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# On Stocktwits and Frenemies
- URL: https://www.philsimon.com/on-stocktwits-and-frenemies/
- Published: 2012-07-31T15:39:14.000Z
- Updated: 2025-07-27T18:58:19.000Z
- Description: Twitter goes from friend to enemy in an instant. The platform giveth and the platform taketh away.
- Author: Phil Simon
- Tags: Platforms, Strategy, Frenemies, The Age of the Platform, Twitter

Imagine for a second that you're Howard Lindzon, founder of [StockTwits](https://www.stocktwits.com/?ref=philsimon.com). Your company uses the Twitter API search on stock ticker symbols. For instance, clicking on $AAPL provides financial information about Apple's stock price, financials, and the like.

And then you wake up today to find that Twitter likes your idea so much that [it's effectively copied it](https://techcrunch.com/2012/07/30/twitter-clickable-ticker-symbols/?ref=philsimon.com). Aside from hashtags, Twitter now supports cashtags.

## Simon Says

Mr. Lindzon: Welcome to the Age of the Platform. Not every company can be [TweetDeck](https://techcrunch.com/2011/05/02/twitter-to-buy-tweetdeck-for-40-million-50-million/?ref=philsimon.com). Twitter is the very definition of a frenemy. Without it, your company couldn't have existed. Now, the future of your company is in doubt.