Interesting post Stan, but I think in order to paint a better picture, we need to get stats of app usage. Is there a huge growth in Tweetdeck or Tweetie usage for example?
Mark
· 3 weeks ago
Would love to see stats on link sharing too, as that's the way we use twitter. We use a combination of Atlas and www.tweetiator.com to measure the amount of traffic resulting from shared links and see which users are the most engaged. We have some big clients getting a lot of value from this but wonder if it is relevant to sizing the ecosystem.
Sidian Jones
· 3 weeks ago
I'd have to agree with Rami.
But personally I really don't care for Twitter. To me it's just a stripped down (not in the good way) version of Facebook. I get the idea of the minimalism, but I'd just rather have more robust media features to post with.
Joaquin de Castejon
· 3 weeks ago
Sidian, it's not just the minimalism. I think the key is its being 1) public and 2) asymmetrical. Not to mention the support and freedom the app developers have to come up with new applications.
It just gives a lot of power to the users.
LDRCoach
· 3 weeks ago
Sidian, I have a much different perspective. I use Twitter to connect with interesting people, research, follow topics, get a quick understanding of something, and to market. I use FB to connect with people that I already know and only those that I know. I do use Third Party apps to connect to Twitter, while I use the FB interface (or iPhone FB app) to get to FB.
ht tp
· 3 weeks ago
Most measuring companies measure using http requests, instead of browser based like alexa. Even desktop apps use http. So it is already taken into account.
Gus
· 3 weeks ago
can you prove that?
Stan_Schroeder
· 3 weeks ago
Even if Compete and Quantcast's stats don't measure app usage, I don't believe that suddenly everyone stopped using the web version of Twitter and switched to third party apps.
Rami Taibah
· 3 weeks ago
Its hard to believe, true. Was just thinking out loud I guess. We need a fuller picture.
But using your analogy, if Twitter is the SMS of the Internet, then Facebook is the postal address of the Internet.
Facebook will not stop growing until everybody on the Internet has a Facebook account, can't say the same about Twitter though. I mean most people, including me, thought Twitter was stupid when they first heard of the idea behind it. Its really hard for me to explain it to to a non-techy.
However that is not the case with Facebook, people get it easily.
What I am trying to say is that Twitter has this barrier of the "illusion of being too complicated yet too simple to be true" Facebook is simpler to understand.
So maybe Twitter peaked out, for now :)
dana
· 3 weeks ago
what is the best 3rd part app
Marco
· 3 weeks ago
I think the people who were in "need" for Twitter now have a Twitter account.
The others... well they won't until Twitter decides to make it easier to use. Serious, "RT", "@" replies and all this stuff. Who is interested in reading thru all the Twitter help pages. WAY TOO complicated. The other "Twitter sites", Brizzly, CoTweet, etc. are all fantastic, but I guess the Twitter hype will soon be gone. Evan should sell his "beast" as fast as he can.
I mean serious, what is Twitter?
* Most tweets are spam: "How to get 500 billion followers in 21.2 seconds" * Then all the companies that feed Twitter with their RSS feeds * The "celebrities" or the some PR manager
The rest is "Just came back from bathroom. Was nice" or "Just cheated on my wife" stories.
Who cares for that? If I am interested in "news", I can subscribe to an RSS feed, create a script that fetches all headlines or whatever. If I want to talk to a celebrity I write a letter or better: drive to L.A.
So what is Twitter really for? Still don't see any sense in this "service". Are people so keen to know what someone else is doing RIGHT NOW? :-o
Richard
· 3 weeks ago
Why has it's traffic has stopped growing? Because, despite all the media hype, people are finally realising that it's rubbish.
adrinkit
· 3 weeks ago
Facebook supports 69 languages Twitter: 3 languages
Free SMS receiving is only available in a few countries. In Europe (except UK), sending a SMS to Twitter is expensive; users have to send SMS to a UK phone number, and international text messaging fees apply.
Marc Poulin
· 3 weeks ago
My hypothesis for the stalled growth is that poor usability of the twitter.com web site is causing novice users to quit the service. Only the die hard web users persevere, often by switching to a twitter client that offers more features and better user interface. BTW, today is World Usability Day.
A very important feature for new users is the ability to find people to follow. The "Find people" function does not seem to work with partial names and I often have great difficulty finding people I know are on Twitter. The "Reply" that does not show the original text of the tweet forces me to type the context of the reply. The list goes on and on.
I think you can trace the flat-line directly to the point when Twitter altered how we see the conversations of people we follow. Originally, we could see all the tweets of the people we followed, whether they were general, directed at us or directed at someone else. It was an invaluable way to find new and interesting people to follow. Then Twitter changed the setup so you could only see these conversational tweets if you were following all the folks who were participating in the chat. No opt-out options, no choice. From that day, Twitter became dull. I went from using Twitter every day to once or twice a week at best. I still go on there to visit my friends from time to time, but most of us just talk on Facebook now.
Micah
· 3 weeks ago
I agree with Rami - how are requests from TweetDeck, Twitterphone, etc. counted? The Twitter website proper, in my experience, is secondary to the service provided.
Toni Eklund
· 3 weeks ago
I agree most of you. I use Twitter a lot, but hardly never sign into it's web site anymore. At the same time TweetDeck and Tweetie are always on.
John Sargent
· 3 weeks ago
I don't find that odd at all. The explosion in Twitter use was so sudden that there was bound to be a tailing off pretty soon after. What I do find odd is the obsession with constant growth in everything. Not just stats for web site use but profits and percentages everywhere.
If Twitter stays where it is for 4 years it will still be impressive.
JonesIMA
· 3 weeks ago
it is impressive what they have built
neiltwaterguy
· 3 weeks ago
well said John - twitter is being used more selectively and becoming an accepted comms method. There's becoming a depth to its use which isn't measured in simple stats...
Paul Hood
· 3 weeks ago
It'd be interesting to see what the engagement figures are for Twitter. Our strategy for the Daily Mirror website (and 3am.co.uk and Mirrorfootball.co.uk) is to focus on how interested our audience are in using our sites. Having a highly engaged audience is more important than a gazillion users.
Julian Chow Jian Sheng
· 3 weeks ago
the stats here only reflect visitors to the site, but how about those people who access twitter via desktop clients and mobile applications? it could be that people visit the site once to register, and after that tweet exclusively via 3rd party platforms!
Magnus Haflidason
· 3 weeks ago
Very interesting stuff. Could the reason partly be that Twitter really has not been a hit outside North-America and The UK? From what I have read, the rest of the world has not really joined the Twitter wave while almost every country has a huge group Facebook users.
Perx
· 3 weeks ago
no.. twitter users in india (which is in asia) are increasing by the day.. especially since many celebrities have joined up..
Josh
· 3 weeks ago
My theory is that the "early adopters" piled in and made Twitter what it is. But for mainstream types who go to the main Twitter site, it's hard to figure out exactly what Twitter does or why it's useful. They don't (yet) understand the use of lists or clients, and they take one look at the main feed--which resembles a dirty river in an impoverished country during the monsoon season--and turn away.
To grow, Twitter needs to make it more obvious to the casual observer "who it is and what it does"....absent this, Twitter will remain only the province of the Twitterati.
Josh.
Stan_Schroeder
· 3 weeks ago
I'm thinking along the same lines.
dana
· 3 weeks ago
I believe u have the reason
Mary Anne Lewis
· 3 weeks ago
Twitter isn't growing because it doesn't appeal to the baby boomer generation. For whatever reason, it seems that we're shouting to an audience of none on Twitter, no matter how many followers we have. Also, I don't think Twitter is a model for converting sales of items or services. Once you have the customers, it's a good service, but it's not a great service for attracting them.
nocivus
· 3 weeks ago
Could be because many many twitter users no longer use the website at all and prefer to use tools like seesmic, tweetdeck, etc. that provide more value than the site.
Guest
· 3 weeks ago
Like others, I wonder if this stat actually shows API-activity at all? Because how many users actually go the website anymore?
Shaquille Ray
· 3 weeks ago
WOW.
I love twitter, its awesome, i'm 15, and i still have an account, and i have it for some time now. Its really a awesome tool for social reasons, and for SEO. It could be that twitter just doesn't gain the popularity award, as its just not that interesting.
Maybe if twitter had an option for applications for example. facebook has apps. Applications seem to be the key for modern day services. People don't usally spend on their time on profiles. Usally playing games, And than login again to check on them. Apps is the way from my point of view.
Also it may be a lot more awesome if twitter allows people to somehow make money. That would differently make people join up
The thing I like about Twitter is that it DOESNT have apps, and when some people do use apps (like poll apps, those games that had a surge in popularity a few months ago) I just get annoyed as I get automated DMs, or have to read automated tweets from the people that use them...nothing gets me closer to the 'unfollow' button than this. Facebook and Twitter are totally different, to me anyway. I don't see why every social network has to change into a clone of the most popular one.
danthecreator
· 3 weeks ago
I agree with you completely. The reason Twitter is so attractive is that it lacks all the bells and whistles that sites such as Facebook have. Don't get me wrong, Facebook is excellent for certain reasons (I use it to promote myself), but the apps get in the way and can be annoying at times. Twitter provides users with a simple interface for networking. Because, after all, that's what social networking is all about: NETWORKING!
LeeSibbald
· 3 weeks ago
You say "But it’s odd for a service to grow so explosively and to be featured in the media so much, and then to stop growing all at a sudden without a clear reason"; what are you basing that on and what are your theories?
Dave Nattriss
· 3 weeks ago
He's basing it on the graph above!
LeeSibbald
· 3 weeks ago
I'm asking where the authors assertion that "...it's odd for a service to grow so explosively...and then to stop growing all at a sudden" comes from and what it's based upon, and what his theories are. The graph does not serve to provide any of these answers.
joshmchugh
· 3 weeks ago
I agree - traffic to Twitter.com is only a fraction of the Twitter picture. It's really overall usage of the service, however that usage happens, that's relevant. I'd like to see a graph showing the total number of Twitter API calls over the same period of time.
JonesIMA
· 3 weeks ago
Agree. Can't deny the facts on how many users there are.
Jack
· 3 weeks ago
I am an avid user of Twitter but I've noticed there isn't really a lot to do on it! Yeah you can the odd picture now and again but with Facebook you could do this and more already.
JonesIMA
· 3 weeks ago
I thought so at first too, but it's really useful once I learned how to really use it.
WT
· 3 weeks ago
Might it have some correlation with Facebook implementing their Twitter-esque status updates stream? I don't know when they changed their interface but I wonder if that had anything to do with Twitter flatlining.
Dave Nattriss
· 3 weeks ago
It was a good few months before.
dowelltaggart
· 3 weeks ago
I agree with earlier comments. Regarding Facebook, I use the Facebook program. When it comes to twitter I use one of several applications like Tweetdeck, Twitterberry and YFrog and more.
Carlo
· 3 weeks ago
My feeling is that the usage by individuals has gone from silly to almost sensible. A lot of the people I follow, and myself at that, have stopped tweeting every 5 minutes and are now on steady state.
JonesIMA
· 3 weeks ago
good point.
bryan
· 3 weeks ago
I think you need main topic issues or headline stories that people can comment on and read other comments..you got all the news stories and human interest stories. You should start a separate page called "in the nest" or some thing like that...
grijsz
· 3 weeks ago
People don't get back from Twitter what they expected. Many do not get it at all. There are also many different ways to use it. Recently I realized that in many German circles Twitter is just used as a big chat-room, where "members" try to stick with each other and distrust new followers. Twitter needs more direct integration into other apps. I personally would like to have images integrated in the stream, like that is possible in every other feed.
Mark Spooner
· 3 weeks ago
Friends I talk to just don't know what twitter is or just think it is the same as facebook twitter so why bother with it and those that do are just as confused. For me twitter does two jobs information which I can easily scan. This information takes various forms from news, to great photos or tutorials to informed opinion. The second is discussion with friends but without us having to be online at the same time using status updates. I think it is this duality and the fact that I personally believe that twitter has a high learning curve for using it for something beyond simple status updates (many of my friends only update twitter when facebook status is updated which shows how limited many people feel it is). Finding people to follow can be difficult, organising the varied information you are sent, the large amount of tweets, the fact that if you are not checking it all the time you miss lots of tweets and of course that once you get into it it become a huge time suck.
For me twitter is a stepping stone to something else something more organised and with a lower learning curve.
RachelAC
· 3 weeks ago
Commas and un-fragmented sentences are your friend!
(Yes, I am the grammar nazi)
Mark Spooner
· 3 weeks ago
I like to be free and easy with the english language more fun that way. Or it could be my two second attention span which leaves no time for editing.
JonesIMA
· 3 weeks ago
that was a run-on-rant...haha
MSOFT SEO
· 3 weeks ago
Twitter is more or less like facebook.....if it had some unique features of its own.... it would have been popular enough..
This is a horribly mis-informed viewpoint. Twitter is not used in the same way as Facebook by users who know what Twitter is capable of. The only similarity is that Facebook's status messages resemble tweets. However, before you make a comment like this, you may want to ask yourself, do I know what I'm even talking about? Don't mean to be a jerk but I can't tolerate ignorance.
Mike CJ
· 3 weeks ago
I think there are two key issues here:
1/ Twitter just isn't that intuitive and it takes some time to understand how it works and how to benefit yourself and your followers. I suspect a lot of people come in, hang around for a couple of days and then disappear.
2/ There was a huge rush from internet marketers a few months ago, when Twitter suddenly became a "great way to earn money online." A lot of these people have now realised that without engaging people and investing time on Twitter, it doesn't actually help you to "sell" anything. I think a lot of those people have simply walked away.
J Kelley
· 3 weeks ago
That's exactly what I was going to say. Once Twitter became The Hottest Thing In "Guerrilla Marketing" or whatever, it became a vast sinkhole of suck.
Mike CJ
· 3 weeks ago
It's improving again now J. I think they're drifting away as they have realized it's not an easy route to riches!
Joe
· 3 weeks ago
Yesterday, for the first time, we heard what Twitter's goal is: "Help you discover the information that matters most to you as quickly as possible. http://ow.ly/Bqw0 I don't think it was coincidental that Twitter announced this strategy after what appears to be the first monthly decline (albeit a small one) in unique visitors (based on your graph). Some possible reasons for the flatline growth: The Twitter interface is clunky; there are lots of sites that offer enhanced Twitter functionality that Twitter doesn't have (meaning there's not been alot of enhancements and innovation from Twitter); and Twitter is still thought of by alot of people as a site where people talk about what they had for breakfast. It will be interesting to see what strategies and actions Twitter puts in place to support its just-announced goal and the impact of those actions.
HeatherO
· 3 weeks ago
I would agree that we can't really tell much by this. I have seen a lot more people lately, that I encounter in seminars, etc. that 'go straight to tweetdeck' (for example) than before. I rarely see tweets 'via the web' like I used to. I can't remember the last time I did! Even just 6 months ago most people that were 'newer' users or had fewer followers were not using apps like tweetdeck and hootsuite. I see that a LOT more now. More and more are using phone apps as well.
Just as a side note, it'll be interesting to see if this trend changes with the LinkedIn connection. I have a feeling a lot of LinkedIn users will be reconsidering twitter now.
Kat
· 3 weeks ago
I think Twitter could make more of the fact it connects customers with companies in a way even picking up the phone can't manage. If the average person in say the UK knew that one tweet to BT would solve a problem that countless emails and phone calls hasn't, or get resolution on a complaint that's been ongoing for months with a laptop retailer you'd see a marked rise in users.
Brittany
· 3 weeks ago
I imagine Twitter has flatlined because people don't like being limited by 140 characters when they need to say something. RT was a helpful tool. I also like the List function that allows me to see certain Tweets when I want to (I guess I'm on a Beta list or something... no one else I know has this function). I think it just doesn't do ENOUGH, when compared to Facebook.
paulsimongill
· 3 weeks ago
i find twitter handy for keeping up to date with news/happenings for work, but as a social site for interacting with friends it's nothing like facebook. if other people are finding this, it's not likely to be attracting younger people who are looking to socialise.
jk_sowden
· 3 weeks ago
In the long run, this flatline will be a tiny blip on a much greater growth curve, which will undoubtedly be driven by big developing nations: China, India, Asia, Latam.
Matt Boyles
· 3 weeks ago
Great post. Personally, I love Twitter for my own reasons. One, I love using it as an RSS Feed by adding news and sports followers. That way, I am able to get breaking news literally within minutes of something happening (ex. Michael Jackson's death). I also enjoy using it to interact with other people I never would have met otherwise and talk sports, news, etc. with them. I find it absolutely fantastic.
With that said, I can see why some people, mainly teenagers, are not thrilled with Twitter. It isn't Facebook. There are no games. There really isn't much you can do on it besides say something in 140 characters. To teenagers, there is no flashiness to it. Maybe they like it at first, but I think after a short while they essentially get bored with it and move on to something else.
I'm really not sure what Twitter can do to make teenagers come to and stay with the website. Adding a Re-Tweeing option and Lists is nice, but not flashy. Facebook and MySpace, quite frankly, have more things to do on their website. Not sure what Twitter can do to be more "cool", but that is why I merely use the website and don't work for the company. I'm sure they will figure something out or let things be.
philippechassany
· 3 weeks ago
Don't you it comes from the fact Twitter is mostly used through 3rd party appl like tweetie, tweetdeck, seesmic and others.
Jasper Rijkeboer
· 3 weeks ago
In my humble opinion, Facebook allows for a less rushed and more manageable experience. It works more like email, as you can log in at your convenience and catch up on messages and wall posts.
With Twitter, the rapidity of the messages in the ongoing flood can leave many feeling they've missed something. Another reason I still hear a lot is that many newcomers to Twitter aren't sure who to follow and what kind of information they wish to share. I know I don't follow anyone who tweets nothing but "having coffee", "having lunch", "reading a book" drivel, even if they are celebrities you are interested in following (Dutchies are warned to stay away from @PaulDeLeeuw).
I agree with the sentiment that there is nothing wrong with flat-lining if the experience and dependablilty keep on improving.
metro2020
· 3 weeks ago
I constantly take note of how many Tweets are posted with apps. It is astounding and growing. I haven't posted a Tweet direct to Twitter in over 6 months. While my app is up 99% of the time, I find Twitter slow and unresponsive most of the time. The only time I can get clear sailing on the site is late at night, provided there is not some international event putting demand on their servers.
ssdlfun
· 3 weeks ago
Twitter needs to differentiate itself from other "social networks"...in fact it should not necessarily try to get friends connected to each other (since they can do that much better on Facebook and others). In my opinion, Twitter is a "social media network", with emphasis on the MEDIA. Twitter should push to be on the bleading edge of media coverage, whether of the tradittional sort or iReporter type. They should make it clear (and work towards that goal) that if you want to get the news first, or best, you need to be on Twitter. If you want the latest and greatest from your favorite Star, you should be on Twitter, etc. One step they have taken towards that is to form "lists". It is hard to know who to follow on twitter, so why not make lists based on topics that people can subscribe to? Even better, make lists you can subscribe to AND allow users to also remove or add to that list dynamically, e.g. copying someone elses list without all the effort, instead of only allowing to create your list from scratch or follow someone elses list.
TwitterCurious
· 3 weeks ago
I've read all of the comments and they all say the same thing for the most part "no one understands what Twitter is for" can someone explain this then? I've never used the program.
Tim Gorree
· 3 weeks ago
I somehow think you ignore the fact of how big SMS is. I read somewhere that worldwide traffic volumes will be 5+ trillion by 2013. Conversation is king, Mobile is king, SMS is King, and Twitter is a handsome prince at best. By far and wide the way people choose to communnicate depends on their preferences, and simplicity matters most. Many people I spoke to were actually quite confused and didn't quite get the point or use of it at first glance.
Bryen Miller
· 3 weeks ago
Like most pop culture trends, Twitter started on both coasts of the country. I believe that it simply exploded at a rate faster than what the rest of the country could catch up to. I live in Indiana, and just in the past six months, it seems MySpace is finally gone “out” for the adults. They have finally moved over to Facebook! How long ago did this happen in California or New York? My hunch is most of middle-America is still this far behind the "pop-tech trends" (yes I just made that phrase up) of the East/West Coasts.
The idea of Twitter is still foreign to most of my friends in my home town of Elkhart, IN. While Twitter was all over the media, no one here really latched on to the idea. I first checked twitter out about nine months ago, but ditched it because no one I knew was on it. I didn’t understand it or see what its benefits were. “I didn’t get it!” Just within the past month, a light bulb went off for me and I have become an avid Twitter user! I get it now, for all its real-time, real-life applications. From breaking news updates, to the potential for career networking, to fun, up-to-the-minute gossip, to the pure and simple concept of sharing ideas with the click of a mouse – I totally get it now. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with most of my Michiana peers. In Elkhart, IN (population 52,647) there are only 283 people listed on Twellowhood. In South Bend, home of Notre Dame University, (population 107,789) there are only 645 people listed on Twellowhood. That seems a little low to me for a "college town!” Compare those figures to Raleigh, NC (population 392,552) where there is 7,200 people registered on Twellowhood. I could point out a west coast city that demonstrates my point further, but most of you Do the math and look at the percentages. The data points to this: While twitter grew exponentially on both coastlines, in cities like Elkhart and South Bend, twitter is still a fairly new concept. The average Middle American still doesn’t get it.
My sister runs her own Tanning and Hair Salon. In her industry magazines and at industry trade shows, I see seminars presented regarding on-line marketing. This usually includes mention of MySpace and Facebook, yet I have yet to see one seminar on how Twitter could help the small-business owner by simple subtle networking. Twitter isn’t about direct marketing so I guess the industry leaders don't consider that it can help increase business. Small business owners need to learn the concept of subtle networking.
This is where Twitter is now going to have to market itself more aggressively if it’s to engage the next key demographic – the Middle American who lives in a small to mid size town, who may or may not be a small business owner, and who is not technically savvy. Forget the teenagers; they will eventually migrate to Twitter as they get older. Twitter needs to focus on adults 30 years old and up, and specifically the baby boomers. Twitter is not like Facebook or MySpace – it takes some know-how to understand and use. At the very least, it takes a little reading up on to understand the difference between re-tweets, direct messages and replies. If Twitter wants to continue to see the same type of growth, then it’s going to have to market and position itself in a way that gets the everyday guy/gal to recognize the benefits and features Twitter has to offer. It has to be ready to handle the objection “I don’t have time to Twitter” and reposition itself as a time-saving tool when it comes to information gathering – from news to entertainment. Basically, Twitter is going to have to help the rest of the country “get it” to see the same type of growth rate.
And just on another point, I don't think it's strange that it may have Peaked for a period of time. I'm not a marketing major but isn't a leveling off period pretty typical after a period of accelerated growth?
Freckles227
· 3 weeks ago
EXACTLY! I'm from Ohio and no one (majority 20-somethings) gets it! I think this is an age group that Twitter needs to focus on too because we are the new hires for companies. We can convince the importance of it. The peak can be a breaking point. In order to avoid decline, they need to integrate some product/service/app/whatever it may be, that can create growth again.
E. Montag
· 3 weeks ago
I'm from MN and I am not sure that it's "middle America" as I'm not experiencing what you speak of. :P Though I don't find Twitter to be as compelling as others might (or might not judging from some of the responses). Yammer is good though! :)
George Eberstadt
· 3 weeks ago
Maybe the flat line represents a continuing inflow of new users (driven by the hype) and an equal outflow of old users.
John W. B osley
· 3 weeks ago
IT slowed because back in April or May they chose to go pro-celeb with Oprah and @aplusk. They needed to be pro-"average tweep". They needed to explain "why I should use the service". The people who don't join Twitter say "why do I want to follow a celebrity?" I state, "it's not about following celebrities but conversing with ordinary people". And that's the problem. Many people in the first 1- 1 1/2 went on to connect with biz people, friends, promote their small biz, look for work... but now? Many find they're not reaching their goals, or are being spammed, or are finding their connections not on twitter as much as they use to. The new grew to join twitter "celeb followers" figure out quickly they have little purpose to be on twitter and then just leave their account vacant. I'm also starting to wonder if people became "twitter exhausted".
Ty
· 3 weeks ago
Twitter has grown on me, but in my opinion, the presidential election had a HUGE role in making the site/service/whatever-you-want-to-call-it what it is today. That's when mainstream media really started trumpeting their Twitter feeds and what not. I think that drove a lot of people to try the service a few times, but not necessarily become avid users.
Might be a dumb theory, but just a thought.
Sheila
· 3 weeks ago
I believe that Twitter is the SMS of internet and I just love it, it's part of my daily activities and I am accessing Twitter via Ubertwitter. In order to increase number of users, Twitter should work on expanding their Market and its feature. Facebook is available in 60 plus language, Twitter should do that too to be more competitive and can reach market to other countries as well.
I love Twitter. It was a bit intimidating at first, but I love having access to breaking news, articles and comments from the people I follow. For me my Facebok and Twitter accounts are different. FB is just for fun and a way to stay connected to friends, co-workers and family. Twitter for me is a great source of information that helps me in my job. The links to article, websites and videos provide me with information I may not find on my own. While it's fun, it's also a more grown up way to connect to people and gather information.
Josh Grenon
· 3 weeks ago
Alot of people I talk to don't see the value of Twitter and that is why they have not joined. They say "I am not that interesting" or "I don't want people to know about my life". So it looks like alot of people are still fearful about transparency on the web. I use Twitter to share information and connect/reconnect with old friends and new people. Here is a question for everyone out there: Why do you use Twitter?
sabelpr
· 3 weeks ago
Facebook is easier to use, and for social media, more comprehensive. Maybe people really do want more rather than less intensity in their relationships. Twitter is also NOT easy for the over 40, run of the mill non-geek. "Trend" is the operative word, and I think many people view it as just that. Reason? One could be the cutesy names, that can get a bit...ummm..irritating .
Elias Moubayed
· 3 weeks ago
It's stalling because it's something closer to a 99 1 rule - very few people tweet a lot - the sheer amount of drivel puts many people off from following a stranger. Anyone reading this article is in the industry and uses it professionally, but the average joe in the street gets nowhere near the same value from it, or will only follow a smaller group of friends/family/people they like. Twitter will definitely be around, but it isn't sms, or email or facebook or IM, it's yet another way to communicate.
Jack
· 3 weeks ago
We use Twitter for spreading the awareness of our business! - I mainly use Facebook socially though!
John
· 3 weeks ago
You always say twitter is a one-to-many communication platform. So basically they're a facebook fan page site. Only problem is it's easier to interact with a facebook fan page than it is with twitter.
Milan Radosavljevic
· 3 weeks ago
I don't think there is anything dramatic in these figures but there are several reasons why Twitter stats aren't growing (for now) and I can think of two straight away:
1. Twitter requires a mindset shift. Most of other social media applications, including Facebook, are used to network with friends and individuals that we know personally. Even SMS (old school analogy) is used to reach your friends only. Twitter, on the other hand, is wide open and the true power is to connect with interesting people you've never even met before. There is a huge difference in communication here. While you most probably have a history with your friends, giving you enough material for discussion and comments, there is very little if any basis to communicate with an unknown person. Twitter therefore demands liberation of mind - to connect with people globally without any fears and then communicate by saying something of value in just 140 characters. My opinion is that many people don't have enough courage to make that shift!
2. Obsession with applications is another problem. Most social networking sites are cluttered with various applications and for most people using them is a way to avoid direct interaction with their contacts. You can in fact continuously update your profile without communicating with a single person on Facebook and still look 'cool' and well connected. Twitter is different. It is pure and simple and demands interaction. You cannot hide behind a plethora of applications - either you tweet, RT, reply and so on, or your profile is dead boring, and people won't connect with you. Twitter profiles are, unlike in other social networking sites, all about communication!
That is why Twitter is so powerful and liberating but also vulnerable at the moment. Things will change when more and more people liberate themselves from the need to connect only with people they know and start exploring the world around them. Only then they will realize how powerful Twitter really is.
donfrattaroli
· 3 weeks ago
I am a fairly new twitter convert and I have to say as far as getting to know the thought leaders in my industry like Mashable there isn't a better tool out there. 90% of all twitter communications occur off site so the twitter site stats can be misleading. However as far as new twitters this 4 month lull will be interesting to watch. I lectured on social media strategy to a class at Emerson College two weeks ago and their thoughts were that twitter would be gone in year. Interesting perspective from the college age group.
Do these figures take into account inactive user accounts?
Also, I think that communicating the real value that Twitter can have is a geeky affair and they need to get better at storytelling the benefits in a way that is accessible to everyone - btw it is definitely not about "what are you doing right now"!!!!
Gene
· 3 weeks ago
I suspect this has something to do with the hacking of Twitter accounts and direct message spam. Twitter seems incapable of securing its system and they also seem incapable of seamlessly integrating functionality. They do a very good job of hiding things and are lacking obviously desirable functionality.
sustainableenergymanrlsh
· 3 weeks ago
I will bring a 100 million new young people from every school on earth to twitter . Milllions of High school students will sign up to twitter and follow @Sustainablehero. The Real life superhero Sustainable Energy Man will become the most followed person on twiitter and raise $ 1 Trillion for solar, wind and geothermal energy for schools, hospitals and for the public good.
Jayson Barrons
· 3 weeks ago
It's simple - people speculated on the actual value of twitter, like a housing boom. The marketing "guru's" and social media junkies jumped on the bandwagon, afraid to be left behind and feeling it to be important to be ahead of the pack. Noone wanted to feel like they missed the boat. All of this created a artificial bubble in actual use, and thus, it's beginning to pop.
Twitter is a one-trick pony application where other sites can easily do the same thing and alongside other features that get used.
Brad Konia
· 3 weeks ago
Oh, for cripes sake people, Twitter has not stopped growing, LOL! I'm astounded that users of this website would be so clueless about what Twitter is or how people use it. With the explosive growth of the iPhone and Android platforms and the dozens of Twitter clients that are now available on these platforms, it's not surprising at all that Twitter's web traffic has "flatlined", so to speak. The VAST majority of users now access Twitter via 3'd party clients, such as SMS or smartphone apps. Nobody uses the Twitter website, as this defeats half the purpose of Twitter. It would be like using email to send a postal letter. Also, Twitter is not a "social network" as many of you seem to think and it's ridiculous to compare Twitter with Facebook, as the two serve completely different purposes. Twitter is a ubiquitous communications platform that is redefining the way people communicate and in many ways is as significant as the invention of email. The people who are now saying they don't understand Twitter are analogous to the people in 1992 who were saying they didn''t understand the Web. Like any paradigm shift, it takes a while for the masses to get on board.
Chris Wills
· 3 weeks ago
I think we need better numbers before we can come to any conclusions. Tweets per user, new users, active users, etc. would be much more valuable and explain more about Twitters growth than unique visits to their web site. It would also be interesting to see Twitters impact on the ecosystem. Are URL shortening services growing from Twitter? Are apps seeing growth? Are more developers using the API? These trends would give a better indication of whether Twitter has flatlined.
-Chris
Terry
· 3 weeks ago
Simple answer. The interface sucks. Also, who wants to toggle back and forth between Twitter and Facebook all day? Until aggregators like tweetdeck attain critical mass, only one can come out on top
Freckles227
· 3 weeks ago
I am really interested for the future of Twitter. I am currently using it at a job for my company. I had heard of Twitter, but did not understand the point of it. I get it, maybe not to the full extent, but I understand it. And that's where it ends. No one I know uses Twitter. They don't get it, find no use for it, find it annoying, etc. And this is from a group of 20-somethings, college and recent college graduates. The generation that was raised with computers, problem solvers, the group that Twitter really needs to grab the attention of! Twitter needs to claim its reason of existence, and become more relatable to the technology-inclined generations, in my opinion. When they reach out to us, and we found it a tool that we need, we can then convince the companies that hire us that it's necessary to have and growth would be inevitable.
FM Days
· 3 weeks ago
Wonder if this is a post Oprah hangover or something more...
Twitter may also end up up as a carrier free messaging service. Or maybe just another punchline like CB radio or the macarena.
Roy Bragg
· 3 weeks ago
Twitter was meant to be a guerilla social network, for people on the go, moving around, and keeping their peeps informed. Once it became co-opted by marketing departments, advertising agencies, promotions people and geeky shut-ins who sit on their ass all day sending out hyperlinks, it went into the crapper.
topherthoughts
· 3 weeks ago
One of the issues I've had as I've watched my Twitter presence grow over the last months is that it's gotten cumbersome to stay in contact with the early follows that really connected. I know lists and groups are a good way around that, but at the end of the day, I don't have time to comb thru hundreds of followers to find the interesting ones and put them into groups. So for the new user of Twitter, it's a bit of a daunting task to dip your toe into the whirlpool.
Nick D.
· 3 weeks ago
I think people are finding that the hyped value in real-time search isn't there - at least on Twitter. The idea that stuff happens first on Twitter is just wrong - in fact Twitter is mostly a lagging indicator, particularly when it comes to business and politics. Most interesting/useful tweets link to stories that have already been published elsewhere online, so once you find the sources of those stories, it's more time-efficient to just follow their RSS feeds rather that wading thru the increasingly dense and repetitive firehose that Twitter has become. Twitter is a great way to find interesting people, and those interesting people can point you to good online sources - but again, once you find a good source, if your time matters to you why not deal with it directly? We - and others - have done some experiments that support this view. You can find out more about them here :http://blob.vanno.com/ . I'll even offer a prediction based on our "theory" - as employment picks back up, you'll see a decline in Twitter use among business people as they have less time to waste, and less need to build their "personal brands".
Roger Toennis
· 3 weeks ago
Ahem....ummm. Is Compete measuring Twitter API traffic in addition to "unique website visits"? Does it occur to anyone that if compete is not measuring the Twitter API traffic they are missing all the use form apps like Tweetdeck, not to mention the 500 other apps people use instead of the twitter website?
jeffberg
· 3 weeks ago
Not to suggest there's not something interesting going on here on a usability level, but has anyone noticed that the levelling off in unique visitors mimics the Google Trends graph for the word "Twitter"? In fact, even the News Reference Volume graph looks kind of like a smooshed version of the unique visitor graph.
Roger Toennis
· 3 weeks ago
Well. It's not suddenly. If you add up all the people moving to use apps instead of Twitter website and all the people coming new to twitter who are being told by twitter vets to use Tweetie, Hootsuit, PeopleBrowsr of Tweetdeck then it does make sense to see a flattening of unique visits to twitter.com.
Sylvia Smith
· 3 weeks ago
Not sure why people are even comparing facebook and twitter - 2 completely different applications. The core ones being 1) I know the ppl on my facebook book account/even if I don't I have more control over who joins. 2) really and truely twitter is just a shout in the dark to see what u get back. (its fun)
Chad Mullinax
· 3 weeks ago
I think Twitter's focus on micro-blogging has been shifted by the users themselves into a sort of user-submitted RSS feed. And with that, I see people using this as a source of national, regional and local news. A sort of information portal that is designed by the user to suit their needs. Perhaps the data we're seeing isn't that the traffic has stalled but merely shifted to mobile applications based on the Twitter API. I'm not sure if Quantcast takes this kind of traffic into consideration in it's reporting.
Just my $0.02
RobertTRB
· 3 weeks ago
As already mentioned serveral times, I believe twitter needs to market itself to the general public in a way that is easy to understand exactly what twitter is, what it can do, and how easy it is to use. I believe the new Lists feature may help increase twitter growth once more people learn what they are and how to use them. It would be interesting to see a two year chart of twitter compared to the same chart of facebook's growth. I believe facebook has an advantage over twitter as far as growth due to the more visual interface it has and the social structer it deals with. Most of the people you deal with in facebook is strictly friends and family so it has more of a warn safe cozy feeling for users. Twitter on the other hand is more open to the entire world. I'm sure some users shy away from twitter just for that reason.
Just a nobody to twitter
· 3 weeks ago
Wondering where they get the data for twitter growth from. twitter has 'banned' many people as irrelevant tweeters - so can't find them in 'Find People' & nothing is found with twitter search of from:twitteridhere. However, the spammers, hackers, and 'selling' accounts are very active. Maybe twitter has 'cut its nose off to spite its face' and people are leaving or telling others who aren't joining. No one wants to be made 'invisible' based on someone else's view of their 'value' to twitter or anything else. You listening twitter? Of course not :-(
Danny Brown
· 3 weeks ago
Apart from the obvious mobile and third-party apps not being counted, it could simply be the fact that users are getting fed up by the way Twitter is mangling the way we use the service.
1. The new "Tips" in DM's, for example, are more annoying than useful. 2. The new Retweet function that takes away the beauty of the user-generated one. 3. The mess they made with the @ feature, and how that completely ruined many users' experience.
The problem with a service like Twitter is that it's so fluid that users will come and go. It's bad enough not finding new users that will stick around, but make it a poor experience for existing users and you have problems.
Twitter needs to decide what it actually wants to be ("merely being there, behind the curtain" isn't a guarantee for success) and run with it before it's too late.
Katie Van Domelen
· 3 weeks ago
I'm sure everyone's already pointed this out - but Twitter is often used from a cellphone, mobile app, or desktop app rather than visiting the site, so site visits is not a good measure for Twitter usage whereas Facebook is most often used from the web. Unless you have stats from Twitter about the actual rate of updates, logins, API pulls, etc, the conclusions you draw in this article are unfounded.
Jason Dojc
· 3 weeks ago
The thing with using Compete or Quantcast data is that they only capture visits to twitter.com and don't take into account twitter use through applications like Tweetdeck, Ubertwitter, Tweetie etc.
Francisco G. III
· 3 weeks ago
The death of MySpace is a good example of excess flawed. If twitter were to become too big, it might die out, but if there's a steady flow for a while, perhaps it's just that calming of the waters until the next big wave comes. What's the next Twitter? Who knows, but it'll be a tough job to one up such a uniquely efficient and fast tool.
Except for that whale tho...
Suzanne Lainson
· 3 weeks ago
It's a tool that is neither practical nor helpful for average people. It serves its purpose if you are in marketing or media. It's a broadcast tool, so it's another way to get out a message. And it's a good networking tool for reaching professionals who are using it because they tend to pay attention to Twitter messages more than email.
But the real-time feature that everyone thinks is so great about Twitter is really a disadvantage for most people. They don't have enough time to always be checking it. And if they don't check it all the time, the Tweets tend to disappear and they never see them. Search is lousy because you can only look by words within 140 characters. With Google search, you have entire articles to find concepts.
The reason Facebook is better for most people is that they can catch up with friends when they have the time to sit down and look at Facebook. For mothers, that is often late at night or early in the morning when the kids are in bed.
People want to read the web and watch TV and listen to music when it is convenient for them. Twitter is trying to push the opposite concept. It's a time demander. It's a constant stream of stuff you are supposed to pay attention to.
Infuse Creative, LLC
· 3 weeks ago
Google Insights shows a recent keyword query interest decline in BOTH Twitter and Facebook: http://bit.ly/42FDzh . Google Trends for Websites, also shows a recent slight decline in traffic at both: http://bit.ly/2Xy6oC . However, as a comparative an dindicator of their popularity, they're both beating NYtimes.com, CNN.com and MSNBC.com for traffic: http://bit.ly/3P3VJU , and keyword queries at Google: http://bit.ly/4l49Zl BTW, thank you for mentioning how dramatically off Compete web stats can be. The word needs to get out on this point. Professional marketers that should know better cite them with bible like reverence and yet, when we compare our own client logs to what they report, they are always horribly off. (A site getting a million visitors a month shows 15K?!?!?). At best, at BEST, the up/down TRENDING is sometimes close, but the actual daily visitors are always off by miles...If your going to look to free 3rd party data, at least go with a source that has a dramatically better chance of being closer to correct based on the quality and sophistication of the source, i.e., Google Trends for Websites and/or Google Insights.
Brian
· 3 weeks ago
I've always thought Twitter was overhyped and due for a crashing in the long term. The Social Media revolution is much like the dot com revolution, and it will likely end that way as well. Twitter can still help itself out by making its people search tool MUCH more powerful - after all, the stupid thing makes it almost impossible to find people because there's no criteria by which you can search. It is social networking at its worst - it's just a free for all, with no networking capabilities to speak of at all. The retweet function is painfully obvious and yet they took a year to come out with it, and now it's screwy and not available to everyone. What is wrong with them?
Brian
· 3 weeks ago
I mean come on, I have a real estate twitter account and all of the people I'm following are in real estate, yet when I look for "suggested users" it recommends Jet Blue and Dell Computers. Come on, Twitter. Use some keyword filters, eh?
down to earth marketing
· 3 weeks ago
Twitter is great for B2B, Customer Service, News and Celebs.
the general public still doesn't get twitter and/or understand why it's relevant to them. plus it's missing the personal connection (a giant anchor) that facebook offers.
i only use it because i have an internet marketing company. i have my clients on it and it's effective. plus i play with it to test different tactics. but personally i'm not a fan.
infusecreative
· 3 weeks ago
We might add that Twitter is the second largest referrer of qualified traffic (By channel topic) to several of our clients websites. The value of that free, qualified and sizable traffic is difficult to argue.
down to earth marketing
· 3 weeks ago
yes. twitter is certainly effective in delivering qualified traffic.
but if it wants to go mainstream, it's going to have to find a way to make it authentic, personal and meaningful to the general populous.
JoshBoulton
· 3 weeks ago
Perhaps because more spam bots are off Twitter?
KatB
· 3 weeks ago
It probably flatlined because everyone is too busy to tweet because of this economy
jaycclee
· 3 weeks ago
My wife she doesn't tweet, I'm the news source for her.
Matt Greer
· 3 weeks ago
I've never understood the draw of twitter. I tried it for a while. But it seemed to narcissistic for me.
chrisdowsett
· 3 weeks ago
I think it's just a combination of factors: people using other applications/mobile apps to update their Twitter, the fact that you can update your Twitter status using Facebook or LinkedIn or a million other ways and that Twitter is yet to go truly international - amongst a whole bunch of other things.
~ The point is that for a site like Twitter, it would be more accurate to monitor the growth of the number of users 'regularly Tweeting' or something of that nature.
Traffic to Twitter isn't really a relevant indicator here.
Shawn Williams
· 3 weeks ago
Or maybe, just MAYBE- It's because Twitter isn't all that interesting to people outside of this little tech bubble of ours.... or maybe it's because Twitter's biggest innovation in the last 3 years has been lists.
justintabas
· 3 weeks ago
This is like any fad the faster the climb the faster the fall. Strong products have slow sustained climbs and maintain a consistent base. Fad products that are not tested or tride and true have fast climb because they are whats hot and a fast fall once everyone realizes that they are not strong products. what is the real purpose of a tweet and who has the time. facebook has many other benefits that are worth the time investment. lastly, what can twitter do that facebook cant do especially with the wall post being linked to twitter
ungeek
· 3 weeks ago
Who cares?
Ashleigh Abbott
· 3 weeks ago
I find twitter to be like watching a stock-exchange tick of media and culture.. But, guess that depends on who you subscribe to.
jmsierra
· 3 weeks ago
I think you have to consider the impact the competition is having. Facebook and other SM sites are all adding and incoroprating twitter-like features, which will draw customers away from the simple Twitter.
Dory
· 3 weeks ago
I like twitter and Facebook.... well I liked Facebook - to many security issues for me.. twitter is nice , but would be nicer if there was something like it wrapped into another service or services.. I stumbled across a new site.. Just opened.. still in beta (Puzul.com).. but looks promising. It has a feature like twitter, status updates like Facebook, blogs section, forums section, something called Events ( you can search & post events going on around you ), A postings section.. to sell/buy things, even an online storage drive, and WAY BETTER permissions...
I think that type of service is the future of things.. taking the best of all and wrapping it into 1 thing... Anyway.. long live the net...
Rita
· 3 weeks ago
It probably has a little bit to do with Miley Cyrus leaving Twitter. A lot of people only joined Twitter, because Miley Cyrus was on it. Courtney Love quit Twitter recently. She didn't have nearly as many followers as Miley, but a lot of people might have left, because she left as well. Trent Reznor quit Twitter, but now he's back. You would think people that may have quit because he did might come back. I wish Twitter had as many users as Facebook does. But more celebrities are into Twitter than Facebook. Maybe most of the population rather go online to keep in touch with their family and friends than go online to follow up on celebrities and update strangers on their lives.
Body By Chocolates
· 3 weeks ago
Twitter is a good tool. My opinion is that it is the best social networking tool today.
The problem with Twitter is not within the application but within the support of the application. For example, I'm currently locked out of my Twitter account because of issues during my password reset process. I have tried to make several calls - like you can contact them via the phone. I've made several Emails and had people do Emails on my behalf. Still no help.
My account is among the top 1% of accounts on Twitter and I am an extremely active user of their service. Yet this is the way I'm treated? I have reason to get back in as I've got a huge active following. What about the new user who has a problem? The lack of support from Twitter would lead them to give up on using this application at all.
In conclusion, the problem with Twitter is not Twitter but rather the support thereof.
nelehela
· 3 weeks ago
It's choking on itself due to being "gamed" to death. I see the same daily tweets and re-tweets of the same linked content from hundreds of users. Index that!
Adwrighty
· 3 weeks ago
Next phase will be key. Can Twitter push on from this plateau or will it fall like so many other properties that reach a plateau and can't find the next key to growth. Personally, I think they'll manage it. However, it won't be just down to their own innovation. It will require others to find new uses for it, new ways of sharing information, tracking trends. But more importantly brands / companies will need to embrace it as a way to sell product. I'm not saying we all need to fear Twitter becoming commercialised, but it's the brands that will grow it through their marketing to what are at the moment an unconverted audience.
Andrew
· 3 weeks ago
There are a limited number of people who actually have a use for Twitter. Facebook is based on friends; Twitter is based on topics. There are just not that many people who actually follow trends, read the news, or find the time/care enough to write about a topic themselves.
JonesIMA
· 3 weeks ago
I think it's just a shake-down...twitter is on the rise. First rise was curiosity, now when people see the practical uses and how it's used it will grow again. I'm all for twitter.
Rose B
· 3 weeks ago
personally i'm tired of mashable saying this type of stuff but never say if they are getting stats of apps and apis or just the main site, which I rarely go there anymore but use twitter regularly
Jay Glogovsky
· 3 weeks ago
I think it is very hard for Twitter to survive and become more then a "fad" because they have very limited things to offer. Also, more and more are pouring into Facebook, all of the options Twitter offers are now offered by Facebook which is the 3rd largest community in the world, next to China and India.
Twitter was something that was hot for a short time because of celebrities, but just as celebrities, their fame is seasonal.
Nihilo Zero (blog)
· 3 weeks ago
My guess is that Twitter would be more popular, and I doubt it's too late, if it would implement a few key features -- like inline video and pics which all users can see regardless of their browser or interface. When I first tried Twitter it was too bland for me and I just didn't get it. Months later I started using the Firefox add-on "Power Twitter" and that made the Twitter experience something which was totally palatable. I think one problem Twitter faces however is in implementing improvements too slowly -- because a lot of people won't come back for a second look like I did. One thing it has going for it is it's utter dominance in terms of what it is and what it does. I think Twitter will last.
Kim Kolb
· 3 weeks ago
Hey Stan,
Personally, I don't use twitter as much as I probably should, but that is because you only get half a story of replies, people trying to sell something or retweet the same message several times. I like Facebook because Business is separate from personal and things get communicated better.
Mike Kunkle @DreamWorthy
· 3 weeks ago
Twitter has come a long way, but it seems to have strayed from its initial purpose of microblogging or posting updates that those close to you want to read. I think it's stalled while people who aren't early adopters are figuring out what to do with it ("crossing the chasm," if you will, ala Geoffrey Moore.)
Consider some of the challenges:
- Teens and the youth market won't see it as powerful as chat or as private as IM. - Adults trying to use it as chat can find it hard to follow a string of "conversational" tweets. (The new lists may help with this.) - There is a ton of SPAM or SPAM-like updates. Unwelcomed DMs proliferate. So does porn. - Even legit attempts to market a business are viewed as SPAM or unwelcome, often because of a gap between intent of one user and the expectations of others, and no forum other than 160 character profiles to explain intent. (We created a "Twitter Manifesto" for this purpose - see http://tr.im/DWTwitterManifesto. But we've seen so little of this from others.) - Those with the most massive followings tend not to follow-back or engage with their followers. - Despite massive amounts of venture captial, the API and open source philosophy have led to apps that are actually more powerful than Twitter. But the proliferation of apps and options is likely confusing to the average person (not high-tech, not an earlier adopter).
Personally, we feel Twitter will move into the mainstream eventually, but our guess is that it will be as these issues are addressed and people have a better sense of what to actually do with it.
By the way, we are not Social Media experts, nor do we play one on Twitter. We're just small business owners of an online gift store who are trying to figure out Social Media and how to network and market effectively with it.
Keep the interesting articles coming,
Kali & Mike Kunkle _____________________ DreamWorthy Gifts LLC
We are seeing changed total audience behaviors across different demographic and psychograhic segments. Participation in conversation, following and bit.ly click-throughs has leveled over the last 90 days even on well-known big brand projects- matches the posted stats. Just makes us try new things and continue to get creative in providing value for participating in the conversation. @SocialWendy
socialwendy
· 3 weeks ago
Regarding the Teen audience- they see using Twitter like going through the Pope, no disresepect intended- they text each other directly and see no reason for others to get involved for the most part- when they want eyes on their online activity, they Facebook @SocialWendy- The Social Wendy Group
DonOmite
· 2 weeks ago
Quite simple. It was cute to begin with but it is too limiting for most people. The demographic you need to hit is the baby boomers to really make it fly. We are still stuck on email. Facebook is used to keep up with pictures of our grandchildren. Twitter is like ... who wants to be that much into somebody's life? Sorry, it is just a toy compared to other things.
All Comments
But personally I really don't care for Twitter. To me it's just a stripped down (not in the good way) version of Facebook. I get the idea of the minimalism, but I'd just rather have more robust media features to post with.
It just gives a lot of power to the users.
But using your analogy, if Twitter is the SMS of the Internet, then Facebook is the postal address of the Internet.
Facebook will not stop growing until everybody on the Internet has a Facebook account, can't say the same about Twitter though. I mean most people, including me, thought Twitter was stupid when they first heard of the idea behind it. Its really hard for me to explain it to to a non-techy.
However that is not the case with Facebook, people get it easily.
What I am trying to say is that Twitter has this barrier of the "illusion of being too complicated yet too simple to be true" Facebook is simpler to understand.
So maybe Twitter peaked out, for now :)
The others... well they won't until Twitter decides to make it easier to use. Serious, "RT", "@" replies and all this stuff. Who is interested in reading thru all the Twitter help pages. WAY TOO complicated. The other "Twitter sites", Brizzly, CoTweet, etc. are all fantastic, but I guess the Twitter hype will soon be gone. Evan should sell his "beast" as fast as he can.
I mean serious, what is Twitter?
* Most tweets are spam: "How to get 500 billion followers in 21.2 seconds"
* Then all the companies that feed Twitter with their RSS feeds
* The "celebrities" or the some PR manager
The rest is "Just came back from bathroom. Was nice" or "Just cheated on my wife" stories.
Who cares for that? If I am interested in "news", I can subscribe to an RSS feed, create a script that fetches all headlines or whatever. If I want to talk to a celebrity I write a letter or better: drive to L.A.
So what is Twitter really for? Still don't see any sense in this "service". Are people so keen to know what someone else is doing RIGHT NOW? :-o
Twitter: 3 languages
Free SMS receiving is only available in a few countries.
In Europe (except UK), sending a SMS to Twitter is expensive; users have to send SMS to a UK phone number, and international text messaging fees apply.
A very important feature for new users is the ability to find people to follow. The "Find people" function does not seem to work with partial names and I often have great difficulty finding people I know are on Twitter. The "Reply" that does not show the original text of the tweet forces me to type the context of the reply. The list goes on and on.
For those who read French, I have written a post about the usability problems of Twitter.com at: http://marcpoulin.blogspot.com/2009/09/abandon-...
If Twitter stays where it is for 4 years it will still be impressive.
To grow, Twitter needs to make it more obvious to the casual observer "who it is and what it does"....absent this, Twitter will remain only the province of the Twitterati.
Josh.
I love twitter, its awesome, i'm 15, and i still have an account, and i have it for some time now. Its really a awesome tool for social reasons, and for SEO. It could be that twitter just doesn't gain the popularity award, as its just not that interesting.
Maybe if twitter had an option for applications for example. facebook has apps. Applications seem to be the key for modern day services. People don't usally spend on their time on profiles. Usally playing games, And than login again to check on them. Apps is the way from my point of view.
Also it may be a lot more awesome if twitter allows people to somehow make money. That would differently make people join up
- Shaq
Links:
Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/ateensblog
http://www.twitter.com/shaquille110
Website
>http://www.ateensblog.com/
Facebook and Twitter are totally different, to me anyway. I don't see why every social network has to change into a clone of the most popular one.
For me twitter is a stepping stone to something else something more organised and with a lower learning curve.
(Yes, I am the grammar nazi)
http://www.msoft-technologies.com
http://www.msoftwebtemplates.com
1/ Twitter just isn't that intuitive and it takes some time to understand how it works and how to benefit yourself and your followers. I suspect a lot of people come in, hang around for a couple of days and then disappear.
2/ There was a huge rush from internet marketers a few months ago, when Twitter suddenly became a "great way to earn money online." A lot of these people have now realised that without engaging people and investing time on Twitter, it doesn't actually help you to "sell" anything. I think a lot of those people have simply walked away.
Just as a side note, it'll be interesting to see if this trend changes with the LinkedIn connection. I have a feeling a lot of LinkedIn users will be reconsidering twitter now.
With that said, I can see why some people, mainly teenagers, are not thrilled with Twitter. It isn't Facebook. There are no games. There really isn't much you can do on it besides say something in 140 characters. To teenagers, there is no flashiness to it. Maybe they like it at first, but I think after a short while they essentially get bored with it and move on to something else.
I'm really not sure what Twitter can do to make teenagers come to and stay with the website. Adding a Re-Tweeing option and Lists is nice, but not flashy. Facebook and MySpace, quite frankly, have more things to do on their website. Not sure what Twitter can do to be more "cool", but that is why I merely use the website and don't work for the company. I'm sure they will figure something out or let things be.
With Twitter, the rapidity of the messages in the ongoing flood can leave many feeling they've missed something. Another reason I still hear a lot is that many newcomers to Twitter aren't sure who to follow and what kind of information they wish to share. I know I don't follow anyone who tweets nothing but "having coffee", "having lunch", "reading a book" drivel, even if they are celebrities you are interested in following (Dutchies are warned to stay away from @PaulDeLeeuw).
I agree with the sentiment that there is nothing wrong with flat-lining if the experience and dependablilty keep on improving.
In my opinion, Twitter is a "social media network", with emphasis on the MEDIA. Twitter should push to be on the bleading edge of media coverage, whether of the tradittional sort or iReporter type.
They should make it clear (and work towards that goal) that if you want to get the news first, or best, you need to be on Twitter. If you want the latest and greatest from your favorite Star, you should be on Twitter, etc.
One step they have taken towards that is to form "lists". It is hard to know who to follow on twitter, so why not make lists based on topics that people can subscribe to? Even better, make lists you can subscribe to AND allow users to also remove or add to that list dynamically, e.g. copying someone elses list without all the effort, instead of only allowing to create your list from scratch or follow someone elses list.
The idea of Twitter is still foreign to most of my friends in my home town of Elkhart, IN. While Twitter was all over the media, no one here really latched on to the idea. I first checked twitter out about nine months ago, but ditched it because no one I knew was on it. I didn’t understand it or see what its benefits were. “I didn’t get it!” Just within the past month, a light bulb went off for me and I have become an avid Twitter user! I get it now, for all its real-time, real-life applications. From breaking news updates, to the potential for career networking, to fun, up-to-the-minute gossip, to the pure and simple concept of sharing ideas with the click of a mouse – I totally get it now.
Unfortunately, that’s not the case with most of my Michiana peers. In Elkhart, IN (population 52,647) there are only 283 people listed on Twellowhood. In South Bend, home of Notre Dame University, (population 107,789) there are only 645 people listed on Twellowhood. That seems a little low to me for a "college town!” Compare those figures to Raleigh, NC (population 392,552) where there is 7,200 people registered on Twellowhood. I could point out a west coast city that demonstrates my point further, but most of you Do the math and look at the percentages. The data points to this: While twitter grew exponentially on both coastlines, in cities like Elkhart and South Bend, twitter is still a fairly new concept. The average Middle American still doesn’t get it.
My sister runs her own Tanning and Hair Salon. In her industry magazines and at industry trade shows, I see seminars presented regarding on-line marketing. This usually includes mention of MySpace and Facebook, yet I have yet to see one seminar on how Twitter could help the small-business owner by simple subtle networking. Twitter isn’t about direct marketing so I guess the industry leaders don't consider that it can help increase business. Small business owners need to learn the concept of subtle networking.
This is where Twitter is now going to have to market itself more aggressively if it’s to engage the next key demographic – the Middle American who lives in a small to mid size town, who may or may not be a small business owner, and who is not technically savvy. Forget the teenagers; they will eventually migrate to Twitter as they get older. Twitter needs to focus on adults 30 years old and up, and specifically the baby boomers. Twitter is not like Facebook or MySpace – it takes some know-how to understand and use. At the very least, it takes a little reading up on to understand the difference between re-tweets, direct messages and replies. If Twitter wants to continue to see the same type of growth, then it’s going to have to market and position itself in a way that gets the everyday guy/gal to recognize the benefits and features Twitter has to offer. It has to be ready to handle the objection “I don’t have time to Twitter” and reposition itself as a time-saving tool when it comes to information gathering – from news to entertainment. Basically, Twitter is going to have to help the rest of the country “get it” to see the same type of growth rate.
And just on another point, I don't think it's strange that it may have Peaked for a period of time. I'm not a marketing major but isn't a leveling off period pretty typical after a period of accelerated growth?
The peak can be a breaking point. In order to avoid decline, they need to integrate some product/service/app/whatever it may be, that can create growth again.
Might be a dumb theory, but just a thought.
http://www.advertisespace.com
1. Twitter requires a mindset shift. Most of other social media applications, including Facebook, are used to network with friends and individuals that we know personally. Even SMS (old school analogy) is used to reach your friends only. Twitter, on the other hand, is wide open and the true power is to connect with interesting people you've never even met before. There is a huge difference in communication here. While you most probably have a history with your friends, giving you enough material for discussion and comments, there is very little if any basis to communicate with an unknown person. Twitter therefore demands liberation of mind - to connect with people globally without any fears and then communicate by saying something of value in just 140 characters. My opinion is that many people don't have enough courage to make that shift!
2. Obsession with applications is another problem. Most social networking sites are cluttered with various applications and for most people using them is a way to avoid direct interaction with their contacts. You can in fact continuously update your profile without communicating with a single person on Facebook and still look 'cool' and well connected. Twitter is different. It is pure and simple and demands interaction. You cannot hide behind a plethora of applications - either you tweet, RT, reply and so on, or your profile is dead boring, and people won't connect with you. Twitter profiles are, unlike in other social networking sites, all about communication!
That is why Twitter is so powerful and liberating but also vulnerable at the moment. Things will change when more and more people liberate themselves from the need to connect only with people they know and start exploring the world around them. Only then they will realize how powerful Twitter really is.
Don
2ndisntinct.com
Also, I think that communicating the real value that Twitter can have is a geeky affair and they need to get better at storytelling the benefits in a way that is accessible to everyone - btw it is definitely not about "what are you doing right now"!!!!
Twitter is a one-trick pony application where other sites can easily do the same thing and alongside other features that get used.
-Chris
And this is from a group of 20-somethings, college and recent college graduates. The generation that was raised with computers, problem solvers, the group that Twitter really needs to grab the attention of! Twitter needs to claim its reason of existence, and become more relatable to the technology-inclined generations, in my opinion. When they reach out to us, and we found it a tool that we need, we can then convince the companies that hire us that it's necessary to have and growth would be inevitable.
I blogged this point last week.
http://www.tangyslice.com/2009/10/30/calling-th...
Twitter may also end up up as a carrier free messaging service. Or maybe just another punchline like CB radio or the macarena.
Twitter is a great way to find interesting people, and those interesting people can point you to good online sources - but again, once you find a good source, if your time matters to you why not deal with it directly?
We - and others - have done some experiments that support this view. You can find out more about them here :http://blob.vanno.com/ . I'll even offer a prediction based on our "theory" - as employment picks back up, you'll see a decline in Twitter use among business people as they have less time to waste, and less need to build their "personal brands".
The core ones being 1) I know the ppl on my facebook book account/even if I don't I have more control over who joins.
2) really and truely twitter is just a shout in the dark to see what u get back. (its fun)
Just my $0.02
1. The new "Tips" in DM's, for example, are more annoying than useful.
2. The new Retweet function that takes away the beauty of the user-generated one.
3. The mess they made with the @ feature, and how that completely ruined many users' experience.
The problem with a service like Twitter is that it's so fluid that users will come and go. It's bad enough not finding new users that will stick around, but make it a poor experience for existing users and you have problems.
Twitter needs to decide what it actually wants to be ("merely being there, behind the curtain" isn't a guarantee for success) and run with it before it's too late.
Except for that whale tho...
But the real-time feature that everyone thinks is so great about Twitter is really a disadvantage for most people. They don't have enough time to always be checking it. And if they don't check it all the time, the Tweets tend to disappear and they never see them. Search is lousy because you can only look by words within 140 characters. With Google search, you have entire articles to find concepts.
The reason Facebook is better for most people is that they can catch up with friends when they have the time to sit down and look at Facebook. For mothers, that is often late at night or early in the morning when the kids are in bed.
People want to read the web and watch TV and listen to music when it is convenient for them. Twitter is trying to push the opposite concept. It's a time demander. It's a constant stream of stuff you are supposed to pay attention to.
the general public still doesn't get twitter and/or understand why it's relevant to them. plus it's missing the personal connection (a giant anchor) that facebook offers.
i only use it because i have an internet marketing company. i have my clients on it and it's effective. plus i play with it to test different tactics. but personally i'm not a fan.
but if it wants to go mainstream, it's going to have to find a way to make it authentic, personal and meaningful to the general populous.
~ The point is that for a site like Twitter, it would be more accurate to monitor the growth of the number of users 'regularly Tweeting' or something of that nature.
Traffic to Twitter isn't really a relevant indicator here.
I think that type of service is the future of things.. taking the best of all and wrapping it into 1 thing... Anyway.. long live the net...
The problem with Twitter is not within the application but within the support of the application. For example, I'm currently locked out of my Twitter account because of issues during my password reset process. I have tried to make several calls - like you can contact them via the phone. I've made several Emails and had people do Emails on my behalf. Still no help.
My account is among the top 1% of accounts on Twitter and I am an extremely active user of their service. Yet this is the way I'm treated? I have reason to get back in as I've got a huge active following. What about the new user who has a problem? The lack of support from Twitter would lead them to give up on using this application at all.
In conclusion, the problem with Twitter is not Twitter but rather the support thereof.
Twitter was something that was hot for a short time because of celebrities, but just as celebrities, their fame is seasonal.
Personally, I don't use twitter as much as I probably should, but that is because you only get half a story of replies, people trying to sell something or retweet the same message several times. I like Facebook because Business is separate from personal and things get communicated better.
Consider some of the challenges:
- Teens and the youth market won't see it as powerful as chat or as private as IM.
- Adults trying to use it as chat can find it hard to follow a string of "conversational" tweets. (The new lists may help with this.)
- There is a ton of SPAM or SPAM-like updates. Unwelcomed DMs proliferate. So does porn.
- Even legit attempts to market a business are viewed as SPAM or unwelcome, often because of a gap between intent of one user and the expectations of others, and no forum other than 160 character profiles to explain intent. (We created a "Twitter Manifesto" for this purpose - see http://tr.im/DWTwitterManifesto. But we've seen so little of this from others.)
- Those with the most massive followings tend not to follow-back or engage with their followers.
- Despite massive amounts of venture captial, the API and open source philosophy have led to apps that are actually more powerful than Twitter. But the proliferation of apps and options is likely confusing to the average person (not high-tech, not an earlier adopter).
Personally, we feel Twitter will move into the mainstream eventually, but our guess is that it will be as these issues are addressed and people have a better sense of what to actually do with it.
By the way, we are not Social Media experts, nor do we play one on Twitter. We're just small business owners of an online gift store who are trying to figure out Social Media and how to network and market effectively with it.
Keep the interesting articles coming,
Kali & Mike Kunkle
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DreamWorthy Gifts LLC
Shop at: http://www.DreamWorthyGifts.com
Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DreamWorthy
Just makes us try new things and continue to get creative in providing value for participating in the conversation.
@SocialWendy