BuzzFeed’s Mat Honan reported on a “top secret project” that the former CEO of Twitter, Dick Costolo, let them in on shortly before he resigned: Project Lightning.
This new tool will be a major change for Twitter—a platform that has generally taken the back seat and allowed its users to express themselves and curate what they see on their feeds on their own. Now, to a point, that will change.
With Project Lightning, Twitter will be adding a human element to the site by hiring human editors to curate “events.” These events can range to anything from the latest news, to a cultural happening like the Great American Cookie Appreciation Festival (we can dream).
These editors, much like editors in your everyday newsroom, will be scouring the Twittersphere for events that users are tweeting about. These events can be either preplanned like the Oscars, or breaking news of a natural disaster.
Human curators are not a new idea, but now they’re starting to gain more popularity across social media platforms. LinkedIn is now considering the idea, and Snapchat already has human editors curating images, and Apple is in the game as well.
All-in-all, not a bad idea. After all, humans know what is important to them and what others want to see. Right?
Right?
Humans vs. Robots! Begin!
It’s no secret that Twitter has played a key role in world events by allowing people to connect with each other and share what they were witnessing in real-time. As a result, the way Twitter moderates people’s news feeds can heavily influence everything from the public’s opinions on international news to consumer interest. So who is best qualified for the job of curator/moderator? jWeb’s content strategists Helen Wurthmann and Alanna Redenour discuss. Choose your own adventure: