A better alternative to Twitter should actually provide features other websites don't.
Why should I go out of my way to use Twitter to do things I can already do on Facebook?
Why would I want to share status updates with strangers vs. friends?
I understand what makes Twitter appealing in a marketing sense, but for me personally, it's nothing more than a chore to deal with on top of everything else.
I always offer/encourage my clients to look through the repository like the article says, but people never want any part of it. They are usually taken back.
In my experience (mostly small business) there's a certain expectation that developers will work in isolation—where clients aren't expecting any involvement beyond the initial planning stages.