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The one difference is that twitter is embedded as an API now. Their lack of innovation leads to others innovating ON their platform not the innovators own. I

The one difference is that twitter is embedded as an API now. Their lack of innovation leads to others innovating ON their platform not the innovators own. I don't disagree. I think there will always be the next innovator/innovation and evolution of ideas but I think this differs and twitter has a strong hold because it is both a mind/marketing share that twitter owns, and a technology share inside of all the apps built on the API. It is the first big web communication platform that used the web friendly REST apis to explode. It was timing as much as simplicity. The complacency though is forcing others to innovate, on their platform, for them and not harming them currently. I think friend feed has a fair shot. But I also think twitter has a certain style, design, culture that is hard to mimic and others aren't there yet.

tvon 18y ago
What is so special about the twitter API that it can't be duplicated and extended by another service?
- buugs 18y ago
  The amount of people creating products around it.
  - tvon 18y ago
    That's kind of at the core of my point. If you "embrace/extend" the Twitter API, you have this entire ecosystem of developers that only have to switch an API key/URL and their tools can work with your system, utilizing whatever new features you provide on top of the "vanilla" Twitter API. The larger the developer ecosystem gets, the more appealing it is to make the switch as easy as possible for them.
- drawkbox 18y ago
  Nothing. It is so simple it can be copied or recreated in an a few hours. The hard part is getting people to use it and build on it and rely on it as a business. That takes years to unseat. The next twitter will have to beat it on many fronts. I believe most of twitter success was culture to allow the innovation and try (created from work at another startup odeo), timing and someone leading it that had already been through a sale to Google of blogger.com. The odds that that happens everyday isn't high. It was also the time when RESTful APIs were taking hold which Ruby on Rails had embraced, timing was huge.

tvon 18y ago

What is so special about the twitter API that it can't be duplicated and extended by another service?

buugs 18y ago
The amount of people creating products around it.
- tvon 18y ago
  That's kind of at the core of my point. If you "embrace/extend" the Twitter API, you have this entire ecosystem of developers that only have to switch an API key/URL and their tools can work with your system, utilizing whatever new features you provide on top of the "vanilla" Twitter API. The larger the developer ecosystem gets, the more appealing it is to make the switch as easy as possible for them.
drawkbox 18y ago
Nothing. It is so simple it can be copied or recreated in an a few hours. The hard part is getting people to use it and build on it and rely on it as a business. That takes years to unseat. The next twitter will have to beat it on many fronts. I believe most of twitter success was culture to allow the innovation and try (created from work at another startup odeo), timing and someone leading it that had already been through a sale to Google of blogger.com. The odds that that happens everyday isn't high. It was also the time when RESTful APIs were taking hold which Ruby on Rails had embraced, timing was huge.