I would pose the question differently: How can Twitter continue to deliver value as a meaningmaking and sensemaking tool for its users?

A couple of examples that illustrate what is happening:

Tweepme, a ponzi-like scheme that would have you pay for followers, in return to following everyone else, is causing a lot of controversy with its concept: Ultimately with this concept everyone would follow everyone else, and this becomes meaningless very quickly. Cheryl Harrison writes in her blog that Twitter is not a numbers game:

Is there value in having a large, worthless network on Twitter?  While I might not agree with it 100%, I can see the value of connecting with everyone on LinkedIn – in the most direct benefit, this lets you contact other people to whom they are connected for free, without having to pay for InMails and whatnot. But on Twitter – you just crank up the noise and turn down the substance.

At the SXSW conference in Austin Texas, the traditional paradigm of having a Twitter based backchannel to find interesting topics and keep up with what was happening was made meaningless by the sheer volume of tweeps coming through the service. Stacey Higginbotham writes in her piece Forget the Fail Whale: Twitter Jumps the Shark

Twitter is still up and running, but the idea of generating a real time picture of what folks are doing, and extracting relevant information from that picture, is kind of like trying to pick out your grandma at the Washington Mall on the satellite image taken during President Barack Obama’s inauguration. It’s easy to see that a lot of folks were there, and hard to find that one thing you’re looking for.

The trend is apparent: Twitter, as we know it, is about to change. And, to use another shark metaphor, it needs to “keep swimming”  to stay alive; it needs to keep evolving in order to provide meaning to its users.

So the question raises itself: How can Twitter continue to provide “meaning” for its users?

To one degree or another, it has been a sensemaking and meaningmaking tool to its user base. It may be worth to explore the principles of how such “meaning” is derived, in order to suggest where the focus for survivability could be. I suspect it has to do a lot more with disciplined and focused clarity of use and the building of strong networks and relationships by its user base, than with technology and infrastructure enhancements.

Since @robbiecat and I are in the sensemaking and collaboration business here at PositiveMatrix, we are pondering this aspect and are working on some future posts on the topic together. We are exploring how twitter use can fit into the “Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom” hierarchy…

Source: “Information as a Resource”, Harlan Cleveland

However, in the short term, one thing painfully apparent is that Twitter, or its ecosystem of supporting apps, needs better filtering concepts to help its userbase focus and customize their incoming data, glean information within it, translate it into knowledge and ultimately derive wisdom from the entire joint experience with each other.

Ideas to ponder regarding better conference filtering:

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Introduce location based filtering for mobile apps:
In another trend observation, it was widely reported that SXSW conference attendees preferred and chose mobile devices (well, mostly iPhones) as their primary computing devices during the show. So, if your iPhone app was able to filter tweeps based on location, you could reduce the volume of #sxsw hashtag traffic to display local tweeps only, and block incoming tweets from marketers all over the internet trying to take advantage of the popularity of this topic.

“Tweetdeck Mobile” or something like it:
The advantage of Tweetdeck is the ability to track multiple twitter groups, filters, hashtags, etc. While it is unlikely that the iPhone 3.0 software will do background tasks, at least a single iPhone Tweetdeck-like app could provide the ability to follow and filter multiple streams. Given the fact that SXSW seemed to indicate increased mobile device usage, conferenceware should definitely target the iPhone.

Hashtag local restriction:
Create a special hashtag for the conference that can only be used by conference attendees in a radius of 50 miles or so, and have local events, parties and the like take place there. Create another hashtag meant for external conference attendees to participate in actual sessions.

Hashtag weighting:
Allow weighting of hash tags filter to prefer tweets from people you are following, without completely shutting down tweets from people you are not following; this would allow throttling of the hashtag traffic to be more meaningful.

Multi-Hashtag setup per conference topic:
Conference providers should pre-set up multiple hashtags by topic, before the conference, and have a live directory with current sessions. Possibly partnering with some of the emerging “twitter group” sites to have users register and sign up for certain events.

These are just my ideas off the top of my head,  I have to believe that a lot of talented people are giving this thought, and recently launched services like Microplaza indicate a trend to increase relevance to the twitter user base, I believe the beginning of a welcome trend…

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Switching off the Twitter hashtag overload (nevillehobson.com)
• At SXSW, attendees deal with Twitter saturation (news.cnet.com)

There are few better places to get in touch with trends in online developments. Web2.0? We’re talking Web3.0 here (officially announced at SXSW on Friday)…

Now I was not there, but not being able to attend an event like this is actually becoming ever less painful through conference live blogging and Twitter back-channels. Still a poor substitute for face to face networking at tweet-ups, concerts and various bashes, but staying at home at least you will have had a stable internet connection…

To note a few trends:

• Impact on Local Network Bandwidth: conference organizers please take note: most attendees relied less on laptops than in years before, and used their iPhones as their primary computing device. So much so that it was widely reported that the Austin ATT Networks could not provide enough bandwith. I am assuming that Apple’s policy to monopilize the ISP service providors with ATT was not a hit at the conference.  (see also latest PC Mag article on Mobile Web Use Explodes)
• Use of Twitter Backchannels: Using a twitter back-channels at conferences needs serious developments and should give an opportunity for some smart entrepreneurs to come up with better conference participation software. (I covered some ideas of conventions around twitter in conference settings in an ealrier post.) But here, the use of the #sxsw hashtag was made meaningless by the sheer volumne of tweets that were flooding the service, making it difficult for remote conference attendees to follow the proceedings. (hashtags are a way to monitor a particular topic on twitter)

On to the fun stuff: I’d like to give consideration to all the creativity and innovation that the SXSW Web Award finalists displayed: (Spoiler Alert: for the actual winners in each category, click here…)

SXSW Web Awards Finalists…

We are pleased to announce the 12th Annual SXSW Web Awards Finalists below — all sites that have launched or been completely redesigned in 2008. The winners in each category are revealed at the SXSW Web Awards Ceremony on Sunday evening, March 15. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite finalist to win the People’s Choice Award through March 6th.

Activism

Green and Non-profit websites that are striving to make the world a better place.

Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge
I Am Second
Just In Queso
Sunny Side
Tweet Congress

Amusement

Humor, memes and all the stuff that is weird for the sake of weird.

Addictionary
CrappyCat
GirlGamer.com
Pixton
UPS Regifter

Art

From traditional photography to untraditional performances, this category focuses on web-based collections of life, society and culture.

Forward Thinking Museum
Remembering Bogle Chandler
The Served
StreetArtLocator
Things I Have Learned in my Life, So Far

Blog

Sites that revolutionize the power of publishing by providing regularly updated content of a personal or professional nature.

The Big Picture
The Bygone Bureau
Dumb As A Blog
OneRiot
Postcards From Yo Momma

Business

Sites devoted to the promotional needs, functions and services of for-profit businesses.

CNN Shirt
Jasmax
Lowe’s “Welcome Back Spring”
Modernista!
Zeus Jones Gift Guide

CSS

This category showcases sites that push the boundaries of CSS coding technology, bringing together top-notch design and content with standards compliant and accessible code.

Eden Sessions
Trevor Exter
Mint.com
Noisefreak.com
ProjectMiso

Classic

While the SXSW Interactive Web Awards focus on the best new internet destinations, this category is devoted to sites that launched before January 1, 2008.

Ars Technica
Flickr
Instructables
Picnik
StumbleUpon

Community

Social networks and wikis that have quickly developed an extraordinarily active multi-user community and an exceptional following of users who assist with content development.

Delicious 2.0
Fluther
Lost Zombies
Protagonize
Trusera

Educational Resource

From elementary school learning to advanced technology-related tips, these are sites that help you learn.

The Cycle
Discovery Earth Live
From Ellis Island to Orchard Street
HowStuffWorks
One Hen

Experimental

These are cutting-edge and trend-setting destinations that are pushing the envelope and challenging our perceptions of the web.

Foul Owl Karaoke
Popego
Sweemo
Ten Thousand Cents
We Tell Stories

Film / TV

Sites related to actors, television, films and the film industry, as well as destinations that offer streaming video content.

Flight of the Conchords Lip Dub
Hulu
In Plain Sight: WITSEC Confidential
Jinni
Secret Location

Games

The online destinations that help make your life a lot more fun.

Adult Swim Games
Globulos
PMOG
PlayCrafter
Why So Serious? The Dark Knight Alternate Reality Game

Mobile

Sites optimized for handheld and portable devices.

AP Mobile News Network
Brightkite
Gigotron
Pikchur
Please Fix the iPhone

Motion Graphics

Animations, cartoons, and other intriguing content built using applications such as Adobe / Macromedia Flash.

ADE Creative Studio
The Corona Beach
NVIDIA Speak Visual
Synergy | ThyssenKrupp Elevator Corporation
What’s Your Lighting Style

Music

Sites related to musicians, bands, and the music industry, as well online radio and other destinations that offer streaming audio content.

Tracy Chapman
The Finetune Family
SoundCloud
Spiritualized Harmonies
James Zabiela

Personal Portfolio

The portfolios, pet projects and personal collections of individuals who are displaying their work and passions online.

Ali Felski
Pericycle
Eric Piasecki: StockSearch
Revyver
Lynn Marie Smith

Student

This category is devoted exclusively to the student web designers who are refreshing this industry with new talent and new ideas.

Business of Detention
Michael Dick
Modernity Spirit of Experimentation
Think Artificial
Weekend Pictures

Technical Achievement

These are the sites that are re-inventing and re-defining the technical parameters of our online experience.
Absolut Machines
Aviary
jQuery UI ThemeRoller
Skydeck
Tarpipe

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• WeFollow Twitter directory: Kevin Rose’s latest project (news.cnet.com)
• Kevin Rose Weighs in on iPhone OS 3.0 [Update: Added Video] (Alex Brooks/World of Apple) (techmeme.com)
• SXSWi: Holy Geekfest! (takepart.com)
• At SXSW, attendees confront Twitter saturation (Daniel Terdiman/CNET News) (techmeme.com)