Twitter is fascinating in some many different ways but perhaps one of the most intriguing aspects is Twitter.com.
At a time when a flurry of developers were jumping on Twitter’s API to create innovative, creative and productive ways to read and write tweets, Twitter seemed content to maintain a no-frills approach to Twitter.com. The minimalist approach suggested that frills would only ruin the experience.
Meanwhile, Twitter.com’s market share continued to plunge as new users quickly gravitated to sexier options such as Tweetdeck, Seesmic and HootSuite. In many respects, it was like Twitter was content to sell a Ford Focus, while many Twitter users wanted to drive BMWs.
After far too long neglecting Twitter.com, Twitter finally seems to be getting serious about adding some much-needed frills. Some of the improvements include the “Suggestions for You” feature that recommends people to follow based on your interests and existing friends.
Twitter also now features some suggestions about “Who to Follow” on the upper right-hand side home page your account.
And I like the feature that lets you look at one of your followers, and then quickly add them to a list that you have created.
As well, there’s speculation Twitter will soon add a new feature that will display people that you and one of your followers both follow.
The obvious question for Twitter is what too so long to add some frills to Twitter.com? It is playing a massive game of catch-up but, nevertheless, is it encouraging to see some new features.
That said, Twitter is still a long way from Tweetdeck or HootSuite for power users. Maybe it should think about adding features such as multiple columns or the ability to quickly move between accounts.
One Comment
I dunno, over 190 million users who tweet 65 million times a day. How do you come to the conclusion that Twitter.com is losing market share and neglecting itself. Purchasing Cloudhopper to help with the billion SMS tweets sent per month in April isn't an example of neglect.
Twitter gains from from the API. If you're using Hoot Suite, Twitter gains, not loses.
I'd rather Twitter continue to innovate and solve problems. Adding features like columns would be redundant, they already have those users with the API anyways. And besides, they can just purchase the IP when needed, like AteBits. Acquiring arguably the best iPhone client is hardly neglect or losing market share.
Lastly, they haven't add "sizzle" to the dot.com. They've added steak. Recommending who to follow as part of the core of Twitter is important for it to continue to grow, as it helps users expand their social graph and get more ingrained with the system. Adding columns would be sizzle.
Twitter is a service, not a website.