You don’t have to talk on Twitter to get value from the service. You don’t even have you “get it.” You can just listen.
Summize can be used to search Twitter real-time. This is compelling for two reasons:
- You can search for updates to ongoing sporting events, breaking news, public opinions, etc…
- You can subscribe to a feed of search results
Real-time search of what people are saying is interesting on it’s own merit. Try it the next time Tiger is playing at the US Open to see what I mean.
Understanding the value of point number two isn’t so easy, so let me illustrate.
One of the ways I use Twitter is to let others in close proximity keep me informed on local happenings. I subscribe to this search to follow what is important to me in my neighborhood.
I concede that looking at the results that they appear noisy, but I’d argue that parsing through 140 character messages for the signal is effortless. Below are a few of the highlights this feed has brought me with no work in the last week:
- I was reminded to sign up for the other 2 races in this series.
- Bike detectors are in the works for select local intersections. The mayor (how cool is that) chimes into the conversation.
- This story got worse/better.
- I learned why my computer was no longer responding to my requests while I was away: the power was out
- We’re getting a Fresh Market in a week
- I even stumbled upon a professor I used to hear lecture.
Most of the serendipitous value and news I receive through this feed is tardy or never realized through more conventional sources.
So even if you are dumb, you have no excuse to be deaf. What do you care about? Why not grab a feed on the topic from Summize and see what people are saying? You might just be surprised what you find.
