Why use GTalk (Identi.ca) if you have MSN (Twitter)?
It’s quite a while since Twitter was the only kid around. Nowadays, it has a whole slough of siblings on the micro-blogging market, like Jaiku, Plurk, Identi.ca and others. Also, I’m not sure if FriendFeed really belongs here, but I know it does compete with the others.One of them, that I mentioned, is Identi.ca. What makes it interesting is that it is using the OpenMicroBlogging protocol. Not being too tech advanced myself, I do however notice this is the “XMPP of microblogging”. XMPP is an Instant Messaging protocol, which GoogleTalk and others are based on.
Basically both mean that you can have friends using other instant messaging or microblogging services that you can communicate with. Unlike people on ICQ who can’t talk with their mates on MSN Messenger, for instance.
Personally, I like Googletalk. No, check that, I really, really like Googletalk. It is clean, versatile and yes, cross platform. I have some friends over at Jabber, no problem adding them to the friends’ list. As a heavy user of Twitter, I would love the same possibilities for micro blogging. Simply put, the number one reason I am not really using Plurk, Jaiku, Pownce and FriendFeed is I can’t be arsed flitting like a madman between all the different services, trying to keep up.
There is one problem though for me, with GoogleTalk, and it’s a pretty big one too, in a way.
My tech savvy friends, well, pretty much everyone is using GTalk. Some Jabber, like I mentioned.
But my less techie, those of the so called “mainstream” demographic slot are not using GTalk. When they started using instant messaging, ICQ was already history, its reputation spammed down to smithereens. OK, I still use ICQ, even hanging on to my seven digit number. But there was one, already sitting on their computer’s desktop, MSN Messenger.
I’d say that an easy 90% of my “mainstream” friends are using MSN. And so are all their friends. They don’t see the point with trying GTalk, because.. well it is like MSN, right? And they are already using that one.
So, I use Pidgin, when at a PC, but can’t communicate with them when on the mobile, since I have no working MSN app on the mobile. Not for lack of trying, mind you.
And maybe that is what will happen, or rather not happen, with identi.ca as well? A good idea, but never reaching a larger audience?
Oh, better clarify that “larger audience”. Twitter is still the largest one of the micro-blogging tools, but not even that one is really a mainstream phenomena. Instant messaging, on the other hand has reached the “mainstream” audience. They stick to what they started with and have no real interest in using others or comparing feature lists, etc.
That last one is probably a techie thing. :)
