Twitter Discussion Sourcing

My first remark over Twitter was that I didn't think URL shortening was a good idea. No one really responded to my comment at the time, but a week later the topic on my feed grew to a full blown discussion, including blog entries, articles, etc.

I don't think for one minute that I started the discourse. What I may have done is added fuel to the fire in a limited kind of way, and might have even been one of the early posters about it. But then I realized a feature I'd love to see: discussion sourcing.

With the right database queries and some nice node-network UI work, you could see precisely where a conversation started and how it grew. You could observe new conversations, and maybe even develop a better understanding of where the tipping point might be into mainstream discussion. Far beyond Google Trends or Insights, you could watch internet topics and memes take shape in real time.

I think a tool like that would be immediately useful (and fascinating) to researchers, and in time could have a compelling business utility.