It was all pigs and birds this week :)
This week, technology has been feeding the Swine Flu hysteria, but also hopefully keeping us safe. There is a Google Maps Mashup to track the spread of the disease. As well as an iPhone app to help you avoid it.
In non-flu-related news, Facebook has been showing some major Twitter envy this week. They opened up their "stream" API, which will hopefully lead to an assortment of useful tools including desktop widgets and personal feed management tools. But despite this new openness, the platform remains fundamentally closed, which means it will not offer any way to track emerging trends in the conversation data or search for what people are saying about your brand.
It's a little disappointing that Facebook has only met the world halfway. There could be a lot of benefit to anonymous aggregated data. But should Facebook really be feeling the heat of competition. They've all but knocked MySpace out of the ballpark. And even though Twitter users are an attractive demographic, 60% of them quit within the first month.
Is Twitter the Facebook-killer or is it just the next Second Life?
Marta Strickland
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Strategists & Planners
Comments (3)
The NYT just ran a piece on how startups leverage both Facebook and Twitter data APIs which you can learn more about at http://ploneglenn.blogspot.com/2009/05/living-in-facebook-downline.html
Posted on May 3, 2009 19:43
The trend in everything seems to be always leaning toward FASTER and EASIER - and thats why I think Twitter has really surpassed other social networking sites. And even though 60% of Twitter users dropped off within a month, I think they will come back. The way I see it, Twitter is a blend of blog and chatroom - two things that we understand and have been well acquainted with. So it just makes sense that the next best thing be a blend of interfaces we are familiar with, be quick and easy for sharing of info, and not rely on too much of our personal stuff like pictures and personal information. Also, unlike Second Life, on Twitter you are recognized by what kind of useful, entertaining, or relevant information you bring to the table. Rather than your cool cyber-outfit.
Posted on May 4, 2009 07:07
@Glenn
Thanks for the article link. I like the 3 different approaches to use of the APIs: sign in, content publishing, and shared profiles. I agree that the third is far from developed, and even the others are rough at best right now. I would argue more that the threat isn't Facebook at some point shutting down it's API, but what if Facebook or Twitter more formally merge or extend their services into an area that competes with what one of these start-ups does. If Facebook Connect for comments starts to rival what Disqus does, who will win out?
@Erika
Agreed on the Twitter vs Second Life assessment. Twitter's troubles are going to be quite different... I see a lot of struggle to help combat noise... which is going to make relevant social discover (who should I follow?) harder and harder. Although, I do think Twitter (like the Second Life complaints) could be doing a lot more to educate its new users.
Posted on May 4, 2009 12:28