When Twitter purchased Atebits, maker of the Tweetie app, it slapped the face of loads of third-party developers who had helped rocket Twitter to a raging success. More than 70,000 applications have been created to allow users to tweet on the go, geotag, shorten URLs, post pictures and more, and now that Twitter has made its “official” Twitter for iPhone app — as well as one for RIM’s BlackBerry — the microblogging service may be biting the hand that fed it and rotting relations with developers.
This quote from PC World should give you a small idea of how upset many developers were this week when it was announced Twitter would be buying the small company and, along with changing Tweetie’s name to “Twitter for iPhone” and dropping its price from $2.99 to $0, would be promoting it as the “official” Twitter app for the iPhone.
The fallout among developers as a result of these events and the recent release of the free “Twitter for Blackberry” app didn’t go unnoticed by higher ups at Twitter, and Platform Team leader Ryan Sarver stepped in for some crisis management with an email to the concerned parties. Although his mail, a copy of which was quickly acquired by the San Francisco Chronicle, did promise to avoid using the word “official” in relation to future Twitter clients, the company stuck by their decision. With reactions still flooding the Web, it remains to be seen whether this will drive developers away from Twitter or attract them to stay and strive to outdo the “Twitter for…” series.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/