Friday, March 11, 2011

Twitter Clamps Down On Third Party Clients

In a move which puts serious doubts into the strategy of Pasadena-based twitter client firm UberMedia, Twitter has updated its API terms, and said in a posting on its developer discussion group that it is looking to displace third-party, Twitter clients. The firm said, in a post, that developers have asked if "should build client apps that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience. The answer is no." Citing the confusion of consumers by a "fractured landscape" of third-party Twitter clients, Twitter said consumers are confused by websites and clients which display tweets differently than the firm's own design guidelines; when those clients provide their own version of suggested users; and when those same clients use different terms for following, retweeting, and other Twitter functions.

The changes appears to be a part of a push to force users to use Twitter's own, in-house client software. Twitter said it still wants third party developers -- but highlighted areas "outside of the mainstream consumer client experince". Twitter said "we need to move to a less fragmented world, where every user can experience Twitter in a consistent way." Twitter had earlier cut off access to UberMedia's clients, later restoring access after intense negotiations; however, the new policy looks to reinforce the firm's interest in eliminating third party clients like UberMedia's. UberMedia has not yet responded publicly to the change by Twitter.

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