By Allan Maurer

RALEIGH, NC – Dom Sagolla, co-creator of Twitter and founder of DollarApp, will be speaking about using the Internet “Beyond the Web” at North Carolina State University on Tuesday, Sept. 7, at 8 p.m. in Stewart Theatre in NC State’s Talley Student Center.

In a telephone interview from San Francisco, Sagulla told us that he may even announce the launch of his latest venture. The new company is going to be an innovator of “small and large new ideas,” he says and will be focused on Apple’s iPhone and iPad operating system (IOS).

Sagolla’s talk will place the Web in historical context from its inception by specialist experts to its near ubiquity in developed society. He’ll further illustrate how today’s Web is just a glimpse of marvels that are
around the corner.

Sagolla’s talk is the centerpiece of the CI Days event at NC State Tuesday (Sept. 7) and Wednesday (Sept. 8). The event focuses on how cyberinfrastructure – computers, networks and people — affects the way we think, create, govern and do business.

Experts from around the country will discuss CI opportunities and challenges on issues ranging from public health to eGovernment to video games.

Sagolla tells us the original idea for Twitter was to provide a way for people to provide friends with short updates like police or hospital dispatches.

“When we started it, it was like a tribe,” says Sagolla. “It was a way for a small group to stay connected. The bigger it got, the less useful it became to me.”

Surfing no longer the right metaphor

Sagolla is much concerned with how language reflects our thinking and the power of hypertext. He says, for instance, that “The word ‘cyber’ is gone. I love that the conference is called “Cyberinfrastructure. Cyber is a dated term.”

He also says that we should be talking about “social media rather than a social network. The guys at Twitter believed they were an information network until they were crowned the ‘largest social network.’

Sagolla, who is a dedicated ocean surfer, says that among younger Internet users, “The metaphor of surfing is gone from their language.” More common is the evolving idea of the Internet as “a stream,” that one dips into and out of, or as a lens, says Sagolla.

“The idea of presence is another metaphor,” he says. “Kids turn their ‘presence’ on and off.

Sagolla says that as he travels widely giving talks he always tries to hang out with younger folks to listen to their language.

“It’s a reflection of behavior and actually drives behavior,” he says.

Three tips for good Tweets

He’s even written a book on Twitter style. His top three recommendations for good Tweets?

First, above all, “Brevity.”

Second, “Describe,” he says. “You’re telling  a story, of your life, if nothing else.”

Second, “Simplify. Change word order, use a different word.”

His book also suggests ways to avoid becoming addicted to updating status, or inviting the wrong person and ruining the party.

Sagolla says his focus on language is particularly appropriate to the coming mobile era, which is primarily text based, due to smaller screens that don’t reproduce photos, graphics or video so well as larger ones.

He also says he’s looking forward to visiting the Research Triangle. “I know a lot of people who came from there to Silicon Valley.” Also, he says, San Francisco has been foggy and cold, so he’s looking forward to North Carolina’s sun and balmy temperatures.

To contact TechJournal South Editor & Writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.

 

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Tags: Cyberinfrastructure Days event, Dom Sagolla, hypertext, NC State University, presence, surfing, tips for good tweets, twitter