SXSW Showdown: Dodgeball Vs. Twitter
Blake Robinson
37 comments »
Now that South by Southwest 2007 has come to a close I finally have some minutes to write about the two most vaunted services of the show: Twitter and Dodgeball.
With both services, users establish a friends list to whom messages are broadcast. Twitter allows you to update your status through IM, SMS or a web-based client. Dodgeball functions exclusively through SMS at this point. They each have a distinct use when it comes to coordinating with many people while away from home. Because they allow you to send one message that is then sent to all of the people on your list, you can easily inform a group of people of your whereabouts or whatever else you wish to say. You can also elect to receive updates from your friends through IM, SMS or through the website.
Twitter was the clear winner of SXSW, with more people talking about it than anything else. That is not, however, to say that it’s better, it just had more of a presence. This is partly due to the fact that Twitter had giant LCDs setup all around the convention center that streamed messages from SXSW. It was interesting to watch all of the comments flowing in from attendees. I think though that Twitter has a limited appeal. Sure it’s cool at an event like SXSW, but I can’t see it maintaining much functionality out of a convention/festival environment.
It’s really just a glorified Facebook status. The service allows you to update your status via different conduits, but in the end it does no more than Facebook’s service. The only thing that it really trumps Facebook on is the fact that there is no presumed “is.”
Dodgeball at least brings something completely new and useful to the table. This service functions under the Google accounts blanket and its a bit more streamlined. Your status can only be updated through SMS, but that’s OK, because its mainly about location. Sending an “@ location” message to Dodgeball will broadcast your locale to your entire list. If your friend is unsure of where that place is, he or she can query the system “location?” and it will ping the person back with an address.
Another interesting feature that Dodgeball adds is Crushes. If a crush is within a 10 block radius of you at the time you check-in, the system will send you a message letting you know that a crush is nearby. It won’t tell you where or who, but if the user has a camera phone, he or she can forward a picture to let you know what you’re looking for. It’s an interesting dynamic, but I’m not sure how well it’ll take off. It can also put you in contact with a friend-of-a-friend (FOAF) in a similar capacity.
To me, the best player in this new arena is currently Dodgeball, but my eyes are on Facebook. It has a far greater userbase than either of these services and could feasibly implement features that could corner the market before it becomes too convoluted.
In the meantime, I’ll continue to follow Dodgeball and Twitter to see if anything new develops. They’re each intriguing services with definite use to people in cities.
Or, my friends can just call or text me to find out. There are only so many services I can update or check in on, and so many people that care if I’m even alive or dead.
Maybe more exciting lives than mine keep these services going, but I have a hard time believing they are either necessary or convenient.
These messaging sites and Mobile integration go hand in hand. I look forward to more of these popping up this year.
Will be interesting to see how today’s announcement from AOL will impact these types of services. Basically, now all of your AIM buddy’s (that you allow) can see your location, without having to manually broadcast that information. Pretty cool plug-in that uses your wifi to determine your location.
They both look rather bleak when compared to Jaiku (http://jaiku.com/). Better interface, design and functionality with no reliance on SMS.
Shoot, and for a minute I thought you were going to announce that they were bring back the Nintendo Super Dodgeball game. Now THAT would be an announcement to get excited about.
BTW - you guys were robbed for not getting best tech blog at the weblog of the year awards.
The Facebook development team have shown a lot of interest in pushing mobile integration with the service, so my money is on them putting in something along the lines of Twitter. And although many are keen to slate Twitter’s ability to destroy the attention span, this only helps further it’s adoption. It’s a technology that should fit right in with Facebook’s users, including Charlie from Goldman Sachs.
I’m super sure Twitter folks must be working their ass off to release the next version with a more far reaching use for the site(I don’t know what it can be; I still haven’t given into the hype).
I think the simplicity in Twitter was on purpose - adding too many features would’ve put them in same category as just-another-social-network.
They’ve developed a niche feature they’ve become very popular for. NOW they can build on top of this without being stereotyped as another social network.
-Zaid
While I always admire new technology (or new uses of old technology), I can’t help but think that I need fewer ways for people to find me, not more.
Blake, you’ve fallen into the trap that every other negative Twitter review falls into: it doesn’t look useful. However, it’s taking off and Dodgeball (with a two year headstart) isn’t. I’d like to see someone analyze the reasons behind Twitter’s success and growth.
I think this is a common trap that makes it hard to predict the success of social software. Instead of comparing feature sets and utility we should be asking if the software does a good job helping people be social.
I’m not really sure how you can compare facebook to twitter, to myspace, but to twitter? I don’t see the connection?
Tony,
You make a valid point about its ability to help people be social. In that regard, Twitter does an excellent job. We were firing messages back and forth through the entire festival.
I do, however, believe that the features of similar services should be compared as that’s how we best judge which service is a better use of our time. I don’t feel that I’ve fallen into a trap, but, as I said, I’ll be watching the progress of these services.
b5chad,
I’m comparing Facebook Status to Twitter. The two services are quite similar.
Blake - I think you missed one point about why Twitter was so popular in Austin — because it was sold like nothing else. From the first minute to the last - everyone was pushing it - the “how to rawk sxsw” (which was crap btw) pushed it - and of course there are tons of followers - so it picked up steam - and naturally people want to see their name in lights on the screens. Also, many people (including me) were unable to get “friended” to the SXSW group so we never were able to communicate across the group.
I am not sure what Twitter paid for those slots and all that coverage but it was a bit over the top honestly. And naturally they won the award during the event as well.
Frankly, those screens could have been used better… to tell us when they switched rooms!
Great point about facebook. they are definitely primed to do this, as they are really focusing on their core as a communications platform. Their users love to be informed about where their friends are and what they’re up to, so something like this would be perfect.
Maybe they’ll go public and then buy twitter
Both Twitter and dodgeball have some pro’s and con’s. Dodgeball has the upper hand only because its can get folded into the various services of google.
However Twitter is easier to use .. so its an interesting spin on how soical presence app’s will evolve !!
I wrote about this too: |Is Twitter the ultimate conference ‘backchannel’?
Friendstribe.com is my favorite mobile social network. It’s like Dodgeball but it has more features.
You have to think that facebook has the upper hand here. It will be much easier for them to implement these features over their already large user base, then it will be for new upstarts to try and build a massive following. All these startups are just doing the dirty work for the larger players to figure out what is working and copy it.
Shouldn’t that be ‘vaunted’ rather than ‘flaunted’?
Oliver,
That’s a fair edit.
I would really love to read something about Twitter’s business model somewhere:
It seems to me that they’re basically giving away short messages for free and this way are burning loads of money each and every day.
Am I missing something (business model-wise)?
Twitter is certainly getting a lot of hype, but I can’t help but thinking “feature” and “novelty.” Maybe somebody buys it out, but outside of that, it’s going to be difficult to turn it into a viable, long-term business unless they actually build a service around it. I agree with previous posters that existing services, like Facebook, could easily do something similar and gain an immediate foothold or dominance in the marketplace. That’s what happens when you create a simple startup with little to no defensible technology.
Right now on twitter.com:
Twitter: down for maintenance—be back shortly!
Now, that’s Twittering for you.
Neither of these compare to Groovr (www.groovr.com) which was launched on the first.. the perfect combination of the two plus photos and videos and more!
Blake,
I don’t think that “features” are the driver for this class of social software, but adoption as mentioned in these comments (and more eloquently than this). I’ve had a dodgeball account before they were purchased by Google and I think that I used it maybey twice in that time - once was right before SXSW07 to make sure that I wouldn’t be left out of the network in Austin. Twitter, even though it’s been around for a year took off last week because of a confluence of early adopters (cool kids), content (what they’re doing), location (Austin), technology (phones work and servers were up most of the time) and price (TXT messages were cheap enough to be marginal). Dodgeball never really had this perfect storm, sort of like all the Web 1.0 companies that were good ideas, but didn’t have the Web 2.0 infrastructure and users to feed off of.
My family uses twitter to stay abreast of what is going on… we are spread out over the country. My MOM (79) twitters daily to the rest of the family. It was easy for her to do as opposed to email or joining another social service. She can see what her grandchildren are doing (college exams, soccer practice, homework help) I can have more insight to her day to day (she plays a lot of bridge). In a small way it makes us feel more involved with each other. From a business model view I would pay keep it private and to keep it simple. So maybe that is where they could go. and maybe not.
As for these sms services I think that they one use could be community safety. I signed up about ten people on my block as part of a safety program for getting walked from their car late at night (live in the city)… Also there could be text 311 (non emergency requests) …
I posted about lots of these SMS networks on my blog:
http://libraryclips.blogsome.c.....-networks/
Some of them have GPS location features and others require users to SMS their location eg. checkin/checkout
Some SMS status (non mobile web) location services: Groovr, buddyping
Both of these services are a waste of time and have limited utility in the real world. SMS and/or a phone call will work just fine in 99% of life’s needs. Of course, I suspect a lot of the Twitter and Dodgeball fans are also on Second Life — because they don’t have a real life!! (And combine this with SXSW — the self-anoited, “way-to-early-adopter” types. NEVER follow the consensus of the SXSW extremists: They have NO clue whatsoever what the market really wants. What a bunch of losers …)
Honestly, this stuff is getting nauseating. I’m convinced that Robert Scoble and Steve Rubel are in desperate need of an intervention, perhaps with a specialist in PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). I generally have a lot of respect for each (especially Steve), but they’ve verifiably lost it with their zealot Twitterness. It’s like Twitter Jihad!!
Come to think of it, Twitter and Dodgeball could be useful services for Islamists and other extremists (and they’ve certainly lost it). I hope the NSA takes note of this.
Blake:
“the features of similar services should be compared as that’s how we best judge which service is a better use of our time.”
I hear you - and I wish that this were true - it would make the tech world a much simpler place to navigate.
However - I’m pretty sure that Metcalfe’s Law dictates that the size of the (exposed) network is the primary determinant of value. I have no idea how many overall users Dodgeball has vs. Twitter, but I know which one provides me with more immediate potential points of contact.
(Hint: my twitter page is linked above. Feel free to stop by and friend me if you like. I would gladly provide a similar link to my dodgeball page if I knew how - or could even tell for sure if I had one…)
I fully agree with your Twitter vs Facebook status comparision. As I mentionned in my post on the same topic (http://cherif.wordpress.com/2007/03/15/twitter-wont-make-it/), there is nothing stopping Facebook from adding an SMS gateway on top of their status feature. If they do, how will Twitter survive?
Dodgeball is US only at the moment where as Twitter can be used in other countries like the UK.
I do agree that twitter does have limited appeal at the moment…
dodgeball is *SO* last year … no, seriously. most of the folks who were all about dodgeball at last year’s festival were all about twitter this year, even before the conference.
i think twitter has an edge over dodgeball precisely because it *isn’t* location dependent. you can text or tweet about whatever. if you want to give a location, add it to your text message: “ex: @ the hideout, 617 congress.” to me, the flexibility is an advantage.
what i’m hoping to see in twitter’s next iteration is a way to select those you want to receive mobile updates from versus those who should be web-only.
It’s worth noting that http://www.UPOC.com has been operating in this space for years.
“because it was sold like nothing else” — I disagree. What good is Twitter if you don’t have any friends? I signed up because people I was hanging out with at SXSW were using it, and it turned out to be the perfect communication tool. I wouldn’t have given the pretty Twitter display a second thought if I had already decided it wasn’t useful.
“to me, the flexibility is an advantage” — Exactly.
In addition, the Dodgeball FOAF feature doesn’t work (not in Minneapolis, anyway). That, to me, is the one advantage Dodgeball might have over Twitter.
I know facebook is bigger than myspace, but I’m not a facebook user, so I can’t speak to it at all. What are the chances Twitter and facebook could merge?
Facebook has a huge head start on either Twitter or Dodgeball, but only if their user base adopts SMS updates. We’ve seen how difficult it is for a social network to evolve with Friendster’s orphaned customization tools, Facebook’s controversial intro of the mini-feed and very recently the MySpace clamp down on 3rd party apps.
There’s a new GPS service for Twitter that allows you to post your location from select GPS-enabled Sprint phones. On the Twitter page (or in mobile alerts) your friends get your tweet along with a link to a map.
Brings the service closer to Dodgeball.
More here:
http://blog.agrawals.org/2007/.....t-twitter/