August 2, 2008 118 Comments

Why Twitter Still Wins

jaiku I just went back to check out Jaiku. It’s a clean interface. There’s a US short SMS code so it’s easy to use from my phone. There are people using it still, and it has some features that Twitter doesn’t.

I’m a bit frustrated with Twitter. They deleted my friend Dave Fisher for no apparent reason, and didn’t put him back until Jeff Pulver sent a message to the senior team. They’ve capped a few friends’ following limits with no explanations (both have several thousand fewer than me, so I can’t even understand the math). So yeah, I’m frustrated.

BUT, there are no real tools for Jaiku. There’s no Summize. There’s no Tweetstats. There’s no Twitter ANYTHING built around it.

And that’s the takeaway.

One way to win in software is to make your application fertile for building upon. Open your API. Give people tools to build an ecosystem around it. And it becomes a lot harder to pull away and go elsewhere. Other tools have enough of the same features on the surface, but once you go past being a certain level of user, it’s not a 1:1 comparison. Twitter has a software community. Jaiku just has big parents.

If I were selling software, I’d think hard about this.

And you?

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  • Louis Columbus

    ebrown, exactly! I think that is part of Twitter’s popularity. Visiting Twitter is like driving through Guadalupe and seeing the ecletic people and ideas. Having grown up in the Southwest and visited Santa Fe I can readily relate to your allegory. Part of Twitter’s appeal is the chance to hang out and be yourself, but mostly it is to learn from eclectic and interesting people.

  • Louis Columbus

    ebrown, exactly! I think that is part of Twitter’s popularity. Visiting Twitter is like driving through Guadalupe and seeing the ecletic people and ideas. Having grown up in the Southwest and visited Santa Fe I can readily relate to your allegory. Part of Twitter’s appeal is the chance to hang out and be yourself, but mostly it is to learn from eclectic and interesting people.

  • http://getanewbrowser.com andy brudtkuhl

    Mine was deleted for no reason as well. They claim I was violating TOS.. but I’m just a normal user..

    http://getanewbrowser.com/2008/08/twitter-deleted-my-account/

  • http://getanewbrowser.com andy brudtkuhl

    Mine was deleted for no reason as well. They claim I was violating TOS.. but I’m just a normal user..

    http://getanewbrowser.com/2008/08/twitter-deleted-my-account/

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  • http://www.erwinblom.nl erwin blom

    Jaiku was hip and hot and happening. Since Google bought the service no new developments, nothing. A shame. Seems to be the story when Google buys you.

  • http://www.erwinblom.nl erwin blom

    Jaiku was hip and hot and happening. Since Google bought the service no new developments, nothing. A shame. Seems to be the story when Google buys you.

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  • http://freemovieposters.blogspot.com/ Free Movie Posters

    Why didn’t Google buy Twitter? I think Twitter was more happening than Jaiku. Twitter has less effort to join for everyone, rather than Jaiku which needs invitation. I have a guess that Twitter is more profitable, but by all means, Google has the money.

  • http://freemovieposters.blogspot.com/ Free Movie Posters

    Why didn’t Google buy Twitter? I think Twitter was more happening than Jaiku. Twitter has less effort to join for everyone, rather than Jaiku which needs invitation. I have a guess that Twitter is more profitable, but by all means, Google has the money.

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    One way to win in software is to make your application fertile for building upon. Open your API. Give people tools to build an ecosystem around it. And it becomes a lot harder to pull away and go elsewhere.

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