[chrisbrogan.com]

Posted: 01 Aug 2008 11:33 PM CDT

I just went back to check out Jaiku. It’s a clean interface. There’s a US short SMS code so it’s easy to use from my phone. There are people using it still, and it has some features that Twitter doesn’t.

I’m a bit frustrated with Twitter. They deleted my friend Dave Fisher for no apparent reason, and didn’t put him back until Jeff Pulver sent a message to the senior team. They’ve capped a few friends’ following limits with no explanations (both have several thousand fewer than me, so I can’t even understand the math). So yeah, I’m frustrated.

BUT, there are no real tools for Jaiku. There’s no Summize. There’s no Tweetstats. There’s no Twitter ANYTHING built around it.

And that’s the takeaway.

One way to win in software is to make your application fertile for building upon. Open your API. Give people tools to build an ecosystem around it. And it becomes a lot harder to pull away and go elsewhere. Other tools have enough of the same features on the surface, but once you go past being a certain level of user, it’s not a 1:1 comparison. Twitter has a software community. Jaiku just has big parents.

If I were selling software, I’d think hard about this.

And you?

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PitchEngine Launches- I Might Have a Plan

Posted: 01 Aug 2008 11:22 AM CDT

When Jason Kintzler pointed out that he’d built a shiny new social media press release maker for PR types, my first thought was: “I’m not in PR. I don’t care, but hey, good for you!” Yes, I know a good chunk of YOU are in PR, so you should care. In fact, I was talking with Shannon Paul about her ideas for a social media newsroom (which are a bit different than Jason’s), and I have a feeling she’ll have something to say once she checks out PitchEngine.

On the surface, it’s simple: set up a small database of client information, build specific social media press releases, share through various means. If you’re in PR, check it out. If you’re on the side of media and reporting, it doesn’t feel as obvious that it’s about you. For geeks, it’s cool in that it mechanizes SHIFT’s pdf in a way.

But then it struck me. The part that I will care about.

pitchfeed

I get a lot of pitches lately. Most of them are HORRIBLY off base from what I write about. Not even close. The only guy with worse luck receiving pitches is Christopher S. Penn.

I’m going to refer EVERYONE who pitches me (who’s not a very very very close friend) to the PitchFeed part of PitchEngine. Basically, this is one place the results of your efforts goes. So in a way, it’s a macro newsroom of the stuff that people will create in there, so that might be interesting-ish. And I have already subscribed to that RSS feed. So now, if I *want* a story, I can pull it from my daily feed reading.

I think I’m on to something. Check out PitchEngine and see if Jason will give you a code.