I was chatting with a good friend today and searching for yet another metaphor for Twitter, and I settled on the Information Automat. The Automat was a fixture in New York City from the early 20th century through the 1960s. Basically, the Automat was a cafeteria in the form of a gigantic vending machine with hundreds of fresh food items like soup, sandwiches, stew, pies, etc. behind little coin-operated stainless steel doors. You would put your coins in and take a piece of pie. A few minutes later, someone would come put another piece of pie or something else in the window.

The diner’s view (the user’s view) was deceptive in its simplicity. Just food visible through a large bank of windows. If you pressed your face against the glass, though, or looked beyond the shelf when you opened a door after purchasing an item, you would see that behind the array of little windows, dozens of people were running around preparing food like crazy to keep the Automat stocked. (I know, because when I was a kid my parents took us to NYC and I watched, fascinated, through the glass.)

And so it is with Twitter. Each 140-character item is a freshly served information tidbit, some tastier and more difficult to prepare than others, some more or less nutritious. Open any item’s little glass door, and catch a view of all the hustle and bustle “behind the scenes,” the news sites, bookmarking sites, blogs, communities, podcasts, photo and video sites and all of the other amazing information being created fresh 365 days a year and served up through Twitter.

So New York City’s original Automat may be long gone, but today, we are fortunate to have an amazing Information Automat. And no coins are required.

Tags: twitter, information, automat