A new and upcoming trend in social media interactivity on the web is microblogging. This concept was first introduced by Jack Dorsey. He officially launched the first Microblogging Company named Twitter in October 2006.

Twitter opened up a new market and on June 27, 2007, Pownce was introduced by Internet entrepreneurs Kevin Rose, Leah Culver, Daniel Burka.

More and more sites, such as Jaiku, Tumblr and XING, have jumped in the ring. The major competition is still between Twitter and Pownce as they are both the market leaders.

A brief Comparison between Twitter and Pownce

Twitter: On the web, Twitter has a clean, elegant and simple interface. The color scheme is pleasing and the background is fully customizable. The site is enriched with real time updates. Along with these positive aspects of Twitter there are a few drawbacks as well. If a user wants to describe themselves on their profile page, it does not provide much room. The navigation tabs change depending on the page you are viewing. Server lock-up is another hurdle, since it usually locks when usage is at its peak.

Someone who is not very technically savvy would have a great advantage on Twitter as it uses SMS which makes the site much easier to use. Twitter provides fast updates, the option to set time limits and allows users to follow via mobile. However, mobile updates can sometimes be inconsistent.

Twitter’s link to other networking sites is poor. Twhirl allows users to read from and post to Pownce and Jaiku. There are bugs that must be fixed, especially when it comes to messaging and replying across platforms.

Pownce: This site allows unlimited character space for messaging. Pownce allows sharing of photos, links and files up to 10 MB. You can increase your file size allowances by applying for a paid membership. A user can also customize their profile. One of the great things about Pownce that I found is a comprehensive profile that allows users to list their other networking sites in one place. Grouping your contacts and event invites is another helpful addition by Pownce. It recently joined the market, which is probably why the user numbers are lower than Twitter, but I am sure that with the passage of time that will increase. Pownce’s official desktop client is very stable and functional. So far Pownce lacks sound notifications, skinning options and, most importantly, the cross platform communication.

Pownce is available on the web very easily, but unfortunately it is lacking SMS messaging. Hopefully their development team is working on it. This is the major reason that it is not as popular as Twitter. Unlimited character space will be a big issue once SMS messaging is available. I hope Pownce will provide the cross platform option very soon.

Overall facts shows that in this race of microblogging Pownce is better then Twitter and wins the race. But in mobile update Twitter gets the lead as there is no API available for mobile messaging by Pownce. I am curious as to when Pownce’s developers will launch this module.

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