Twitter + Orkut = Twitkut
I use Twitter a lot. Unfortunately, almost all of my real life friends are only on Orkut. Most of them haven’t even heard of Twitter. That’s how I came up with the idea of creating something like Twitkut.
I update frequently on Twitter. So, I thought how cool will it be if somehow all my Orkut friends can also read them from Orkut itself. That will mean they will not have to register on Twitter to follow me and get updates.
Twitkut displays your recent tweets on your Orkut profile page. Besides, it also shows you which all of your friends are using Twitkut so that you can follow them. It also allows you to post updates to your twitter account from within Orkut using OAuth.
It makes use of Google’s OpenSocial JavaScript API as well as Twitter’s Search API to access the tweets.
OpenSocial is still pretty nescient, especially if you have seen the Facebook API. I was pretty dissappointed at times with the lack of features in the API. For eg., a chief functionality of my app would have been to update the status of the Orkut user with his/her latest tweet. But, the API didn’t allow it.
Also, to post an update to a user’s activity stream, the owner of the app must visit their profile page or the Twitkut application. This makes it impossible to automatically poll for new tweets and post them to a user’s activity stream. Maximum 2 updates are allowed to a user’s activity stream in a day.
Another feature OpenSocial currently lacks is that there is no way for the developer to keep track of who or how many users are using his application. I feel this should have been one of the first features that should have been implemented in the API, to allow developers to see analysis of their app usage from within Orkut.
There was one more thing that made me cringe. The Orkut sandbox allows using Opensocial 0.8 api whereas prod.sandbox.orkut.com as well as orkut.com only allow Opensocial 0.7 at this point of time. Nowhere did they mention this loud and clear. So, I ended up making the app using Opensocial 0.8. Then I got to know that I had to use Opensocial 0.7 if I wanted to submit my app to Orkut ( of course that’s the reason I am developing the app ) and so I had to make some redundant changes all over again.
On the brighter side, I was very happy with the response at the Orkut Developer Forum. Jason and others helped me along the way and were kind enough to answer all my queries. Without their help, I would certainly have been unable to develop this app. It also cleared some of my concepts regarding caching, etc.
All in all, I am pretty happy with the final result. I have received nice feedback from people who have already started using Twitkut.
So, if you use Orkut and you are a Twitter crazy person and want to share your tweets with a wider world, you can add the application by going here.
Follow updates on development: @twitkut
Follow me: @ahujaankit
Update: Twitkut is now visible in Orkut profiles. The profile view will improve gradually. This is after Twitkut was temporarily not visible on Orkut profiles as the profile view had to re-built using OPML.
Thanks for this cool app for orkut!
Orkut was really missing this…
impressive! Will take it for a ride…
The only application I am using on my profile page at Orkut … I love it .. But seems suddenly it has stopped updating my activity stream .. I check my profile and the application page , the tweets are there .. Only its not updating the activity feed …
Thanks for the great app though ..
@Shahab It can only update the activity stream 3 times a day ( another limitation of the Orkut API ) So if it has already updated thrice in a day, it won’t update again
[...] share in this post. It’s an imaginary scenario that popped into my head the day I installed Twitkut on my Orkut profile. (Disclaimer: The author of the app is my younger brother. I am giving his app [...]
Just what I was looking for
[...] writes on his blog: I update on Twitter a lot. So, I thought how cool will it be if somehow all my Orkut friends can [...]
Thanks yaar…….. its so good……… was searching like this 4 long……. thanks again……
Nice discovery …. we Indians love Orkut!
I was facing this problem too .. but now got the solution
Really Great Application…. I was Waiting for this
With the rising Popularity of Twitter, Twitkut is Surely going to make a big hit. In, fact I was Looking for an for twitter tool like this which will help me to connect with my orkut Friends at Twitter.
I made a Post about it @ http://realtrix.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-to-show-twitter-updates-on-orkut.html
[...] Twitter + Orkut = Twitkut is a nice application which display your recent tweets on orkut homepage and it also shows who all among your friend list are using twitter and you can see there tweets on the homepage with the help of this application. This cool orkut aplication is developed bu ankit ahuja. [...]
[...] Ankit Ahuja for this Brilliant Job. Via RealTrix SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “Twitkut – Display Your Recent [...]
Hey
Am using twitkut dude. However, it just doesnt show current updates…instead its showing tweets which i sent months ago! Need some troubleshooting here.
I will need your twitter ID and your Orkut profile page link to help you out
By the way, make sure your updates are not protected and try uninstalling and then reinstalling the application.
[...] there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.TwitKut is an Orkut app that pulls your tweets and posts them on Orkut so that your friends on Orkut stay [...]
Hello there,
Cool app. Need to know is it possible to use the Orkut API for a different application not a Orkut APP say like Delicious/fb to display my Orkut Profile on some other APP?
thats really nice to hear, an application for orkut using twitter
hey Ankit,
Can you make an option to use identi.ca instead of twitter? It has a twitter API (http://laconi.ca/trac/wiki/TwitterCompatibleAPI), so you just need to allow one to enter the url or select identi.ca (the laconi.ca software can be installed on any server, so option to enter the url would be nice).
- Praveen
Hi Praveen,
Thanks for linking me to the identi.ca API. Although, not many people use identi.ca as compared to twitter, I looked at the API and it doesn't seem too inconvenient to add it. I could include an additional option for users to display their identi.ca updates instead of twitter updates.
I am a little burdened with work these days but in sometime I do plan to come out with a new version of Twitkut. So, hang on!
how often does it import the tweets?
Whenever someone views Twitkut, it gets the tweets and stores them in that particular browser's cache for an hour. So if you visit Twitkut on your computer, you can only see the newer updates after an hour ( unless you empty the browser's cache )
However, if someone views your profile on some other computer, he will be able to see your latest updates.
Hi ankit, it seems like you covered lots of areas regarding to twitkut.. I'll try it out because based on what you had said it seems to be pretty interesting.
Wow………………….
Interesting , hope it will work for me too … …
Wow !
Thanks for sharing the new app. : )
Hi! Thanks for this cool app!
excellent! =)
Another feature OpenSocial currently lacks is that there is no way for the developer to keep track of who or how many users are using his application. I feel this should mocospace.com have been one of the first features that should have been implemented in the API, to allow developers to see analysis of their app usage from within Orkut.
[...] updates on this topic.Powered by WP Greet Box Here is a very cool application Twitkut, developed by Ankit Ahuja. Twitkut displays your recent tweets on your Orkut profile page. It also shows you which of your [...]
Nice work Ankit. Love it!
Hi,
I installed twitcut on orkut but I can't figure out how to set it up. When I click on my apps twitcut the page only shows
Twikut Home > Twikut
and I can either remove the app or report it
How do I set my twitter account and so on?
Thanks
thnx….
exactly what i was lukin 4…..
Congrats on a very useful app, Ankit!
Does it update the Twitter status on Orkut only when the user logs in to the Orkut account? Or is the update automatic without requiring logging in to Orkut? (I see in the comments below that the update happens thrice a day, but it seems to me that an Orkut log is required)
kool work dude , I love to tweet , this makes it more easy for me now
Hi Ankit,
Thanks for making Twitkut, its a great app. I am in need of some help with the Java Opensocial API, I am wondering if you can help with this. I am building an app for my research and want to update the status from a desktop java application. I can access my profile information. I can also retrieve my status update, but I am unable to set my status. I am not sure if I need to set some additional permissions? Any input from you will be really nice.
Thanks,
Seems like you covered lots of areas regarding to twitkut.. I’ll try it out because based on what you had said it seems to be pretty interesting.
[...] Twitkut – Display your recent tweets on your Orkut profile page. Also, view the tweets of all your Orkut friends. [...]
Hi Ankit,
I added the twitkut application and it asked for twitter ID, please tell me what to write in it as it is not accepting the username or the url provided by twitter.
The only application I am using on my profile page at Orkut … I love it .. But seems suddenly it has stopped updating my activity stream .. I check my profile and the application page , the tweets are there .. Only its not updating the activity feed …
[...] To read more on this application, go to http://ankitahuja.com/blog/webapps/twitkut/ [...]
We have to visit the twittkut app to update our activity stream its a bit Nasty process isn’t it ? ? ?
Hi
Thats really amazing application u have created. I tried it and its working for the profile. but i want it to be published in forum ( as post) in my orkut community. is that possible? plz help. i have successfully linked blogger to twitter and facebook using twitterfeed. It would be great if u can suggest me any way to link either twitter or facebook or blogger to my orkut community forum so that it gets updated automatically. Hope to get ur reply. Thanks alot.
Haha,
Twitcunt… that’s basically the literal translation in dutch. You might wanna change that name
it’s a bit odd