's... #140intvw 11:18 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan No worries. #140intvw 11:18 AM Aug 5th

Matt: @jeffpulver @cshirky says the real-time web has created cognitive surplus. Are people more productive using real-time tools? #140intvw 11:19 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan I'm not sure all people are productive doing the same thing. Some people who are educated? yes. At least sometimes. #140intvw 11:21 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan the real-time web has introduced systemic change in the way we all do business. But we have not all recognized it. #140intvw 11:21 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan different industries being effected in differnet ways and at a different pace. But the times, they are a changin. #140intvw 11:22 AM Aug 5th via web in reply to matt_mcgowan

Matt: @jeffpulver true. it is hard to make generalized statements like that #140intvw 11:22 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan yeah, I would agree. We live in specifics and not generalities. And we all have our own ideas and directions. #140intvw 11:24 AM Aug 5th

Matt: @jeffpulver have not recognized it, nor embraced it - agreed #140intvw 11:23 AM Aug 5th

Matt: @jeffpulver lets look at it a bit differently, can real-time communication make us smarter? Example? #140intvw 11:24 AM Aug 5th

Matt: @jeffpulver I ask because author/internet commentator, Nick Carr, believes Google is dumbing us down. Is Twitter doing the same? #140intvw 11:25 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan smarter? I'm not sure if I would use the word "smarter." But yes, Social communications can make us more aware. #140intvw 11:25 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan and by looking at the evolution of social communications and presence we can learn more about some things around us. #140intvw 11:26 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan to the extent that busiensses are now listening to customers with a backchannel, smarter communication can happen. #140intvw 11:27 AM Aug 5th

Matt: @jeffpulver good point, smarter vs aware. again, agreed. any specific examples that hightlight this best? #140intvw 11:27 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan there are a growing number of companies whose business pratices are great examples of how to do it right. #140intvw 11:29 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan as far as the idiotcracy of America, The real-time web is not directly contributing to that. But some may argue. #140intvw 11:30 AM Aug 5th

Matt: @jeffpulver last couple q's... #140intvw 11:29 AM Aug 5th

Matt: @jeffpulver Facebook dominates Twitter in terms of active users. Why do you bother using Twitter? #140intvw 11:30 AM Aug 5th via web

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan the companies who recognize the need to hire a chief listening officer are those who are on the "get it" list. #140intvw 11:31 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan really depends upon what your goals are. Why speak one language when another one is popular? #140intvw 11:32 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan at the end of the day, twitter is more open than Facebook. It just is. Each platform offers something else. #140intvw 11:33 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan News doesn't break on Facebook. Breaking news is shared on Facebook. News breaks on twitter. #140intvw 11:33 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan I go where the people are and where I can connect. I look at FB as a closed network and twitter as an unbounded one. #140intvw 11:34 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan While FB may have 500 million+ active users you can only connect to 5,000 at a time. twitter knows no limits. #140intvw 11:35 AM Aug 5th

Matt: @jeffpulver last question... if I'm not using Twitter or FaceBook, do I still have a digital soul? #140intvw 11:35 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan As long as you are a person, you have a soul. But if you are not here you are missing something very special. #140intvw 11:37 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan these platforms offer a level of connectedness that needs to be experienced to be understand. #140intvw 11:37 AM Aug 5th

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan opps. These plaftforms offer a level of connectedness that need to be experienced to be understood. #140intvw 11:39 AM Aug 5th

Matt: @jeffpulver great answers thank you. I look fwd to exploring real time the wk after next #140Conf SF @ConnectedMktgWk - C U There! #140intvw Thursday, August 05, 2010 11:40:17 AM

Jeff: @matt_mcgowan Thanks for the questions. I look forward to seeing you in San Francisco the week of Aug 16th. :) #140intvw Thursday, August 05, 2010 11:39:45 AM