Twitter Acquires Twitpic and Saves the Internet! Or Something Like That…
Since 2008, Twitpic has allowed Twitter users to attach photos to their tweets. And life has been good. Even after Twitter launched Twitter Photo in 2011, Twitpic still thrived. However, all good things must come to an end, or so they say.
The Twitpic Rollercoaster
“First off I want to say thank you to everyone who has used Twitpic over the years and for your patience with us over the last couple of months. As you know it’s been quite the roller coaster ride,” explained Noah Everett, Twitpic creator, in a recent blog post.
Hold onto your hats. We are about to take a ride on that very roller coaster…
- Twitpic sought to trademark its name this summer, something Twitter fought tooth and nail to prevent. Twitter even went as far as threatening to pull Twitpic’s API key, rendering their service useless. “This came as a shock to us since Twitpic has been around since early 2008, and our trademark application has been in the USPTO since 2009,” explained Everett.
- Twitpic announced it would be going dark on September 25th.
- A group of Internet archivists – the Archive Team – tried to backup Twitpic and its vast archive of historically and culturally important imagery. However, Twitpic blocked this attempt, claiming “it had a plan.”
- On September 18th, Twitpic announced that it had a last-minute acquirer. Unfortunately, the deal fell through.
- Twitpic once again announced that it would be shutting down, this time on October 25th.
- Twitter comes to the rescue! The same company that Twitpic had blamed for its demise would now be acquiring the company and its vast archive.
“I’m happy to announce that we have reached an agreement with Twitter to give them the Twitpic domain and photo archive, thus keeping the photos and links alive for the time being,” announced Everett.
What Does This Mean for Twitpic Users?
Yes, Twitter is acquiring Twitpic and its archive. No, it will not be business as usual for Twitpic. According to Everett, Twitpic will no longer be taking on new photos or data. The site will essentially operate in a read only mode. Users will still be able to log in and delete content (or their accounts), but they will no longer be able to upload new images. The iOS and Android Twitpic apps have also been removed from the app store and will no longer be supported.
In layman’s terms, Twitpic is dead, but its photos will continue to exist, which means old tweets with Twitpic attachments will still load. Yay!
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