Twitter Asks What’s Happening

by TwitterFools on November 21, 2009

There was a seismic ripple across the twitterverse earlier this week. Did you feel it? Quietly, almost imperceptibly, Twitter changed the question that has urged its millions of users to tweet. No longer are we expected to respond to “What are you doing?” No, now the ubiquitous Tweet preamble is “What’s Happening?” It’s a subtle shift for sure, one that went unnoticed by millions of users who access Twitter in ways other than using its web interface. We wonder, however, will this change the way people tweet?

A few months back Mashable reported on a Reuter’s University study that dissected over 3,000 tweets from 350 users concluding that “80% of users are “meformers,” or “Me Now” status updaters.” To us this seemed a perfectly natural outcome given that the prevailing Twitter question of the times was, “What are you doing?” Of course, tweeps – especially new tweeps – would be likely to simply answer the question.

On this recent shift, Mashable’s Barb Dybwad posits that the question change, “acknowledges that Twitter has grown far beyond the more personal status updates it was originally envisioned to convey, and has morphed into a sort of always-on, source-agnostic information network that is wholly unique.”

But to really understand the thoughts behind this change it seems best to go to the source. Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, was recently quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle explaining the change:

“People, organizations, and businesses quickly began leveraging the open nature of the network to share anything they wanted, completely ignoring the original question, seemingly on a quest to both ask and answer a different, more immediate question, “What’s happening?” Stone said. “A simple text input field limited to 140 characters of text was all it took for creativity and ingenuity to thrive.

“Sure, someone in San Francisco may be answering “What are you doing?” with “Enjoying an excellent cup of coffee,” at this very moment. However, a bird’s-eye view of Twitter reveals that it’s not exclusively about these personal musings. Between those cups of coffee, people are witnessing accidents, organizing events, sharing links, breaking news, reporting stuff their dad says, and so much more.”

So Stone said Twitter has “long outgrown the concept of personal status updates.”

“What are you doing?” isn’t the right question anymore,” Stone said. “We don’t expect this to change how anyone uses Twitter, but maybe it’ll make it easier to explain to your dad.”

Unfortunately, as much as you might have hoped, the change isn’t an attempt to revive the popular 70′s sitcom. Rather, it intended to reflect the way a social network grows and changes. Acknowledging, in the new web 2.0 world order, that users now shape, redefine, and help evolve services beyond a founder’s original vision.

What do you think? Will it change the way you tweet?

Until next time, be well, let us know what’s happening, and Happy Tweeting!