Four years ago, on the TED stage, I announced a company I was working with at the time called Odeo. And because of that announcement, we got a big article in The New York Times, which led to more press, which led to more attention, and me deciding to become CEO of that company -- whereas I was just an adviser -- and raising a round of venture capital and ramping up hiring.
四年前,同樣在TED的講台上 我說我跟人合創了一間公司 那間公司叫Odeo 那次的演講 經《紐約時報》大幅報導後 又吸引更多媒體,招來更多矚目 然後我決定出任Odeo的執行長 其實我只是顧問 然後我開始募集資金 四處招募人才
One of the guys I hired was an engineer named Jack Dorsey, and a year later, when we were trying to decide which way to go with Odeo, Jack presented an idea he'd been tinkering around with for a number of years that was based around sending simple status updates to friends. We were also playing with SMS at the time at Odeo, so we kind of put two and two together, and in early 2006 we launched Twitter as a side project at Odeo.
工程師傑克.杜西就是那時雇用的員工 一年後,我們開始思考Odeo未來發展 傑克提出他長年一直想實現的構想 基本上,就是即時更新現況給朋友們看 當時在Odeo我們也有做SMS簡訊服務 所以我們把兩者稍作整合 2006年初在Odeo推出推特當副產品
Now, it's hard to justify doing a side project at a startup, where focus is so critical, but I had actually launched Blogger as a side project to my previous company, thinking it was just a little thing we'd do on the side, and it ended up taking over not only the company, but my life for the next five or six years. So I learned to follow hunches even though you can't necessarily justify them or know where they're going to go. And that's kind of what's happened with Twitter, time after time.
我們很難說當初的決定是否明智 新創公司推出多項產品是有點冒險 但我也曾推出Blogger軟體當副產品 在我之前創立的另家公司 所以我原本把推特當成小型副產品 結果,推特不僅成為Odeo的事業重心 也成為我接下來五六年的生活重心 我從這當中學會相信直覺 雖然我們往往無法判定直覺是否正確 也無法預測將來發展 不過就像推特,時間會解答一切
So, for those of you unfamiliar, Twitter is based around a very simple, seemingly trivial concept. You say what you're doing in 140 characters or less, and people who are interested in you get those updates. If they're really interested, they get the update as a text message on their cell phone. So, for instance, I may Twitter right now that I'm giving a talk at TED. And in my case, when I hit send, up to 60,000 people will receive that message in a matter of seconds. Now, the fundamental idea is that Twitter lets people share moments of their lives whenever they want, be they momentous occasions or mundane ones. It is by sharing these moments as they're happening that lets people feel more connected and in touch, despite distance, and in real time. This is the primary use we saw of Twitter from the beginning, and what got us excited.
如果你不太清楚推特是什麼 推特的概念非常簡單,毫不足奇 140個字元內說你想說的話 對你有興趣的人就會收到新訊息 如果他們非常感興趣 他們可以在手機上用簡訊接收新訊 比如說,我現在「推」一下 說我正在TED演講 當我按下送出 幾秒內有近6萬人會收到這則訊息 推特的核心概念 就是讓大家分享生活點滴 無論何時(生了!4500克,是男孩) 無論是意義非凡的事 還是平凡瑣事(可惡手機掉馬桶裡了) 透過立即分享 讓大家有彼此關連和保持聯繫的感覺 這種沒有距離的實況速報 就是我們一開始對推特的設定 也讓我們相當興奮
What we didn't anticipate was the many, many other uses that would evolve from this very simple system. One of the things we realized was how important Twitter could be during real-time events. When the wildfires broke out in San Diego, in October of 2007, people turned to Twitter to report what was happening and to find information from neighbors about what was happening around them.
出乎我們意料,這個簡單的系統 居然發展出這麼多的用途 我們領悟的一件事是 發生緊急事件時,推特非常重要 2007年10月聖地牙哥大火 災情爆發時 民眾湧入推特報導現場災情 同時探尋鄰居們的狀況 試圖了解自己周遭發生的事
But it wasn't just individuals. The L.A. Times actually turned to Twitter to dispense information as well, and put a Twitter feed on the front page, and the L.A. Fire Department and Red Cross used it to dispense news and updates as well. At this event, dozens of people here are Twittering and thousands of people around the world are following along because they want to know what it feels like to be here and what's happening.
不單只是個人而已 當時洛杉磯時報也靠推特散佈消息 把推特網址放在首頁(大火波及克利夫蘭國家公園) 洛杉磯消防局和紅十字會 也是靠推特散播消息 這起事件中,許多人在推特發表訊息 而成千上萬的人跟進報導回應 因為他們想知道在現場的人有何感受 以及了解災情最新狀況
Among the other interesting things that have cropped up
推特也有一些有趣的現象
are many things from businesses,
例如公司行號開始利用推特
from marketing and communications and predictable things, to an insanely popular Korean-barbecue taco truck that drives around L.A. and Twitters where it stops, causing a line to form around the block.
從行銷到大眾傳播事業等可想見的 一家韓式煎餅餐車就靠推特莫名爆紅 餐車繞經全洛杉磯並在推特上宣傳停靠點 購買者大排長龍(我們在明尼蘇達大學主場)
Politicians have recently begun Twittering. In fact, there are 47 members of Congress who currently have Twitter accounts. And they're tweeting, in some cases, from behind closed-door sessions with the President. In this case, this guy's not liking what he's hearing. The President himself is our most popular Twitter user, although his tweets have dropped off as of late, while Senator McCain's have picked up. As have this guy's.
政治人物最近也開始用推特 事實上,已有47名國會議員 最近有了推特帳號 有時候他們在網路上「推」了個訊息 其實人正和歐巴馬總統閉門開會 通常這時他們對議題不感興趣 總統自己就是最受歡迎的推特客 雖然他最近推特的次數有點下滑 馬侃議員的倒是增加了 也包括這個人(TED現任主席)
Twitter was originally designed as a broadcast medium: you send one message and it goes out to everybody, and you receive the messages you're interested in. One of the many ways that users shaped the evolution of Twitter was by inventing a way to reply to a specific person or a specific message. So, this syntax, the "@username" that Shaquille O'Neal's using here to reply to one of his fans, was completely invented by users, and we didn't build it into the system until it already became popular and then we made it easier. This is one of the many ways that users have shaped the system.
原本推特的設定是廣播訊息平台 你上傳一則訊息後大家都會收到 你也會收到你感興趣的人寫的 用戶們推動推特演變的其中一種方式 就是發明出特定方式回覆某個人 或回應某個訊息 所以像「俠客」.歐尼爾就用「@帳號」 回覆某位球迷 這全是用戶們自己想出來的 這個功能本來沒有內建,受到歡迎後 我們才加上並讓它更容易使用 這是客戶引導系統成形的一例
Another is via the API. We built an application-programming interface, which basically means that programmers can write software that interacts with Twitter. We currently know about over 2,000 pieces of software that can send Twitter updates -- interfaces for Mac, Windows, your iPhone, your BlackBerry -- as well as things like a device that lets an unborn baby Twitter when it kicks or a plant Twitter when it needs water.
還有一例是透過API應用程式介面 我們建置了一個API 讓軟體工程師能寫出推特相容程式 目前我們知道超過2千種軟體程式 可以傳送推特訊息更新 像是Mac電腦、Windows、iPone和黑莓機… 也包括了 讓腹中寶寶踢腿時就「推」個訊息 或是植物該澆水時也來推一下
Probably the most important third-party development came from a little company in Virginia called Summize. Summize built a Twitter search engine. And they tapped into the fact that, if you have millions of people around the world talking about what they're doing and what's around them, you have an incredible resource to find out about any topic or event while it's going on. This really changed how we perceived Twitter. For instance, here's what people are saying about TED. This is another way that our mind was shifted, and Twitter wasn't what we thought it was. We liked this so much we actually bought the company and are folding it into the main product. This not only lets you view Twitters in different ways, but it introduces new use cases as well. One of my favorites is what happened a few months ago when there was a gas shortage in Atlanta. Some users figured out that they would Twitter when they found gas -- where it was, and how much it cost -- and then appended the keyword "#atlgas" which let other people search for that and find gas themselves.
最重要的第三方發展成果 來自維吉尼亞州一間小公司Summize Summize建構一個推特搜尋引擎 他們善加利用了一項真理 就是當全世界有數百萬人 談論他們做的事和面臨的事 就大有機會從話題或事件裡 即時找到想找的東西 這也讓我們重新看待推特 例如這是推特上大家對TED的討論 以上是我們思考模式的一項轉變 推特並非僅是當初設定的樣子 我們很喜歡那個搜尋引擎乾脆把公司買下來 然後把搜尋引擎併到推特裡 搜尋引擎讓人對推特有了不同看法 也衍生許多新的使用方式 其中一種是在幾個月前發生的,我很欣賞 那時亞特蘭大汽油短缺 一些推特客想出法子 一旦他們發現汽油就推一下 告知地點價錢(每公升18元,洛根威爾市) 然後還貼上「#atlgas」當關鍵字 這樣其他人搜尋時就可找到訊息
And this trend of people using this communication network to help each other out goes far beyond the original idea of just keeping up with family and friends. It's happened more and more lately, whether it's raising money for homeless people or to dig wells in Africa or for a family in crisis. People have raised tens of thousands of dollars over Twitter in a matter of days on several occasions. It seems like when you give people easier ways to share information, more good things happen.
這種利用社交聯絡網路 互助助人的趨勢 遠超越原先僅連繫親友的設定 最近這種情況愈趨頻繁 不論是為遊民募款 或是為了在非洲鑿井 或只是某個家庭有困難 大家在幾天內就募集數萬資金 名目各有不同 似乎提供輕鬆容易的分享方式 就能有更多善事
I have no idea what will happen next with Twitter. I've learned to follow the hunch, but never assume where it will go. Thanks.
我不知道推特接下來會走向何種發展 但我學會相信直覺 而且不要預設未來發展的走向 謝謝
(Applause)
(掌聲)
Chris Anderson: We're not quite done yet. So, look, if we could have this screen live. This is actually the most terrifying thing that any speaker can do after they've been to an event. It's totally intimidating.
主持人:還沒結束(訂閱我的推特:請輸入FOLLOW EV) 讓我們看看螢幕同步顯示 這是所有講者最怕遇到的 演講完還得面對這些 真的非常可怕
So, this would be the Twitter search screen. So we're going to just type a couple of random words into Twitter. For example: "Evan Williams." "Evan Williams, give people more good ways to share information and follow your hunch at TED." "Currently listening to Evan Williams." "Currently listening to Evan Williams." "Evan Williams --" Oh. "Evan Williams is just dying on stage here at TED. Worst talk ever!" (Laughter)
現在這是推特的搜尋頁面 我們隨便打幾個字 比如說伊凡.威廉斯 「給大家更多資訊並相信你的直覺@ #TED」 「…正在聽伊凡.威廉斯演講」 噢 「伊凡.威廉斯在台上撐不下去了…」 「史上最爛演講」
Evan Williams: Nice. Thanks.
哈那還真謝了
CA: Just kidding.
開個玩笑別在意
But, literally in the eight minutes he was talking, there are about fifty tweets that already came on the talk. So he'll see every aspect of the reaction: the fact that Barack Obama is the biggest Twitterer, the fact that it came out of TED. I don't think there's any other way of getting instant feedback that way.
就在伊凡演講的八分鐘內 就有大概五十則推特訊息速報 所以他能看到各方不同迴響 包括歐巴馬總統是最有名的推特客 以及推特從TED開始發跡… 我想沒有其他方式能這麼快收到回應
You have build something very fascinating, and it looks like its best times are still ahead of it. So, thank you very much, Evan. EW: Thank you. CA: That was very interesting.
你做了一件非常了不起的事 看來推特未來會更讓人驚艷 非常謝謝你,伊凡 真是場有趣的演講