Twitter may alienate mobile developers

Micro-blogging giant Twitter could alienate mobile developers as it continues to roll out mobile applications of its own, information technology analysis firm Ovum has warned.

The warning comes as the company prepares to unveil the new Twitter for iPhone application, following the acquisition of Tweetie last month.

A new Ovum report states Twitter should provide developers with directions on where the company is heading in order to provide certainty.

“As Twitter matures, it is inevitable that the company will want to produce or acquire more in-house applications, and there is always a certain inherent tension between developers and platform owners,” report author Eden Zoller said in a statement.

“However, Twitter needs to be very careful not to alienate the developer community as they drive innovation for the service and also traffic. It should be remembered that applications account for 75% of all tweets.”

“Developers do not want to go to the trouble and cost of building an app if Twitter itself is going to make a big play for same area. This is exactly what Twitter appears to be doing with its in-house applications for smartphones, and the Tweetie application it acquired in April stands out as a case in point.”