Brian Alvey: Why I am leaving AOL

Some of you have known for a while that I'm on my way out, but to others it's likely to be a surprise.

Is it because they are prepping the company so they can sell it to Microsoft? No.

Is it because all of the management who paid attention to you and respected your business and your team was fired or has quit? No. If I was leaving over that, I would have done it when it happened at the end of last year.

Is it because AOL is where brands go to die? No. Some brands survive and some people are reporting that AOL is a breeding ground for hot new web 2.0 startup sites like Cindy Li's Ficlets, which was a huge hit at SxSW among AOLers.

Here's the deal: In 2003, Jason and I saw the future of publishing in blogs. Now in 2007, I have seen the future of publishing and it is Twitter.

With some funding of my own and some outside funding to be announced later this week, I snagged a hot domain name for it -- twittersinc.com. I paid low six figures for the domain, but I think it really gets to the heart of the matter, like we did with Weblogs, Inc. This is professional twitting on a variety of consumer and trade topics. Our tagline will be "This is not your daughter's Twitter!"

I was torn between that one and "To twitfinity and beyond!" Let me know what you think. I'm trying to be transparent here.

We are launching later on in April with eight twitter publications:

Engatwit: obsessively covering gadgets
Autotwit: what we're driving, what the guy in front of us is driving
Twitfood: what we're eating right this minute
Twitter Fanboy: constant updates on the Twitter phenomenon
Joytwit: can we twit and play Xbox at the same time?
Cinematwitical: what movies we're watching right now
Twitting Baby: all about parenting
That's Twit: healthy living while twitting

I am so excited about the potential for my next venture that I can barely contain myself!

If you are already twitting about any of these topics and want to do it for money or if you have a Twitter account with more than 500 followers and you're looking for an acquisition, fill out the short survey form after the jump.

Continue reading Why I am leaving AOL

Comments (24)

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Lisa 479 days ago

The funniest thing I've read all day. :-D
Conrad Quilty-Harper 479 days ago

Oh Brian, say it ain't so! How long until Netwitter? Or should that be Twitterscape?
Tom Barlow 479 days ago

Did you already scarf up the domain Youtwit?
Will O'Brien 479 days ago

I'm nowhere awake enough for the internet and April 1st. Good one.
Julie Tilsner 479 days ago

Brian, you great twit. It's Sunday ayem and I have only had one cup of coffee...no fair causing brief alarm this early.
And I think the name for twitting baby would now be ParentTwit, which actually has a nice ring to it. Maybe we should make t-shirts.
C.K. 479 days ago

Is puttingthetwitintwitter.com registered yet?
sarah gilbert 479 days ago

does this mean you've finally created a twitter account? and can i get a couple of shares if i agree to rename my chicken, twitter, 'twitterinc'?
Gary E. Sattler 479 days ago

We're still waiting for the release of your new book, "Twitting for fun and profit".

It's sure to be a best seller...
Dossy Shiobara 479 days ago

Hey, Brian,

Do you figure Dave Sifry got twitterati.com in order to make a similar shift? "Twitterati: What people are Twittering about, RIGHT NOW."
Dossy Shiobara 479 days ago

AmITwitOrNot.com?
Niki Alvey 479 days ago

I thought you said that AOL fired that Ficklets (I always want to say chicklets) girl shortly after SXSW?
victor Agreda Jr 479 days ago

I call dibs on "Twittering for Dummies" (because Brad apparently doesn't check email on Sundays!)

...you're not behind the linkfarm twitz.com are you?
jude 479 days ago

hey, i am soooo there, twitting right along w/you! hm, i'm registering my additional twit domains right now ... the variations are endless ... :)
Eliot 479 days ago

It's a shame you don't know any good devs; at least you got a decent CEO http://twitter.com/PhakeCalacanis
Celly 479 days ago

You forgot about TwitMZ.com
Jim B. 479 days ago

winners never twit. (or do they?)
jason 479 days ago

Well played.... well played my old friend.

... oh yeah, I was talking to Cuban and he said he would fund it. :)
Brad Hill 479 days ago

CLASSIC.
cyber...mommy 479 days ago

I'm so all over Twitting Baby, baby. And I'll do it for free. For the love of it. Call it my labor of love, no pun intended. Mama's gotta twitter...
Hollyster 470 days ago

I read the post but not the comments... those RSS readers! Just to clarify... Cindy Li had left to go to Scrapblog. She had spent 9 years at AOL and thought it was time to start something new. As for the "quitter" comment in the blog, I believe the person was being facetious. I've never known Cindy to be a quitter.

Oh and, while she was a founding member of the Ficlets Team, the idea originated with Kevin Lawyver.;)
Brian Alvey 470 days ago

Kevin's a bright guy.

That's nice to know about Cindy, since you only hear the worst about people leaving. Nice to know for her sake that it was just a rumor!
Hollyster 470 days ago

Yeah I think it's our penchant for drama =)and ability to fill in the holes (myself included). Too bad we cant' make all our webproducts as viral as a rumor! =P
Grover 468 days ago

"In her comments someone calls her a "quitter" -- which must sting if she wasn't planning on leaving AOL when she got back from Austin."

Whoa, slow down! I posted that and it was totally a joke. I don't even really know Cindy, I just know a few of her friends. I just say that any time anyone stops doing...well...anything!

Man, I really think the joke tag needs to be officially ratified or something.
Kenneth C. McPherson 459 days ago

Many of my friends have said AOL is now free. I tired to get the free account but was not allowed to enter the sight. Why? My password is OK and my place of birth is Pittsburgh, Pa. which I entered but was refused access.

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