Websites using Posterous

Okay, let s break down Posterous, a platform that s no longer active but still holds lessons for the blogging and social media landscape.

Posterous: A Quick Overview

Posterous was a very popular blogging platform that distinguished itself with its incredible simplicity. Here s a summary:

• Ease of Use: Its primary appeal was its effortless way to post content. You could share text, images, videos, and links simply by sending an email. Posterous would then automatically publish that content to a blog.
• Automatic Sharing: It was designed for seamless sharing to other social networks. This eliminated the hassle of manually posting to various platforms.
• Minimalist Design: The user interface was clean and simple, allowing users to focus on content creation.
• Focus on Convenience: Posterous was created for those who wanted to blog without the complexities of traditional blogging platforms.

Key Features:

• Email Posting: The cornerstone of the platform.
• Automatic Social Media Integration: Seamlessly shared to networks like Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr.
• Custom Domains: Allowed users to map their Posterous blogs to their own domain names.
• Themes and Customization: Basic but effective theme options and some level of customization.
• Groups/Spaces: Enabled users to create collaborative blogs with multiple contributors.

Posterous Revenue

Posterous did not have a standard revenue model in the way we typically think of it for platforms today. They did not:

• Show Ads: There were no ads on Posterous pages, making it a very user-friendly experience.
• Sell Premium Plans: Posterous was free to use, and there were no paid tiers offering advanced features.

How then did they make money? * Acquisition: Posterous was acquired by Twitter in 2012 for a reported sum. The acquisition was not necessarily about generating direct revenue but more about acquiring talent and a platform with innovative features.

Why Posterous Shut Down

Twitter ultimately shut down Posterous on April 30, 2013, just one year after the acquisition. The reasons for this included:

• Platform Redundancy: Twitter s own microblogging model proved to be more successful and aligned with their core services. They weren t interested in maintaining a separate blogging platform.
• Integration Difficulties: It wasn t easy to meaningfully integrate the Posterous feature set into Twitter.
• Strategic Shift: Twitter s focus at the time was on its core platform and microblogging, not a separate long-form blogging service.

Posterous Alternatives

While Posterous is no longer around, its legacy lives on in other services that embrace simplicity, ease of posting, or social media sharing. Here are a few alternatives with aspects similar to what Posterous offered:

• Medium: This is a popular blogging platform focused on reading and writing. It s clean, design-focused, and easy to use.
• Tumblr: Known for its multimedia blogging with a strong focus on images, GIFs, and reblogs.
• WordPress.com (with a Simple Theme): WordPress offers a much more robust and versatile platform, but you can easily create a simple, easy-to-use blog.
• Blogger Blogger is google s free blogging platform that still has a basic UI.
• Microblogging Platforms (Twitter, Mastodon): If you re looking to post shorter, frequent updates with integrated social sharing, microblogging platforms may suit you.
• Ghost Ghost is an open-source blogging platform that offers great publishing features.
• Write.as A simple, privacy-focused writing and publishing platform.

Pricing of Alternatives:

• Medium: Free with an option to subscribe for more features
• Tumblr: Free
• WordPress.com: Free tier with paid upgrades for premium features, custom domains, etc.
• Blogger: Free
• Twitter/Mastodon: Free
• Ghost: Has an open source version that s self hosted and a paid hosting option.
• Write.as: Paid with a free trial.

Customer Care Details for Alternatives:

Since Posterous is defunct, there s no customer care to discuss. For the alternatives, customer care varies. Here are some ways to generally contact them:

• Medium: Has a help center and community support forums.
• Tumblr: Has an FAQ and support section.
• WordPress.com: Provides documentation, knowledge base, support forums, and in some cases, direct email support.
• Blogger: Has a Google-hosted help center and forum.
• Twitter/Mastodon: Twitter has a help center. Mastodon being an open-source decentralized platform has various support channels depending on your specific server or instance.
• Ghost: Has support documentation and community forums. Paid plans often come with support channels.
• Write.as: Has documentation, support articles and email support.

Key Takeaways and Lessons from Posterous:

• Simplicity is Powerful: Posterous showed the demand for simple, convenient blogging solutions.
• Integration is Key: Seamless integration with social media and other platforms is vital for online content.
• Flexibility Matters: While Posterous was about simplicity, modern platforms offer more flexible features and customization options.
• Business Models are Critical: Even great platforms need a viable business model to survive.
• A Platform is Just a Platform: Ultimately, value comes from content creators and their communities, not a specific service.

While Posterous is gone, its story provides important lessons about the evolution of blogging and online content sharing. Hopefully, this overview has helped clarify what Posterous was about and what alternatives you might consider. Let me know if you have any more questions!