I received the following letter (excerpted to remove the instructions for closing down an account):
Hi Desi,
Posterous launched in 2008. Our mission was to make it easier to share photos and connect with your social networks. Since joining Twitter about one year ago, we’ve been able to continue that journey, building features to help you discover and share what’s happening in the world – on an even larger scale.
On April 30th, we will turn off posterous.com and our mobile apps in order to focus 100% of our efforts on Twitter. This means that as of April 30, Posterous Spaces will no longer be available either to view or to edit.
…
We’d like to thank the millions of Posterous users who have supported us on our incredible journey. We hope to provide you with as easy a transition as possible, and look forward to seeing you on Twitter. Thank you.
Sachin Agarwal, Founder and CEO
—————-
This isn’t the first and it won’t be the last of the toughening up of the social media landscape. Unless it has real value, ties into the big players or otherwise fills a very critical core niche, social is fast becoming a big dog’s game only.
Mobile Apps still have the flexibility of being cutting edge and allowing diversity the way social media websites once did. And Posterous is smart to shift focus to apps, where there is room to grow, breathe and even build up a profit, something that standard social sites have always had a hard time managing.
——-
Considering that I have completely forgotten I ever HAD a personal Posterous space, and I have never once thought of them alongside the Twitter brand, this shift needs to include actions to build a bit more brand awareness for their apps.
The web is still an expanding sphere, so if you can find an edge to ride, you’re still on the upward trend. Good luck to them, and here’s to a bright future.