7 Websites Just Like Twitter

Twitter.com

Whenever a web-site hits the top of the charts it is inevitable that there will be a good number of imitator sites that follow in their popularity. The question is, are the imitators ever better than the original? I personally think advancement (in anything) can only be achieved by continually building on the ideas of others. On the other hand, blatantly copying an idea without any kind of push forward brings us nowhere. With all the recent Twitter hype, I did some searching to see what sites provide a similar service to Twitter. I've done a good bit of research and put together a list of the most pertinent sites I've found. I've also detailed some of the pretty genius advancements that have been made. 

FriendFeed.com

FriendFeed (www.FriendFeed.com) offers microblogging similar to Twitter's as well as some really nice features like the ability to import real time streams from rss feeds or from your other online accounts like Facebook, StumbleUpon, Gmail, Twitter, Delicious, Flickr, YouTube, Yelp, Picasa, Digg, Google Reader, and a whole lot more... (58 supported services in total). FriendFeed (in my opinion) is the best micro-blogging service out there! FriendFeed's Alexa ranking is currently 770.

Identi.ca

Identica (www.Identi.ca) is an open-source micro-blogging project based on the Statusnet (www.Status.net) software - previously know as Laconica. Identi.ca offers a nearly identical service to Twitter. Identica's Alexa ranking is currently 9,124. 

Qaiku.com

Qaiku (www.Qaiku.com) is another service very much akin to the Twitter interface, but with a few additional options like the ability to list external RSS feeds as links on your home page, set a default language or languages for your profile, a "Radar" area that displays who's been talking about or responded to your posts, a "Pulse" page that shows real-time streams from Qaiku members that you can browse or respond to, a both easy to pronounce and catchy sounding "Qniversum" page where you can browse or subscribe to member created channels (much like groups), and the ability to create your own channels on specific subjects or categories. Qaiku's Alexa ranking is currently 192,954.

Jaiku.com

Jaiku (www.Jaiku.com) is another very similar interface to Twitter. The cheif difference is that you can comment on other peoples Jaikus (micro-blog posts) rather than sending a direct message and would add another Jaiku member as a "contact" in order to subscibe to their Jaikus or Jaiku comments. Jaiku's Alexa ranking is currently 4,104.

Plurk.com

Plurk (www.Plurk.com) offers a twitter like micro-blog interface, but with a genius emphasis on real time. Plurks (micro-blog posts) are stretched out on a linear timeline that's visible right from a user's profile! You can scroll backward or forward through time (obviously not into the future) to browse Plurks and can see your Plurks hit the timeline imediately as you post them. The only setback to Plurk (as I see it) is that the default color scheme is somewhat grotesque, but can be easily cusomized to fit your taste. Plurk also gives you "Karma" (more or less a bragging right) based on how actively you Plurk and a few other criteria. Plurk's Alexa ranking is currently 1,233.

Tumblr.com

Tumblr (www.Tumblr.com) is a good bit like Twitter, but provides a bit more of a full blogging interface than the other micro-blogging sites I've mentioned. The first nice thing about Tumblr is that you get to create your own unique URL. Much like FriendFeed, Tumblr lets you import external RSS feeds to display on your profile as well as activity streams from sites like Delicious, Digg, Twitter, WordPress, Vox, LiveJournal, Vimeo, and YouTube. Tumblr also gives a bit more flexibility when it comes to posting by letting you post text, photos, videos, audio, links, quotes, and chat. You'll find a nicely designed array of themes to choose from and be able to keep up with friends using the familiar "Follow" button. Tumblr's Alexa Ranking is currently 438.

BrightKite.com

BrightKite (www.BrightKite.com) is yet another web-site much like Twitter, but with BriteKite you can "Check In" to a specific area (i.e. New York, Philadelphia, Boston etc...) and direct your bloggings towards people in that geographic location. It's a good utility for some one that wants to chat with people locally. BrightKite's Alexa ranking is currently 10,364