+ An Interview with Twitter's Biz Stone

Twitter is one of the most active communities online today. The New York Times calls it "one of the fastest growing phenomena on the Internet," and it was voted "best of the web" by SXSW. At The Greener Grass, we're excited about Twitter because it feels like a brand new type of community and new way of communicating. We spoke with co-founder Biz Stone to learn a little bit more.For those that aren't familiar with Twitter, tell our readers what it is and how people are using it.

Twitter is a communication utility which works by asking one simple question: What are you doing? Folks respond to this question and their answers are transmitted instantly to the people who are "following" them. Our technology is such that the service works over mobile texting, instant message, or the web.

Because Twitter does not demand that anyone "catch up" or "dig out" it can become more complimentary to people's lives and therefore less of a burden.

The Greener Grass is studying communities. What do you find interesting or unique to the Twitter community?

Twitter is unique because it takes place in real time. People are connecting, communicating, and self-organizing instantly during shared events such as conferences and emergencies. Twitter enables real-time group communication no matter where you are.

Should we redefine "privacy" based on new technologies like Twitter?

We don't have to sit down and redefine privacy - the concept evolves along with societal changes. As more people use technology to socialize in an open manner, individuals learn new ways to take advantage as well as new methods of self editing.

There is a lot of competition and a lot of copycats in the social networking world. How do you compete and stay the leader in microblogging?

We strive to keep things simple while focusing on strength and reliability. Our goal is to build a reliable communication utility for the world. This goal keeps us challenged.

We've written a little about the bad habits people have picked up through their wireless devices. Do you think Twitter offers a positive alternative to these other forms of communication?

Twitter is different because it is rhetorical. People can stay as connected as they like or ignore the updates of their friends - we even offer settings which turn the service off for periods of time. Because Twitter does not demand that anyone "catch up" or "dig out" it can become more complimentary to people's lives and therefore less of a burden.

Thanks, Biz.