Dave Winer has been building and publicizing some really interesting things with pushing RSS-based content into Twitter.

Sites have had SMS and email alerts for ages (CNN’s breaking new alerts; ESPN’s sports score updates). All of these older models needed unique sign-ins, distinct configuration options; a wholly non-uniform experience.

With Dave’s (and other’s) work, Twitter becomes an extensible platform for micro-distribution. Any site with an RSS feed is now able to broadcast updates to Twitter subscribers. They need not worry about their own SMS integration. Users don’t need to worry about endless signups or giving away identifying information to all of these sites.

RSS is the syndication format (in and outbound); SMS/web are the delivery mechanisms, and Twitter is the intermediary.

Dave Winer has been building and publicizing some really interesting things with pushing RSS-based content into Twitter.

Sites have had SMS and email alerts for ages (CNN’s breaking new alerts; ESPN’s sports score updates). All of these older models needed unique sign-ins, distinct configuration options; a wholly non-uniform experience.

With Dave’s (and other’s) work, Twitter becomes an extensible platform for micro-distribution. Any site with an RSS feed is now able to broadcast updates to Twitter subscribers. They need not worry about their own SMS integration. Users don’t need to worry about endless signups or giving away identifying information to all of these sites.

RSS is the syndication format (in and outbound); SMS/web are the delivery mechanisms, and Twitter is the intermediary.