Twitter Acquisition Matters to Education Friday, April 10 8:30 PM

A possible acquisition of Twitter by one of the larger competitors for the online search and social markets has been bandied about since last November when talks between Twitter and Facebook broke down.  More recently, Microsoft and Google have been rumored to be discussing a possible acquisition with Twitter's owners.  While most analysts are interested in the acquisition of Twitter given the impact it would have on the technology landscape - social platforms and search revenues - I believe educators should also have interest in the acquisition as well.  In my opinion, it's in the best interest of educators already using Twitter and the education community at large if Google successfully acquires Twitter rather than Microsoft or Facebook.

First, Twitter may likely remain more open and usable if acquired by Google.  Google's platform, business model and philosophy, to me, are more open; the tools are tightly integrated but are easily accessible.  There's not much interference when trying to get from Point A to using Google Reader or Google Docs; I can simply go to reader.google.com.  In contrast, to get to specific applications within Facebook or Microsoft, from my experience, requires traveling a single straight path through other interfaces and profile pages.  Further, I don't believe Microsoft or Facebook will be able to leverage Twitter to the extent Google may.  The MS collaboration and cloud tools aren't as developed and as usable as Google and Facebook tools, and the only benefit I see for Facebook in a Twitter acquisition is simply keeping the tool away from competitors; I don't believe Twitter provides much of a value added service or tool since it duplicates the Facebook status in many ways.

Second, Google's Apps for Education stand above and ahead of the current education offerings by Microsoft or Facebook.  At the very least, the openness and inherently cloud characteristics of Google Docs, Google Search and other tools provide a significant advantage for Google.  As an educator, the possibility of integrating Twitter into Google Chat/Talk, Gmail and the rest of the Google Apps for Education Suite makes a Google acquisition more desirable.  GTwitter would enhance the suite of tools and add a great deal of weight to the growing OpenSocial tools Google is developing.

Third, the Twitter interface will remain more stable and user friendly with further Google Development.  Microsoft web/cloud services are behind Google in general development, and Google interfaces are typically better than Microsoft's (Gmail vs. Hotmail, case and point imho).  If Facebook is willing to tinker with their core interface and, in the process, making critically unpopular design decisions, Facebook influence and development could have a significant negative impact on the future of Twitter.

While many educators are just arriving to Twitter, I think the the corporate flag under which Twitter's future will be developed may have a critical impact on the education sector.  Or, maybe I'm just rooting for Google because I prefer their tools to Microsoft, and I want my Twitter network to stay separate from my Facebook network? Resources: Google, Microsoft Court Twitter, Orlando Business Journal Microsoft, Google Sparring over Twitter, CNET News Google in Talks to Acquire Twitter, TechCrunch Google news search