blogstring.com

A few moments ago, while restarting firefox for the third time today, an idea hit me. I have been using twitter a lot lately, and have been trying out services that use the twitter API. Since many conversations in twitter end up linking to blog posts or interesting articles, I was thinking about about ways to keep conversations connected. Right now, the following happens:

Step One: Engage in conversations in twitter.

Step Two: See an interesting link, and click on it.

Step Three: You’re taken to another web site, where you can comment on what you’re reading. The experience shifts from where people are already talking to another room where no one is there.

I see it this way:

You’re at a party talking with friends. One friend tells you "Hey, listen. I have a great painting that I’d really like you to see. I’d love to know what you think of it. Go down the hall and go in the third door on your right. And if you would, fill out a comment card while you’re there to let me know what you think about it. I’ll stay here chatting, but later on I’ll see what the comment cards say."

Strange, right? It’s not natural. It’s not how we normally behave.

What I’m thinking

Okay, so bear with me here. Again, this is a potentially stupid idea, I’ll admit. But here goes.

I think it would be cool to integrate blog comments with twitter. If I saw and clicked on a link to a blog post from within twitter, whatever comment I posted could include my twitter username, and could then post an @ message back to the blog author in twitter. That way, the comment would still appear on the blog, but would also continue the conversation within twitter. It would also give me a record of the comments I’ve posted on others’ blogs.

I realize this would take some heavy lifting behind the scenes, but I think it would be a good way to bridge what is now a fractured conversation flow.

Hey, like I said, it’s just an idea. Thoughts?

Filed under: Uncategorized