Find Conversations That Matter, in RealTime with eSwarm

By Geoff Spick | Published Sep 8, 2009

Twitter's functionality has its critics and trying to make sense of the glut of messages can be a nightmare. Can eSwarm make order out of chaos with a new slant on social networking?

Follow the Conversation Thread

Following a conversation in Twitter is nigh on impossible without using third-party software. However, even that is only good on a single-threaded basis. So, there is obviously room for improvement. eSwarm tries to make things better by combining the power of the old-fashioned forum and the rush of short rapid messages.

eSwarm is a lite social media service that lets users create a message, but ties it to logical forums, so all the sports messages are on one place, technology in its own little pigeon hole and so on. So finding a conversation on a topic is now a lot easier.

To use the site, you create a simplified profile and start a conversation or join in an existing one. You can invite friends to join in — at this point the site really needs it as it is just starting out. Consequently, the content looks a little anemic at the moment, but you can see the potential.

Discussions made comprehensible in eSwarm

Beyond Twitter?

A hot topic pane on the home page shows the most popular conversations and you can join in the hot conversation of the day. Practical uses for the service would be co-workers setting up independent forums, interacting with customers, while support staff could leap in and head off rants by disgruntled posters by offering a practical solution.

With a wide range of topics and a straightforward way of working, getting in on the ground floor of eSwarm could prove a useful way of spreading a company message. Or, it could just be a useful tool for staff with no formal systems. Either way, keep an eye on eSwarm and see where it goes.

The company behind the site has been in existence since 2004, researching the subject of swarms and has brought some of that technology to the social Internet, trying to make the simplicity of Twitter more meaningful and useful.