5typos.net
Happy Birthday Twitter
Nine years ago — less than a year after the first tweet — I sent cover letter that I’m still proud off:
Virtub/Buzzword Cover Letter
Not only did it open the door to a summer and fall internship, but I don’t cringe when I reread, unlike so many other things from back then. In the context of Twitter, I feel pretty smug about my prediction:
Everyday I get people to use Backpack, 30boxes, Democracy and Pando. I’m also sure Twitter is going to reach the tipping point soon. But I still understand why some of my favorite tools, such as del.icio.us or flickr, can’t be “sold” in a simple enough way so that the average user gets excited and use it.
To appreciate how difficult it’s to still be relevant — or alive— after 10 years, we just need to check up the other services I mentioned:
- Backpack: Frozen in time. Basecamp is alive and well, but I was sure its little brother was going to make it.
- 30boxes: Zombie. Site is there, but service was beaten by Google Calendar.
- Democracy (Miro): My naiveness at play. Bitorrent didn’t decentralize video sharing as much as I expected.
- Pando: Dead. I didn’t fully understand how Dropbox would change the model.
- Del.icio.us: I see dead apps. It’s dead, it just doesn’t know it yet.
- Flickr: Dead man walking.
So there. I manage to congratule Twitter by talking about myself… which is basically how I use Twitter.