Google Can’t Launch Twoogle, I Did

Mark Evans yesterday mused what would happen if Google were to launch a microblogging service in a post called “What if Google Started Twoogle?”

It’s an interesting exercise, and a thought worthy of discussion (something I explored to some extent in this older SiliconANGLE story).

As you may have noticed a few weeks ago, I quietly launched an application I’m code-naming “Twoogle Reader.” It’s an add-on to my otherwise almost-useless and certainly superfluous URL shortener riz.gd.

I opened it up to a limited Alpha release, and a number of influential personalities and avid Google Reader users signed on, like Veronica Belmont, the famous Techmeme tweeter Atul, and Robert Scoble himself (a quick summize scan for riz.gd will give you a fuller picture of these early adopters).

I’m already starting to see some very interesting data emerge in terms of levels of engagement on Twitter, something I hope to analyze further and release as a SiliconANGLE Labs project soon. The data shows information that’s counter-intuitive to what you’d think would lead to higher engagement when it comes to how well known influencers versus those with small social graphs.

I’m also forseeing that this data I’m collecting from Twoogle Reader in tandem with the URL shortener (usage stats, metadata) is putting me in an excellent position to function as a bookmarking utility, a secondary lifestreaming tool, analytics provider, and a myriad of other applications.

The point in which a link is shared and when it’s clicked on by a focused audience is a neat place to be, and best of all, it’s providing a valuable service to the end users as well (instead of being a simply one-sided relationship like so many Web 2.0 tools). Instead of requiring the user to remember yet another social network to maintain, the aim of my application is to help unite the discovery and sharing process in a useful and transparent way.

Given that I’ve reserved my weekends for the last few weeks to tweak this service and haven’t said much about it publicly, I’d just figured a status report might be in order.

Current users – sound off! What do you love/hate about it? As I move it forward, what aspects would you like me to focus on?

Non-users – interested in participating in the Alpha and Beta tests? Think it’s just completely retarded or totally awesome? Let me know.