More third-party Twitter apps fall to 100,000 user ceiling

Tweetro and Tweet Lanes hit token limit 

 

 

A pair of popular third-party Twitter apps, including the only one designed for the new Windows 8 UI, are the latest to fall victim to the company's increasingly tight API restrictions.
Tweetro for Windows 8 has been denied permission to exceed the recently-introduced 100,000 token (user) limit, Twitter places on apps developed by outside companies.
The app reached the limit on November 10 and has been unsuccessful in his application for an exemption, meaning new Windows 8 users are unable to sign up.
Twitter has been progressively tightening restrictions on apps which access its timeline as it seeks to direct users to its official suite of apps and web services.

Does not qualify

Twitter told New Zealand-based developer Lazyworm in an email: "As you know, we discourage developers from building apps that replicate our core user experience (aka "Twitter clients"). We know that there are developers that want to take their passion for Twitter and its ecosystem to unique underserved situations. As such, we have built some flexibility into our policy with regard to user tokens – which went into effect September 5th, 2012.
"…Unfortunately, It does not appear that your service addresses an area that our current or future products do not already serve. As such, it does not qualify for an exemption."
The key word there seems to be 'future' as Twitter is yet to release an official client that plays nice with the new Windows 8 UI.

Tweet Lanes ends development

Another app to hit the 100,000 user limit is Tweet Lanes. As a result developer Chris Lacey will cease further development.

"It saddens me greatly to announce that going forward, I won't be actively developing Tweet Lanes as I have to this point," Lacey wrote to users.

"The cold hard reality is that with this immovable, 100,000 user ceiling, my plans for growing and eventually monetizing the app are no longer feasible.

"This will likely be disappointing news for many of you, but given I spent a good chunk of my spare time for 10+ months working on this app, believe me when I say this decision pains me more than it does anyone else."

The Twitter API changes will come into effect in March 2013, but the company, as evidenced by these developments, is already working hard on enforcing them.

Twitter users with few followers may escape action over offensive tweets

Lawmakers debate social media 'reach' 

 

Social media users with few friends or followers may be more likely to get away with posting offensive material, whereas more popular accounts may face prosecution, under new laws.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Kevin Starmer QC is developing guidelines which will combat the growing influence of Twitter and Facebook, while also protecting the nature of free speech online.
According to a Telegraph report, Starmer said it may be appropriate for the reach of a social networking account to be taken into consideration before the police take action over "grossly offensive" tweets, mainly due to the sheer scale of potential offenses.
He said: "Millions of cases could potentially be put through our system. More cases than the combined number of every other offence on the statute book."

Setting boundaries

The apparent haste to establish boundaries comes following a host of recent incidents, which attracted the attention of the authorities (i.e. those who carry handcuffs and big sticks).
First came the arrest of a teenager who tweeted Olympic diver Tom Daley abuse regarding the death of his father. Despite Daley retweeting the message, the offender was was not prosecuted due to the relative obscurity of his Twitter account.
Just last week, a Kent man was arrested after posting a photo of himself burning a Remembrance Day Poppy on Facebook.
The arrests relate to section 127 of the Communications Act, which outlaws the sending of "grossly offensive" messages via telecoms networks.
Section 127 has "never quite had the focus it has had over the last 12 months," said Starmer.

Twitter accidentally reset passwords

Hack apparently much smaller than it seemed 

 

A number of Twitter users have received emails prompting them to change their passwords because their accounts may have been compromised.

Update: Twitter has posted a slightly shame-faced note on its status site claiming that a lot of users receievd the emails by accident.
"In this case, we unintentionally reset passwords of a larger number of accounts, beyond those that we believed to have been compromised," the statement explains.
Seemingly affected users were also prompted to reset their passwords when trying to log in on the Twitter website.

Dodgy

Original story continues:
Some accounts have been spotted posting dodgy tweets – it's fair to say if TechCrunch advises you that you could make $250 a day working from home, it's not a legit endorsement of CNBC7workhome's services.
Twitter hasn't said how many accounts are affected but it seems to be a fairly large-scale hack given the outcry on the site itself.
If you're at all worried about the security of your account, just go to Settings/Password to change your password even if Twitter hasn't told you to.

Obama's 'Four more years' tweet the most popular of all time

A tweet sent out by Barack Obama to herald his re-election as President of the United States has rapidly become the most popular of all time.
The post, which simply read "Four more years" and was accompanied by a photo of Obama embracing his wife Michelle, had already been retweeted over 350,000 times just an hour after it was posted.
The same tweet had been favourited by 122,000 Twitter users, with both numbers growing exponentially.
The victory tweet surpassed the previous record held by teenage pop sensation Justin Bieber which had received 223,376 times, according to The Atlantic.

Record breaker

Obama, whose campaign has harnessed social media extremely effectively even before he became a presidential candidate in 2008, has amassed a whopping 22 million followers on Twitter.
The record-breaking proclamation of victory came towards the close of a frenetic election night on Twitter, which will likely break records for posts and activity.
However, not all of the Twitter-based news was positive. The Apprentice U.S host Donald Trump (himself, fleetingly, a republican presidential hopeful) caused a furore with a barrage of explosive tweets.
"Lets fight like hell and stop this great and disgusting injustice! The world is laughing at us," he tweeted from his @realDonaldTrump account, which has 1.3 million followers.

Twitter to integrate Instagram-like filters for photo sharing?

NYT report claims competing service on the way

 

Twitter is planning to add in-app photo filters in order to compete with Instagram and Facebook according to reports.
The New York Times claims the company will include the option to add a host of retro-like filters to photos directly from its mobile apps.
Apparently, the company wants its users to by-pass Instagram and share directly to Twitter, but still enjoy similar photo-enhancing tools.
The NYT reports that, following Facebook's billion dollar acquisition of the hit photo-sharing application, Twitter had considered purchasing a rival service in order to keep up.
However, the top brass at the company may have resolved to build the extra functionality itself and keep everything in house. Twitter has declined to comment on the report.

Marginalising third-parties 

The report comes as Twitter continues its efforts to marginalise third-party services by tightening its API restrictions.
Twitter has claimed that the changes are in aid of providing a consistent experience for its users, but in reality, it is looking to squeeze out companies that make money from Twitter in order to pocket that cash itself.
Less than a month ago we reported on speculation that Twitter was building its own video hosting service in order to squeeze out TwitVid, yFrog and the like.

Let's Fly

we introduce a new version of Twitter. We’ve simplified the design to make it easier than ever to follow what you care about, connect with others and discover something new. You’ll see this new design both on Twitter.com and mobile phones, so that you’ll have a familiar experience any time, anywhere. We’ve also updated TweetDeck to be consistent with this new version.

Four new tabs bring you instantly closer to everything you care about. Visit fly.twitter.com to learn more about the changes.

We’ll be rolling out the redesigned Twitter over the next few weeks. You can see it immediately on the just-updated versions of mobile.twitter.com, Twitter for iPhone, and Twitter for Android. You can get early access on your computer by downloading and logging into Twitter for iPhone or Twitter for Android. We’re working on updates for other apps, such as Twitter for iPad, and will share news as they become available.

What we’re announcing today is just the beginning. We now have a framework in place that we will quickly build and iterate upon to help users connect with whatever is meaningful to them.

#letsfly

How Twitter Helped Me Build My Personal Brand

So many of my c-level executive clients and potential clients are surprised that Twitter is such an integral part of my personal branding and social media marketing efforts, even though it’s wildly popular and stories about its value for business-building and job search abound.
They still think Twitter is a time-drain for people who have nothing better to do than tweet about what they had for lunch, or other trivial matters.
My Twitter ROI was dismal at first when I started tweeting seriously late in 2008, and I thought I was wasting my time. It took about 6 months of tweeting several times every day (except weekends) before I could see that my time spent was gaining traction, and I was beginning to make a mark.
I certainly haven’t been as heavy-duty a tweeter as many others, but I’d say my Twitter schedule is realistic for someone who is actively job seeking. Some say it’s better not to tweet too much anyway, and risk overwhelming your followers.
Because tweeting is micro-blogging, Twitter is a natural complement to my blogging efforts. It fits in perfectly with the kind of marketing that works best for me – spreading my own content across various social media channels, showcasing my writing skill and its value to c-suite job seekers.
It’s all about getting my brand and promise of value noticed by potential clients and those who can lead me to more clients, and getting recognized as an industry thought leader and expert.
The idea is to get on their radar and stay top of mind with them so that, when they have a need for my services or know someone who may, they’ll reach out to me.
Sounds just like job search networking, doesn’t it?
Good networking on Twitter, just as in real-life or through any social media channel, works when you think “give to get” – promote and help others, and they’ll likely reciprocate. I’ve built professional friendships with all kinds of people (other career professionals, executive job seekers, social media experts, entrepreneurs, etc.) with whom I’ve formed alliances.
We’ve become brand evangelists for each other. I support them by retweeting them, tweeting their blog posts, spreading the word about them and referring them to good-fit clients. They’ve reciprocated by referring potential clients to me and sometimes their contacts in the media who are looking for career experts to interview and/or to contribute to their publications.
One of my Twitter strategies is using relevant keyword phrases often, in my retweets and original tweets, and/or adding hashtagged (#) keyword phrases at the end of tweets, if it will still leave room for others to retweet them.
Savvy Twitter users search these phrases for information, products, services, and to find people to follow. Here are some of my recurring keywords:
#C-suite
#PersonalBranding
#JobSearch
#Executive
#SocialMedia
#LinkedIn
#Blogging
Other strategies I use to attract potential clients, colleagues and thought leaders within my niche:

• Using hashtags on my relevant keyword phrases strategically, tweeting with and without them.
• Retweeting people I want to notice me, if they’ve tweeted something relevant and worthy.

And my efforts have paid off:
When I published my executive branding and job search ebook, I knew I could rely on my Twitter network to help promote it.
Many of my blog posts have gone viral, broadcasting my name and business on many other sites. People have referred to and linked to my blog posts on their blogs, helping to build SEO on my sites and bring more visitors … all potential clients or people who can refer potential clients.
About 15-20% of visitors to my blogsite come from Twitter. If I’ve tweeted an especially popular blog post of mine, that number can jump to more than 50%. Those visitors are people who probably otherwise wouldn’t visit my site. Every visitor is a potential client or may know someone who is.
Some clients who found me by Googling relevant keyword phrases, landing them on my blogsites, said they wanted to work with me because of my Twitter and other social media involvement, indicating my expertise in online identity and online reputation management. They watched my ongoing activity in the Twitter stream on my blogsites.
Leading job search experts who found me on Twitter have included me in their lists of approved career services providers.
Your takeaway:
As an executive job seeker, if you build a realistic strategic plan to incorporate Twitter into your search campaign – even as little as 10-15 minutes a day – you’ll get the word out about your unique promise of value to the companies you’re targeting.
Many of them are on Twitter, tweeting opportunities and updates on their products and services, which could alert you to needs of theirs that you can fulfill. Job search experts are on Twitter, tweeting valuable (and free!) information that can help you. They’re all active on Twitter. You should be, too.