Today we're trying a redesigned front page for folks who are new to Twitter.com. If you're a regular around these parts, then you won't notice the new look unless you sign out of your account. Helping people access Twitter in more relevant and useful ways upon first introduction lowers the barrier to accessing the value Twitter has to offer and presents the service more consistently with how it has evolved.

Twitter began as a rudimentary social tool based on the concept of status messages but together with those who use it every day, the service has taught us what it wants to be. From features invented by users to applications built on the platform, we're still discovering potential. Twitter has moved from simple social networking into a new kind of communication and a valuable source of timely information. Also, it's fun.

Learning By Experience

Defining a "tweet" for the uninitiated and explaining how to create an account doesn't resonate with everyone. "Why would I want to do that?" is a common reaction. However, demonstrating the power of Twitter as a discovery engine for what is happening right now through our Search and Trends often awakens a sense of wonder which inevitably leads to a much more compelling question, "How do I get involved?"

More Work Ahead

The open and timely exchange of information will have a positive impact on the world and Twitter has a role to play. We have a lot of work to do when it comes to the quality of our search results and trend analysis but repositioning the product to focus more on discovery is an important first step in presenting Twitter to a wider audience of folks around the world who are eager to start engaging with new people, ideas, opinions, events, and sources of information.

We'll likely continue to make changes to the Twitter home page as we respond to feedback and ideas. We're eager to see if encouraging a sense of wonder and discovery leads to a better first impression of Twitter.

Full, two-way interaction with Twitter over SMS is now available for everyone who uses O2, the largest mobile operator in the UK. There are no extra fees associated with Twittering over SMS on the 02 network—standard or in bundle rates apply for updating your account and receiving tweets over SMS is free so Tweet your heart out!

To Twitter over SMS with your iPhone or any other mobile, head over to your account settings and activate your device. The Twitter shortcode in the UK is 86444 if you want to save it in your address book. Twitter started with a strong focus on texting and we continue to provide SMS access around the world.

Many are seeing a wide variety of businesses using Twitter in interesting ways to create value for customers and consumers. As a result, we're often invited by businesses and organizations to talk about Twitter and how it can be used to better engage with customers. Twitter is still a small team so it made more sense to do some research and make it widely available rather than personally visit businesses big and small.

We coordinated with business students and writers to surface some interesting findings, best practices, steps for getting started, and case studies. The results demonstrate how customers are getting value out of Twitter and suggest techniques businesses can employ to enhance that value. While this work was envisioned for businesses, it's also useful for anyone using Twitter so have a look if you like.


Where To Find It

At the bottom of every page on Twitter, you can now find a new link called Business. This will take you to a suite of web pages called Twitter 101, A Special Guide. There is also a downloadable slideshow available as a PDF that's more of an overview which folks can use to give presentations within larger organizations to teach others about Twitter. We're focused on enhancing value across Twitter in general—these documents are just a first step.

We're beginning to discover the value that customers and consumers are getting from businesses who use Twitter in smart and interesting ways. Businesses of all shapes and sizes are discovering the value too—whether it's raising the bottom line or engaging more actively with consumers.

A small business like a bakery will send out a tweet that the cookies just came out of the oven and a few dozen local followers will rush over and buy warm cookies. The customers like it and the small businesses owners love it. Big companies are using Twitter in interesting ways too.

BestBuy has created a program they call Twelpforce. The idea is that employees from across the organization can interact quickly and easily with customers who have questions about products. This is a different approach but it's smart—they're building trust and fostering happy, informed customers. That's good stuff.

We've been studying how customers and businesses interact and derive value from Twitter. From this research, findings, use cases, and best practices have emerged. We're putting together a document based on our studies and we'll find a spot on our web site to share it with everyone when it's ready.

David Letterman was introduced to Twitter via Kevin Spacey on last night's Late Show. Once Dave got past the concept of typing with his thumbs he was able to characterize Twitter as "a waste of time." That's generally how Twitter was characterized in 2007 so Dave's only two years behind—we'll give him a little more time to catch up.

Early yesterday, we were contacted by two blog journalists who had just been offered internal business documents stolen from Twitter by a hacker.

First, it's important to note how these documents were stolen. In this case, a Twitter employee used the same non-unique password on multiple services. A hacker gained access to our business documents because this common password was retrievable on an unrelated system. If you've ever used the same password on more than one service, you've made the same mistake that lead to this theft—it's a web wide issue. Random password generators as well as two-factor authentication for more sensitive systems are now mandatory at Twitter, Inc.

Twitter is more than jotted-down notes from a handful of meetings. Our future will be shaped by the passion and inventiveness of everyone who uses Twitter and through the execution of our ideas. Nevertheless, the publication of stolen documents is irresponsible and we absolutely did not give permission for these documents to be shared. Out of context, rudimentary notes of internal discussions will be misinterpreted by current and future partners jeopardizing our business relationships.

We are pursuing a path to address the harm caused by these actions and as noted yesterday, we've already reached out to the partners and individuals affected.

About a month ago, an administrative employee here at Twitter was targeted and her personal email account was hacked. From the personal account, we believe the hacker was able to gain information which allowed access to this employee's Google Apps account which contained Docs, Calendars, and other Google Apps Twitter relies on for sharing notes, spreadsheets, ideas, financial details and more within the company. Since then, we have performed a security audit and reminded everyone of the importance of personal security guidelines.

This attack had nothing to do with any vulnerability in Google Apps which we continue to use. This is more about Twitter being in enough of a spotlight that folks who work here can become targets. In fact, around the same time, Evan's wife's personal email was hacked and from there, the hacker was able to gain access to some of Evan's personal accounts such as Amazon and PayPal but not email. This isn't about any flaw in web apps, it speaks to the importance of following good personal security guidelines such as choosing strong passwords.

Stolen Documents, Not Compromised Accounts

It's important to note that the stolen documents which were downloaded and offered to various blogs and publications are not Twitter user accounts nor were any user accounts compromised (except for a screenshot of one person's account and we contacted that person and recommended changing their password). This was not a hack on the Twitter service, it was a personal attack followed by the theft of private company documents.

We are in touch with our legal counsel about what this theft means for Twitter, the hacker, and anyone who accepts and subsequently shares or publishes these stolen documents. We're not sure yet exactly what the implications are for folks who choose to get involved at this point but when we learn more and are able to share more, we will.

The 'Underwear Drawer' Analogy

We have a culture of sharing and communication within Twitter and these stolen documents represent a fraction of what we produce on a regular basis. Obviously, these docs are not polished or ready for prime time and they're certainly not revealing some big, secret plan for taking over the world. As Peter Kafka put it, this is "akin to having your underwear drawer rifled: Embarrassing, but no one’s really going to be surprised about what’s in there." That is an apt analogy.

Nevertheless, as they were never meant for public communication, publishing these documents publicly could jeopardize relationships with Twitter's ongoing and potential partners. We're doing our best to reach out to these folks and talk over any questions and concerns. However, our goal remains focusing on the most important business at hand—creating value for users and building the best possible Twitter service.

TweetCraft is an in-game Twitter client for World of Warcraft, the wildly popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. If you're a WoW player you might like it because you can send and receive tweets in-game, upload screenshots to TwitPic, automatically tweet when you get an achievement, and more. Also, the overly dramatic video promo is fun.

Steve Tucker is a wheat farmer in Nebraska changing the way we interact with the folks who grow our food. Twittering from the tractor: smartphones sprout on the farm is an interesting article at CNN.com about how farmer's like Steve are using Twitter and other tools to bridge the urban-rural divide and get us thinking more about where our food comes from.

The idea of extending the Twitter network into interesting locations around the world via mobile devices is at the core of our thinking and Steve sums it up well when he says, "I can be in the most remote place and just with the power of having a BlackBerry ... I can communicate with anybody at anytime about anything." You can follow @Tykerman1 on Twitter.

p.s. Twitter co-founder and CEO @ev grew up on a farm in Nebraska.

The ecosystem growing around Twitter is something we very much believe in nourishing and supporting. There are lots of really awesome services and applications out there like TweetDeck, TweetMeme, Tweetie, BackTweets, Tweetboard, and others that we absolutely love as do many users. However, as the ecosystem grows there is also the possibility that confusing and potentially damaging projects could emerge.

We have applied to trademark Tweet because it is clearly attached to Twitter from a brand perspective but we have no intention of "going after" the wonderful applications and services that use the word in their name when associated with Twitter. In fact, we encourage the use of the word Tweet. However, if we come across a confusing or damaging project, the recourse to act responsibly to protect both users and our brand is important.

Regarding the use of the word Twitter in projects, we are a bit more wary although there are some exceptions here as well. After all, Twitter is the name of our service and our company so the potential for confusion is much higher. When folks ask us about naming their application with "Twitter" we generally respond by suggesting more original branding for their project. This avoids potential confusion down the line.

Thanks to Robin Wauters at TechCrunch for raising the issue because it highlights a need. As we build our platform team, we will be adding more documentation, guidelines, and best practices to help developers get the most out of our growing set of open APIs. We'll work together to ensure success for Twitter, developers, and everyone who uses these services while avoiding confusion and maintaining quality.