Twitter isn't a protocol. If it was, there'd be Twitter (the protocol) based services everywhere, and it'd be open and federated.
Twitter is a service. Services need money. It's a simple as that.
Twitter is a service. Services need money. It's a simple as that.
Twitter should be just like email, not this one monopoly controlling everything. It’s sad that that’s the way it is.
If fact, I believe it will go this way at some point in the future, despite how impregnable Facebook seems now. At one point Bebo and MySpace seemed unassailable too.
The only way the social network protocol can be realised is if you have a lucky band of developers for whom everything just clicks into place without funding, like Craigslist. Unfortunately that's really hard to achieve in today's internet landscape where anyone with a large hosting bill gets an offer they can't refuse from a VC.
Still centralized, still controlled by one company, but it's a step in the right direction. It's a shame they're struggling to survive against worse services.
Saying they should remain this cynical monopoly that does shitty things just seems nonsensical to me. No, they should not. They can. They do. I think they shouldn’t.
I mean, none of this will actually happen. Twitter will continue to have a monopoly and I see no realistic way to change that. I don’t think there will ever be Twitter as a protocol. I’m just saying there should be. It did work out for email. And, yeah, email is imperfect in so, so, so many ways, but at least it isn’t under control by a single company.
they need money, sure. but not just to operate and make a nice profit, they need to grow, they need blowout quarter after blowout quarter. impossible with this simple and clean core product. hence doom on the horizon. just look at all the bad feedback they're getting for their feed changes. core audience hates it. won't bring new users. stuck.
twitter could/should be run like craisglist or reddit. hardcore maintainence mode. neat little business. but no VC will ever allow it.