Twitter’s ability to aggregate and trend conversation is one of its core competencies.  In fact, I would go as far as to say that right now, Twitter’s Trending Topics (TTT) is its most powerful feature.  Where else can you see what millions of people are talking about at a particular point in time?

Despite the powerful mechanism, TTT has become a feature of diminishing value.  Why?  It’s simple:

Twitter’s Trending Topics Promotes Group Think.

Every single Twitter user sees the same exact TTT when they log into their account.  This makes it all too easy chime in to the ongoing debate.  Is this a bad thing?  Not necessarily — but it sure doesn’t help bring fresh, informative content to the forefront.

Additionally, there appears to be an inverse relationship between the number of Twitter users and the overall value of posts.  In other words, as the number of Twitter users rises, the odds of reading a worthwhile tweet diminishes.  This is one negative outcome to the “network effect” that Twitter has yet to address.

Do You Care About TTT?

This screenshot (pictured to the right) shows an example of TTT taken Sunday 7/19/09 22:00 EST.  Sixty percent (6/10) of the topics are related to various TV programs being shown during that time.  Granted, it’s a Sunday night and news stories are not exactly top priority, but still, it would be nice to see some more diversity.

What I Would Like To See:

• group topics
• “location-aware” topics
• more filtering mechanisms
• more diversity

An article in TechCrunchIT has raised a pretty spirited debate amongst the technology consumerist community.  TCIT author, Steve Gillmor explains how his Twitter stream has become his de-facto information outlet, replacing his need for an RSS feed.  With a title as dramatic as, “Rest in Peace, RSS,” it’s no suprise at the attention this post has received.  With 500+ comments, it has sparked many conversations concerning the future of RSS and the value of Twitter’s real-time platform.

So are we really supposed to believe that Twitter has killed RSS?  Have real-time tweets replaced the aggregated RSS feed?

Very simply, the answer is NO.  RSS is superior to Twitter in regards to information consumption.

Suggesting that Twitter has killed RSS, is almost like suggesting that Direct Messages (DMs) have replaced email.  Twitter’s platform, at this stage, is just too raw and undeveloped to treat it as one’s primary source of information.  The “noise” is simply too loud, and often overwhelming, making it nearly impossible to find the desired “signals.”  Wading through this noise is not only hard, it’s extremely time consuming.  Until we have the effective search technologies and filters to utilize, RSS remains the simplest and quickest way to consume content from around the web.

Although I disagree with Steve Gillmor’s RSS-ditching behavior, I do believe that this discussion is rather interesting.  Probably because I feel that RSS is NOT the most efficient model for information gathering/sharing.  RSS shows many promising features but lacks certain functionalities that we expect from today’s social web.  So while I will challenge those who claim they receive greater value in Twitter’s platform compared to an RSS feed, I will agree that we have the ability to improve upon RSS’s current offering.  The solution likely lies in an effective integration of both the reat-time and the aggregated feed platforms.

So before we are able to separate the noise from the news, I wouldn’t call RSS dead just yet.

It is no secret that the shift from traditional media (newspapers, television, radio) to the online social scene (blogs, tweets, social networks) is upon us.  It is also no secret that the employers and employees of traditional media have been late to adopt the new media wave.  I personally cannot relate to these individuals, but I can sympathize with their plight.  I mean, really, who wants to hear that some “kid” in their basement is getting more attention than a news journalist who graduated with a degree in journalism and has over 15 years experience in the business?  That is certainly a hard pill to swallow.  Of course, as all of us know…it rarely is just some “kid” in a basement; instead it’s typically a 20-something year-old in an affordable apartment building who has been blogging passionately and truthfully about a particular subject for quite some time.  This is what large, traditional media corporations fail to understand.

The Silicon Alley Insider recently featured a post about Jeff Jarvis and his claim that “journalists are in fact responsible for the death of print.”  A very strong claim from Jarvis that was met with some understanding criticism amongst some traditional journalists.  Jarvis makes bold but accurate statements urging journalists to take responsibility for the fate of journalism.  Instead of merely gloating over the demise of print, he speaks at conferences, sits down with newspaper companies, and empowers the journalism community to innovate and make change.  Jarvis clearly understands that the future of news media is changing rapidly, and in an industry of slow-movers, he exemplifies someone who actually “gets it”.

Of course, the new wave of social media affects more than just newspapers and its journalists; it extends to, and challenges the television and radio platforms as well.  Gary Vaynerchuk posted a brilliant video (see below) reacting to radio superstar Howard Stern’s thoughts on social media.  Gary Vaynerchuk is another prime example of someone who simply “gets it”.  He has successfully utilized the power of social media to build a very strong personal brand, and encourages us all to do the same.  (FYI: I have yet to see a Gary Vaynerchuk video that I didn’t like and that wasn’t 100% honest and inspiring)

“Old school” traditional media professionals feel that social media has devalued the overall quality of news.  They want to believe that they are the only people qualified to deliver news and information to the masses.  What they fail to understand is that “kid” in his basement spends more time talking, writing, and reading about a specific blog topic more so than most “professional” journalists.  That “kid” did not develop a loyal following of readers by accident.

The barriers of entry are low, maybe even non-existent when it comes to social media.  Despite this fact, readers are more discerning than ever, and expect a lot more than they ever have before.  The new wave of social media has finally brought transparency to the world of information.  The large corporations who refuse to acknowledge this fact are in for a rude awakening.