Bye Bye Birdie: Why Twitter is On the Outs
Like it or not, Twitter has become an unavoidable part of our online lives. Created by Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone in 2006, the social networking platform’s reach has grown remarkably over the past four years. According to a recent study conducted by Edison Research, 87 percent of the U.S. population is now aware of its existence. Surprising? Not really. Forget about Twitter’s overwhelming online presence, the site is constantly being thrown in our face throughout every media outlet imaginable. From CNN to ESPN, we’re constantly exposed to the endless stream of thoughts that Twitter encompasses. While Twitter’s presence is undeniable, its future lacks certainty. Will Twitter continue to grow and thrive? In short, no. Why? Allow me to explain…
Putting the Numbers in Perspective
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/11358585[/vimeo] With nearly 90 percent of the U.S. population completely aware of Twitter, certainly a majority of them are actively using the service, right? Not really. Twitter gets an estimated 180 million unique visitors internationally per day, but not all of them have accounts. Of the estimated 106 million accounts on Twitter, only 3 percent have more than 100 followers, while 24 percent of users have 0 followers. Only 40 percent of people who try Twitter remain active on the service after their first month. While Twitter does receive quite a bit of attention, it has been proven to be of little use to the majority of people.It’s All the Rage… For Now
Obviously, Twitter gets a lot of its traffic from outside sources promoting their accounts on the site, but how much exactly? 75 percent. That’s right, three-fourths of Twitter’s visitors come to the site as a result of promotions made by third parties.
That’s all fine and well for now, but hype eventually dies. What happens when these outside sources decide to abandon the social networking platform for the next big thing? That, my friends, will be the end of Twitter as we know it.
Too Connected
So why, exactly, do 60 percent of Twitter users quit within the first month of using the platform? Twitter simply doesn’t appeal to average internet users.
If you’re not a spammer, a narcissist, or a business owner, chances are Twitter isn’t of much use to you. Your everyday person signs up for Twitter to see what all the hype is about, figuring that they will be able to connect with friends and family, and read interesting news stories. Quickly, however, they are proven wrong. Twitter takes “connecting” to another level. New users are rapidly exposed to what Twitter is all about, and are overwhelmed with the constant influx of updates.
Most (normal) people don’t care what you’re eating for dinner, when you’re going to sleep, or how local firefighters rescued a cat from a nearby park. Soon, new Twitter users find that the platform is essentially a breeding ground for relentless marketing and ego inflation.
Funny enough, neither corporate entities nor people with a false sense of self-important care what you have to say. The way in which Twitter is used really defeats its purpose. If nearly every status update falls upon deaf ears, is it really connecting?
Other, Better Options
Despite the fact that Twitter is constantly shoved in your face, it’s not like there aren’t other options. There is an endless list of social networking mediums that exist, many of which are of much greater value to typical internet users. Sure, Twitter does an outstanding job of catering to users’ without much to say, but it is essentially useless to those who do have something to say. That’s where Facebook comes in.
Not only does Facebook cater to the average Joe by allowing them to speak their mind, they provide a familiar platform to do so. Learning from the mistakes that lead to the downfall of MySpace, Facebook provides a more familiar, easier to understand social networking experience.
Being wrapped up in the online tech world, you may not know it, but terms like hash, tweet, and retweet have no meaning to the vast majority of society. Terms such as like, fan, and share, however, are easily understood. Not to mention the fact that people actually like building, maintaining, and having a profile.
For these reasons, it’s clear why Facebook continues to dominate its competition. Currently second only to Google in terms of traffic, Facebook sees over 400 million people logging in every month, 50 percent of which visit the site every day.
Twitter Isn’t Profitable
Despite Twitter’s reach, the fact remains that they really don’t make any money. Why? Well, for one, they don’t really put much effort into actually becoming profitable. While this is a noble and refreshing concept considering the abundance of ad infested social networking platforms, it doesn’t do much for the company itself. Twitter relies on venture capital to fuel its operations.
How long will venture capital firms continue to shell out cash to an unprofitable service, though? In the end, all venture capital firms are concerned with is profiting from their investments.
This year, Twitter did release an advertising platform in hopes of turning profit. So far, it has yet to do so. Twitter limited the companies that they would allow to advertise to well known corporate entities, shunning small businesses who desire a self-serve advertising platform similar to Facebook’s. Hey, that’s their call, but how long will these advertisers last?
The truth of the matter is, their advertisements are reaching a demographic with a short attention span… people who, in all honesty, aren’t likely to even notice the advertisement as they quickly scan for updates. Why would these companies even pay for advertisements when there are thousands already following their account?
What do you think? Will Twitter continue to grow and prosper, or will it fade into non-existence once the hype dies down? Leave a comment and let us know.
Twitter is dumb. The entire concept is dumb. The fact that people are willing to update pointless details about themselves and their day on a constant basis is just dumb. The fact that there are people out there who want to hear what these people have to say is dumb on a level that can hardly be imagined. It’s right up there with how the entire world feels they need all this stupid, pointless crap on their phones. Like they actually NEED it. OMG I can’t live without facebook on my phone!!!! DIE.
So.. then you’re following people who are saying silly stuff.
I guarantee that no matter what your interest is (movies, music, celebrity gossip, sports) there are people that tweet news long before it hits the mainstream media… and you can interact with those people…
If you think Twitter is just people talking about what they had for lunch.. then you sir, are very misinformed about what Twitter is. Its right up there with people who think Foursquare is just for people who want to brag about what they are doing… there’s far more to it then you are aware.
So go ahead.. trash something that you don’t even understand… we will keep on using it happily… while you go off and enjoy your facebook (which is filled with just as much of those silly status updates that twitter is)
I think that people just don’t get it, and that’s why they don’t use it. When I first joined Twitter, I didn’t post for a year – but now that I get it, I love Twitter! You’re ‘grazing’ on little bits of info from different places.
I call it the Krispy Kreme phenomenon. Highlands Ranch is a massive planned community south of Denver, CO made up primarily of families and soccer moms who will do anything to be recognized as the greatest mom ever. So when the doughnut maker opened their first Colorado location in the area, the media ran with it and the response was ridiculous. Fathers followed orders from the queen determined to beat her neighbors and poured out of the Ranch to wait in line for their doughnut. Some camped ovenight, the first week saw hundreds waiting in line for hours, traffic jams, police presence, even an arrest for scalping doughnuts in line! When the smoke cleared, the media and most of the public forgot about Krispy Kreme. It still exists, mostly for fat people and occasional reminiscing soccer mom.
I suspect Twitter will follow much the same path, as will Justin Bieber, Robert Pattinson and most all artificially produced phenomenon. God forbid, even the completely irrelevant Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt!
I rant, but the point is our hyper society and media sensationalize the latest and greatest to the nth degree. I only wish I could come up with the newest five minute fad, get rich and disappear into oblivion!! OMG LOL BFF
Perhaps the next revolution in the phones industry will be that people will start using their phones to actually talk to one another more, instead of using apps and gadgets for texting their friends across social media websites! I find it bizarre, personally, that people would rather write a piece of text to their friends rather than actually speak to them. Am I old -fashioned?
Yes… I think that is a bit old fashioned… but there’s nothing wrong with that!
The thing is… the world is communicating A LOT faster now a days then we were 10 years ago. Think of it this way.. 100 years ago.. you wrote a letter… dropped it in the mail.. waited weeks or months to get a response. 50 years ago.. most people had telephones.. you could pick up the phone and call someone and talk to them directly! But over time… people became too busy to chat on the phone, so answering machines and voicemail came around… so you could leave messages for people and they can return the call when its convenient.
However, today… checking voicemail and placing phone calls takes too much time.. so, there’s resistance to pick up the phone. Its MUCH easier to send a quick text message letting someone know they are running late, rather then trying to get a hold of them on the phone just to say one sentence to them… Don’t get me wrong.. there’s still times where its appropriate to have longer conversations via the phone… but email was the start of closing that gap.
This is why I think the announcement of Apple’s killer feature for the new iPhone is Video calling… is going to be a dud. People worry too much about their appearances and that takes even more of a commitment to a longer conversation. At least when I make a phone call.. they can’t tell where I am or who i’m with as easily as they can with a video call.
So yes.. you are a little old fashioned… but that’s OK. Technology is always changing… and most people get comfortable with a certain level of technology and they stop accepting new things. Take my parents for example. They are getting into their upper 60s… and they have no use for ATM machines… They don’t understand why someone wouldn’t just go to the bank, during bank hours.. wait in line and fill out the paper work to give to a teller and have them do everything for you.
Internet publishers, twitter not excluded, must constantly innovate for their users to keep traffic consistent and increasing. Furthermore, twitter will need to turn that traffic into leverage for monetization if it wants to be able to afford all the server space it has to buy to meet the user traffic.
Tim – in this article you say that 87% of the US population is unaware of twitter, but then you say that 90% is aware of its existence. Can you please confirm? Thanks!
Liz