Kyle LeBoeuf

Twitter just announced that it acquired Atebits, maker of the popular Tweetie app for iPhone and Mac.

I wonder what this means for other Twitter application developers, like Tweetdeck (which is what I use). Before, Twitter simply owned the platform that these applications were built upon. Now, Twitter actually has a vested interest in this application space and will move to increase it’s exposure amongst the users of Twitter.

Is Twitter going to restrict or possibly even ban other applications in this space?

As Ryan Block tweeted, “As of today, if your app depends on Twitter for anything other than identity or content syndication, you are officially on notice.”

It will be interesting to see how Twitter moves forward with this acquisition.