In concert with developing a page of Twitter resources, I’ve started (in-work!) identifying message genres (types). Note that some follow traditional genre style (eg, fiction, nonfiction, science fiction, romance) and some are “types of people” (politics, organizations, reporters):

1. Personal: the type envisioned when the tool was developed. Examples:
   • daynah (followers: 114) is getting ready to bbq! But where is the sun??
   • nsolis (followers: 45) Cleaning, packing, finding boxes with my ex’s name on them. Weird.
   • UmbralEchoes (followers: 9) Back from Chicago, chillaxin’ at the house. Trying to buy tickets to GenCon events, and failing.
2. Personal But With Wider Relevance: Personal messages that move beyond “what am I doing at the moment.” Examples:
   • Implications for corporate brand image: davewiner (followers: 8,132) My Comcast service is down again, for the last four hours. On hold with their service people, getting the runaround
   • Thought Leader: timeoreilly (followers: 3,588 ) Interview with Inc magazine about threadless.com and the future of manufacturing. Tying in Make, Instructables, Inventables, Chumby
   • Educator: hrheingold (followers: 2,333) Thinking about a broader framework for teaching attention literacy
3. Micro-blogging: Twitter returns blogging to its roots: the link post. Examples:
   • davewiner (followers: 8,132) “the superdelegate tidal wave is about to begin” http://tinyurl.com/68jalw
   • scobleizer (followers: 20,208 ) It was a real honor to be part of http://travelinggeeks.com/ in Israel. We’ll be pouring content into that site for weeks from this trip.
   • steverubel (followers: 5,511) iTunes remains 400 movie rentals short of what they promised – for February. http://tinyurl.com/5rr6kb
4. News Feed: Both bloggers and traditional news organizations are using Twitter as a wire feed. Examples:
   • 24_hour_musuem (followers 8 ) Museums Sheffield Announces National Metalwork Award Shortlist http://tinyurl.com/499ucx
   • laughingsquid (followers: 8,331) uploading photos from NYC including Burp Castle, Katz’s & Apple Store West 14th St http://twurl.nl/mv7djk
   • nytimes (followers: 3,123) Clinton and Obama Escalate Attacks in Pennsylvania http://tinyurl.com/3jorup
   • stephtara (followers: 998 ) More on coComment advertising: http://tinyurl.com/5rwv4t
   • steverubel (followers: 5,511) Study: A Billion Dollars in Internet Advertising is Wasted http://tinyurl.com/5r64k2
   • techmeme (followers: 2,769) Struggling to Evade the E-Mail Tsunami (Randall Stross/New York Times) http://tinyurl.com/5sfygv
5. Reply with Link: Public responses that are surrogate link posts
   • hrheingold (followers: 2,333) @arikan Social capital is one week (#12) of a semester: http://tinyurl.com/yuyrzg
   • scobleizer (followers: 20,208 ) @johnmccrea nice post on improving the Web: http://tinyurl.com/565zn7
   • WendyDrexler (followers: 296) @plu Thank you for sharing http://scobleizer.com/2008/04/19/hope/ . I hope that he continues to post if he hears from Michael.
6. Politics: Political organizations/people who use Twitter to advance their agenda
   • barackobama (political campaign) (followers: 24,375) At Independence National Historical Park (Philly, PA) kicking off the “On Track for Change” tour. For more info: http://PA.BarackObama.com
   • downingstreet (elected official) (followers: 1,792) After some private meetings in Boston yesterday the PM has now returned from the US. Read more at http://usvisit.pm.gov.uk
   • podblanc (white supremist) (followers: 38 ) Dollar in the gutter thanks to these criminals: http://tinyurl.com/6a9rpj
7. Reporters Who Twitter – Twitter can be used to solicit ideas/input for stories
   • ReporTwitters Blog – 90+ ReporTwitters members exploring Twitter-Journalists-Reality Style Reporting.
   • Group Reporting Guide – From ReporTwitters
8. Organizations That Twitter (information, non-political)
   • Brooklyn Museum
   • Found Gallery – Los Angeles
   • Houston Library
   • LA Fire Department
   • Manitoba Museum
   • San Francisco Zoo

So. What do you think?