Thread by @scottbelsky

a twitter 10x brainstorm, hear me out:
IF every tweet was assigned a set of Topics via AI/NLP (auto or manual, mock-up below), and IF every creator thereby gained varying levels of “authority” in Topics based on how others w/ authority engaged w/ their tweets, THEN…

could we (1) attack spam/misinfo using next-level community curation (vs. censorship), (2) actually organize the BEST content on twitter, enabling billions more ppl to enjoy media by topic, curated by those w/ authority,(3) empower world’s experts in every topic, wikipedia style?

in the spirit of channeling love-driven-critique of a product into proactive ideas, here are a few thoughts on 1 (community curation), 2 (inverting media machine), and 3 ( incentivizing experts)...just $.02/riffs from a fellow product obsessive/community builder:

on #1 - we did this w/ @Behance, surface quality content from >30M ppl using a “creative graph” that gives users authority in specific fields based on who engaged w/ their content. (a photographer w/ content liked by photographers has more curating influence in associated fields)

with this approach, posts & replies w/ fake news from random people sink further in the algo-driven feeds. and you could also empower those w/ earned authority to contribute promoted responses in threads to course correct misinformation.

big picture: Twitter (and your influence on a topic...like vaccines!) shouldn’t be about how many followers you have, but rather how much authority/influence you have earned in your interests over time (from community!).

right now, content spreads based on number of followers (and sensationalism) rather than one’s authority on the topic (people famous in one field can influence any field…which kind of explains the world lately)...

a more topic-centric twitter, with high value for the authority each contributor earns through the performance of their content, could work wonders. it would tap some of the mechanics of reddit and wikipedia without compromising Twitter's "town square" feel.

on #2 - this isn’t a new idea, but it inverts the model of media. Mass media today (cnn, fox, netflix, etc) is programmed by few and generalized for many. Mass media in the future should be programmed by many yet personalized for you...

Imagine consuming long-tail media (Bonzai cultivation!?) by topic, curated by those w/ long-standing obsessive passion for each topic? you could even sit back and watch the media...stitched together like good ‘ol TV!

Twitter has the content, could access the programming (via community curation), and develop Topics into channels that merchandise content for mass consumption.

on #3 - why not showcase a user’s topics of authority on their profile (Top 10% #tennis, etc) - and a "leaderboard" in every topic view? people should be proud of the topics they are respected in as curators. (here’s mock-ups made w/ a friend yrs ago...always wanted this)

oh, ps: can we get NATIVE MEME CREATION?

memes are modern compression vehicle for stories (the new 280-character limit?). make meme generation a top-level media option alongside images/video, indexed and remixable (much like TikTok users riff off each other). 🤯 ahem @elonmusk

and pps: there ARE some killer product minds at Twitter working hard despite the noise and public market drawbacks. likely working on some of this!?

hang in there. keep your heads down and minds open, folks. being private could truly be an unlock of long-term possibility/upside.