SiliconBeat

Twitter clearly views Google’s new social search features, which highlights postings by the searcher’s Google+ friend connections, as a direct threat to its bread and butter - - serving as the default place on the Web where people go to learn about breaking news, whether it comes from an individual or a news organization.

Tuesday, within hours after Google announced its new “Search - Plus your World” service, Twitter complained in a written statement released to the media that:

Search example from Twitter general counsel, Alex Macgillivray

Macgillivary’s Tweet linked to an example of a Google search. He is saying, essentially, is that a person searching  Google for “@wwe”, the Twitter account of the professional wrestling organization, will instead now be steered to Google+ content.  The Twitter account result was there, but it was well down the page.

It will be interesting to see watch whether Twitter takes things to the next level and files a formal complaint with the FTC. Twitter spokesman Matt Graves declined to comment Wednesday afternoon.

Following my Sunday column, “Who will be Silicon Valley’s next Steve Jobs?” the most common response I got was: Why wasn’t Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey on the list? That was echoed in comments, tweets and emails.

In fact, I did strongly consider Dorsey. But ultimately, I dropped him.

There are certainly many intriguing parallels between the Twitter co-founder and Jobs. Like Jobs, Dorsey created a remarkable technology company that has had huge impact. And while there are several people considered co-founders of Twitter, Dorsey is usually credited with the concept, and the development. And, of course, he was the first CEO of Twitter before being pushed aside a couple of years ago — just like Jobs!

Rather than sulk and withdraw, Dorsey started another company, Square, a mobile payment service that has shown strong growth, attracting a recent venture round of $100 million that values the company at $1.6 billion.

And then, Dorsey made a triumphant return to Twitter earlier this year to lead product development, while remaining CEO of Square. Again, shades of Jobs, with his creation of NeXT, his role at Pixar, and then returning to Apple at first as an advisor.

And certainly, many others have made the Dorsey-Jobs connection. For instance, BetaBeat recently wrote:

“What we were startled by was the growing feeling feeling that there’s something about Mr. Dorsey that just sounds so familiar. A heavy emphasis on clean design. A charismatic presence at public announcements… wait a minute: @jack is kinda like a young Steve Jobs. Apple has even started selling Square in their retail stores.”

So, why didn’t I put him on the list? Part of it was the conceit of the list. I needed to keep it narrowly defined to be able to make comparisons, and so I decided to stick to people who were all CEOs. Yes, Dorsey is the CEO of Square, but that’s not why he’s such a big figure at the moment. Square is still tiny in impact compared to Twitter. It’s his role at Twitter, both as co-founder and now lead product designer that makes him a figure of note.

And in that regard, Twitter is still a mixed bag for me. The company still has scant revenue, and is still struggling to get its arms around a complex set of design and feature issues. The most interesting things about Twitter are often built by third parties, and the company needs to redefine its relationship with its ecsystem.

If Dorsey sorts all of that out, and he helps create a core, unified Twitter experience, then he’s certainly on the path to demonstrating a Jobs-like prowess. And if he can actually help the company figure out a business model, and even return to the CEO chair, then I think he’s someone to be considered for legendary status.

Everyone on that list has a lot to prove to be considered heir to Jobs’ legacy. But right now, compared to other folks on the list, Dorsey has even further to go.

I’ve had a couple of days to reflect back on Chirp, the first Twitter Developers Conference held this week. Reading back on my column this week, written the day before, my gut feeling that Twitter is at an inflection point was reinforced by what I heard and saw this week.

What’s amazing about Twitter is how the company has succeeded despite itself. The service is unreliable. It’s hard for newbies to learn how to use it. And there’s been no grand vision guiding it along the way. Just a flourishing of ideas and applications and uses driven by consumers and developers that Twitter has been racing to keep up with. That it hasn’t collapsed completely may be its most remarkable achievement so far.

But while that’s amazing, it also presents immense challenges for building a company for the long term. Twitter execs addressed a range of issues. Some of what they said was good. Some was bad (or troubling). And some is bound to get ugly.

I’m going to walk through each of those, and what I think it means for the future of Twitter. Read the rest of this entry »

Google Buzz is here. And the big question is this: Can Google finally get in the social game? After playing around with Google Buzz for a bit today, I’ll say the jury is out for me. But I have a few thoughts, and will have more after I’ve played with it for a few weeks.

The first impulse I have is to fight is the despair over creating and learning a new social networking tool. Facebook and Twitter work well for me, despite some imperfections. I won’t say there isn’t room for improvement. But any new service has to clear a pretty high barrier to become part of my daily routine.

After digging in and following a few friends on Google Buzz, the next thing that strikes me as interesting about Google Buzz is how much it mirrors the approach to social that Yahoo is taking. And there’s something I wouldn’t expect to be writing: How Google is following Yahoo. Read the rest of this entry »

In my column yesterday about the Google and China mess, I explored how this rift could affect Silicon Valley’s relationship with China. But within the column, I also included this thought:

“The conventional wisdom that has been shattered was based on a kind of digital utopianism prevalent throughout Silicon Valley. This line of thinking holds that the Internet, and Web-based services like Google, Twitter and Facebook, are liberating forces. Maybe it would take five years, maybe a couple of decades, but over time as more Chinese gained access and technology, there would be the inevitable dismantling of cultural, economic and political barriers.”

That spurred some discussions on Twitter and got me thinking more about that idea. By coincidence, I was catching up this morning on my backlog of TED videos, when a talk by Evgeny Morozov came up called: “How the ‘Net aids dictatorships.” The talk is summarized as:

“TED Fellow and journalist Evgeny Morozov punctures what he calls “iPod liberalism” — the assumption that tech innovation always promotes freedom, democracy — with chilling examples of ways the Internet helps oppressive regimes stifle dissent.”

Morozov’s talk got me thinking more about this subject.

Read the rest of this entry »

So now we know: The Great Obama Twitter Revolution was an illusion.

At the moment when Obama needs his vast social media army to support him in the debate over health care reform, they are nowhere to be found. No spontaneous meetups. No big Facebook followings. Hardly a tweet on Twitter.

Instead, the dominant images of the health care debate are people shouting down Congressmen at town hall meetings. It’s talk show hosts on cable news channels blustering about the evils of socialized medicine. And it’s radio show hosts pushing the usual propaganda.

Obama has lost control of the debate. And the fight will be soon be lost if the trajectory of the shouting match doesn’t change.

This may be the most critical policy moment of Obama’s presidency. And Obama’s Twitter posse is sitting it out.

What are they waiting for?

Read the rest of this entry »

Over the weekend, the New York Times published a piece by technology editor Damon Darlin under the headline, “Serendipity, Lost in the Digital Deluge.”

As the headline suggests, Darlin laments that the digital age is robbing us of those wonderful moments of serendipity. I couldn’t disagree more strongly. In fact, I’ve found myself discovering more through serendipity than ever, in large part thanks to the rise of social media.

Read the rest of this entry »

Last night, TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington revealed that he had received hundreds of documents about Twitter sent by someone who had hacked into the company’s system. Arrington said he planned to post some documents related to Twitter’s business. This set off a firestorm of debate about the ethics. With Arrington posting a follow up to his original post here.

I was truly amazed at the overwhelmingly negative feedback from the TechCrunch community about his decision. You can see the harshness continue on Twitter here.

I posted my own thoughts in the comment section, which I’m re-posting here: Read the rest of this entry »

In addition to blogging and writing articles for the newspaper, I’m Twittering intermittently from E3 this week.. You can follow my tweets <a href=”http://twitter.com/troywolv”>here</a>. Or you can come back to this post and follow the feed below:

Facebook officially has rolled out its redesigned look, which makes the news feed look a heck of a lot more like Twitter.

The initial conversation (at least on Twitter) is decidedly negative.

Follow the griping here.