There has been a great deal of discussion around Twitter lately. The statistics reflect wildfire growth, including surpassing unique visitors to the Wall Street Journal and New York Times websites in April 2009. But other statistics including research showing that up to 60% of those who sign up for a Twitter account leave the service within a month has left others asking whether Twitter’s record-setting growth means it is staying alive for years to come, or headed for the same shelf as Stayin’ Alive records.
I don’t whether Twitter is serious or not. James Karl Buck probably thinks so. So to, I suspect, does Kwanza Hall. And Dell probably thinks so too if it did in fact bring in an additional $1M in 2008 holiday sales due to its use of Twitter. But I suspect that Sockington the Cat might pussyfoot around the issue, in spite of his half a million followers. I also don’t know whether Twitter is the next Federal Express or People’s Express. As others have pointed out, the popular services of today can easily be gone tomorrow. (I particularly like the fact that the 2006 article is prescient in pointing to the coming importance of cell phones in social networking, but also rather dismissive of Friendster, which has subsequently repositioned and grown by tapping into the Asian marketplace.)
Explore why people think Twitter may be successful as well as why others have concerns for its future. Sign up and experience what it’s all about. Consider advice from others about using Twitter – either for your business , nonprofit or your own creativity, to improve your finances or whatever best suits your interests. Get your bearings established so that you’ll be ready to really use Twitter if the upward trends continue – or able to speak with a personal perspective about the historic social phenomenon if it turns out to just be a fad or step along the way to the next great thing.
Greg, this is an interesting topic/blog you have chosen to write about. Pretty cool. I am one of those who is likely to leave Twitter because it just doesn't work for me. I have tried, but I feel like I'm missing the Twitter gene. I'm already on Facebook and use it most frequently to post my status, thoughts, etc. Since it is more a personal use for me, although I have several friends, such as yourself, who are my professional colleagues, I find that sharing my work there is like not leaving work at work...hence, the use of Twitter feels more like work.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to more of your blogs.
Anne de Lemos
Thanks Anne for dropping by and making the first comment on my blog! I too have not gotten into a Twitter rhythm, but have enjoyed learning about it, and gotten one or two neat takeaways. One way that I made Twitter work more for my style was to integrate Twitter into an iGoogle page. I generally check in on that several times a day, but I feel it makes it more in my control as to work/life balance.
ReplyDeleteGreg