Co-founder Biz Stone talks Twitter

I interviewed Twitter co-founder Biz Stone via e-mail to get his story about how Twitter started, it's impact on the world, and where to go from here.

1. What is your personal story about how Twitter started?

Twitter started as a side project. Jack Dorsey had this simple idea inspired by the status messages in IM clients and he ran it by myself and Evan Williams. Ev suggested Jack and I take two weeks to build a prototype. Once we introduced the service to a few folks we knew we had something.

2. What were some early milestones for you personally?

I distinctly remember noticing that there were 5,000 people using Twitter and it clicked that we were heading in the right direction with our simple approach.

3. What was one event or one moment when you knew Twitter might become a major Web property?

In 2007 Jack, Evan, and myself were sitting in the audience at a Web awards show in Austin, Texas and Twitter was nominated. It occurred to me that we might actually win. I wrote a quick acceptance speech for Jack to give. A couple minutes later, we won that award.

4. What do you think accounts for the success of Twitter?

Most of Twitter's success can be attributed to the fact that people gravitate towards tools that can help them connect and share information. Beyond that, simplicity is probably a big factor in Twitter's increasing appeal.

5. What advice do you have for other Web 2.0 companies trying to make their mark?

The key for any startup founders is to be users of the product. Twitter started as a side project precisely because we were not true users of the product we started out making.

6. I call Twitter an "immediate social connect" and can see how it could work in a car dashboard, automated for us when we are walking around town, etc. What are some ways you envision people tweeting in ten years?

Humans aren't as great at other organisms with regard to group communication. The way a flock of birds move as one around an object during flight hints at a way people may be communicating in the future-possibly using Twitter.

Twitter is also a massive collection of "sources." News of what people all around the world are doing, seeing, thinking, etc. is streaming in to one real-time feed every second of every day. There are interesting similarities between Twitter and news services like AP.

7. What do you say to the privacy advocates who say Twitter invades our privacy?

We support and advocate privacy as well. Traditional forms of electronic communication can be intrusive and the more they come at us the more we are expected to "dig out." Twitter presents an antidote to this onslaught because it does not have the same expectations. The idea with Twitter is to put something out there and others can receive it if they choose -- there is no expectation of a response. Also, you can step away from Twitter at any time, make your account protected, or set quiet times in Twitter settings so you won't receive messages while you're sleeping, eating, etc.