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Updated: @ SxSWi: Twitter Tries For Maximum Value With Least Effort

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Watching Twitter CEO Ev Williams on stage at South by Southwest Interactive is a reminder that it’s still a work in progress—and watching people trying to cram into the overflow keynote was a reminder of just how much is expected. Ditto watching the steady stream leave as the interview by Umair Haque continued. The big news is the official announcement of @anywhere, a new platform that will let companies like Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) and the New York Times (NYSE: NYT) feed Twitter results directly from their own sites, or, as Williams puts it, ‘giving people value with as little effort as possible.” Twitter becomes part of any site, not a destination, with a few lines of javascript. But what does it mean in terms of money? Advertising? Nothing that concrete out of this session.

Update: I wasn’t the only one who left with questions. There was little about the business model beyond the idea that being everywhere/anywhere and directly integrated into major sites will raise Twitter’s value as a service (Williams likes to think of it as an information network) and its value as a business. But the interview left some other issues hanging, which Williams picked up on via the unhappy Twitter backchannel. He offered to answer some questions tweeted his way, collected here by Mashable. A couple that stood out:

—will @anywhere put API developers out of work? Answer: @steyblind only if they can’t think of what to do on top of it. It should allow them to create more value.

—and from @anildash: Why would I ever, ever want a newspaper to @anywhere link to @anildash instead of using HTML to link to anildash.com Answer: @anildash It’s not an either/or. It’s a hover action. Link still exists. Will result in more followers and ultimately traffic.

Williams also once again assured people Twitter isn’t for sale, at least not anytime soon. Asked if it would be sold or merged in next two years, he simply replied, “No.”

Mar 15, 2010 3:17 PM ET

Twitter Cofounder Ev Williams


Posted In: Social Media, Events, SXSW, Companies, Twitter, evan williams

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