Another Twitter Wannabe Emerges: MessageDance

Twitter. Pownce, Jaiku. Cromple. When Twitter exploded onto the scene, introducing the concept of easy, social micro blogging, it caught on like wildfire. Since then many competitors have emerged with varying degrees of success. MessageDance (currently in private beta) is the latest in a long line of apps that think they can do it better.

Where Twitter limits what you can post and how long your post can be, MessageDance allows room for photos, videos, and longer messages. This reminds me of something… Oh, right - Tumblr. Tumblr is already giving people a way to micro blog everything from audio and video to longer thoughts on a variety of topics, not to mention a way to post photos and more.

MessageDance also requires the installation of a widget in your web site or blog to let your friends know what you are posting and to see what they are posting. What is the point of the extra steps of installing a widget for a social micro blogging app when there are other apps out there like this (MyBlogLog, for example)? Not only is there no compelling reason to use the widget system of MessageDance, there are several compelling reasons why not.

For one thing, the reason Twitter hasn't been fully knocked off the top of the heap yet is accessibility and ease of use. Sure, Twitter keeps it simple, short and sweet. Some would even say bare bones. But it is ultra portable - you can Tweet from your mobile phone or PDA, your instant message program or the Twitter web site.

If you choose, you can put a widget on your blog or site to show what you are Tweeting about with your friends, but you aren't required to install a widget - a key difference. With Twitter the widgets are just there for fun. On Tumblr, you can follow people via RSS feed or visit their Tumblr pages directly. You can also create widgets to use in your site or blog, but again, it is not a requirement of the service.

MessageDance tries for a youthful appearance and a competitive edge. Something about the look of the site bothered me, and I finally figured out that while MessageDance got the colors right for Web 2.0, the over all feel of the interface comes across as outdated.

So how does MessageDance work, exactly? We already covered the mandatory widget installation required by both you and your friends. The actual messages are sent by email to yourname@messagedance.com, then relayed to the widgets of each of your followers.

On the plus side, MessageDance widgets can be placed anywhere, so you can send messages to people across a variety of social networks. On the down side, much like Pownce and others, there is no IM feature for MessageDance for people who don't want to use an email based or web based format to send their messages.

So far, the apps coming after Twitter haven't tapped that success and simplicity that Twitter found. When people are micro blogging, they are naturally going to gravitate to the application that makes them the most comfortable and is easiest to use. I see people choosing Pownce, Twitter, FaceBook's “status updates” and more for the solution that works best for them, but I don't see them rushing to MessageDance.

MessageDance is in private beta. You can form your own opinion of the application by asking to join the beta on their web site. As it sits, this blogger will be avoiding MessageDance and not being very user friendly. Why send an email to a widget that I have to go to a web site or blog to see, when I could just Tumblr, Twitter or Pownce my message out without installing anything?

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