A while ago I wrote about [Twitter as a free service][freeservice] and how I didn’t think that their current business model (media and selling Tweets) was something that most of the core users of Twitter would really be happy with.

Well it seems that [Twitter will be cracking down on it’s API][verge]. True we don’t know what this means but the fact remains that what really helped Twitter gain it’s following was the clients. I can’t even remember the last time that I went to the Twitter website to use the service. On top of that, the official Twitter client for Mac hasn’t been updated in forever. If they shut down the API access for other clients it’s unlikely that I’ll keep using the service.

Yes it’s true that ‘normal’ people on Twitter use the official clients, but those that don’t are also more often (at least in my opinion) the ‘power’ users and influencers. Us ‘nerds’ are what started Twitter out with fanatical devotion. If the influencers don’t like the clients that Twitter is offering, will they go away?

So the question is, where would I go to get the type of interaction I get on Twitter now? Maybe Google+, it’s certainly the top item on my list. It doesn’t have the following that Twitter has, but when the influencers leave that is the next logical place for them to go.

Ultimately, Twitter is walking a very precarious line with their business model. We know that [advertizers will pay more for eyes than users for content][cont], what we don’t know is if users will stay around when they’re being sold.

via: [@poorstruggler][via]

[freeservice]: https://curtismchale.ca/2012/04/17/twitter-as-a-free-service/ “Twitter as a Free Service”
[verge]: http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/9/3135406/twitter-api-open-closed-facebook-walled-garden “Twitter Follows Facebook down the Walled Garden path”
[via]: http://twitter.com/poorstruggler
[cont]: https://curtismchale.ca/2012/07/18/hypercritical-business-models/ “Hypercritical on Business Models”