I tried an experiment on Twitter yesterday.  The basic premise is this:  use Twitter as a medium for a talk show/variety show, etc. with a host who does monologues, points out interesting things, interviews people, and interacts with the audience.  It could be equal parts Carson/Letterman/Leno/O’Brien type talkshow or similar to radio-inspired formats like Stern/Imus/etc. and maybe even a bit like the stuff that people are doing on Ustream.  Or, hell, even a tiny bit like Oprah’s show.  Use Twitter as the broadcasting medium and you’ve got a Tweetshow.

It’s worth noting that last year that Chris Brogan and David Alston played with this type of thing in more of a business format with Twebinars.  However, the Tweetshow, as I see it, isn’t a business thing at all and it has mainly entertainment value, not unlike the mass media example that I noted above.

All I really did was set up a new Twitter account (@bbraintweetshow), promote via a few Twitter messages in my own Twitter stream, write up a quick outline of what I wanted to Tweet about, and let ‘er rip.  I jokingly called it a prototype show, but that’s really what it was.

I’ve included the contents of the Tweetshow in this post.  I’ve put the Tweets in normal chronological order for ease of reading so you can see the actual flow.  I know there were at least a couple of Twitter users monitoring the proceedings (thanks for preventing me from completely Tweeting into a vacuum!)  I’ve annotated the Tweet stream slightly to point out a couple of things which might not have been obvious to the audience:

1. It’s 8 PM EST on Tuesday, March 3 and welcome to the debut of the Broadcasting Brain Tweetshow! I’m Mark Dykeman; let’s roll!
2. So, the first question out there is probably this: what the hell is a Tweetshow?!?
3. That’s a very good question… so here’s my take on what a Tweetshow is…
4. A Tweetshow is similar to liveblogging, a ongoing hosted chat thing, etc, except it’s all on Twitter. Like UStream without audio or video.
5. A Tweetshow is just another way to try to take advantage of the versatile yet simple functionality of Twitter.
6. So, this Tweetshow is going to be a little bit like the Twebinars hosted by @ChrisBrogan and @DavidAlston, mainly lacking business value.
7. That is to say this Tweetshow will probably lack business value, not the Twebinars.
8. So, for the next 50 minutes or so, we’ll try this out this format out. Drink some coffee and please don’t forget to refresh.
9. So… social media…
10. We can’t live without it and we can’t remember life before it, huh?
11. Funny how life changes and now what seemed to be normal in years past is now different.
12. Why just the other day I saw one of my neighbors around and the strangest thing happened…
13. A conversation broke out! Without electronic devices! It was SO WEIRD! I swear I hadn’t actually talked to a person in weeks!
14. But seriously… we’re now into an era of “brain to brain” direct communication… all we need to do is to tap keys to be telepaths.
15. Truly, we are all “broadcasting brains” in this digital era.
16. This monologue sponsored by the Legion of Doom – “when regular thugs just can’t get the job done, call in the Legion!”  (the Legion of Doom were the main set of villains from the older Super Friends cartoon series…)
17. Moving on… I’d like to introduce a segment that I call “It’s a Poorly Known Fact”.
18. I think you can figure out where “It’s a Poorly Known Fact” is going…
19. (By the way, ButtHeadBill, or should I say @LiWq5D, thanks for following – the avatar had me going for about 0.2 seconds… not bad!)  (ButtHeadBill was an obvious spammer who started to follow the @bbraintweetshow account while I was doing the show, so I couldn’t resist poking some fun at the user)
20. Today’s poorly known fact is about Canadian geography and architecture – a place not 15 miles from my home…
21. It’s a poorly known fact, outside of my little part of Canada, that the longest covered bridge in the world is in Hartland, NB CANADA.
22. This covered bridge is over 100 years old, it’s 1282 feet long, and my aunt co-wrote a book about it. Semi-interesting and poorly known!
23. Remember, you heard about it first here on the Broadcasting Brain Tweet Show!
24. This poorly known fact was NOT sponsored by Heritage Canada, which itself is poorly known, at least on a global scale. Ohhh, Canada…. (Heritage Canada is/was a federal government department that promotes Canadian history and helps to preserve historical sites, etc.)
25. Moving on… here’s a segment where I recommend cool stuff that I like. Hopefully you might find it interesting, too.
26. During tonight’s episode of the Broadcasting Brain Tweet Show, we’re going to look at several podcasts that are worth checking out.
27. The first podcast that I’d like to recommend is Fresh Air, from the NPR radio show by Terry Gross: http://bit.ly/15JiLC
28. Terry gets to talk to some amazing people like Joss Whedon, Rivers Cuomo (from Weezer), famous actors, etc. – shows available as podcasts.
29. Even though she (intentionally, I think) uses the word “uh” far too often, Terry Gross is a wonderful interviewer and it’s a great show.
30. The second podcast that I’d like to recommend is CBC Radio’s Spark (follow them on Twitter at @sparkcbc), hosted by Nora Young.
31. Spark takes a fresh and interesting look at modern technologies and their impact on our lives. They get social media and do great stuff.
32. Spark featured a really fascinating interview with Clay Shriky (@cshirky) where he talked about cognitive surplus, which we use right now.
33. Without cognitive surplus, there would be no time or thought cycles for podcasts, social media, or Tweetshow experiments like this.
34. My final podcast recommendation is bizarre, witty, perplexing, and not for kids. It’s done by @hotdogsladies and two of his friends.
35. You Look Nice Today is one of my favorite podcasts because it’s so… absorbed in its own weird world of fantasy, humor, and non sequiturs.
36. In short, I think You Look Nice Today is a real gas, a blast, and a lot of fun. But not for kids. Did I say that already?
37. (Bonus plug: I also enjoy http://43folders.com. 43Folders.com is that other famous “side project” by @hotdogsladies aka Merlin Mann.)
38. And that’s podcasts in review. This segment sponsored by Broadcasting Brain, the brainiest blog in the blogosphere.
39. Broadcasting Brain: using cognitive surplus to create uncanny content. No brain cells were harmed in the creation of this Tweet.
40. (By the way, if you have a comment or a question, just @reply to @bbraintweetshow!).
41. OK, we’re getting near the home stretch, so I’m going to recommend a few cultural creations that I really enjoy.
42. The three TV shows that I most enjoy these days are (in descending order: Battlestar Galactica, Lost, and Heroes)
43. Unfortunately, BSG is nearly at the end of its run, only 4 more hours to go.
44. Will there be a happy ending, or will the Galactica collapse upon itself due to metal fatigue, killing everyone instantly?
45. Only Ron Moore knows. But we fans will be watching BSG to the bitter end!
46. Lost (the TV show) is now in the business of giving answers. The time travel is trippy, there’s lots of weird stuff happening.
47. Can the producers do a good job of wrapping up Lost within a year and a half? I sure hope so. I’ll be there!
48. Sadly, NBC’s Heroes has seen better days. It’s a bit hard to figure out where the show’s going… although shedding characters helps.
49. “Save the cheerleader, save the world” – everyone remember that from Heroes?
50. Things were so much simpler then. But, IMHO, Sylar continues to rock. He’s the bad guy you’ve just got to love, while creeping you out.
51. And that is my quick TV round up, sponsored by absolutely no one. Honest.
52. One other quick cultural note: the must see movie of 2009 will be Watchmen, based on the DC comic book series by Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons.
53. The comic book that could never be made into a movie has been made – here’s hoping it goes well!
54. And so, this “prototype” episode of the Broadcasting Brain Tweet Show draws to a close. Special thanks to @heythatguymark for tuning in!
55. Thanks for watching (if you did) and hope to see you again next time! Still lots to work out format-wise here.
56. You can send comments to markdykeman@gmail.com if you like. You can also follow me on Twitter as @markdykeman.
57. Good bye and be good!
58. :: end Episode 1 of Broadcasting Brain Tweet Show – March 3, 2009 – 9 PM EST ::

And that’s how it went.

I’m thinking of doing a Tweetshow as a weekly event, just to keep experimenting with the medium.  By all means, if you want to try out this format, go for it!

If you have any thoughts, suggestions, ideas, or feedback, feel free to leave them in the comments section of this blog!

Other posts that you might enjoy reading:

• The role of the Twitter follower
• Should you update your Facebook status using Twitter?
• Top ten things to do while Twitter is hosed
• The outstanding source of microblogging information
• Twitter really IS my other blog plus a microblogging tip