Explaining Twitter to a 5yr old

The Cloudcast

Could you explain Twitter to a 5yr old? Some things are just difficult to explain, and this week we look at the challenges of trying to explain complex technical concepts to everyday people.

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SHOW NOTES:

• Back to the Future of Twitter (Ben Thompson, Stratechery)

I GET HOW IT WORKS, BUT WHAT DOES IT ACTUALLY DO?

Many of us use Twitter on a daily basis, but if you had to explain it to someone, could you explain what it is and what value it provides? Many of us are tasked with a similar challenge in trying to explain our day-to-day work.

EXPLAINING COMPLEX THINGS IS HARD. MAYBE THAT’S A SIGN THAT IT’S TOO TECHNICAL OR SHOULD BE BROKEN APART

• What problem does something solve?
• Who has that problem?
• Does the problem need to be solved by a product or a platform?
• Does the product align to one or many people’s jobs?
• Does the platform align to one of many people’s jobs?
• If it’s a platform, do the people with the problem want all of it?
• Does the platform approach limit your ability to monetize it (e.g. too restrictive)?
• Could you platform be valuable if it was broken up?

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