full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Evan Williams: The voices of Twitter users

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Now, it's hard to justify doing a side project at a startup, where focus is so critical, but I had actually launched bggleor as a side pcrojet to my previous company, thinking it was just a little thing we'd do on the side, and it enedd up taking over not only the cnaopmy, but my life for the next five or six years. So I learned to follow huhnces even though you can't necessarily justify them or know where they're going to go. And that's kind of what's happened with Twitter, time after time.

So, for those of you unfamiliar, Twitter is based around a very simple, seemingly trivial concept. You say what you're doing in 140 characters or less, and plpoee who are inrseteetd in you get those updates. If they're really interested, they get the update as a text msgesae on their cell pnhoe. So, for instance, I may Twitter right now that I'm giving a talk at TED. And in my case, when I hit send, up to 60,000 people will receive that message in a matter of seconds. Now, the fundamental idea is that Twitter lets people sahre moments of their lives whenever they want, be they momentous occasions or mundane ones. It is by sharing these moments as they're happening that lets people feel more cnocetned and in tocuh, despite distance, and in real time. This is the primary use we saw of tewittr from the beginning, and what got us excited.

Open Cloze


Now, it's hard to justify doing a side project at a startup, where focus is so critical, but I had actually launched _______ as a side _______ to my previous company, thinking it was just a little thing we'd do on the side, and it _____ up taking over not only the _______, but my life for the next five or six years. So I learned to follow _______ even though you can't necessarily justify them or know where they're going to go. And that's kind of what's happened with Twitter, time after time.

So, for those of you unfamiliar, Twitter is based around a very simple, seemingly trivial concept. You say what you're doing in 140 characters or less, and ______ who are __________ in you get those updates. If they're really interested, they get the update as a text _______ on their cell _____. So, for instance, I may Twitter right now that I'm giving a talk at TED. And in my case, when I hit send, up to 60,000 people will receive that message in a matter of seconds. Now, the fundamental idea is that Twitter lets people _____ moments of their lives whenever they want, be they momentous occasions or mundane ones. It is by sharing these moments as they're happening that lets people feel more _________ and in _____, despite distance, and in real time. This is the primary use we saw of _______ from the beginning, and what got us excited.

Solution


  1. touch
  2. people
  3. company
  4. hunches
  5. twitter
  6. phone
  7. message
  8. share
  9. blogger
  10. connected
  11. ended
  12. interested
  13. project

Original Text


Now, it's hard to justify doing a side project at a startup, where focus is so critical, but I had actually launched Blogger as a side project to my previous company, thinking it was just a little thing we'd do on the side, and it ended up taking over not only the company, but my life for the next five or six years. So I learned to follow hunches even though you can't necessarily justify them or know where they're going to go. And that's kind of what's happened with Twitter, time after time.

So, for those of you unfamiliar, Twitter is based around a very simple, seemingly trivial concept. You say what you're doing in 140 characters or less, and people who are interested in you get those updates. If they're really interested, they get the update as a text message on their cell phone. So, for instance, I may Twitter right now that I'm giving a talk at TED. And in my case, when I hit send, up to 60,000 people will receive that message in a matter of seconds. Now, the fundamental idea is that Twitter lets people share moments of their lives whenever they want, be they momentous occasions or mundane ones. It is by sharing these moments as they're happening that lets people feel more connected and in touch, despite distance, and in real time. This is the primary use we saw of Twitter from the beginning, and what got us excited.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
side project 3
lets people 2
twitter search 2
give people 2


Important Words


  1. based
  2. beginning
  3. blogger
  4. case
  5. cell
  6. characters
  7. company
  8. concept
  9. connected
  10. critical
  11. distance
  12. ended
  13. excited
  14. feel
  15. focus
  16. follow
  17. fundamental
  18. giving
  19. happened
  20. happening
  21. hard
  22. hit
  23. hunches
  24. idea
  25. instance
  26. interested
  27. justify
  28. kind
  29. launched
  30. learned
  31. lets
  32. life
  33. lives
  34. matter
  35. message
  36. momentous
  37. moments
  38. mundane
  39. necessarily
  40. occasions
  41. people
  42. phone
  43. previous
  44. primary
  45. project
  46. real
  47. receive
  48. seconds
  49. seemingly
  50. send
  51. share
  52. sharing
  53. side
  54. simple
  55. startup
  56. talk
  57. ted
  58. text
  59. thinking
  60. time
  61. touch
  62. trivial
  63. twitter
  64. unfamiliar
  65. update
  66. updates
  67. years