Can Twitter Be Improved?

I have been a member of Twitter for just a short time now and i originally saw it as being an "Over the Fence" communication device for friends and family connection. I kept it running in the background as I worked on other things although occassionally a Tweet would grab my attention and I would forego my present duties to follow the provoked responses. It slowly (actually it was faster than that) pulled me into clever repartee' with strangers that also thought very highly of their wit and we bantered back and forth gleefully laughing our twittering asses off.

This is where the epiphany always comes in and smacks you upside the head as to exactly what eventual utilization Twitter might fit. A National Citizen Instant Response to a pending Senate Bill tailored to Region, State or even City or Districts. A Public Rating of audience reaction to a televised program or event could be monitored, it wouldn't be hard to add a sliding scale rating system using the already in place Hash # programming. Imagine American Idol with Twitter Scoring that isn't remotely close to the figures reported on the show! Twitter is already seeing increases in people witnessing and reporting newsworthy events as they happen, unfiltered and unedited by the agenda-filled Press. (Which, in my opinion, has too many strings attached already prevalently due to ownership's desired slant/stance).

De-regulation that has been applied to all kinds of media whether it be newspapers, radio stations, television, etc. has already placed questionable bias on subjects where the public was looking to them for a better understanding. This is the main reason that the Internet use has grown exponentially over other easily accessed mediums.

That consumer/public access is the Holy Grail that causes chats and forums to bloom on corporate websites such as CNN, ESPN, USA Today, et al, however, their honesty and worthiness is suppressed due to the fact that they are monitored and directed towards a final outcome that may or may not be what the staff has pre-ordained to be the public's response.

Twitter gives us a graphical glance at public awareness and opinion that has yet to be harnessed but is quite easily accomplished with minor applied direction and tweaking. I can see why other companies would like to attach their own bastardized usage to this application that has captured the imagination of a  computerized world. AOL had grandiose plans that worked quite well until it was obvious that the Chat-rooms were the main reason that people subscribed. Once AOL started deciding which websites were going to be "contained" in their mall of internet then the bottom fell out.

We have already seen such sites such as the "Magpie" one that only wants to plant the names of their customer's products within the Tweets of private accounts with promises of "great rewards" to the Twits that buy their spiel. I can already envision an excess of Re-Tagging that may turn Twitter into a vast wasteland of repeated Spam graffiti. Here's hoping that this practice is caught early on.

Creativity and communication should never be hampered regardless of what side of the proverbial fence you may come down on. These Freedoms of expression, ideas, speech or opinion are cornerstones of a democratic form of life and every effort should be made to maintain it's ability to grow, blossom and branch out to keep it innovative and strong.