Does Twitter want to buy Tweetdeck to build it up - or kill it off?
In the fast-moving world of social media there may be an alternative motive behind the $50 million purchase, says one commentator
According to the WSJ, Twitter's aim is to make it easier for users to find and navigate its content and attract more mainstream users.
Website TechCrunch, however, offers a very different theory: They say Twitter regards TweetDeck as a competitor, and is out to kill it.
Twitter is said by TechCrunch blogger Mrinal Desai to view TweetDeck as "infringing too much on its turf." Recently the micro-blogging site has been coming down on third-party apps that “mimic or reproduce” the mainstream Twitter client experience. That is largely what TweetDeck does, says Desai. With its history of taking out perceived third-party competitors (remember Tweetie?) Desai believes that if Twitter does buy TweetDeck, “the product as we know it is a goner.”