(Newser)
–
In a matter of months, Twitter users will be able to use filters on the site to make their photos look pretty or old-timey or whatever, reports the Bits blog of the New York Times. Sound familiar? Right. The site wants to better compete with Instagram, and "it could prove to be an important part of the company's business," writes Nick Bilton. Some reaction:
- Daniel Terdiman, CNET: "This would potentially be a very big move for Twitter, because it could keep people taking photos on smartphones from using the Facebook-owned Instagram altogether."
- Casey Chan, Gizmodo: "It does seem like a ‘too little, too late’ move by Twitter but the act of sharing Instagram pictures on Twitter (which a lot of people do!) is a little awkward. If Twitter could bolster its Twitter photo service (which they should have done from the beginning), maybe people won’t even have to sign up for Instagram."
- Drew Olanoff, TechCrunch: Eh, "adding filters does not cancel out Instagram whatsover." It's a "fantastic community" in and of itself, and plenty of its users have no interest in Twitter or Facebook. It's going to be fine. "Twitter is merely keeping up with the Joneses."
