ideaLaunch Blog

Yesterday, Twitter CEO Evan Williams announced via tweet that Twitter was changing its user prompt, asking tweeters “What’s happening?” instead of “What are you doing?”

Big whoop, right? A minor and inconsequential change, correct? Well, the folks at Valleywag asked renowned linguist David Crystal, author of Txtng: The Gr8 Db8, for his thoughts. Here’s a snippet:

I’m not surprised. Twitter has become steadily more discursive, with people maintaining t

hreads and introducing a great deal more interaction, rather than posting isolated tweets.

So, it seems that with the change Twitter is recognizing the fact that tweeters are now less interested in posting inane personal details about their life (“Getting sloshed at Sullys 2night”) – or at least following those who do – and more interested in engaging in conversation (“Who wants to get sloshed at Sully’s 2night?”), sharing useful information (“dolla drafts of PBR at Sullys 2night”), and becoming part of a community (#sloshedatSullys).

Or as Valleywag put it…

So Twitter’s users have, at the very least, moved beyond mere navel gazing and into arguing. Way to go, narcissists!

Funny… but for an even better take, check out ideaLaunch superstar intern Patrick’s insight into the news: Hey Twitter, What’s Happening?

Tags: Twitter, valleywag

This entry was posted on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 3:49 pm and is filed under Twitter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.