TED2009
Evan Williams: The voices of Twitter users
Evan Williams 倾听Twitter的用户们
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简短的消息和即时传递的交流方式，让Twitter赢得了众多信奉“生活直播”概念的信徒。作为创立者之一，Evan Williams揭示了他从用户中学到的一些惊人事情，以及用户是如何帮助他改善业务的。
Evan Williams - Twitter co-founder
Evan Williams is the co-founder of Twitter, the addictive messaging service that connects the world 140 characters at a time. Full bio
Evan Williams is the co-founder of Twitter, the addictive messaging service that connects the world 140 characters at a time. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:18
Four years ago, on the TED stage,
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四年前，
00:21
I announced a company I was working with at the time
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我在TED上，介绍了当时工作的公司
00:24
called Odeo.
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Odeo。
00:26
And because of that announcement,
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由于那次演讲，
00:27
we got a big article in The New York Times,
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纽约时报为我们写了一大篇文章，
00:29
which led to more press, which led to more attention,
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然后它又带来了更多媒体的报道，吸引了更多关注。
00:33
and me deciding to become CEO of that company --
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之后我决定要当这家公司的CEO——
00:35
whereas I was just an adviser --
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那之前我只是个顾问——
00:37
and raising a round of venture capital
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并成功获得风险投资
00:40
and ramping up hiring.
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同时招聘更多人才。
00:41
One of the guys I hired was an engineer named Jack Dorsey,
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我招了一名叫Jack Dorsey的工程师，
00:45
and a year later, when we were trying to decide which way to go with Odeo,
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当一年后我们商量Odeo的发展方向时，
00:49
Jack presented an idea he'd been tinkering around with for a number of years
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Jack提出了一个他捉摸了好几年的点子
00:54
that was based around sending simple status updates to friends.
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基本上就是个能向朋友们发送简单消息的想法。
00:57
We were also playing with SMS at the time at Odeo,
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Odeo当时也在探索短信服务，
01:00
so we kind of put two and two together,
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所以我们差不多是想将他们两结合在一起。
01:01
and in early 2006 we launched Twitter as a side project at Odeo.
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2006年初，作为Odeo的一个业余项目，Twitter项目开始进行。
01:06
Now, it's hard to justify doing a side project
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现在很难说搞业余项目是不是个好主意，
01:09
at a startup, where focus is so critical,
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因为对于初创型企业，专注是至关重要的。
01:11
but I had actually launched Blogger as a side project
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但事实上，我在前一家公司推出的Blogger服务，
01:14
to my previous company,
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也是一个业余项目。
01:15
thinking it was just a little thing we'd do on the side,
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我当时想这只不过是个随便搞一下的小玩意。
01:17
and it ended up taking over not only the company,
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结果它不但占据了整个公司
01:20
but my life for the next five or six years.
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也占据了我之后五、六年的生活。
01:22
So I learned to follow hunches
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从中我学会了跟随直觉，
01:25
even though you can't necessarily justify them
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尽管你不知道它是否正确，
01:27
or know where they're going to go.
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也不知道它会发展成什么样子。
01:28
And that's kind of what's happened with Twitter, time after time.
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这种情况又一次发生在了Twitter身上。
01:31
So, for those of you unfamiliar,
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那么，对于那些不熟悉Twitter的人，
01:33
Twitter is based around a very simple, seemingly trivial concept.
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它基于一个非常简单，甚至微不足道的概念。
01:37
You say what you're doing in 140 characters or less,
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你用不超过140个字说自己在做什么，
01:40
and people who are interested in you get those updates.
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对你感兴趣的人就会收到这些消息。
01:43
If they're really interested,
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如果真的十分感兴趣，
01:45
they get the update as a text message on their cell phone.
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他们甚至可以通过短信在手机上获得这些信息。
01:48
So, for instance, I may Twitter right now
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例如，我现在就可以用Twitter发一条消息说
01:50
that I'm giving a talk at TED.
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我正在TED上作演讲。
01:52
And in my case, when I hit send,
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对于我来说，当我选择发送后，
01:55
up to 60,000 people will receive that message in a matter of seconds.
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几秒内，将有超过6万人会收到这条信息。
01:59
Now, the fundamental idea is that Twitter
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Twitter的基本理念就是
02:03
lets people share moments of their lives
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让人们随时分享他们生活中的
02:05
whenever they want,
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任意时刻。
02:06
be they momentous occasions
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不管是意义非凡的场合，
02:09
or mundane ones.
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还是日常世俗的时候。
02:12
It is by sharing these moments as they're happening
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通过分享这些正在发生的时刻
02:15
that lets people feel more connected and in touch,
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人们感觉彼此间的距离更近，联系更加紧密，
02:19
despite distance, and in real time.
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尽管他们不在一起。
02:21
This is the primary use we saw of Twitter from the beginning,
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我们开始时觉得这就是Twitter的主要用途，
02:24
and what got us excited.
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然而真正让我们感到兴奋的是，
02:26
What we didn't anticipate was the many, many other uses
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我们没有料到这个简单的系统
02:30
that would evolve from this very simple system.
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竟然衍生出了许多其它的用途。
02:33
One of the things we realized
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我们发现，
02:35
was how important Twitter could be during real-time events.
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在突发事件中，Twitter可以发挥非常重要的作用。
02:38
When the wildfires broke out in San Diego,
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2007年10月
02:42
in October of 2007,
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圣地亚哥发生了严重的火灾，
02:43
people turned to Twitter to report what was happening
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人们依靠Twitter报告火灾近况
02:46
and to find information from neighbors
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并通过周围邻居在Twitter上发布的消息
02:48
about what was happening around them.
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来了解自己周围的情况。
02:50
But it wasn't just individuals.
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不仅是一般人，
02:51
The L.A. Times actually turned to Twitter to dispense information as well,
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实际上，洛杉矶时报也依靠Twitter发布信息，
02:54
and put a Twitter feed on the front page,
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并在网站首页上放了一个Twitter订阅地址
02:56
and the L.A. Fire Department and Red Cross
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同时，洛杉矶消防部门以及红十字会
02:58
used it to dispense news and updates as well.
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也通过Twitter发布各种最新的消息。
03:02
At this event, dozens of people here are Twittering
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这场灾难中，许多人在使用Twitter发布消息
03:05
and thousands of people around the world are following along
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Twitter上也有成千上万的人在关注着事件进展
03:07
because they want to know what it feels like to be here
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因为大家都想知道亲临现场是什么感觉，
03:09
and what's happening.
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也想知道最新的情况。
03:11
Among the other interesting things that have cropped up
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Twitter上还有很多有趣的事，
03:14
are many things from businesses,
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其中不少和商业或营销活动有关，
03:16
from marketing and communications and predictable things,
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也有很多通讯报道或是事件预报。
03:19
to an insanely popular Korean-barbecue taco truck
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比如，一辆很火爆的韩式煎玉米饼快餐车在洛杉矶转来转去，
03:22
that drives around L.A. and Twitters where it stops,
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在Twitter上公布自己下一站停靠点，
03:24
causing a line to form around the block.
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结果食客们都在那里排队等待。
03:29
Politicians have recently begun Twittering.
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政客们最近也开始使用Twitter了。
03:32
In fact, there are 47 members of Congress
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实际上，47位国会成员
03:34
who currently have Twitter accounts.
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拥有Twitter账户。
03:36
And they're tweeting, in some cases,
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有的时候，
03:38
from behind closed-door sessions with the President.
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他们会在和总统开会发出Twitter。
03:41
In this case, this guy's not liking what he's hearing.
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看来，这家伙并不喜欢自己所听到的事情。
03:44
The President himself is our most popular Twitter user,
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总统本人就是最受欢迎的Twitter用户，
03:47
although his tweets have dropped off as of late,
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尽管近来他不怎么在上面发言了，
03:51
while Senator McCain's have picked up.
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不过麦凯恩参议员的Twitter使用频率却开始增加。
03:56
As have this guy's.
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这个人也是。
03:59
Twitter was originally designed as a broadcast medium:
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Twitter最初只不过被设计成一个广播媒介。
04:03
you send one message and it goes out to everybody,
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你发送的信息能被其他人收到，
04:05
and you receive the messages you're interested in.
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同时，你也能收到自己感兴趣的信息。
04:07
One of the many ways that users shaped the evolution of Twitter
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但用户们还自己发明了很多Twitter的新用法，
04:11
was by inventing a way to reply to a specific person
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例如，回复消息给特定的人，
04:15
or a specific message.
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或者回复某条特定的消息。
04:17
So, this syntax, the "@username" that Shaquille O'Neal's using here
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比方说，大鲨鱼奥尼尔在这使用“@用户名”
04:20
to reply to one of his fans,
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来回复他的某个粉丝，
04:22
was completely invented by users,
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这种用法就完全是用户们自己发明的。
04:24
and we didn't build it into the system until it already became popular
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Twitter本来并不支持这种用法，直到大家都开始这么用的时候，
04:27
and then we made it easier.
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我们才增加了这个功能，方便用户。
04:29
This is one of the many ways that users have shaped the system.
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上面说到的只是用户帮助改进Twitter的众多方式之一。
04:32
Another is via the API.
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还有一种方法是借助于API（应用编程接口）。
04:34
We built an application-programming interface,
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我们提供了一些API，
04:35
which basically means that programmers can write software that interacts with Twitter.
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这样程序员可以编写其他程序来和Twitter交互。
04:40
We currently know about over 2,000 pieces of software
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目前大约有2000种程序
04:42
that can send Twitter updates --
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可以发送Twitter信息，
04:44
interfaces for Mac, Windows, your iPhone, your BlackBerry --
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他们可以运行在Mac，Windows，iPhone或黑莓上...
04:48
as well as things like
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同时，
04:51
a device that lets an unborn baby Twitter when it kicks
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还有的设备可以在胎儿踢腿时发出Twitter信息，
04:53
or a plant Twitter when it needs water.
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或者当植物需要浇水时发出Twitter信息。
04:56
Probably the most important third-party development
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这其中最重要的第三方程序或许要算来自
04:59
came from a little company in Virginia called Summize.
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佛吉尼亚州的小公司Summize公司的产品了。
05:02
Summize built a Twitter search engine.
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他们做了一个Twitter搜索引擎。
05:04
And they tapped into the fact
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他们利用了这样一个事实：
05:06
that, if you have millions of people around the world
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如果全世界有数百万人
05:08
talking about what they're doing and what's around them,
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在谈论着他们正在做的或是他们身边发生的事情，
05:10
you have an incredible resource to find out about any topic or event
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那你有机会从这些海量的信息中了解到
05:15
while it's going on.
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任何事情的进展。
05:17
This really changed how we perceived Twitter.
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这真的改变了我们对Twitter的理解。
05:19
For instance, here's what people are saying about TED.
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例如，这里显示的是人们对TED的评论。
05:23
This is another way that our mind was shifted,
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我们的想法进一步地改变
05:27
and Twitter wasn't what we thought it was.
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Twitter并不仅是我们当初想象的那样。
05:29
We liked this so much we actually bought the company
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我们非常喜欢它，以至于我们买下了这家公司，
05:31
and are folding it into the main product.
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现在它成了我们一个主要产品。
05:34
This not only lets you view Twitters in different ways,
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这不仅使你从不同的角度看待Twitter，
05:37
but it introduces new use cases as well.
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同时也带来了新的使用方法。
05:40
One of my favorites is what happened a few months ago
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我最欣赏的一件事情发生在几个月前，
05:42
when there was a gas shortage in Atlanta.
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当时亚特兰大汽油短缺，
05:45
Some users figured out
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一些用户想到用Twitter记下
05:47
that they would Twitter when they found gas --
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他们在哪发现的汽油，
05:50
where it was, and how much it cost --
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价格是多少，
05:52
and then appended the keyword "#atlgas"
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然后加上关键字“#altgas”
05:54
which let other people search for that and find gas themselves.
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这样其他人就可以搜索这个关键字并知道哪有汽油了。
05:58
And this trend of people using this communication network
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人们这种通过现代交流网络
06:00
to help each other out
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互相帮助的趋势
06:02
goes far beyond the original idea of just keeping up with family and friends.
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远远超越了当初Twitter仅仅为了让人们方便地和家人、朋友交流的设想。
06:06
It's happened more and more lately,
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这样的事情最近越来越多，
06:09
whether it's raising money for homeless people
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有关于为无家可归的人筹钱的，
06:11
or to dig wells in Africa
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有关于去非洲挖井的，
06:13
or for a family in crisis.
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还有关于帮助处于危机中的家庭的。
06:15
People have raised tens of thousands of dollars over Twitter
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有时人们在几天内就通过Twitter
06:18
in a matter of days on several occasions.
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募集了数万元，
06:22
It seems like when you give people easier ways to share information,
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这样看来，人们如果有了更容易的分享信息渠道，
06:28
more good things happen.
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更多有益的事情就会发生。
06:30
I have no idea what will happen next with Twitter.
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我不知道今后Twitter将会如何，
06:34
I've learned to follow the hunch,
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但我学会了跟随直觉，
06:36
but never assume where it will go.
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并且从不假设结局。
06:40
Thanks.
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谢谢。
06:42
(Applause)
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（掌声）
06:48
Chris Anderson: We're not quite done yet.
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Chris Anderson：我们还没结束呢。
06:49
So, look, if we could have this screen live.
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让我们来看看这屏幕能不能用...
06:52
This is actually the most terrifying thing that any speaker can do
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这是一场演讲后，
06:54
after they've been to an event.
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每个演讲者最害怕做的事情了。
06:56
It's totally intimidating.
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真得很可怕。
06:59
So, this would be the Twitter search screen.
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那么，这是Twitter的搜索页面。
07:02
So we're going to just type a couple of random words into Twitter.
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让我们随便在上面敲几个字吧。
07:06
For example: "Evan Williams."
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比如说：“Evan Williams”
07:11
"Evan Williams, give people more good ways to share information and follow your hunch at TED."
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“...给人更多的信息同时跟随你的直觉@#TED。”
07:15
"Currently listening to Evan Williams." "Currently listening to Evan Williams." "Evan Williams --"
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“...正在听Evan Williams演讲。”
07:18
Oh.
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哦！
07:19
"Evan Williams is just dying on stage here at TED.
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“...Evan Williams快死在TED的台上了。
07:21
Worst talk ever!" (Laughter)
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这是我听过最糟的演讲！”
07:24
Evan Williams: Nice. Thanks.
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Evan Williams：不错，谢谢。
07:26
CA: Just kidding.
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Chris Anderson：开个玩笑。
07:28
But, literally in the eight minutes he was talking,
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但是，在他演讲的8分钟内，
07:31
there are about fifty tweets that already came on the talk.
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Twitter上已经有大约50条关于他演讲的消息。
07:33
So he'll see every aspect of the reaction:
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所以他将会知道关于他演讲的各种反应：
07:36
the fact that Barack Obama is the biggest Twitterer,
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他说到的奥巴马是最受关注的Twitter用户，
07:38
the fact that it came out of TED.
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说到的Twitter最初源于TED...
07:40
I don't think there's any other way of getting instant feedback that way.
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我觉得不会有其他什么办法能这么快得到反馈了。
07:42
You have build something very fascinating,
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你做了个了不起的东西，
07:45
and it looks like its best times are still ahead of it.
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而且看来它以后会变得更不得了。
07:47
So, thank you very much, Evan. EW: Thank you.
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非常感谢，Evan。
07:49
CA: That was very interesting.
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你的演讲非常有趣。
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Evan Williams - Twitter co-founderEvan Williams is the co-founder of Twitter, the addictive messaging service that connects the world 140 characters at a time.
Why you should listen
Evan Williams helps the world answer the question "What are you doing?" Twitter, the tiny, free world-changing app Williams helped launch, has become a vital connector of people and communities (as well as a fantastic way to keep up with Shaq and Demi Moore).
Before Williams worked on Twitter, he was part of a previous revolution in mass communication, Blogger, while working at Google. He left Google in 2004 to launch the podcasting service Odeo, and Twitter spun out from this in 2006 as a side project based on an idea of Jack Dorsey's.
Evan Williams | Speaker | TED.com