Hootsuite is also not just for Twitter; they allow access and control of multiple social profiles. Granted most people use it only for Twitter, but the fact remains, they have a product people are willing to pay for.
I can't really envision a scenario where Twitter killed them, but if you can, please share.
237 of the Fortune 500 is a powerful reality distortion field. I've been right (Zynga) and wrong (Facebook) before, the future is notoriously hard to predict. The fact that anyone perceives any long term value to software with banner features like "scheduled tweets" is supremely irritating. By the time this slew of darling me-too software startups are ashes, the early stage investors will have already extracted their return. In the end, I suppose that is all that matters. What is most irksome is that HootSuite is effectively crippled because Twitter terms of service will not permit them to develop features that are in incredibly useful, and they will sue companies that do (TweetAdder). HootSuites entire business is predicated on an amicable relationship with Twitter, but if the business delivers features that are truly valuable, how do they prevent Twitter from commoditizing them within Twitters native feature set? This strategy is incredibly naive, and it's destined to fail.
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Obviously you are wrong. With 237 of the Fortune 500 companies using it, it must not be that terribly useless.
Disclosure: I am an engineer with HootSuite
You're also aware that Twitter could at anytime disallow your use of their entire API ecosystem, correct?
They could, but Hootsuite pays money for access.
Hootsuite is also not just for Twitter; they allow access and control of multiple social profiles. Granted most people use it only for Twitter, but the fact remains, they have a product people are willing to pay for.
I can't really envision a scenario where Twitter killed them, but if you can, please share.
They enter the market with a competing product.
See: "eBay Payments by Billpoint"
for a classic example of how even in the most optimal scenario, the platform doesn't always win when it tries to compete with the ecosystem.
They already did through their acquisition of Tweetdeck and it hasn't lead to any such action from Twitter in the years since.
237 of the Fortune 500 is a powerful reality distortion field. I've been right (Zynga) and wrong (Facebook) before, the future is notoriously hard to predict. The fact that anyone perceives any long term value to software with banner features like "scheduled tweets" is supremely irritating. By the time this slew of darling me-too software startups are ashes, the early stage investors will have already extracted their return. In the end, I suppose that is all that matters. What is most irksome is that HootSuite is effectively crippled because Twitter terms of service will not permit them to develop features that are in incredibly useful, and they will sue companies that do (TweetAdder). HootSuites entire business is predicated on an amicable relationship with Twitter, but if the business delivers features that are truly valuable, how do they prevent Twitter from commoditizing them within Twitters native feature set? This strategy is incredibly naive, and it's destined to fail.