Turning echoes into signs

Because of my involvement in Kalooga, a media company delivering visual relevance based on a proprietary gallery search engine, I’m especially interested in other technology companies in our region (North of the Netherlands). One of these companies having my attention is Heeii.

“Heeii is a browser plugin that shows you a number of tweets that are closely related to the web page you are currently viewing”.

Sometimes, narrowing your functionality and establishing more focus can be beneficial for your business. But in this case I wonder if it will benefit the user (and therefore ultimately the company). Although Twitter is a huge success, that doesn’t mean inheriting that success by using the Twitter API. My point is; I’m not interested in recommendations related to the web page I’ve already read (or currently reading) I’m interested in tweets that recommend sources I may be interested in! It’s the recommendation of an authority or a trustworthy person I’m already following that makes Twitter such a powerful tool. It’s not the other way around!

So how does it work!? For example a person I’m following, Guy Kawasaki, recommends an article on Alltop ‘Could someone stalk you using your own smartphone?’ The recommendations Heeii is giving lacks added value.

Why change course from a (general) suggestion tool towards something that ‘echoes’ the web page? (Why not putting more effort in making the plugin cross browser compatible? (it now only works for Firefox and IE 6)

Looking from an outside perspective there is an opportunity window for Heeii that could tackle a ‘big problem’; what’s the authority, authenticity and trustworthiness of the web page I’m currently reading? Turning ‘echoes’ into ‘signs’, that’s real value! I would say; ‘back to the drawing table’. But leave the road you’re now embarked on!

I’m open for discussions!