Travolution picked to run TwitLite pilot

Travolution is to continue its pioneering approach to publishing and become the first UK title to pilot a service from the creators of Twitter.     The side project, known as TwitLite (or ‘T’ for short), is a micro version of Twitter and restricts messages to just 24 characters, which are then posted onto the…

Travolution is to continue its pioneering approach to publishing and become the first UK title to pilot a service from the creators of Twitter.


 



 


The side project, known as TwitLite (or ‘T’ for short), is a micro version of Twitter and restricts messages to just 24 characters, which are then posted onto the existing Twitter service.


Followers will see a gold ‘star’ against any Tweeter who is using TwitLite.


Developers hope the new, opt-in TwitLite system will revolutionise the existing service and, in the words of a well-placed source at Twitter, “find some value from within the mundane drivel”.


Putting pressure on users to keep their ‘Tweets’ to just a handful of characters will ultimately make the posts better, more succinct for their followers and valuable, he added.


The phenomenal rise of Twitter in the past six months has led many sceptics amongst the so-called digerati to complain about how new members are using and abusing the service.


Mickey Fishmonger, editor of the hugely popular TechSqueeze website, recently told delegates at a digital conference that Twitter needed to upgrade the system in some way to cut down on the number of “time-wasting” Tweets.


“If I see one more 140-character Tweet which just goes on about how they’ve picked up a bagel and what is in it, I think I’m going to scream,” he said.


Twitter founders are hoping that the new service, which is being tested by a few influential members in various locations around the world, will address many of the concerns circulating amongst early-adopters.


Travolution editor Kevin May said: “We are delighted that the folks at Twitter picked us to trial the new service.


“At journalism school we were taught to keep headlines to a maximum of 24 words – so this is really just a logical extension of that.”


The TwitLite trial ends at midday on Wednesday 1 April.