[Infowarrior] - Twitter follows Facebook down the walled garden path

[Richard Forno]

Twitter follows Facebook down the walled garden path

By Ben Popper on July 9, 2012 10:42 am 159Comments

Twitter set off alarm bells across the web in recent weeks when it ended its partnership with LinkedIn and reiterated its warning that it would be cracking down on the terms of its API. The company didn't offer any explanation for why it removed tweets from LinkedIn, but speaking with sources familiar with the company's plans, The Verge has learned that major changes are coming in the next few months which will move Twitter from an open platform popular among independent developers towards a walled garden more akin to Facebook.

The moves were not unexpected, as Twitter had announced in March of 2011 that it would not allow services which "mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience." Still, it had largely done nothing to the numerous clients — like Tweetbot, Tweetie and Twittelator — which replicate its basic experience. Developers had been hoping for the best and waiting for the other shoe to drop. Last week's news sounded like those dire footsteps. "Whatever perceived gains that might be achieved by eliminating the third parties should be weighed against the lingering public perception that Twitter got greedy," said Andrew Stone, founder of Twittelator. "And like the mythological Greek Titan Cronos, began eating each of his children as they were born."

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http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/9/3135406/twitter-api-open-closed-facebook-walled-garden

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