In case the Twitpic debacle isn’t confusing enough, Twitter, the entity that is compelling the third party photo service to shut down, is also coming to the rescue of Twitpic users.
In September, Twitpic announced it’d be shutting down. Then in October, it announced that nevermind, a mysterious benefactor would be keeping it afloat. Only to announce its definite shuttering later the same month after that deal fell through.
See also: Twitpic Is Now Shutting Down After All
The origin of the entire issue, Twitpic claims, is a trademark spat with Twitter. On the official blog, Twitpic founder Noah Everett wrote that due to threatening messages from Big Bad Twitter, he was forced to either abandon the Twitpic name or lose access to the Twitter API. Losing access to the API would cut off the service’s ability to allow users to post photos to Twitter—its entire raison de etre (see our API explainer).
“Unfortunately we do not have the resources to fend off a large company like Twitter to maintain our mark which we believe whole heartedly is rightfully ours,” Everett wrote.
But even as Twitpic shuts down, Twitpic users don’t need to worry about what will become of their images. Now, Twitter itself will be buying Twitpic’s archives. In a new blog post, Everett wrote that while it wasn’t his first choice, Twitter’s purchase will work out for users.
“Twitter shares our goal of protecting our users and this data,” he wrote. “Also, since Twitpic’s user base consists of Twitter users, it makes sense to keep this data with Twitter.”
Photo by Evan Courtney
