What do you guys think Twitter's *ideal* third party look like?

"Beyond API v1.1, we look forward to creating new ways for developers to not only build applications using data and content from Twitter, but to also build interactive Twitter Cards."

But they don't REALLY want third parties to develop with their data and content, do they? This sort of reads like, "we're figuring out API v2 so in the mean time keep doing your thing!"

You know I'm a big fan of the Twitter Platform (pandodaily.com) but a little more clarity would be great. Over-communication is never a bad thing :)

As far as I can tell -- and I must admit to being a little confused by Michael's blog post, with the wacky quadrants and whatnot -- the ideal third-party app is one that adds significantly different features, like say Storify or an analytical service like Klout. I get the impression that simple Twitter clients like Tweetbot have effectively been given a slow-acting poison that only kicks in when they grow large enough.

You're right, Mathew. Twitter clients like Tweetbot just received a pretty clear ultimatum.

But I wonder if they just included Storify as a good example to save face. I mean, their biggest product challenge right now is (arguably) growing their user base (so they can make more ad revenue). To do this, they'll need to make the product more accessible to the average joe (which is the motivation for Discover, right?).

Right now, you signup for Twitter and it takes a LOT of work to create and fine tune a stream which has compelling content for YOU. So wouldn't a service that pulls out the best stuff from Twitter, organizes it, and presents it to you (on a third party site) be antithetical to their biggest challenge?

I think it kind of is competitive, in the sense that it can be used as a filter, but the application of it is still relatively non-consumer -- or at least not the average consumer. And if Twitter decides to go that route, I hope for Burt's sake that they buy it instead of squashing it :-)

(FTR, big Storify fan here. Whenever a publisher says, "we want to curate the best tweets using branch" I tell them to check out Storify.)

Burt, still curious to hear your response to the above post, but would also like to know if the future roadmap for Storify includes making your product less focused around tweets?

Thanks Josh for the nice words!

We haven't heard anything more from Twitter beyond what they have made public. Here's our Storify blog post on all this: storify.com

As to social network sources, we have always had more than just Twitter from the start and have Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and more. But Twitter is indeed a great source for news and reaction from around the world and is generally the most commonly used source in stories.

Hey Josh. Nice job the other day on BBW. Happy to interview you for HuffPo.

Facebook seems to be doing the same thing: start with an open platform and then gradually reel it in. It remains to be seen if this will ultimately hurt each company. Also note that each is taking a cue from Apple in being more closed.

One thing is for certain: The Age of the Platform is here.

While communication could be improved and it's unfortunate that developers will lose a lot of their hard work, I think it's a smart move by Twitter and Facebook. Products with an "open" ethos tend to fail because their creators that openness and decentralization is more important than user experience – which it's not (h/t @ev). Apple controls the end-to-end and thus it is Apple.

So while Twitter may publicly say that they like apps like Storify, I have my doubts. They want you to build apps within tweets just like you would build an app within an iPhone. If you're interacting with stuff because of Twitter data, but you're not on Twitter, Twitter is ultimately losing out.

Frenemies and coopetition are critical these days. I could have written 100 pages on that in my latest book (theageoftheplatform.com). Bottom line: the open-closed tension isn't going anywhere.

I think Twitter appreciates applications that extend the usability of their platform, especially when Twitter doesn't need to invest in the R&D of those applications.

The no-go zone is in areas where Twitter *has* invested, namely user experience for content creation and consumption.

For the advertising model to work, Twitter needs the eyeballs on Twitter properties. If a 3rd party application leads eyeballs back to Twitter, that's fine.

Storify offers curation, Branch offers richer conversation. Both can be embedded on sites, increasing reach, but everything trickles back to Twitter. Neither products are an alternative to the Twitter dashboard.

I think everyone who is building a product that wouldn't work if the platform didn't exist is at risk of the platform evolving. You have to build something standalone so that you get your own user base who would demand you even if platform is no longer relevant. And you should use the platform to accelerate your goals but ready to move to next platform if you can accelerate faster there. Ultimately the platform's goals are to be relevant and available and profitable for a long time but in doing so, some opportunities may dry up because of policy or changes. Facebook and twitter are both much bigger opportunities than they were a few years ago so even in spite of all of this wrangling, they are giving developers more opportunities.