Why I’ll Probably Never, Ever Remember the Name of Your Twitter App

Check out this list of Twitter applications (arranged alphabetically):

EasyTweets, FeedTweeter, GroupTweet, iTweet, LiveTwitting, My Tweeple, OutTwit, Retweetist, Retweetrank, SnapTweet, Splittweet, TweepSearch, Tweet2Tweet, TweetBeep, TweetChat, Tweetdeck, TweetLater, Tweetmeme, TweetPro, Tweetree, TweetScan, TweetStats, TweetWheel, Twellow, Twemes, TwerpScan, Twhirl, Twiffid, Twilert, Twinfluence, Twinkle, Twist, Twitdir, TwitLinks, Twitority, Twitpic, Twitscoop, Twittad, Twittelator, Twitter Karma, Twitter(urly), Twitterberry, Twittercounter, TwitterFeed, Twitterfon, TwitterFox, Twitterfriends, TwitterGrader, Twitterific, Twitterise, TwitterKeys, TwitterLocal, TwitterMail, TwitterSnooze, TwitThis, Twitzu, Twply, Twubble

Notice anything?

95 percent of them start with “TW” and most of them refer to Twitter directly by starting with “TWI.”

Unfortunately, that means it’s nearly impossible to tell what the application does except that it is somehow associated with Twitter. It also means – unless I use the application – I’ll probably forget the name.

One of the first rules of naming is figure out if there are any naming trends among competitors.
Because if everyone’s name sounds the same, then you have an opportunity to be different.

In the Twitter-verse, it looks like that shouldn’t be that hard. All you have to do is get away from starting your application name with TW or TWI.

A few companies have already done so. They include: Brightkite, Favrd (which interestingly is a subdomain), Gridjit (in alpha), Hahlo, Magpie, and Matt (which stands for Multi Account Twitter Tweeting!).

Thanks to Brian Solis for his comprehensive lists of Twitter Tools for Community and Communications Professionals . If you haven’t seen it check it and bookmark it, as it updates frequently.