What comes after Twitter?

A third question from my interview with the Emerson grad student:

Question: Social media, such as Digg and Twitter, have proven effective at driving readers to content, but not for delivering that content; for that, the Web reigns supreme. Do you think this will change, or will other delivery mechanisms appear and/or grow?

My answer:

I actually think Twitter is a very effective medium for delivering short-form content on the Web and mobile devices, and is one of the most effective barometers for breaking news ever invented. If there's an earthquake in L.A., the spike of reports will be noted on Twitter long before AP or CNN lumber into action.

Digg serves as a useful tool for people inundated by potential sources of information. It aggregates large numbers of news articles on specific topics, and lets users rate them, which in theory provides people with a very effective way of finding things of interest without wasting lots of time browsing multiple sites or search engines.

I think the problem with Digg and Twitter, and this is something that I alluded to earlier, is that they can be manipulated. I get kind of peeved when I see the top trending topics on Twitter are groups trying to promote an event or cause, such as #ces2009 on Twitter. Digg is notorious for being manipulated by paid gangs and artificial networks of friends who automatically vote up each others submissions, regardless of the quality. I have to admit that I myself sometimes ask my friends to vote up content from my own site, because I honestly believe it's quality content that deserves to be seen by a wider group of people. However, I never pay anyone for this and always use an account with my full name and title.

In the future, I think there will be better tools that help people find information that is useful and helpful for them, and is less susceptible to manipulation. I look forward to location- and time-based filters ("let me see all of the posted video within a 200-ft radius of Times Square between 12:00 and 12:02 am on January 1") as well as a Facebook tool that tracks the news articles that my friends like.