Is a URL Shortener Really What Twitter Needed?
Twitter’s Chirp conference closed out today with the news that the company will soon roll out it’s official URL shortener. CEO Evan Williams noted that it would be “stupid” not to add native link-shortening capabilities into Twitter, since most Twitter clients already have that feature. “Everyone else has solved that problem. We are probably not going to give people a choice. If they want to use a different shortener, they can use a different app.”
In the weeks leading up to Chirp, people all over the world were seen asking for various new features on the popular microblogging site. Not once did I see anyone think that they needed yet another link shortener. I understand the new TwittAD feature. I’m loving the enhanced search capabilities. I enjoy coming up with new ways to find interesting people to follow. I’m even already digging the new front page design.
What I DON’T get, though, is why the heck we need yet another way to make our links smaller. Users want more apps. They want to easier ways to show off photos and videos. They want to come up with better ways to network and connect. These are the things, in my mind, that the Twitter team should be focusing on. It’s all about what the needs of your community are, guys.
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We had some excellent little discussions going on over at the Facebook fan page today. Did you miss out on any of them?




