Ehh. There was side-development. I remember TweetDeck was a big deal, for organizing your follow lists and such. It wasn't as organic as this, though, more getting tied in on what felt like a more personal level with corporate media, corporate brands, etc. Every newscast, tv anchor, etc. had an active twitter handle, whether or not they actually were behind it.

So it was a bridge between the common man and the media and corporate elite. This is more if bridge around a stinking swamp of media and corporate elite.

TweetDeck was eventually coopted by Twitter, and became shite.