• Fast Company et al., Tuesday, March 16, 2010 1:32 PM

Word is that the Main Event at South by Southwest -- a Q&A between Umair Haque of the Havas Media Lab and Twitter chief exec Evan Williams -- was a bust.

Fast Company called it: "likely the most horrifically devastating keynote presentation in SXSW history."

First, there was no mention of Twitter's forthcoming ad platform, or any new monetization plans, as some were expecting. Then, the feature that Williams did unveil apparently failed to impress many in the crowd or at home.

Named @Anywhere, the new service will allow publishers to integrate Twitter deeper into their sites and recreate the "open, engaging interactions" their readers expect from using Twitter "without sending them to Twitter.com." Some of the sites that will soon use this new service include Amazon, Yahoo, Digg, Bing and the New York Times.

The whole idea "doesn't sound that futuristic," wrote GigaOm. "You can already do many such things through integrations made by sites themselves or with the help of products like Tweetmeme."

Under the headline, "The Trouble With Twitter's @anywhere Service," PC World says the platform seems a lot like Facebook Connect, yet "Twitter will have to work hard to displace Facebook's grasp on the Web -- after all, one of the biggest draws of Facebook Connect is that users can log into sites using their Facebook accounts instead of going through a lengthy registration process ... By contrast, Twitter's @anywhere looks like it will only make one's Twitter account more interactive."

At least according to ReadWriteWeb, @Anywhere "will have wide-reaching consequences for Twitter and its ecosystem," adding, "Given that Twitter's growth has slowed down in recent months, it only makes sense for the company to try to bring the service to more mainstream users."

Still, seemingly underwhelmed by the @Anywhere news, "Many attendees soon became restless and took to the tool Williams helped create (i.e., Twitter) to vent their frustration with the interview,' reports the New York Times' Bits blog. "Maya Baratz, a product manager at MTV, (tweeted): 'There are hundreds of people in the room. Someone. Anyone. Kanye this keynote and ask Evan a good question.'"

"As I write -- three-quarters of the way through the session -- I'm surrounded by vacated seats," wrote GigaOm's Liz Gannes. The "hour-long vague and high-level conversation ... had listeners yawning, turning to their phones to complain on Twitter, and outright leaving."

Added Gannes: "I don't think Twitter lost any users today, but it might have burst a few admirers' bubblicious ideas of the company."

Read the whole story at Fast Company et al. »