TicketApp compares themselves to Twitter but I’d say they are a lot more than Twitter. TicketApps is a Tumblelog, todo list, note taker, image publisher, bug tracker and so much more. While Twitter may lay claim to the word “Tweets“, Ticketapp messages or postings are simply called “Tickets” Because this new service is like so many others, there are a lot of similarities.
Like Twitter, Ticketapp offers a public timeline where users can see recent tickets. These recent tickets can contain any number of different forms of content such as images, text and links but one thing missing from the equation is the ability to publish videos.
Users can customize their profile by adding their own avatar and adding a background image to their ticket page but that’s about it in terms of customization. When are sites going to enable users to come up with their own color schemes? It can’t be that hard. One last note about customization. Ticketapp provides an option to make your tickets public or private.
How Does This Thing Work?
Unlike Yappd or Twitter but similar to Tumblr, The TicketApp text editor gives users the ability to post quotes, images, links, and snippets of code by allowing these specific html tags to be used. I must admit, typing in HTML code is annoying and these tags should be substituted with buttons that perform these functions automatically for highlighted text. These tags are generally allowed on numerous blogs within their respected commenting areas so it’s interesting to see a service pick up on the notion of Twitter and provide this additional functionality. One other thing that is worth mentioning is that there is no character limit. You can go way beyond 140 characters if you choose to do so.
Will this service take off?
It’s hard to say. It’s nice to see a time line which isn’t merely all text but, Twitter is well established and so are the likes of Tumblr and Jaiku. The notion of having a service which is a clone of another is quickly wearing off and it’s really starting to drive many people up the wall. Perhaps with a few more UI changes, a publicly released API for third party support, and more options for user customization, this service may stand a chance to gain an acceptable userbase.
If you end up creating an account and giving it a try, please report back to us with your feedback and give us your opinion.
Thoughts and Insanity From Jeff 
I know you can reply to other tickets, but there really aren’t any social networking features. I’d call it a pure tumblelog, not a microblogging service as we know them.
While their are some cool things about TicketApp, it seems a lot like Pownce to me, including the lack of people. Especially on their “embarrassing” recent page, I mean, its nice, but really: “Updated about 1 hour ago” is not too impressive.
I’m a big tumblelog fan, but this looks pretty shoddy to me. The design is really poor for starters, and even their caption ‘It’s kinda like Twitter’ is lame. (And poor marketing, as many people don’t even know why they should use Twitter)
And ‘Tickets’! Really? That’s what I get when I complain to my web host or service provider. A ticket is not a fun term!
If it ever starts to improve on what Tumblr offers, then I’ll be interested.
ROFL, thanks for the excellent and humorous comments Fooman. I had the same thoughts cross my mind in terms of their site design but I failed to mention that in my article.
Fooman, you definitely have a point about the tickets. I didn’t initially make the connection but you’re right; web support and speeding basically covers it. Or paying way too much money for a concert, I suppose…
I think you hit it on the nose with Twitter being more established. Mind you, MySpace overtaking Friendster shows that getting there first, doesn’t mean you’ll stay on top, but any form of social media is only as good as the community using it. (Side note: A friend of mine got so sick of people asking her company to build them a MySpace that she finally learned how to explain why that wouldn’t work. She said, “You can build a MySpace like you can build a Paris. You can replicate every building in Paris to minute detail, but you can replicate the culture or the people.) As a piece of technology, I like Pownce better than Twitter. It does more, it’s web interface and desktop apps are nicer. (Thanks to Adobe AIR on the latter.) It allows you to do more. My community of friends is more active on Twitter than Pownce. Also, the way Pownce is set up, there really isn’t much need for @name. On Twitter, that relatively crude way of directing a message to someone allows me to see who my friends are talking to and then add them (and them me, as well).
Points well taken Bill. I have a Pownce account but because I can easily access Twitter and all sorts of Twitter related features via an extension in FireFox which makes good use out of the sidebar, I tend to use Twitter more than anything else in terms of social networking or social conversation. I use twitter and then take my RSS feed and put that into Jaiku so it’s like using both services at once without having to post messages at both.
Adobe AIR does seem to be making headways and their is an interesting application built on AIR which I will be doing a review of shortly.