I'm taking a long weekend with my wife, kids and my parents to celebrate Mother's Day at Disney World. So imagine my surprise when I recently was introduced to a Twitter account @twisney by Doug Haslam (@DougH on Twitter). Twisney aggregates updates from anyone who uses "@twisney" in their tweets and then shares it on Twitter and on their site.

Featured in today's Buzzwatch in the Wall Street Journal, Twisney.com, the brainchild of Scott Mitchell, a 34 year-old Disney fan who created this site of real-time updates from individuals within the parks. The intro to the WSJ post captures it all:

If you want to understand how citizen journalists armed with cellphones are going to change the world–and create challenges and opportunities for businesses–spend a few minutes at Twisney.com.

What you’ll find there: Live updates from ordinary people walking around Disney World, using their cellphones to share their experiences with anyone who cares to take notice.

The site has some pretty cool features, including updates that are overlaid on an aerial view of the parks, a collection of uploaded photos by date & tag, and a whole page of tools on how you can use Twisney.

The more I read about add-ons, apps, and creative uses of Twitter, the more I'm inspired. When a simple and elegant service comes along and changes the way people interact with each other - and opens its API (Application Programming Interface - the source code), what happens is you get seemingly limitless possibilities because of the passion, know-how, and creativity of its user base.

This has happened with Twitter, again and again. I can't even begin to list all of the useful apps for Twitter because there are so many that do a variety of things. Your best bet to witness the community in action is to check out the Twitter Fan Wiki.

I believe that the brands that open themselves up to co-development by fans will benefit the most. Whether you're a consumer packaged goods company or a software startup, there are brand loyalists out there who love your stuff and want to help you succeed. Companies that greedily hoard and guard their brand will find that in the end, they'll have achieved only a shadow of what was possible had they been more open and accepting of consumer-generated content and shared intellectual property.

It baffles me that there are still corporate brand Nazis out there (mostly from the legal department in large companies) who don't get this yet. What's your experience? Have you tried to co-create anything, only to be rebuked? Or even better, have you been embraced by a company who likes what you're doing with their brand? I'd love to know.


Photo courtesy of Eprice.com.tw

Labels: brand, innovation, Twitter, wiki, WSJ

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At 5/09/2008 12:54 AM,  Drew McLellan said...

Scott,

Have a wonderful trip! Be sure to check out Mt. Everest at Animal Kingdom. It is one heck of a ride!

Drew

 

At 5/09/2008 10:24 AM,  Scott Mitchell said...

Hi Scott, Scott here from Twisney. You got a popular name my friend. :)

Glad to see you found the site and I hope you have a good time using it. Thanks for the props!

See ya,
Scott

 

At 5/09/2008 10:31 AM,  Kristin Gorski (KG) said...

Hi Scott -- You may want to ping @patmay1 on Twitter. He's a reporter with the San Jose Mercury News who is currently writing a story on innovative uses of Twitter. I bet he'd be interested in Twisney!

 

At 5/09/2008 3:51 PM,  Doug Haslam said...

Scott,

i should credit @Dayngr for turning me on to Twisney. Unfortunately, I was halfway through my stay last week when I heard of it, so only got a handful of text posts up, and no pix. Next time for sure.

I expect the full, um, Monty from you on your visit tho.

 

At 5/10/2008 8:51 AM,  Adawg said...

Very cool. I'll be headed down to Disney with the family sometime in the coming months. As a Twitter addict, this will give me an excuse to keep my eye on Twitter while cruising around the Magic Kingdom.

Enjoy your trip!

@astrout

 

At 5/10/2008 2:54 PM,  Doug Meacham said...

Scott, Thanks for sharing this. Very cool. Wonder if Disney is monitoring this any other social media channel to hear what people are saying.

 

At 5/12/2008 11:49 AM,  natural colon cleanse said...

Dear Scott,

this is news and cool site what you found. On articlesnatch I used to find this twitter twitter with many tinyurls... let me check this.

have nice time on your trip...
george

 

At 5/12/2008 4:15 PM,  Leah McChesney said...

Aw, the power of twitter. I personally have learned a ton.

 

At 5/23/2008 2:39 AM,  The PR Lab said...

Oh, dear. Is nothing sacred?

 

An Excellent Example of Citizen Journalism: Twisney

I'm taking a long weekend with my wife, kids and my parents to celebrate Mother's Day at Disney World. So imagine my surprise when I recently was introduced to a Twitter account @twisney by Doug Haslam (@DougH on Twitter). Twisney aggregates updates from anyone who uses "@twisney" in their tweets and then shares it on Twitter and on their site.

Featured in today's Buzzwatch in the Wall Street Journal, Twisney.com, the brainchild of Scott Mitchell, a 34 year-old Disney fan who created this site of real-time updates from individuals within the parks. The intro to the WSJ post captures it all:

If you want to understand how citizen journalists armed with cellphones are going to change the world–and create challenges and opportunities for businesses–spend a few minutes at Twisney.com.

What you’ll find there: Live updates from ordinary people walking around Disney World, using their cellphones to share their experiences with anyone who cares to take notice.

The site has some pretty cool features, including updates that are overlaid on an aerial view of the parks, a collection of uploaded photos by date & tag, and a whole page of tools on how you can use Twisney.

The more I read about add-ons, apps, and creative uses of Twitter, the more I'm inspired. When a simple and elegant service comes along and changes the way people interact with each other - and opens its API (Application Programming Interface - the source code), what happens is you get seemingly limitless possibilities because of the passion, know-how, and creativity of its user base.

This has happened with Twitter, again and again. I can't even begin to list all of the useful apps for Twitter because there are so many that do a variety of things. Your best bet to witness the community in action is to check out the Twitter Fan Wiki.

I believe that the brands that open themselves up to co-development by fans will benefit the most. Whether you're a consumer packaged goods company or a software startup, there are brand loyalists out there who love your stuff and want to help you succeed. Companies that greedily hoard and guard their brand will find that in the end, they'll have achieved only a shadow of what was possible had they been more open and accepting of consumer-generated content and shared intellectual property.

It baffles me that there are still corporate brand Nazis out there (mostly from the legal department in large companies) who don't get this yet. What's your experience? Have you tried to co-create anything, only to be rebuked? Or even better, have you been embraced by a company who likes what you're doing with their brand? I'd love to know.


Photo courtesy of Eprice.com.tw

Labels: brand, innovation, Twitter, wiki, WSJ

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