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Twitter Hires Biz Dev Guy: Biz Model Up Next? Posted: 14 Jan 2009 02:24 PM PST It’s no small secret that Twitter is in need of a business model, and the company has hinted several times in the past few weeks that a goal for 2009 is to present a viable and sustainable business model for the microblogging platform. So a month after posting a job listing saying that it was looking for “someone who knew business,” Twitter has hired Kevin Thau as its director of mobile business development. That’s biz dev, as in someone that’s going to handle much of the direct interaction the company has with other businesses and individuals, and I’m sure Thau will be using Twitter on this front as well. As noted by CNET, Thau has been an active user since early March of last year, and has worked at a number of technology companies including Buzzwire and Openwave. The mobile experience is especially key for Thau’s purpose at Twitter, given Twitter’s readily accessible microblogging platform that’s all but designed for mobile use. Twitter access via mobile devices is also heavily tied into global growth for the company, as many users in other countries rely on their mobile phones for Twitter interaction. And given the thousands of applications that have been built up around Twitter, it’s no surprise that the company is being sought after for partnership opportunities with other companies. Dealing with these pitches isn’t something Thau will be handling in his new position, but it’s yet another area Twitter is looking to fill at its office. We’ve seen potential for partnerships with Twitter during election season, but nothing concrete ever came about. Now that Twitter has started what could be a hiring spree, we may see some interesting and money-making partnerships finally come about.

Interview with Elements: A New Kind of Twitter? Posted: 14 Jan 2009 08:49 AM PST A new product called elements launched this week from the team behind Lunarr, and elements bears the same simplicity and effortlessness that its parent company is known for. At first glance elements may appear to be a media-updating tool akin to Twitter or Tumblr, but at its core lacks a specific design that evokes a method of fluid and continual sharing that can also be used for very specific ways of giving and gaining information from a select group of people. To get a better understanding of what elements is, how it works and how it’s different, I interviewed co-founder Hideshi Hamaguchi. Kristen Nicole of Social Times: What is elements exactly, and how does it work? Hideshi Hamaguchi of elements: Elements is a toy for inspiration. It will aid in the first phase of concept building – the moment of inspiration. Elements offers you the room to be inspired without reservation, without limits, and without distractions. You will see a box and 4 big buttons. The box holds one element at a time – either an image or a quote. The buttons allow you to take four actions: Explore - proceed to the next element I like it – save this element to your personal elements page Cast it – broadcast this element to your followers and those I'm following Create – upload your own elements, or clip them from the web You also have the option to follow other element users and browse their personal element pages to view their approach to inspiration. However, the elements you'll view are not all random. Every action you take will factor into an algorithm that will customize the elements you'll see. The more actions you take and the more followers/followees you have, the deeper your personal element customization will get. Kristen Nicole: How does it tie in with LUNARR themes? Hideshi Hamaguchi: There are three phases of concept building and project management: The first phase is to come up with your grand idea. You might need to start a project while lacking a firm direction, so you brainstorm and conjure up various inspirations to get started. The second phase is to organize your elements of inspiration. The third phase is centered around creating concrete items (documents, designs, etc.) and managing them until you have a finished product. LUNARR elements takes care of the first phase, while LUNARR themes covers the third phase. We'll eventually add another service to house the second phase, but each service will have the ability to work alone, or together as a 3-tiered suite. Kristen Nicole: You can follow and be followed on elements, and the interface is simple and effective. Are there any conceptual similarities between elements and Twitter or Tumblr when it comes to the social components of elements? Hideshi Hamaguchi: Yes, but they are just similarities. With Twitter, you're shown an entire page of words thrown at you from all those whom you are following. It's fun, and it's chaotic. While using elements, the contents are brought to you one at a time. You might have 200 followers, but the actions that factor into bringing you each specific element remain uncertain to you, increasing your sensitivity to each picture or quote. Our system is based on human experience. While you're on elements, the reactions gathered from you and everyone else will influence the next element you see. Kristen Nicole: Why do you mark public elements by “late afternoon,” “evening,” etc? Hideshi Hamaguchi: We built this tool for people to come use it without a clear objective, therefore our tool had to be non-objective. To do that, we sprinkled uncertainty throughout the system to keep it vague. Maybe the blurred timestamp is too extreme? We can tune it later if we need to, but for now, it keeps the system and the experience very relaxed. Kristen Nicole: For sharing elements through the “cast” option or submitting an element, are there any plans to integrate these options with other third party apps, or publishing platforms? Hideshi Hamaguchi: It's very possible and we're open to those options. Right now, we do not have any plan in the works, but we'll keep an open mind. Kristen Nicole: What are your end goals with elements? Hideshi Hamaguchi: To adequately provide a space for expansive inspiration. We'll think about the business model after we've accomplished that. In short, we'd like to make your daily morning coffee-time more fruitful and inspirational. And to top it off, allow you to help make your friends' morning coffee-time equally as wonderful.

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