Too Little, Too Late for Pownce
According to TechCrunch, Pownce - the Twitter-like service created by Digg Domo Kevin Rose, is introducing some new features such as importing contacts from online e-mail services (a data portability trick being used a lot these days).
But the question is whether it’s too little too late. Pownce may be a good idea but it appears to be one of the cool services that missed the mark. Look at this Compete.com chart (below) looking at traffic between the red-hot Twitter and Pownce. Twitter’s on the rise, while Pownce is on the decline.
My friend, Mathew Ingram, suggests Pownce’s future could lie in a deal with Twitter that would combine Pownce’s best feature - sharing files with friends - with Twitter’s popular messaging services. And as Allen Stern points out, Pownce has a basic business model - something Twitter hasn’t created yet.
January 22nd, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Hey Mark,
I have similar concerns. To reiterate my thoughts, here is my comment from Allen Stern’s post:
“My main concern with Pownce is that I have to get all my friends to switch over or register an account to maximize value. This is very unlikely to happen.
It’s like signing up for a new IM client. You need to get all your old contacts on board to maximize value.
I see this as being the biggest hurdle for the company. As it stands, most of my friends and contacts are on Facebook, and I can share all I want on there. Others prefer LinkedIn. I think SNs are Pownce’s biggest competitors - not Twitter.”
Cheers,
Aidan
http://www.MappingTheWeb.com