Youtilize
Is Pownce a threat for Twitter?
Kevin Rose’s Pownce has made quite an impression on the blogosphere and surprisingly (sarcasm), two Pownce related articles made it to the frontpage of Digg yesterday. But does it bring anything new to the table? In other words, how does it separate itself from Twitter, a much more popular service?
First of all, Pownce has everything Twitter does. You can add friends and expand your social network. Having done that, you can begin spreading the love via short messages. Pownce even has a client app built on the Adobe’s AIR framework (formerly Apollo), which might I add, is well made both aesthetically and functionally.
A successful idea expanded
Instead of simply posting short 140 character messages, you can now post links, events and even upload files and music. Even still, the best innovation about Pownce is that you don’t have to send your updates/links/files to everybody (like on Twitter). You can select specific people and even groups to distribute your messages to.
The above features alone make it a viable competitor to Twitter. Other companies have come and gone (think Dukudu which joined TechCrunch Deadpool), but none have really innovated on Twitter’s idea, they simply copied it. Pownce though, manages to keep it simple, yet add quite a bit of functionality to make their product stand out.
Negatives
Unfortunately, my invite to Pownce was flagged by Gmail as ‘spam’. Apparently pownce@pownce.com has a negative connotation about it. Or perhaps Gmail, like a 13 year old boy, couldn’t keep it in their pants. Whatever.
Another negative is that default notification settings have everything turned on, from friend requests (manageable) to new message notifications (totally unacceptable). I’ve only added a couple of friends and in a short amount of time, received a ton of emails notifying me of updates. This explains the spam flag on their email. Thankfully, these settings are super easy to adjust.
What I’d like to see in the future
The client application for Pownce needs improvement. While it’s off to a great start, it doesn’t come close to Twitterrific’s simplicity and unobtrusive existence. I don’t like small apps like this to be in the Dock, they just take up space. I’m not sure the AIR framework can support this though, so I don’t know how Pownce can make this happen.
Monetization
Unlike Twitter, Pownce has a clear plan to make money: ads. They’re pretty unintrusive and blend right in with the rest of the website (design-wise).
If you’d like to try it out, reply here as I have some invites.
22 Comments
May I have an invite please, for some reason Pownce and its design just hit it off with me, dunno what it its. Anyway, an invite would be awesome.
I’d like an invite if you have one to spare. Thanks!
I also like to try it out. I’m working on a school paper about Twitter and Microblogging, so getting into pownce would make my day! :-)
I wouldn’t mind checking it out, if you have any invites left. Does sound interesting, and the design looks pretty nice.
Hey, if you have any invites out I’d love to try it. Thanks.
I’d love an invite if you have anymore lying around Dimitry.
Hey guys, will keep you posted as I get more invites (asking for them now). They might have turned the invite system off as there was a bug with it yesterday.
All invites sent out :) Just had enough
well, i really like your article, it covered the features well, which was nice seeing as how i was very curious. If you do get more invites, i would love one :)
Hey Dimitry.
Your review is one of the best i’ve read on Pownce (as in its one that is a direct comparison pointing out the good and bad points) so good work there :)
Do you have any Invites remaining? If you do and could send me one i’d appreciate it!
I would like to try it out, please :)
I added my e-mail address to their “invite me please!” list pretty soon after they launched, but I still haven’t gotten an invite. You should take pity on me and send me an invite. :)
Hey Dimitry if you get any other invites, hook me up :)
Great review about it too, congrats on smashing!
If you have some more, can I get one?
Thanks!
I’ve never liked Twitter since it has launched, I always thought it was useless and anyone could post a whatever they like.
When I first signed up with Pownce I thought the same; however, since I have been using it for a few days I have noticed that the messages people post have meaning and are useful.
It’s a good idea to have a good network of friends, when you’re busy and don’t have time to read the news people let you know what’s going on and you can discuss it too!
Just got 6 more, so sending to Nat, Keir and mohdismail.
Sérgio, Tyson, Adam and Prashant already had one!
So still have 3 and also my buddy Grant has 6. Looks like everyone who wanted one already got one.
Update on Pownce: Haven’t used it much. It so far provides no added value to my life.
i wanna jump on the Pownce bandwagon, can you donate one of your friendly invites to me??
PS. love the look of this site!
thank you so much for the invite. i feel very special. so far i think it is looks aesthetically better than twitter, but i have no friends on pownce… single tear…
Would also appreciate to get an invite :-) Great website btw! tobin0r_bau0r at web dot de
I’d like a Pownce invite, if it isn’t too much trouble. ;)
If it is still possible, i would like to get one invitation also :)
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This blog focuses primarily on technology, web development, and entrepreneurship. 50% of the time I'm right every time, so stick around and enjoy the show.
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Oohh, may I have an invite please? P’s & q’s!