In part one of this Post, I argued that Twitter should not be blamed for turning on the developers and clients like Ubertwitter/social and co. I’ll repeat the quote/statement that best summarizes what twitter is doing.
The saying goes, do not bite the fingers that feeds you, but maybe you should, if the fingers stop you from feeding yourself.
So how did we get here?
We, including experts like pg and the Twitter founders did not realise what witter was building. People were too building Twit this, twitter that on top of it. By the time we realised Twitter was having a monopoly on a communication protocol, they became just too powerful.
Why we need an alternative?
Can you imagine if we had only one email or chatting service? i.e only Yahoo providing the worlds email. That is what we almost have with Twitter. A single company controlling this type of communication medium is just too much responsibility. “Absolute power corrupts absolutely” and we are starting to see signs of this.
Who then will provide this service?
I will go with the Ubermedia dudes. First reason is that they have the resources to do it right, in addition to already controlling 10 % of Twitter traffic. Bill Gross also seems like someone who would know how to create and monetize this new platform. At least they won’t have to kick the devs in the balls late in the game.
So why not something OpenSource ?
OpenSource as technology is great but when OpenSource (many technical people) create products, they don’t seem to create products mainstream users might like. If you take a look at the top groups on identi.ca (application of status.net) you will see it is not built to appeal to main stream users.
I believe the timing is right to launch a Twitter challenger because sentiments are high now. Secondly, the UberMedia guys know they will still be kicked off the platform in the very near future. So why wait?
Most importantly, good competition will make Twitter better and more accountable to us all.
What do you think?
Seriously, when Twitter started I predicted that this would happen and people did not listen. It is almost impossible to replace them now as it will be like replacing Youtube (which I also predicted too) and you know there may be better video sharing sites yet Youtube still has all the numbers.
It is all about the numbers. Once a community becomes very large then it becomes harder to stop the momentum as it becomes self perpetuating.
When I hear people suggesting Open Source as a solution to replacing monopolies I laugh because Open Source itself is becoming a monopoly. The community creates its own barriers to entry. What will be true open source is when my GrandMother can click, point and create an app.
My fear of social media is based on the fact that it is rooted in our primal instinct to socialise. No man is an island. Initially people join communities by choice alone but after the community grows to a certain size, choice gives way to imperative. Lagos is bad but people still travel there everyday
Sorry about the typos. Spell check (not me) should be more patient with going through my spellings.
Opensource cannot work in creating a product as well as it does in creating the technology.
I do not think is can or should be replaced. Just as Frindster was shaken from number one, I think something else can give Twitter a run for their numbers. I guess people left it too late because of the API trojan horse.