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Twitter said Nov. 11 that it is now connecting with Ping, the Apple iTunes music social network that failed to get in sync with Facebook earlier this year.
Based on the technology Apple acquired from Lala, Ping is packaged as part of the new iTunes 10. The social software lets users follow iTunes’ 160 million users to find out what music they’re listening to or what playlists they’re creating.
Ping and Twitter users may now feed their Ping activity, including song previews and links to purchase and download music from the iTunes store via tweets on Twitter.com.
Ping users can now link their Twitter account to find other Ping users they may already follow on Twitter, according to Twitter’s Kevin Thau, who runs business and corporate development for the microblog.
When Ping users post, like, review or tell friends why they’ve purchased a song or album on Ping, the activity will also be tweeted to Twitter followers along with song previews and links to purchase and download music from iTunes.
When Ping users click on a tweet sent via Ping or that contains an iTunes link, they will see the song or album in Twitter’s details pane. Users may then listen to the song previews from iTunes.
Integrations between Twitter and social networks are nothing new as the microblog seeks to build on its user base of 175 million people.
For example, APIs allow users to import Twitter tweets into Facebook Web pages, LinkedIn social network pages and Google Buzz social conversation.
What’s more interesting here is that Twitter has found purchase with Ping where Facebook did not.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs told AllThingsDigital in September that he tried to ink a Facebook deal with Ping, but the terms of that contract were “onerous.”
A match between the world’s top digital music store and leading social network is too valuable for Apple and Facebook to give up on.
Expect the deal for Ping to pair the iTunes big user base with Twitter’s to rekindle Apple’s discussions with Facebook on Ping, if they even ceased at all.