Tim O'Reilly runs a successful and innovative company that covers technology through many platforms: books in print, books online, Web sites, Webcasts, and real-world conferences. He also thinks of Twitter as a form of publishing, but not in the way that most conventional publishers might.

Rather than spewing headlines or self-promoting, O'Reilly suggests that publishers use Twitter and other social media for "curating and amplifying" the voices of the communities that they serve.

Sure, it's about aggregating and distributing content, but according to O'Reilly the driving motivation should be, as they like to say around his company, to "create more value than you capture." O'Reilly outlined his philosophy—or is it a clever business strategy?—at the recent 140 Characters Conference.

Here's the video of his 15-minute talk. (You might want to duck out for a cup of coffee during the 1 minute and 50 seconds of intro.) The O'Reilly Radar blog also has a written transcript.