When we launched Microblink in August we had set the goal of covering news across all microblogs. At the time, many exciting and wonderful things were happening from a number of startups. Nearly everyday Mike and I were messaging each other with items from our RSS readers that would be perfect for the blog. The content was there and the blogosphere had yet to fill in the gap.
Since then we have covered many feature announcements and updates for a number of microblogs, including discoveries of new microblogs, such as Yammer and Kwippy. We’ve even had the opportunity to try out their platforms and exchanges messages with the incredible minds behind them. However, as we continue to write, network and monitor activity, it seems that Twitter continues to be the story and de facto standard for microblogging.
Are there other platforms still out there?
Looking at the screen capture to the right, even on our own site the tags show the news is Twitter heavy. My question to myself and the community is what is happening here? Have we somehow fallen into a trap and the news and innovations from other platforms are being lost in the noise? Or is Twitter really the microblog and the rest have fallen victim to the weak economy and/or lost interest as Twitter has increased its stability?
Whatever the answer is, I have seen passionate communities grow around different platforms such as Tumblr, Plurk and Pownce. I know in my gut that there are great things happening and people innovating outside of Twitter.
If you are one of those microblogging innovators, let us know what you are working on. Shoot an email to our tip line (tips [at] microblink.com) and we’ll blog about it.
Until then we will continue to cover the news as we see things develop. Expect to see more posts about Twitter as there are a lot of great blogs, businesses and tools being developed based around this amazing platform. Nevertheless, I am still hoping to see the same innovations and energy (and then some) behind Twitter to be channeled to the many other platforms as they continue to develop and help shape the definition of microblogging.
Rob is one of the founders of Microblink. His interests include how people are using microblogs and the community growing around them.
Mike writes and edits for Microblink day-in and day-out. He is known as the marketing guy and handles most of the microblogging accounts.
Mark writes development-oriented posts as well as news items. He's not afraid to dive headfirst into technical topics for the sake of the team.
Twitter has the users, and that’s pretty much the end of the story. Stephen Fry, John Cleese, Britney, Darth Vader and the freaking President Elect are (or have) used Twitter. When the mainstream press do cover microblogging, they don’t mention Plurk, Pownce or any of the others. It’s Twitter all the way.
You know this of course. The tragedy is, as a platform Twitter is probably the least interesting. Rejaw, Identica, Yammer and others have some great features that I wish Twitter would incorporate. Or at least they should open things up (Like Laconica) and have some kind of plug-in system. I’m sure this could be done without compromising the simplicity that most users seem attracted to.
What was the question again?
I think there’s a huge future for the laconi.ca or openmicroblogger communities but their development is fairly slow. Twitter is great for its sheer market penetration and numbers, but small to medium communities can thrive on open source projects like those I mention above.
I also wonder if Twitter won’t hit a point where it becomes less interesting to be there among a sea of people trying to boost blog traffic or pontificate or life stream, vs the real community microforum idea I personally envision.
I’m following with great interest the evolution of this space. Thanks for the posts.
@Foomandoonian The best we can do is to educate people (and the media) that what we are doing is not called “Twittering”, but actually microblogging. The hardest part is that Twitter essentially has the first mover advantage and has stolen the show, despite them not having the most interesting or feature-rich platform available.
@Randulo If Twitter continues to grow at the rate it has been, I think people will undergo a major overhaul on their process for following new users. As you mentioned, things may become too crowded for some and the noise will overwhelm the good conversations happening. That’s where I think some of these other communities will be able to thrive because they can help divert users into their own groups and places online, with different platforms taking on people of different interests.
We appreciate your comments on the blog and enjoy the dialogue that each of you bring.