Twitter vs. Pownce and the Value Proposition of Social Media

by vergenewmedia on July 5, 2007

Today the Newseum sent a crew and producer to interview me as part of a much larger interactive video exhibit about new media. Some of my Twitter friends suggested I video blog the goings on. I’ll let the Newseum team introduce themselves (cameraman Tom Haller and I go WAY back and his wife is an extraordinarily talented producer at NBC)

Video thumbnail. Click to playClick To Play

For my assembled readers to whom the words “Twitter” and “Pownce” seem like a foreign tongue, both are social networking/messaging platforms that allow people to send messages to their group of friends.Social media leader Chris Brogan recently asked “Why Join Another Social Network?”. I’m not sure if I have room in my life for yet another social media messaging system. None of this stuff should be a chore. The latest “Twitter Killer”, Pownce – Digg founder Kevin Rose’s venture – offers more functionality than Twittter. And while it’s had it’s share of operational hiccups, it seems to be a lot more robust than the sometimes quarrelsome Twitter.

But wasn’t Jaiku supposed to kill Twitter? Haven’t we been down this road before? And while Mike Arrington stacks up the functionality of both in a chart, the buzz around Pownce seems to have subsided down just a bit. I ‘m not seeing as many pleas for invites on Twitter lately.

I was reading business writer Jill Konrath’s thoughts about value propositions and asked myself “what is the value proposition of social media?”. At the end of the day, isn’t it that it connects people on a deeply personal level across time and geography? Twitter friends are people who rely on each other, and genuinely care about what their friends are doing.

Today, Marc Nathan, or marc1919 as he’s known on Twitter, announced the birth of he and his wife’s daughter Naomi, live from the delivery room, and we all CHEERED on Twitter!! In my recent round-the-world trip with the Secretary of Defense, a woman who goes by Sprite or BlondeByDesign on Twitter, gave me an assignment.

twitter-sprite.jpg
Blonde By Design

danny.jpg
Sgt. Danny Allman in Kandahar

Find a soldier in Afghanistan who she could “take care of” by sending care packages. I met Sgt. Danny Allman in Kandahar and he told me about how life can be rough there for “his guys”. I took down his email and connected Danny and Sprite. Another Twitter friend, who goes by WickedStepMom, got Danny’s email from me and is sending care packages along with children’s artwork.

This is the real human connection I’m talking about. No API, or coding, or killer functionality can trump that. There’s no doubt Twitter CAN be frustrating. I was recently poised to have the best Twitter day EVAH!! I was covering a John Edwards campaign speech before a big aircraft labor union for NBC News. I had plans to Twitter his remarks and actually did go up and tell him I was his Twitter friend. Sadly, Twitter was puking that day. But we keep coming back because that’s where our friends are. Friends like Connie Reece, who uses Twitter, like many of us, to drive traffic to her blog.But like i said in Susan Reynold’s blog: “Twitter is like the neighborhood bar where the waitress is a grouchy and the food isn’t terribly good, but everyone knows your name. Call me old fashioned, but I like Twitter even though it drives me crazy sometimes.”

I got some terrific responses from my Twitter friends (Twitter is also a great quick SOS platform) on the value of Twitter and Pownce. Here’s a sampling:

i still like twitter better and they’ve gotten it right with their mobile integration. few apps do it right presently
Sean Scott

Twitter wins; Pownce KO’d. marc1919 is live-twittering baby’s birth from delivery room
Connie Reece

Pownce is better due to file sharing, better link display in note, and a good reply mechanism, you can reply to specific note.
Steven E. Streight

i notice that people use multiple services to serve different needs. For me mobility is the key and twitter has it.
seekground

Twitter: does one thing well, Pownce: cluttered/missing metaphor; language needs an audience and the more open “talk” the more trust.
Chris Judson

Twitter randomness. Pownce engaging conversation. Twitter sponteneous. Pownce measured feedback.
Michael Sommermeyer

Bookmark and Share

Sphere: Related Content

  • You're the guy I credit with "rehumanizing the news." In my mind, you're the reason NBC should be experiencing weird spikes in their media numbers (not that it's really recorded like that). If anyone could be made to be aware of what you're doing for traditional media, they'd probably want to rip off what you do naturally and try to make their networks as meaningful to us.

    As for Twitter vs. Pownce, it's like having a Nokia N95 and an iPhone. They're both top shelf at what they do. But at the end of the day, they both do a lot of the same things. I picked one recently, and I'm staying there. No offense meant to the big green P.
  • Like you, I think Twitter has a lot of potential. I haven't been invited to Pownce yet (hint-hint), so I can't comment on it. I do think that this kind of instant "micro blogging," as it has been labeled, can lead to real friendships throughout the world.
  • Great post. Nice overview.
    My response to a few days of Pownce was this:
    http://www.cafepress.com/twittervlog
    (but just for fun)
    I'm a big fan of Twitter, even though it encourages me to spend too much time on it. It's just simple and clean and mobile. Something about Pownce just feels a bit too clunky - not as easy to skim casually as Twitter. I spent too much time clicking things and waiting on Pownce. Twitter have actively resisted adding features - even Groups - because it Works as it is. It's a really really simple and effective form of social networking. Just like we're all texting each other on our phones. I've met cool people there. It seems to me like it'd be harder to get to know that casual side of people on Pownce.
  • Len
    I completely agree that the human connections I've made on Twitter are the strongest pull to stay there, even as I dutifully check out the latest new kid on the block. Even though I see a lot of my Twitter friends on Pownce, it seems too cluttered, and like we have to dress up to go there, whereas at Twitter it's just us, hanging out, bitching about the glitches but always coming back. Know what I mean? Maybe it's the familiarity of having Twittered for a while. Maybe its the comfy name. In any event, I'm strongly attached to Twitter--for now.
  • Twitter does what I need it to do. It's fun, it's flexible so I can opt in and out of phone and IM twitters, it's connectivity to people like and unlike myself that I can pool from a barage of meaningful and meaningless moments to create a bigger picture - trance de vie (slice of life) if you will. I can care or not care - comment or not comment and I'm not in it for video sharing, or file sharing, or anything else for that matter. I already have a number of apps and toys and sites that do that for me quite nicely. While I'm always interested to check out the latest and greatest social networking site - trying to keep up with too many is truly like having a second job. I compare it to trying to decide to whether I want to use blogtv, ustream, or the up and coming Mogulus. How many bells and whistles do I really need? I suppose it's going to come down to one of two things. Which site, which utility is going to fulfill of my needs - but secondly - where are all of my friends at? If I find something else that's a little better - but noone I care about is on it, am I going to go? I highly doubt it. If I find a joint that has great spinach dip and french onion soup and $2 G&T's (my three favorite staples) but none of my friends are willing to make the hike...am I going to make it my new hang out? Highly doubtful, but I may stop in once and while to see what's going on.
  • There are so many ways to the leverage the social media paradigm. However, I'm sticking to the quartet of Twitter + Facebook + MySpace + Blogger! Not that I'd baulk at a Pownce invite! ;-)
  • Great job! I have been addicted to Twitter for some time. I think it has a surprisingly great benefit in that it allows to meet new people and more importantly, help get answers to technical and non technical questions from leaders in the industry like Chris Brogan, Chris Penn, CC Chapman and Jeff Pulver. But also people who may not be so called leaders. I have had the opportunity to speak with newmediajim because I asked a question on twitter and he at once responded and even gave me a call. That type of communication is invaluable!!!
  • To be honest I'm ready to stop looking for the most useful social network and just settle down into using one. Twitter leads the pack for me because I can just toss my random thoughts out, not necessarily looking for feedback, and when there are conversations they're relaxed. No need to really think too hard before I type. Pownce, and Jaiku, with their threaded discussions, feel more uptight, more purposeful. They have their place for specific uses, but for my needs (micro-blogging, meeting cool people, fun...) Twitter suits me best.
  • Jim,

    I'm on both Pownce and Twitter. I found Twitter through Todd Mundt, NPR radio personality and all around media/tech genious. That led me to hundreds of others. You can see it all quickly and easily. I don't "get" Pownce because it's too complicated. It's like a mini-MySpace or something.

    You're right that Twitter is really about reaching around the world to new friends. I tweet with folks in Russia, UK, the US, Costa Rica (Gorileo!), the Philippines, etc... I had a quick question about a tech issue and have several answers instantly - at 10:30 pm, on the 4th of July no less. That is a value proposition!

    I love what you and Todd, and Andy Carvin bring to the mix: a face to our media and an understanding that we're people who want information, but love a short bit of depth beyond the news. Plus, one can easily send out a heartfelt note in 140 characters and hit a home-run! There's some more value!

    Cheers, Dan Mosqueda
  • Twitter is for me all about connecting across the world with all these new friends who do exciting things in their lives (although honestly I even find the not so exciting things interesting as well)! Pownce doesn't compete because after Twitter it's a bit cumbersome, too many features to grasp, not as easy to browse and catch up (and also having so many new friends at once makes it incrediably confusing). It seems to be less about getting to know people and more about sharing things, which would be fine as a sideline to Twitter, but on it's own it just seems to me to lack soul. Twitter's soul on the other hand is very much alive, particularly during the kicking and screaming tantrums of errors, but we still love it so.
  • Twitter wins in my book thanks to the SMS. Pownce doesn't seem to do anything that I haven't been doing with Skype for a long time now.
  • Ahhh yes and I forgot to mention the fact that I use the sms updating every day. Pownce doesn't have that (thanks treocast for reminding me)
  • Too new on Pownce to offer $0.02 on that, but for Twitter, it's like an instant, streaming IM. Or, one larger, constant party where you can speak to everyone at once, and still carry on one-on-one conversations.

    Anything that can connect people and give the people control over who they connect with, offers value.

    It's helped me at least 2-3 times with questions I've had.
    -- Mike
  • I am giving Pownce it's fair trial but am a dyed in the wool twitterer. I know that my daughter's having a lousy day at work when she tweets & that is part of the greatest things about twitter - the ability to use it to connect on very human terms.

    It goes beyond peole I already know though. One of our (Jims and my) connections on twitter, Andy Bilodeau aka Andycaster after hearing me tweet something that piqued his interest wandered over to my blog and discovered that we grew up maybe 10 miles away from each other on different sides of the Niagara river. Much discussion of canals, vineyards & poutine ensued.

    This is not some abstract idea we're talking about. I "know" Jim and Andy and my other twitter friends because they are human enough to share their day to day doings, not use twitter as simply another advertising format to hawk their latest book, seminar, etc. as some do.

    In fact - when Andy was looking for Jim in a crowd of reporters at a demonstration outside his office I could twitter that Jim was at the pool, not in the press corps, because I'd seen Jim's tweet. And the stories of human connection go on and on.

    Of course another side benefit to tweeting: lots of people to come to the rescue when I do things like accidentally dismantle portions of my house in Second life. This isn't unusual - so I can use all the twitter friends I can get.
  • I initially joined Twitter as a tool to drive more traffic to my blog (which it has).

    The added bonus was that I have now found myself part of such a friendly, fun and informative community that has influenced me in ways I never imagined:

    - I am back to watching NBC news as much as I can now that I have a "friend" behind the camera. :)
    - I am able to help the war effort by being part of this tremendous effort started by Sprite/BlondeByDesign.
    - I am learning to knit as so many ppl on my friend's list are doing!

    I'm with you on the Twitter vs. Pownce vote. I have joined many other social networking sites (Pownce, Facebook, Jaiku/Twitku) but I am getting the most satisfaction from Twitter. So I plan to stick with it for now.
  • Ann
    Just back from a marketing meeting on campus..reviewed tweets followed a link and quickly read your blog. In the meeting we were talking about our brand and our brand promise. In my head I thought of 4 people on my Twitter list that I could easily talk to about this subject. Real time answers from experts in the field. Not to mention all of the new things I have learned about while on Twitter--and instant news updates.

    It's a virtual Rolodex of resources and contacts that seems to expand daily. It's not unusual to get a direct message asking for more information and help and being given an email address and even an IM screen name to connect, or a "Hey add me on Facebook please?" Twitter ripples out to all sorts of social media networks.

    Yep, I am definitely feeling a twitterization of AnnOhio happening..and I like it. I sent off a package on Tuesday with 19 thank you notes to Danny and his group and I'm working on doing more. I agree with Wicked I am once again watching the news!...we seem to have a very supportive group of friends from sharing blogs to offering encouragement during frustrating and challenging times--or maybe a high five for a job well done....
  • Great post about the broader impact of these technologies and their ability to foster real connections between people. Thanks for writing it. As to Twitter vs Pownce, as I wrote about on my own blog a couple of days ago (http://www.disruptiveconversations.com/2007/07/pownce-pummels-.html) the main difference to me is that with Twitter I can post from a variety of ways (the web page, SMS, IM programs) whereas I'm limited with Pownce to the web page or custom app. It will be very interesting to see where this all evolves.
  • Hey Jim,

    I gave Pownce a good shot....accumulated nearly 200 friends in a matter of a few days. The interface is slick. I like the option of reply to individual pownces and the ability to group people is extremely cool. I like the adult sized portions allowed for each post too.

    I think Pownce will be a great tool for some people. Perhaps those who don't have a formal blog ...or those who share links and files more than write.

    It's not for me. I appreciate the 140 characters in Twitter. It's forced me to be more succinct and to the point...that's a good thing. My time and friends on Twitter represent too significant an investment to just cast aside for the next best thing. I've made some very special connections to people on Twitter. Like Susan commented earlier, we made a connection that probably would never have happened without Twitter. Many other very special people have befriended me and I have a real connection with them..i truly care about their well being and the fact that they had eggs and toast for breakfast. To some, that's trivial and uninteresting...maybe if that's the only tweet of the day...but you string the 10's of tweets a day from someone...over the course of a few months, you begin to have develop a friendship that is as real as any face to face relationships.

    Twitter does it for me..pure and simple. Pownce and Jaiku will do it for others and that's fantastic. That to me is a good thing. I will maintain my accounts and peek in to them from time to time to see what's new and exciting, but for the foreseeable future, Twitter is my bag baby, yeah!

    Thanks for giving us new media types a chance to earn some street cred with the old media types.

    Andy Bilodeau
    http://andy.andycast.net
  • As I stated, and you so kindly quoted, Pownce is the preferred service if you have files to share.

    For example, if my Friends following my "notes" on Pownce are music bloggers and music fans of my band's style or genre of music, then I can distribute mp3s of hot new recordings directly to them, to generate buzz for a new CD or a performance, or whatever.

    Some say you go where your friends are. My core community is gathered around my flagship blog and my Twitter followers. I started on Twitter due to Robert Scoble saying, in light of the Mean Kids/Kathy Sierra blog stalking and hate trolling, "no wonder I prefer hanging out on Twitter".

    That was what pushed me from disdain to avid addiction to Twitter.

    I am often opposed to a new, hyped tool/community. But the good ones win me over, as I explore them for potential personal, professional, and client use.

    I don't see it as Twitter vs. Pownce vs. Jaiku.

    Twitter: text messaging, link archiving
    Pownce: text messaging, link sharing, file sharing
    Jaiku: text messaging, socnet feed aggregation
    Ning: personal portal

    After about 4 years of hardcore conventional blogging, I am now converted to Micro Blogging as faster, more intimate, and more satisfying. But I will maintain my regular blogs too.
  • I see Twitter, Jaiku and Pownce as being a bit different in their purposes--Twitter simply asks the question, "What are you doing right now?" and also allows you to reply spontaneously to other people's tweets, in a concise 140 characters. Jaiku takes that a bit further and lets you elaborate in your comments, plus join pre-determined "channels" of interest.

    Pownce takes the discussion aspect further and gives you over 140 characters--so you're not just saying what you're doing, you're initiating or responding to a more open discussion. Still, I end up copying or feeding the same "tweet" to all three sites due to lack of time and tendonitis in my wrists; but I can post long comments like this one in Pownce. You can also upload files and post longer event listings here, which is better for PR/marketing. I still go to Twitter first each morning, like an old friend or my reliable cup of coffee.:-)
    Cathryn Hrudicka, Chief Imagination Officer/Creative Sage(tm)
  • Brendajos
    I have been thinking about this actually since last night when I started updating links on my blog and realized that I needed to get an RSS reader. Before being dragged to Twitter kicking and screaming, I read a couple of blogs but otherwise couldn't be bothered. I had groups that I was fairly social in but in a sort of non-conversational sort of way.

    Since joining Twitter I have found a really cool group of people with which to interact. I find that if I have a question, I can get that question answered fairly quickly through my twitter group. I have watched random videos, looked at family photos, and read blogs to the point that these people don't feel like strangers anymore.

    When I first joined Twitter, I explained it to a friend in this way: "It is like you are walking up to a complete stranger and telling them whatever is on your mind at that very moment, in 140 characters or less." I was amused by that aspect of it a LOT because I, along with all these other twitterers, was actually willing to listen to the complete strangers who would do this. Today they feel less like strangers. Today we were there when people told us of the passing of their pets and we all felt it a little bit with them, having gone through it before. We have laughed at the mishaps of spouses and children.

    Pownce... well pownce doesn't work for me as it is just a little "too much." Would I feel the same way if I had found pownce first? Probably not. But I didn't, and I feel more connected to the people on Twitter. So for now, I will stay with Twitter.

    Brenda Schuett
  • vergenewmedia
    WOW! What a great response! Thank you all for finishing my blog post. Lots and lots of great ideas.
  • I think the reason I keep coming back to Twitter is because of the different tools I use to keep track of and write tweets. I use Firefox and have Twitbin which shows up as a sidebar with my friends tweets and where I can leave a quick tweet. I also use TwittyTunes where I can easily insert a link to the music I am listening to or web page I am browsing. When I'm out I use an application called Egorcast where I can call in tweets and they are transcribed and posted on to Twitter (I can't text message for the life of me). Lastly, I use Twitterfeed which will send a tweet automatically after I have written a blog post. It's pretty neat. You can read my blog post for more info.

    If Pownce had these kinds of tools I might use it more. It looks slick but functionality and ease of use is more important. I will use Pownce to share files and such but Twitter has the ease of use. I can follow my friends easily and also watch the public feed where I find new info and friends. It's great to be communicating in real time with people from all over the world.
  • CindyB
    The early version of Pownce allows you to:
    * Arrange your contacts in sets
    * Reply to individual entries and view in threaded form
    * Get a list of suggested friends-of-friends to add to your circle
    * Share text entries longer than 140 characters
    * Share files of any kind
    * Quickly designate each entry to go to: public, friends, or single individual

    Twitter is designed for more brief, hit-and-run exchanges. ("I'm driving to the airport now.") Or for chit chat. ("Have a nice day.") On Pownce you already see people taking advantage of the extra features and leaving slightly longer, more content-rich entries. Two different services for two different purposes.
  • Pownce not being mobile makes it less important, and fun, for me now. Twitter *forces* me to write pithy comments, a good discipline. I am intrigued by the market push that Pownce has being started by digg starlet Kevin Rose.

    [I put this in SU for ya Jim... may bring you some more traffic...!]
  • I linked to this article on my blog post about Twitter vs. Pownce, and invited people to go to this article and post comments about their own experiences, as you requested. Thanks!
  • My own worry - and one that I don't believe that anyone has mentioned so far, is this: Digg has intense biases (in my opinion, of course, but this opinion is based on considerable evidence, not all collected by me!) - and its staff promotes those biases by the way it sets up its algorithm, by who it chooses to ban (or not ban), and by the power it gives to the "bury brigade."

    Right now, Pownce is doing nothing to prevent people from plugging their Digg submissions. It's a natural for that, and I don't see that it's particularly objectionable as long as anybody can do this on equal terms.

    But when Pownce goes live, I predict that Pownce/Digg's admins will impose the same double standards there as I believe them to be imposing on Digg. The infamous "bury brigade," the hard-left activists, the trolls - and the users who vigorously suppress any story that might get people thinking about counterterrorism - they'll start using Pownce. I'm afraid that the Pownce/Digg admins will allow them to use Pownce at will to organize their activities, but that anybody whose politics are pro-American, conservative, pro-Judaeo-Christian, or anti-jihadist, won't be allowed to use Pownce to publicize Digg stories and comments on the same terms as their opponents.

    As it is now, Digg may ban one of the particularly threatening or abusive leftists on occasion, probably just for show, but the same user always seems to be allowed back on after a short period of time. Not so for more conservative (even moderately conservative) Digg users who are banned permanently, often for no valid reason that anybody can figure out. But then, Digg's TOS claims the right to ban anybody for any reason or for no reason! The actual, unstated reasons for banning will most likely include posting links to Digg stories on Pownce.

    The long and the short of it is that I fear that Pownce will eventually be misused as a tool of censorship and incivility, as - I'm sorry to have to point out - Digg already seems to be. If that happens, then Pownce will be p(o)wned by its competitors.
  • Bloggers are moving to Micro Blogging and Toolbased Social Communities (socnets).

    I once proclaimed the New Super Bloggers to be multi-media (podcasts, video, photo galleries, mp3s) and channel distributed (RSS, email updates). Now I see the new thrust: tiny journaling, link archiving/sharing, and file sharing via Twitter, Jaiku, Ning, Pownce, eg.

    New Media entrepreneurs should all be experimenting with such tools. They are perfect for branded messages and low-key promotions, offering unique benefits to both marketers and message recipients.

    Pownce has subtle, easily ignored interstitial note ads: ads placed between Pownce notes, but only every 10 or 20 notes, not intrusive or annoying. Splendid business modeling here. The more I use Pownce, the more I like it.

    For the Twitter Supremicists out there, I also like Twitter for fast text messaging, but it eats my tweets, or double posts them, or is down a lot.

    New Super Bloggers have moved from long, laborious blog posts once or twice a week, to moment-by-moment presencing streams, multi-media personal portals, and link/file sharing systems.

    These interactive, community building, customizable Web 2.0 tools seem more intimate than the conventional blog, whose roots remain in the stodgy old Web 1.0 passivity world.

    Socnet Motto: "We have nothing to fear, but success itself" re: scaling.
  • jon
    a dilemma. I'd comment on the two, but I don't have them. But if I don't have pownce, and thereby need an invite, i won't have anything to say that is relevent to the conversation. So if I promise a future comment, does that count?
  • When I sign on to Twitter early in the morning and find your tweet that says, "Fixing pancakes for the girl," I know that all is right in your world. And that makes my day go better!

    I've been on Pownce almost since the beginning (before Steve Rubel, even!), and find I don't use it that much. I do see that it provides a different set of services, and can see myself using it for more of a business purpose.

    The beauty of Twitter is that it lets me have presence w/ both personal and professional friends--wherever I am. For that reason alone, it will get the majority of my attention rather than Jaiku or Pownce or Whatever. Facebook is my second choice, for the same reasons as Twitter--mobile access and combination of personal & business use.

    Sorry for the nickname, btw. :-)
  • Good post, Jim!! Here's my take on Twitter:
    http://joesvideoetc.blogspot.com/2007/06/why-is...
  • Twitter, Pownce, yadayadayada... just gimme a fine NABE cameraman any 'ole time. That's all the social media anyone needs.
  • all this talk about pownce... i guess I'll need to try it out...

    Twitter was kind of strange for me, until I used Twitteriffic. Then I 'got' it. Now it's always interesting to see what my new strangers friends are doing. I have no one that I actually knew before on Twitter, so all my 'friends' are cold call adds or they've added me.

    I'm actually surprised that anyone adds me, actually... :)

    wow, I used actually twice in one sentence...
  • Rob
    Ok Jim, I'm really here for the pownce invite. I had read the post earlier, just didn't comment. I just posted a bit about conscious consumption and I'm not even sure I have room for Pownce myself. It may be my new shiny object. I admit though, I'm very curious.
  • Rob
    Oooh just missed it. I'm sure there's a reason for that.
  • I looked at Pownce and Jaiku...but Twitter looked "cleaner", gives the impression of being simpler, and I can access it from my PDAs. I'm all about the straightforwardness: I'm busy...I have things to do.
  • Matthias
    hi i enjoyed the read
  • The growth of microblogging allows other websites to find niche markets within the 'market'. For example, sites are beginning to appear allowing SMS picture / video capture to be uploaded. This is a real opportunity for users to create a diary of their life in a short snippet...almost like the shift from email to text.
  • CfxGVhRlGPExBClV
    ggnewcouk1.txt;5;12
  • Twitter is better connected in the web, thanks to google.
blog comments powered by Disqus

Previous post: Embedded With the Candidates, NBC News Videoblogging the Campaign

Next post: Social Networks As the “New Television”