It isn’t every day that you get to meet someone who can claim to have revolutionised the way that we communicate. I should probably state here and now, that I’m not the biggest Twitter fan in the world. Unlike Ashton Kutchner or Stephen Fry, I’m not a member of the Twitterati. When I have a sandwich at lunchtime, I don’t feel compelled to share my choice of filling with the world. For me Twitter is an event tool, micro-reporting on the spot. Immediate, uncensored reporting, which allows me update the world about the Festival of Media LatAm (#fomla2010 if you’re interested).

Meeting the man behind Twitter, or more accurately, one of the men behind Twitter, was an unusual experience. Biz Stone was surprisingly affable chap. More of a tech-head than a business man, and certainly more of a creative than either, Biz is a man of reserved quiet humour, or at least he is at events like this.

During our conversation, and his later stage presentation, Biz makes it clear that Twitter is not about technology. Statements like, “It’s not a triumph of technology, but a triumph of humanity” could sound trite from anyone else, but as he stands on stage in jeans and a sweater in a room full of suits and ties, you can’t help but get swept up in his enthusiasm and belief in the human power to do good things, given the right tools.

Sometimes in cynical industry like ours, it can be refreshing to listen to someone with such good intentions; even when discussion the monetisation of his “triumph of humanity” Biz is all about honesty and transparency. He fully admits that a business model has always been in the minds of the company, but that it was more important to get a viable product in place, before asking companies to pay for its use. Early revenues came from licensing deals, "It was an easy way for us to generate revenue, but it wasn't really what Twitter was about". An early version of the site even featured some Google Adwords - although Biz admits that they "probably just got lost in some coding somewhere". 

Twitter had a bit of refit recentlt

A full interview with Biz will appear in Q4 of M&M in November.