The Coffee Shop Known As Twitter Finds Its Way Into The Real Coffee Shop

The Internet Café phenomenon began in July 1991 when Wayne Gregori created the SFnet Coffeehouse Network, installing 25 coin operated computer terminals in coffeehouses throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. As the number of coffeehouses to offer Internet access to their customers has increased over the years, the distinction between the Internet Café (i.e. Cyber Café) and normal café or coffeehouse has eroded. But the relationship continues to evolve because of the similarities they share. Stewart Lee Allen writes:

The Net is the latest manifestation, or equivalent, of the coffeehouse as a social institution, a place where anybody can gather, regardless of social standing, and exchange intelligible opinions. – Stewart Lee Allen

Steve Gasser, in suggesting how small locally owned coffee shops can compete with larger institutions, writes that customers can use Twitter, a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets up to 140 characters to place orders:

Imagine it. Customers come into the shop to chat or work, and from their phones and laptops, can place orders without worry of losing their seat or disturbing the conversation. Regular customers stopping in on their way to work can Twitter their order before arrival and have it ready to go when they get there.

In fact, J.R. Cohen, Operations Manager of CoffeeGroundz in Houston has been doing just that, using Twitter to connect with customers and build a community. After a successful order placed via Twitter, Cohen started taking to-go orders; he credits the new media tool for doubling his clientele.

Twitter is like a coffee shop, which serves as centers of social interaction, providing a place for the public to congregate, talk, write, read, or pass time. Once you login to Twitter, you can work alone in the corner for a while, but then take a break, see what people are talking about, chat for a few minutes, find something interesting to share, check out a few links, laugh about something, and then return to work. Like a coffee shop, Twitter provides a public space to strike up conversations with strangers and friends, but likewise allows you sit on the sidelines and listen to others.

A few weeks ago, I logged into the online coffee shop known as Twitter while at an actual coffee shop, and a casual conversation lead to a tweet. Coffee shops inside coffee shops? Kind of weird. Kind of different. What’s next?

Tweet