#newtwitter sees the Twitter web interface itself become a kind of platform. Previously, developers took data out of Twitter and into the context of their own applications and services. The new design flips this on its head, bringing rich embedded content into the site from a host of brand-name web properties.
—Alex Payne former engineer @twitter, Sept 15, 2010

I remember reading this post when it was first published and recognizing that the end of Twitter as I had come to know it over the prior three years was gone. In its place, an infamous #dickbar.

Most of you don’t know that I deleted my Twitter account. In fact, in 2013 I deleted almost every social media profile I had, save for my email and maybe a few other things.

I came back because despite the #newtwitter reality, people still wanted to live in a silo.

I wrote earlier today that there are some benefits to no longer having like and retweet counts and streaming in third party clients. I recognize that’s not the attitude everyone has about this. I’m hoping what comes out of it is a realization that humans operate more efficiently outside of silos, and that a lot more attention is paid to the idea of an Independent Web. Tools like text editors and RSS feeds may well end up the winners in the end.

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