Twitter Aims to Make Following Easier

eBay to be among first companies to use @anywhere platform.

by Auctiva.com staff writer
- Mar 16, 2010

eBay will be among the first companies to offer the "Twitter Experience" on its own site when Twitter launches its new @anywhere platform, which was announced Monday.

Details about the platform are vague, but, according to reports, @anywhere will allow visitors to sites using the platform to follow these companies and view their Twitter profiles without having to leave the page they're viewing.

"Imagine being able to follow a New York Times journalist directly from her byline, tweet about a video without leaving YouTube, and discover new Twitter accounts while visiting the Yahoo home page—and that's just the beginning," Twitter notes in its blog.

No launch date has been scheduled for @anywhere, but Amazon, Bing.com, eBay, The New York Times and YouTube are among the 14 companies partnering with Twitter for the launch.

@anywhere should help companies increase their followers and stay connected to users, says Evan Williams, Twitter's founder.

"[Being found on Twitter] is one the hardest challenges because there are thousands of topics or people or bands you may want to follow," he says.

Allowing visitors to become followers right on a company's page, where users are already learning about a company, will help these companies attract more followers, he asserts. Users will also benefit, he adds, because they'll be able to easily share information via Twitter without having to go to Twitter.com.

More details about the platform are expected to be released at Chirp, Twitter's developer conference, in April.

"Twitter has proven to be compelling in a variety of ways," Twitter's blog notes. "With @anywhere, Web site owners and operators will be able to offer visitors more value with less heavy lifting."


About the Author

Auctiva staff writers constantly monitor trends and best practices of those selling on eBay and elsewhere online. They attend relevant training seminars and trade shows and regularly discuss the market with PowerSellers and other market experts.

Other Entries by this Author

Follow Us