When Laura Fitton (@pistachio) told me she was starting another company, “An appstore for Twitter,” I knew my life was going to change. Perhaps that seems too dramatic. Hear me out.
What she’d envisioned wasn’t just about to change my life. It was about to change the landscape of Twitter, a tool many of us find indispensable and turn to each day as our virtual water cooler, classroom and mental gym.
Her idea was poised to improve the productivity of all of us braving the new frontier. OK, that seems overly dramatic. Yet that’s how I felt. In the grand scheme of what microsharing offers all of us, and with Twitter’s 54.7 million unique visitors worldwide in August, productivity increases add up. See for yourself, though.
oneforty is now in open beta, ready for you to take it for a twirl.
The easy-to-navigate online marketplace for the Twitter community allows you to find, rate, collect and share the best services with others also interested in improving how they work. It offers categories, tags, keywords, screenshots and “essentials,” as well as an easy to use review feature so you can tell other people why these tools matter to you. New users and power users will find value here, even if they follow people who are constantly throwing out their favorite this or that. Imagine those reviews organized, categorized, and explained — all in one place.
This isn’t just a boon for Twitter users. By providing a business platform for developers to market their innovations, it helps grow their user base and get their work found. Just like with other appstores, oneforty is paid a percentage of the transaction price for the items sold by the marketplace. Those that are free remain free. The revenue model is based on the belief developers deserve a fair marketplace to sustain their innovations. Laura explains it candidly, “Too many great Twitter apps have gone defunct because while all the users were having fun, the developer couldn’t even maintain server costs. The app’s fans couldn’t depend on the app still being there, and the whole thing just killed innovation and some really great ideas.”
Before I close let me answer the other question I’ve been asked often recently… “Does the Pistachio Consulting team also work for oneforty?” No. Laura’s the only one of us working on both projects. Some of the people who assist her behind the scenes here may help her a little there, too, but we’re two separate organizations, sharing a passion for microsharing.
And in the event you’re wondering: I wasn’t asked to write this post. I wrote it because oneforty is big news in the microsharing space, with implications for businesses who use Twitter to extend their brands. The more ways individuals and organizations can improve both their effectiveness and efficiency with Twitter, the more valuable it becomes for everyone.
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