Hey Ryan - thanks for the response. I'm sure enough people have made the same points now and you've taken more crap than you'd care to. But just to clarify my comment, Seesmic on WP7 is nothing but a client IMO.
Anywho - thanks for responding. At the end of the day Twitter's a great place to develop and I'm sure most of the outcry stems from disappointment and hopefully a misinterpretation. dw. On Mar 13, 12:51 am, Ryan Sarver <rsar...@twitter.com> wrote: > David, we are specifically talking about consumer clients. HootSuite and > Seesmic are focused on a more enterprise or marketer audience as I called > out at the bottom of the email. > > Best, Ryan > > -- > Ryan Sarver > @rsarver <http://twitter.com/rsarver> > > On Sat, Mar 12, 2011 at 12:32 AM, David W <d_wy...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > It seems a little confusing that you're basically saying "don't build > > any more Twitter clients" and then call out the likes of Hoot Suite > > and Seesmic as being examples of what people should be doing. At > > heart they're just Twitter clients (that we shouldn't build any > > more?) They also appear to be conflict with section 5e of the Ts & > > Cs: "You may not use Twitter Content or other data collected from end > > users of your Client to create or maintain a separate status update or > > social network database or service." > > > I guess what confuses me most, is the motivation behind this > > announcement? I mean sure, no-one wants apps out there that take > > advantage of end users and give them a rough ride, but as you said > > yourself 90% of users aren't getting that experience and as someone > > else said; good apps will always bubble to the top. > > > I think it's incredibly disappointing to hear Twitter tell dev's not > > to create clients any more. No developer sets out to create a bad > > Twitter client. They set out to improve the Twitter experience, > > because they believe they can and generally because they love > > Twitter. Arguably Twitter wouldn't be where it is today if it weren't > > for those that did exactly that. > > > Unless we've all misunderstood what's been said here, then I'd > > question investing any time or money into the focusing on what are, > > today, areas "outside the mainstream consumer client experience". > > Sure go ahead and innovate in the areas Twitter tells you you're > > allowed to... for now. What happens when Twitter sees the new > > innovation you've just discovered is really popular? Do we get > > another announcement telling dev's not to develop that stuff any more? > > > Like I say, I hope we've all misunderstood the message here (I really > > do). I've no beef with the Ts & Cs. But please don't tell people to > > stop developing clients that people work hard on and that users love. > > > On Mar 11, 8:18 pm, Ryan Sarver <rsar...@twitter.com> wrote: > > > Hey all, I’d like to give you an update about the state of the Twitter > > > Platform and hopefully provide some much requested guidance. > > > > Since this time last year, Twitter use has skyrocketed. We’ve grown from > > 48 > > > million to 140 million tweets a day and we’re registering new accounts at > > an > > > all-time record. This massive base of users, publishers, and businesses > > is > > > a giant playground for developers to build their own businesses on, and > > this > > > means the opportunity has grown for everyone. > > > > With more people joining Twitter and accessing the service in multiple > > ways, > > > a consistent user experience is more crucial than ever. As we talked > > about > > > last April, this was our motivation for buying Tweetie and developing our > > > own official iPhone app. It is the reason why we have developed official > > > apps for the Mac, iPad, Android and Windows Phone, and worked with RIM on > > > their Twitter for Blackberry app. As a result, the top five ways that > > people > > > access Twitter are official Twitter apps. > > > > Still, our user research shows that consumers continue to be confused by > > the > > > different ways that a fractured landscape of third-party Twitter clients > > > display tweets and let users interact with core Twitter functions. For > > > example, people get confused by websites or clients that display tweets > > in a > > > way that doesn’t follow our design guidelines, or when services put their > > > own verbs on tweets instead of the ones used on Twitter. Similarly, a > > > number of third-party consumer clients use their own versions of > > suggested > > > users, trends, and other data streams, confusing users in our network > > even > > > more. Users should be able to view, retweet, and reply to @nytimes’ > > tweets > > > the same way; see the same profile information about @whitehouse; and be > > > able to join in the discussion around the same trending topics as > > everyone > > > else across Twitter. > > > > *A Consistent User Experience* > > > Twitter is a network, and its network effects are driven by users seeing > > and > > > contributing to the network’s conversations. We need to ensure users can > > > interact with Twitter the same way everywhere. Specifically: > > > - *The mainstream consumer client experience*. Twitter will provide the > > > primary mainstream consumer client experience on phones, computers, and > > > other devices by which millions of people access Twitter content (tweets, > > > trends, profiles, etc.), and send tweets. If there are too many ways to > > use > > > Twitter that are inconsistent with one another, we risk diffusing the > > user > > > experience. In addition, a number of client applications have repeatedly > > > violated Twitter’s Terms of Service, including our user privacy policy. > > > This demonstrates the risks associated with outsourcing the Twitter user > > > experience to third parties. Twitter has to revoke literally hundreds of > > > API tokens / apps a week as part of our trust and safety efforts, in > > order > > > to protect the user experience on our platform. > > > - *Display of tweets in 3rd-party services*. We need to ensure that > > tweets, > > > and tweet actions, are rendered in a consistent way so that people have > > the > > > same experience with tweets no matter where they are. For example, some > > > developers display “comment”, “like”, or other terms with tweets instead > > of > > > “follow, favorite, retweet, reply” - thus changing the core functions of > > a > > > tweet. > > > > With this in mind, we’ve updated our Terms of Service: > >http://dev.twitter.com/pages/api_terms. > > > > *The Opportunity for Developers* > > > Developers have told us that they’d like more guidance from us about the > > > best opportunities to build on Twitter. More specifically, developers > > ask > > > us if they should build client apps that mimic or reproduce the > > mainstream > > > Twitter consumer client experience. The answer is no. > > > > If you are an existing developer of client apps, you can continue to > > serve > > > your user base, but we will be holding you to high standards to ensure > > you > > > do not violate users’ privacy, that you provide consistency in the user > > > experience, and that you rigorously adhere to all areas of our Terms of > > > Service. We have spoken with the major client applications in the > > Twitter > > > ecosystem about these needs on an ongoing basis, and will continue to > > ensure > > > a high bar is maintained. > > > > As we point out above, we need to move to a less fragmented world, where > > > every user can experience Twitter in a consistent way. This is already > > > happening organically - the number and market share of consumer client > > apps > > > that are not owned or operated by Twitter has been shrinking. According > > to > > > our data, 90% of active Twitter users use official Twitter apps on a > > monthly > > > basis. > > > > In contrast, the number of successful applications and companies in the > > > Twitter ecosystem that focus on areas outside of the mainstream consumer > > > client experience has grown quickly, and this is a trend we want to > > continue > > > to support and help grow. Twitter will always be a platform on which a > > > smart developer with a great idea and some cool technology can build a > > great > > > company of his or her own. And, with record user growth, there has never > > > been a better time to build into Twitter. > > > > Some key areas where ecosystem developers are thriving: > > > - *Publisher tools*. Companies such as > > > SocialFlow<http://www.socialflow.com/>help publishers optimize how > > > they use Twitter, leading to increased user > > > engagement and the production of the right tweet at the right time. > > > - *Curation*. Mass Relevance <http://www.massrelevance.com/> and > > > Sulia<http://www.sulia.com/>provide services for large media brands to > > > select, display, and stream the > > > most interesting and relevant tweets for a breaking news story, topic or > > > event. > > > - *Realtime data signals*. Hundreds of companies use real-time Twitter > > > data as an input into ranking, ad targeting, or other aspects of > > enhancing > > > their own core products. Klout <http://klout.com/> is an example of a > > > company which has taken this to the next level by using Twitter data to > > > generate reputation scores for individuals. Similarly, > > > Gnip<http://gnip.com/>syndicates Twitter data for licensing by third > > > parties who want to use our > > > real-time corpus for numerous applications (everything from hedge funds > > to > > > ranking scores). > > > - *Social CRM, entreprise clients, and brand insights*. Companies such > > as > > > HootSuite <http://hootsuite.com/>, CoTweet <http://cotweet.com/>, > > > Radian6<http://www.radian6.com/>, > > > Seesmic <http://seesmic.com/>, and Crimson > > > Hexagon<http://www.crimsonhexagon.com/>help brands, enterprises, and > > > media companies tap into the zeitgeist about > > > their brands on Twitter, and manage relationships with their consumers > > using > > > Twitter as a medium for interaction. > > > - *Value-added content and vertical experiences*. Emerging services > > like > > > Formspring <http://www.formspring.me/>, Foursquare < > >http://foursquare.com/>, > > > Instagram <http://instagr.am/>, and Quora <http://www.quora.com/> have > > built > > > into Twitter by allowing users to share unique and valuable content to > > their > > > followers, while, in exchange, the services get broader reach, user > > > acquisition, and traffic. > > > > A lot of Twitter’s success is attributable to a diverse ecosystem of more > > > than 750,000 registered apps. We will continue to support this > > innovation. > > > We are excited to be working with our > > ... > > read more » -- Twitter developer documentation and resources: http://dev.twitter.com/doc API updates via Twitter: http://twitter.com/twitterapi Issues/Enhancements Tracker: http://code.google.com/p/twitter-api/issues/list Change your membership to this group: http://groups.google.com/group/twitter-development-talk
