How to Transform Twitter From a Product Everyone Has Heard of Into a Product Everyone Wants to Use

Lance Ulanoff:

If you’re not a member [of Twitter], you can’t see inside Twitter: aside from the occasional Twitter stream embeds and what the Information Class tells you on websites, TV and radio about Twitter activity. When a premium channel on your cable network wants more subscribers, it typically runs a free weekend where every single cable subscriber can view the once-hidden channel. You get to see what they’re offering, and some people subscribe as a result. Now imagine if on Twitter’s homepage, instead of just seeing a sign-up call to action, you had a steady flow of all “public” tweets—and, better yet, a full-configurable TweetDeck-like page where you could choose tweet channels (essentially, topics). Checking out content or different topics, like entertainment, politics, science, celebrities, gossip and technology, should be as easy as changing channels on your TV. No need to sign up for Twitter or follow anyone. Twitter could simply populate the channels with the most recent public tweets on each topic, or if they choose, have someone curate the best of them. Twitter could even insert some promoted Tweets.

Viewers would be able to click on any link and email, copy or tweet links and embed those tweets wherever they want. However, if they want to follow, retweet or start tweeting on their own, they must join Twitter. My guess is that the more people see inside Twitter, the more likely they are to become members and engage, especially if they can configure their viewing experience (whether or not they’re members).