While official support of Twitter lists will initially produce a bunch of happy campers, lists may also change behavior in unexpected ways.
Keep It Simple, Twitter
If there is any cause for concern in the news of Twitter’s feature changes, it may be in a feature creep that moves the service further away from simple.
The Year of the Profile Picture
Hanapin asked about what went into a person’s decision to change a profile image. One’s own behavior and gender play a role, and graphics get no love.
Monetizing Twitter
Samir Balwani noted some of the problems microblogging companies will face in monetizing their product. Stakeholders in Twitter have wondered how Union Square Ventures will get their ROI.
FriendFeed-ing Frenzy
It has been a rough stretch for Twitter. Despite another influx of funding, continued downtime and issues with terms of service policies served as a final straw from some members of the community. Where Twitter seems to have held off Jaiku and Pownce, it is an uber-aggregator of microcontent—FriendFeed—that has become the destination of choice among disgruntled twitterers.
New APIs for Pownce and Meebo
It took a while, but Pownce—the pedigreed microblogging and filesharing service launched last summer—now has an API. Meebo, a unifying group chat tool, is also making some news with an announcement that they have released their own platform. Things are a’changin’.