Waffling

This week a number of news organizations seized upon a statement made by Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone, who suggested Twitter may charge businesses for certain types of use:

"We are noticing more companies using Twitter and individuals following them. We can identify ways to make this experience even more valuable and charge for commercial accounts," Stone had said.

Stone clarified his position in a blog post late Tuesday afternoon, quelling speculation that the site's existing services may cost money to some — that is, businesses — and not others.

"What we're thinking about is adding value in places where we are already seeing traction, not imposing fees on existing services," he wrote, opaquely suggesting that only add-on or "premium" services will be charged.

"[It's] important to note that whatever we come up with, Twitter will remain free to use by everyone—individuals, companies, celebrities, etc."

Stone also said the company hopes to begin "iterating on revenue products" sometime this year.

At least one service, Magpie, has tried taking advantage of Twitter's business model-shaped void. The company enables users to sell their "tweets" and Twitter backgrounds as ad space. Each user is paid according to his number of followers.