Being one of the first people to have blogged about Twitter, I’m not at all uncomfortable with the role of the Nr.1 specialist on the topic. Sure, there are people like Robert Scoble who send Twitter messages before brushing their teeth, but you know, quantity just doesn’t equate quality.
But on to the point: As it seems, Twitter has introduced a limit on the number of messages one can receive when using their London number (the limit’s 250 messages per week). Which means for everyone in the whole of Europe. They explain this with certain limitations by mobile phone networks, deals they have to strike, in order for us to keep having the pleasure of micro-blogging.
Now, I may be using Twitter, but I seriously don’t need to receive 250 messages a week. Or so I initially thought. The thing is, the more popular Twitter becomes, the more webservices make use of their API. So suddenly the messages you receive aren’t anymore simple recounts of people brushing their teeth (if they’ve already managed to do that before starting their Twitter day), but instead reminders from, say, Remember the Milk or personal assistant Sandy.
What I’m trying to get at here is the following: Now that Twitter has become something more than a mere meme poured into a webservice, people have started to rely on it. And when people start to rely on receiving messages, limiting that number to an amount that could easily be used up by fervent Twitterers just isn’t a splendid idea.
Twitter still holds the top spot when it comes to mobile- and micro-blogging, but there’s always a start-up around the corner that would love to skim off the users who are irritated by measures like this one. Especially when one of those start-ups has recently been bought by The Google.
I’d love to add something like “Heed my warning, Twitter!”, if it wasn’t a tad too melodramatic. But still, do it!
PS: If you happen to be a Jaiku user and nice enough to send out invitiations to total strangers, why not send me one to richard at stormgrass.com?