As a young girl I remember being curled up next to my mother by the fire during a storm on the lake listening to CJRL radio as they broadcast weather and storm status updates. CJRL had their phone lines open for callers for communicating emergency messages. People would call in (usually on radio phone) to relay messages to their family and loved ones. Missing dogs, trees that cut the power, missing boaters, tornado sightings, small craft warnings, our battery operating radio kept us in touch with our community.

Today we have Twitter. It is the brainchild of Jack Dorsey and Evan Williams and it began initially as a way to send simple status updates to friends. How it works is that you say what you are doing in 140 characters or less and this message in turn gets out to people who are interested. If they are really interested they get your update as a text message on their cell phone. It is amazing to think that a simple message sent via Twitter could be reached by 60,000 people in a matter of seconds – that’s if you do a full broadcast. People are sharing their special occasions and their mundane ones, and they are feeling more in touch with others despite long distances.

Williams and Dorsey didn’t expect what would eventually evolve from their simple creation. Twitter has a real application in the moment of an event. When the horrible wildfires hit in San Diego people turned to Twitter to report what was happening. The LA times, the Red Cross and other officials used it to dispense new updates. Even the politicians got in the game. (There are over 47 U.S. Congress members including Obama and McCain on Twitter).

As a real-time messaging service Twitter has become a social network phenomena.

Programmers have turned their attention to it and have developed over 200 different APIs and interfaces allowing users to send messages from their MAC, IPhone, or Blackberry. There’s even a device you can download to notify you when a plant needs watering. One group of programmers who call there company “Summize” built a Twitter Search Engine so you can search on topics and know the “buzz” around the world.

In our new emerging world where the social norm is about helping strangers for nothing in return, Twitter is a hit. The applications are limitless. Even a gas shortage in a U.S. city can be solved in seconds. There is a story about two guys who drove around in Atlanta and Twittered when they found gas and for how much. This amazing faculty which started out as a way to keep friends informed has become so much more.

When asked in an interview what is next for Twitter in terms of development Evan Williams the founder answered: “I have no idea where it will go next but I have learned to follow a hunch”. This is how products are developed today. It is not about trying to respond to a market but in turn embrace the market and the incredible power of the collective to allow development to take place of a product as it is being used.

I can imagine my son receiving his Twitter text messages from his friend John and reporting: “Mums, the storm is over. There is no more lighting, or tornados and only six trees down in town. No one got hurt and the power will be back soon. I have found the dog under the bed. What’s a small craft warning? Can we turn Kerpoof back on?”