Mfarhanonline Social Media News: Now that Twitter is encouraging developers to move away from creating Twitter clients , those developers may decide to build their own alternative to the micro-blogging service. According to CNN , UberMedia — the company responsible for UberSocial, Echofon and Twidroyd — is looking into developing its own Twitter-like competitor. CNN cites three people briefed on the matter (but not authorized to speak publicly) as describing the service as a response to some of the most common complaints about Twitter, including restrictions on message length. In the past eight months, UberMedia has acquired a number of high-profile Twitter clients, quickly building itself into a third-party powerhouse. The company raised $17.5 million in funding in February, following rumors that it is in talks to acquire third-party juggernaut TweetDeck . The company ran afoul of Twitter’s policies in February, and Twitter temporarily banned apps like Twidroyd . The apps regained access to Twitter after a few days, but that situation, as well as Twitter’s position on client applications, may have the company seeking out alternatives. The problem with building an entire business on someone else’s platform is that if the rules regarding the platform change, the business can be put in jeopardy. CNN says UberMedia’s Twitter alternative might be a “just in case” backup plan, only to be utilized if relations with Twitter break down. TweetDeck, the leading third-party Twitter client, has its own alternative network of sorts, Deck.ly . It allows users to post messages longer than 140 characters. Additionally, because TweetDeck users create a TweetDeck account in addition to a Twitter account, creating a backup network or alternative communications platform is less cumbersome for users. Many companies have tried —! ; and ha ve failed — to compete with Twitter. It appears that UberMedia hopes to leverage its user base — especially its power users — in building an alternative network. Although we agree that it is important for companies like UberMedia to diversify their options and reduce platform dependence, we’re not sold on the idea that an alternative network could actually work. The buy-in that Twitter already has — with both users and brands — is huge. Convincing brands to maintain two accounts, one for Twitter and one for some Power Twitter Alternative will be an uphill battle. Moreover, Twitter has tremendous buy-in from developers of non-client applications. The number of apps that connect to the Twitter API is growing every day, and an alternative network needs to compete not just with Twitter.com, but with the fact that apps like Flipboard and Instagram seamlessly connect with Twitter. In an ideal world, UberMedia could develop an alternative network that could operate in parallel with Twitter. This is the approach that Identi.ca takes. Users of the Identi.ca service can sync with a Twitter account and communicate with users on both networks, while also taking advantage of Identi.ca only features. To us, Status.net’s model seems to be the most well-suited for this type of venture. We reached out to UberMedia and Twitter for comments on this story but have not heard back. Would you consider using an alternative to Twitter if it was built and supported by your favorite client? Let us know. More About: social media , twitter , UberMedia For more Social Media coverage: Follow Mfarhanonline Social Media on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Social Media channel Download our free apps for Android , Mac , iPhone and iPad Social Media reviews series maintain by Mayya
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