Is Twitter's business model staring it in the face?
The talk of a Twitter business model is still buzzing like bees around the hive. I think one option is as plain as the beak on the little bluebird's face. (Didn't realize I was going to be talking about the birds and the bees in the post. Heh.)
The option I speak of is a premium services model such as that currently used by Yammer, but one which offers features similar to that of a brand new application, wiggio.
In my pitch at OMMA Social I suggested that Twitter do one of two things:
- Offer a premium subscription option for business and organizational use -or-
- License part of their API for third-party use so services like Tweetdeck and Twhirl could do so.
I also suggested that the "secret sauce" in all of this be the ability to create groups in which everyone of the members could be messaged at the same time.
Well, guess what, that's exactly what wiggio was created to do! And it adds lots of extra bells and whistles as well that, according to MarketingVox, include such things as:
- Shared calendars
- Group text and voice messaging
- Free conference calling and web meetings
- Filesharing
- Collaborative viewing/editing for documents
- Polling capabilities
- and a list-serv!
To top it off, wiggio is free!
MarketingVox does say the app is designed for use by college students, but it doesn't appear to be restricted to that. In fact, it lists "small business" as one of the user groups.
This wasn't intended to be a rave for wiggio (it's just that I'm playing with it while writing this post), but rather a query into why Twitter is letting these other companies steal its thunder. (You can bet there will be more to come, too.)
I mean, think about it, Twitter has the userbase. They could kick Yammer's and wiggio's butt if they wanted to by providing similar services of their own.
Or...or... they could do "b" from above and let other companies such as these have access to the userbase via the API. Frankly, not being a programmer mind you, I don't know why Yammer and wiggio aren't already tapping into it.
In fact, if you're a programmer, perhaps you could square me away on a few things:
- What restrictions does Twitter places on the use of its API?
- Is there any reason either Yammer or wiggio couldn't intergrate their services with Twitter now?
- Does Twitter forbid the use of its API if the third-party is monetizing their service?
- Is it a license issue more than a technical one?
