Twitter‘s acquisition of micro-blogging site Posterous is being touted by industry analysts as a move toward enhancing the ability to share rich content, such as videos and photographs, and a move away from a platform based solely on hum-drum 140-word status updates.
The Posterous purchase (terms have yet to be announced) will enable Twitter to focus on sharing “simplicity,” namely posting content from apps, e-mail and mobile devices, according to CNet.
Posterous engineers, product managers and others will join Twitter, according to a Twitter statement. Posterous’s micro-blogging platform, Spaces, will remain live for the time being and Posterous engineers will work on several key initiatives, the statement said, though no one is quite sure what that actually means.
Forbes contributor, Lim Yung-Hui, speculates the acquisition will move Twitter “beyond 140 characters,” and “expand further the functional and experiential values of [the Posterous] microblogging platform,” such as “pin[ning] interesting tweets” and “group tweeting within a private environment on Twitter.”
If Yung-Hui is correct, the new capabilities will enable marketers to track the link-shares and “pins” of rich product posts, in addition to measuring mentions and retweets. Again, this is pure speculation; however, if implemented, the ability for marketers to post rich content and monitor that content as it circulates Twitter is a win for everyone.
Stay tuned.
