Webware 100 Editors' Choice: Present.ly (Best Twitter Rip-off)

Site: Present.ly
Category: Editors' Choice, Best Twitter Rip-off

Everyone wants to build a better Twitter. Or at least a profitable version of it. The best microblogging service other than the original is Present.ly, a microblog service for businesses. Present.ly launched with features that Twitter still lacks for business users. It lets users attach files, for example, and set up groups easily, which is great for teams.

Also, Present.ly is available as installable software, as well as in a hosted service. That means that all those paranoid IT managers who want to make their teams happy by supporting some Twitter-like capability can bring that functionality inside their businesses' firewalls. We don't necessarily think that's the best technological solution, but it does open a door to getting a deal done that might otherwise stay closed.

None of these closed, business-focused systems will ever be as big, or as important, as an open-to-all social platform like Twitter. But they do show us how these new concepts can be applied--profitably--to the world of work.