Is microblogging something new? Young services like Twitter and Tumblr are seen by some as a natural evolution of personal presence on the Internet, filling a gap between blogging and social networking. Some say it is in the process of obsoleting email.
Innovating Twitter
One of the genius moves that made Twitter so potent was a decision to maintain a simple, open API. By granting access to the most interesting parts of the system—the members and content—Twitter has inspired widespread development of third-party applications that cross platforms, integrate with other systems, and contribute new ways for members to interact with the information stream.
A brief history of microblogging
Microblogging—the term given to short status messages reporting on the details of one’s life—arrived on the scene as a major communication channel in March 2007 when Twitter became the hit of the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas. The young company set up large screens to display content provided by conference attendees, who signed up for the service in droves. Site creator Evan Williams didn’t invent communication through text, but his company did construct a scaffolding that gave new power to short messages.
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’.