App.net financial backers show they’re open to a paid Twitter alternative

Is the world ready for a paid alternative to Twitter? Entrepreneur Dalton Caldwell thinks so, and his App.net project hit its fundraising goals ahead of schedule, showing that at least some folks are ready for a more open, ad-free service.

Is the world ready for a paid version of Twitter? Maybe so, backers have shown. Entrepreneur Dalton Caldwell’s Kickstarter-esque campaign to develop a paid alternative to the social network hit its $500,000 funding goal on Sunday, well ahead of Monday’s 11:59 PM deadline, raising questions as to what consumers really want when it comes to paid versus free internet services.

Twitter’s recent warning to developers that they’ll need to think twice before creating third-party Twitter experiences with the API has encouraged Caldwell and others to think about whether there’s room for an alternative service. Whether or not Caldwell’s efforts will succeed is still yet to be determined, but it shows both developer unhappiness with Twitter and just how far a Twitter alternative could go.

In a blog post, Caldwell thanked supporters for believing in his idea:

Thank you for believing. I know in my heart that what made join.app.net succeed was your willingness and openness to give App.net the benefit of the doubt, to read our github documentation, to ask to participate in the alpha, to write blogposts in our support. Thank you. We couldn’t have done it without you.

App.net was originally envisioned as a platform for mobile developers but morphed into a paid version of the increasingly ubiquitous social network, Ryan Kim wrote for GigaOM:

The product will offer a real-time feed and a social graph similar to Twitter available from a mobile application or website. Ultimately, App.net will support third-party apps built on top of the App.net ecosystem. Caldwell said the consumers aren’t given much choice right now in social startups, which are largely dependent on advertising for revenue. That leads to businesses that work to ultimately sell their users and their data to advertisers, he said. He believes there’s enough of a market for another business model that puts customer and their trust first.

Mathew Ingram has written for GigaOM on the relative merits of paid versus free but ad-supported services, noting that the biggest advantage Twitter has is its existing user base:

If you are a user, the main concern (I think) would be not just what kinds of cool apps you could use but also whether the rest of your social graph was using it. I have argued in the past that this built-in network effect is one of the biggest weapons Twitter has, as it is for Facebook and any other large-scale social service. Of course, App.net could integrate its network with Twitter’s, so that messages would flow through from one to the other (as they do from similar alternatives such as Identi.ca), but then all Twitter would have to do is kill its access to the API, the same way it did with a projectlaunched by Bill Gross’s UberMedia.

Users can still choose to back App.net for another 35+ hours, and for $50 can both show their support for the project and earn a one-year membership to the service, which will allow them to either “claim” their Twitter handle or choose a new one.

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Twitter comes clean, apologizes for NBC-gate

Twitter set off its first major public relations crisis this week when it suspended the account of a journalist who had been criticizing the social media site’s corporate partner, NBC, over its Olympic coverage. It is finally trying to fix things.

Twitter has finally addressed its role in a growing scandal over its decision to zap the account of a U.K. journalist who had been critical of NBC’s Olympics coverage.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Twitter’s general counsel Alex McGillivray issued a blog post describing how Twitter handles situation in which users post the personal information of other people.

Most significantly, McGillivray’s post also apologized for Twitter’s decision to tell NBC to file a complaint about the journalist, Guy Adams of The Independent:

That said, we want to apologize for the part of this story that we did mess up. The team working closely with NBC around our Olympics partnership did proactively identify a Tweet that was in violation of the Twitter Rules and encouraged them to file a support ticket with our Trust and Safety team to report the violation, as has now been reported publicly. [..]

As I stated earlier, we do not proactively report or remove content on behalf of other users no matter who they are. This behavior is not acceptable and undermines the trust our users have in us. We should not and cannot be in the business of proactively monitoring and flagging content, no matter who the user is — whether a business partner, celebrity or friend.

This appears to be the end of part one of a controversy in which Twitter, which has been a champion of free speech and transparency, appeared to break its own principles in order to champion a corporate interest.

For more background, see: Twitter restores reporter’s account, tweet with NBC e-mail remains

And to learn about its significance for the media and for Twitter, see my colleague Mathew Ingram’s insightful take: Twitter at a Cross Roadroads: Economic Value vs. Information Value

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Twitter snuffs an Olympics critic: smart play or censorship?

NBC asked Twitter to suspend the account of a journalist who has been a prominent critic of its Olympics coverage. Twitter — an NBC partner — complied. Is this censorship or is there some other explanation?

The media is fuming over Twitter’s decision to suspend the account of a British journalist who used the micro-blogging site to toss barbs at NBC’s decision to time-delay its Olympic coverage over the weekend. The episode raises questions about free speech and corporate control of social media platforms.

For anyone who missed it, the brouhaha began this morning when sports site Deadspin reported that Twitter had cut off Guy Adams, an LA-based reporter for The Independent. Adams has been a standard bearer for the new #nbcfail hashtag and used his account to rattle off a series of British-inflected tirades about NBC’s time delay: “‘Sneak peak’ my arse”; ”tosspot”; “Matt Lauer would do well to shut up, wouldn’t he?” and so on.

Adams apparently crossed a line when he published the email address of NBC executive Gary Zenkel and told followers to “Tell him what u think.” NBC complained to Twitter and shortly after the micro-blog site suspended Adams’ account.

Critics have since called attention to the fact that Twitter has partnered with NBC’s parent company to promote the games, and suggested that the companies decided to shut down Adams’ account as an act of reprisal.

In an email message to Adams, Twitter explained the account had been suspended because he had violated terms of service that forbid disclosing private information like a person’s telephone number or private email address. Deadspin and others have noted that gary.zenkel@nbcuni.com is a corporate address.

So who is right? Did Adams overstep a boundary or are Twitter and NBC wrongfully censoring a journalist? Well, from a legal point of view, Twitter is in the clear. The company’s terms of service make it plain that it can boot users off the site anytime and for any reason.

Twitter’s moral position is a lot more shaky. Its reason for tossing Adams is flimsy (the email he printed was not private) and, worse, they simply caused him to disappear altogether. If you search @guyadams on Twitter, the company will suggest users with similar handles but the original Guy Adams has simply vanished in the same way that disgraced communists would vanish from Kremin photographs.

This policy of “disappearing” people without a trace is unhealthy and something Twitter should reconsider. The site has bravely opposed police gag orders and published a groundbreaking transparency report to highlight government censorship.

In the future, Twitter should show who it is barring from the site and explain why. In the meantime, it should give Guy Adams his account back.

(Image by Rui Vale de Sousa via Shutterstock)

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Why it makes sense for Apple to invest in Twitter

According to the New York Times, Apple has had discussions with Twitter about making a substantial investment in the real-time network. A closer relationship between the two — which has been rumored in the past — would make some sense for both companies.

photo: Om Malik

According to a report in the New York Times late Friday night, Apple has had talks with Twitter about acquiring a substantial stake in the company — on the order of hundreds of millions of dollars, the newspaper says, quoting “people briefed on the matter.” Although the report provides few details about how serious these discussions actually were, such a combination would make some sense for both companies: Apple would get an even more favored relationship with the real-time social network, and Twitter would get to maintain its preferred status on one of the world’s leading technology platforms.

Twitter is already integrated into most of Apple’s products, including the iPhone and iPad, and its OS X operating system for laptops and desktops — users can post to Twitter from within applications and apps with a single click because these devices are connected to the real-time network at fundamental level. When Apple originally announced the deal with Twitter last year, it marked the first time that the company had integrated any third-party service other than Google into its operating systems in such a way. And it has been incredibly powerful in driving usage for Twitter, as CEO Dick Costolo has described.

In effect, this arrangement outsourced the social aspect of almost all of Apple devices and software to Twitter, and was an admission of sorts that social elements and social software have been an Achilles heel for Apple for some time — as lackluster attempts such as Ping and Game Center have shown. The deal was also seen by many as a slap in the face to Facebook, which had discussions with Apple earlier about integration into Ping but dropped them; then-CEO Steve Jobs said Facebook’s demands were “onerous.”

Since then, Apple has started working with Facebook again, and some form of integration with the social network is expected to be included in the latest version of Apple’s iPhone and iPad operating system, as well as the new version of OS X, Mountain Lion. But Twitter still has the preferred spot inside Apple’s OS so far, and taking the iconic consumer electronics company on as an investor would cement that status. For Apple, meanwhile, becoming an owner would theoretically give it even more sway within Twitter — although it could be argued that the company already has a fairly significant relationship with the network.

Does Apple need to control Twitter completely in order to benefit from that integration? Not really, as I explained in a post after Barry Ritholz argued that Apple should acquire the company — but a sizeable investment would give it some sway in board meetings and in other ways that could give it more control, and if there’s one thing Apple likes to have, it’s control.

According to the NYT report, the investment from Apple would have given Twitter a market value of $10 billion, substantially higher than the $8 billion private valuation it had after its most recent venture-financing round — and some have speculated that Apple might even want to acquire the entire company, something it could easily do with the more than $100 billion it has in cash and marketable investments. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, meanwhile, has said that Twitter has no need of extra financing because it has “truckloads of money in the bank.” Whether Apple can change his mind on that score remains to be seen.

Update: The Wall Street Journal says that according to its sources, discussions between Apple and Twitter about an investment were held a year ago, and there are no current acquisition or investment talks going on between them.

Post and thumbnail images courtesy of Flickr users Giuseppe Bognanni and George Kelly

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Twitter Android - Tweeting On The Go

Twitter For Android: A Wonderful Match up

When we tweet what's happening all around us, most of us tweet not just our own thoughts, but web sites, photographs, video clips, places... nearly anything. Mobile phone devices & Social Platforms like Twitter Android are more and more a part of some of our lives, most times most people are doing almost everything but making phone calls. Looking through the news, watching a movie, and taking pics at occasions like the World Cup usually are the things that we would assume doing on mobile phones - expressing each of our things on these kinds of tiny displays needs to be just as easy and quick as on the big screens

While programs work effectively with one another, sharing gets as 2nd nature with mobile devices as it will do in the flesh. The particular Google android program is actually good at that, and we've worked with the Google android peeps for making it quite simple to share what is occurring. Currently we're excited that Twitter Android have come together in the market place!

Twitter Apps for Android is a amazing practical application to make use of, in addition to sending any hyperlink or picture is definitely very straightforward as well - simply just look for your share button inside your favorite application and select you fav social network.

Receiving updates is simple from a bunch of areas on your cellular phone. Immediately see your current timeline when using the home screen widget, see your tweet spot on the map, and view your friend's newest tweet in your phonebook, GoogleTalk list contact list and also any kind of application which makes use of Google's Android's QuickContact bar. Check out this list of some of the most popular Twitter Andriod Apps - Enjoy!

Discover what's happening right now, anywhere in the world with the official Twitter for Android app. Realtime search, trending topics and maps show what's happening now. Tweet,
TWIDROYD for Twitter -- TWIDROYD (fka Twidroid) is the #1 Twitter client on Android available as a free or PRO version for all devices. Twidroyd is the only Twitter app to instantly see websites and photos>
Plume (Touiteur) -- Plume is formerly known as Touiteur. (Twitter requested that we change the name) From the creator of Beautiful Widgets - FoxyRing comes the newest Twitter app to hit the Android...
TWIDROYD PRO for -- Twidroyd PRO (fka Twidroid) is the #1 full-featured client for Android. Compared to the free version, Twidroyd PRO users will always get new features first...
TweetDeck -- TweetDeck is your mobile browser for staying in touch with what's happening on all social sites including the big T, Facebook, Foursquare and Buzz. TweetDeck makes it easy to stay up to date and organized no ma.
TwitPic Uploader -- This application uploads the photograph that exists regularly in '/sdcard/dcim/camera/' to twitpic. Moreover, uploaded URL is notified to Direct Message for you. Version 1.0.1 When uploading, so I have no answer to the state application
Theme For Pandahome -- Crazy home, open home, and a home (full) will not open if you dont have at least one of these. email me with problems or concerns
Twitter: Link, less memory -- A simple link (with a nice Icon) to the smartphone site. You don't have to install huge Twitter apps, this link is working as good as any Twitter app. This link less memory
Breaking News Updates -- TwitterBreaking News & Updates Search By Selections from Twitter which allows users to search after specific issues and profiles on The Big T. Information and links from the search results
FML Twitter Search -- Use it to find FMLs from around the world. Use your own Twitter account to submit your own #FML for others to enjoy. Maybe your day will go better if you see the FMLs of othe... more
Sms2Twitter --This application tweets the first characters (maximum length of messages is 140 characters) of all your incoming SMS messages with an optionally prepended HashTag to a configurable... more
Geek Twitter Helper -- Help you speak like a GEEK on twitter or facebook, etc.
Water Live Wallpaper -- Twitter Live Wallpaper w Twitter visualizes the activity of your Twitter account in animated water. The more is going on the brighter and the busier the water becomes. No annoying notifica...
Twitter Search Reader -- Simple App for the Twitter Search.(Not Twitter Client App) Functions Save search keywords Save search results Send search results by e-mail Save twitter IDs and search ID's tweets
Cursting (Twitter) --Let off your steam. Now! Only twitter client that is centered around curses. You want swear but could not find the word? Or maybe not creative enough? Not a problem any more. Cur... more
Twigee for Twitter -- Twigee is a clean, fast, impressive and full function twitter client (API supported). *NOTE* If you have a trouble to login after update, please try to re-install *1.5.1 Change lo...
TweetCaster for Twitter -- The #1 Twitter app for Android with the most features of ANY Twitter app! Over a million downloads! * Multiple Twitter acct support * Multiple widgets * Simultaneously post to Twitter..
Swift App for Twitter --The fastest, leanest, meanest Twitter app. More features per KB than Twidroid or TwitterRide. @swiftapp -Messages, Mentions, DM, Searches, Profiles, Notifications, Conversations...more.
Twister Beta for Twitter -- Twister is new simply Twitter client for Android. Nice UI, easy to use. Tweet, send DMs, share photos and links to your friends and the world
Twitsper --Twitsper is a portmanteau of the words Twitter and whisper. It highlights Twitsper's ability to limit the 'audience' for your tweets to a select group of followers. This selection of the intended audience can be made per each individual tweet...more>>.
TweetCaster Pro for Twitter -- NO-ADS VERSION: #1 Twitter app for Android with the most features of ANY Twitter app! Over a Million downloads! * Multiple Twitter acct support * Multiple widgets * Simultaneously.. more
ReTweet (Twitter helper app) -- Do you dislike the native style of retweeting in the official Twitter app for Android? With ReTweet, you can easily RT the old way. Just share a tweet with ReTweet from within the... more
TweetsRide for Twitter -- TweetsRide is a simple and fast Twitter client. (formerly known as TwitterRide) v1.5.6 Auto-scroll option, OAuth Echo support, bug fixes, etc Check our website for more details.
Twitter Mobile -- Check the latest tweets with this easy-to-use app. Twitter Mobile features an internal browser dedicated to browsing Twitter, to really enhance your experience! 1.1

Twitter For Android Apps are a great way to keep in touch on the go. To see a complete list, description and links to a HUGE selection of Twitter for Android Apps Visit Us here!

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