A Twitter Tweak, or a Revolution in Online Discourse?

Billing itself as a "new way to talk to each other," Branch is a startup launched through Obvious Corp., an incubator started by Williams and fellow Twitter cofounder Biz Stone.

Paired with a second Obvious Corp. launch this week, Medium, a publishing tool "built from scratch," it's clear the two Web entrepreneurs believe there is still wide room for innovation in online discourse. Branch hovers in a space somewhere between a private, lengthy e-mail thread or online forum and a pithy, public stream of tweets. Discussions appear in chains, but posts can be only up to 750 characters, and anyone can view them. Unlike Twitter, not everyone can actually participate in a conversation; instead, a current participant must grant access. In addition, tangential topics can be "branched" from the main discourse, and new topics can be imported from Twitter itself. One can imagine a heated or thoughtful Twitter exchange ending with a "let's take this over to Branch." As one of the site's founders, Josh Miller, notes, there are discussions that warrant more than 140 characters.