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The would-be X rival had grown a small but engaged community on its microblogging service that aimed to dupe Twitter’s features, from its verification systems to functionality like DMs.
There are numerous services for consumers to try, including the open source-based platform Mastodon, a soon-to-be decentralized system from Bluesky, plus smaller startups like Spill, Spoutible and Post, as well as a new app from Meta called Instagram Threads.
Though the company may not have yet succeeded from a business and financial perspective, it’s been hard for others to duplicate its function as a breaking news platform and place for spirited debates.
In addition, some 10,000 users arrived at that list from early press, like TechCrunch’s coverage of its first outside funding — a $1.1 million angel round that included investors like former Google VP Bradley Horowitz, Android co-founder Rich Miner and the former CEO of Wikipedia, Katherine Maher.
Cselle agrees, noting that, perhaps, Pebble should have opened up enough space for disagreement to happen, while still drawing a hard line on the most disagreeable parts of running a Twitter-like platform.
It was a perfect storm of competition, X’s continued traction, the lack of a native app, a brand that didn’t resonate and a space that was maybe a little too safe to be as addictive and as fun as the original.
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