Last summer, I wrote that Twitter had become the currency of social discussion.
ESPN used Twitter’s Embedded Timeline feature for the US Open.
I said: “Twitter is the companion piece to news and culture. It doesn’t REPLACE, it enhances.”
Twitter recently launched the next generation of such social discussion and content enhancement with their new embedded timelines feature.
Here’s what you need to know about it.
1) Which pill, Neo?
To this point, websites could show feeds from Twitter, that with one, simple click, would take you over to Twitter.com to engage in that discussion.
This new functionality allows that engagement to take place within the parent website’s ecosystem, without leaving the page.
To be frank: Twitter effectively solved the puzzle of how to add their social layer to the world.
Unlike Facebook which wants to keep you in their platform, Twitter now wants you to stay where you are, but have the social discussions in their layer or cloud.
Welcome to the Matrix.
2) Customer Service
If you design your page right, a Twitter feed could act as a concierge-level customer service respresentative.
This can easily improve:
- Customer Care
- Lead Generation
- Site Maintenance
…and, again, not take you away from the site.
3) Visual Branding
Worried your Twitter presence isn’t getting enough attention from fans or customers?
Plop your Timeline right in the middle of your page, like ESPN did for it’s US Open coverage.
I’ll be honest – I had no idea ESPN had a Tennis-specific Twitter account. I do now.
What other benefits do you see from Twitter’s Embedded Timelines?
(Mar…
