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Posts Tagged: network
15
Apr 10
Are you happy with Twitter’s new direction?
There’s no doubt about it: Twitter is growing up. After a year of explosive growth paired with a total lack of strategy, the news coming out of Chirp seems to suggest that the micro-blogging platform wants to step its game. As we note in the lead story of SmartBrief on Social Media , the company has sketched out its future in more concrete terms than ever before. Metadata for tweets, @anywhere functionality and better location-aware features made headlines this week — but those announcements all felt anti-climatic to me. These are things Twitter should have been doing all along — in most cases, they’re things other social networks already do. The announcement that it was going to provide more robust access to user data, however, got my attention. Twitter’s simplicity makes it a powerful tool for research. It could tell us so much about ourselves and about how we interact with each other. The Library of Congress is acquiring Twitter’s archives for exactly that reason. Normally, social-media research makes me nervous, but I think that because Twitter is a broadcast tool, it makes a better candidate for academic work than most networks. Twitter is meant to be public, meant to be shared in a way that other networks just aren’t. It’s coming as close to a public record of what the world is talking about as we’re ever likely to see — and I think Twitter is smart to capitalize on that. But what do you think? Are you happy with the announcements coming out of Chirp? What initiative are you most excited about? Are you worried about Twitter being turned into a research engine? What other directions would you like to see the network explore? Image credit, M. Dykstra , via Shutter Stock
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Are you happy with Twitter’s new direction?
13
Apr 10
Will Twitter’s ad model be good for businesses?
Twitter is expected to announce its advertising model today. The site will begin running ads known as “Promoted Tweets” in Twitter searches for keywords. Eventually, the ads may also appear in users’ Twitter streams. These ads will be labeled as such, but unlike regular tweets, they will not move down a user’s feed over time. The company says it will measure user engagement to try to make sure the ads are relevant to the users. That’s all well and good — I hope Twitter is able to use the model to support the network we’ve all come to know and love. The question is: Will these “Promoted Tweets” prove to be a worthwhile investment for advertisers? I’m not privy to what the network plans to charge for these ads — but I think it’s a safe assumption that the total cost in money and time of running an ad on Twitter will be greater than the cost of just having a Twitter account and using it to promote your brand. And I suspect that having a static ad — the Twitter equivalent of a banner ad — may not be as effective as some companies may hope. I think it’s harder to get a consumer to engage and connect with a paid advertisement. Will people respond to these ads? Will they want to connect with the company to learn more? Will they re-tweet the ads? I’m not saying there’s no way that Twitter ads can ever have a positive ROI. But I am skeptical. I worry that companies will look at these ads as social-media billboards, instead of additional opportunities to engage. I suspect the companies that fare best under the new system will be the ones that best understand how to use social tools to reach out to the fans. What do you think of Twitter’s advertising system? Will “Promoted Tweets” prove to be a better investment for businesses than the Twitter tactics we’ve seen to date? Does using paid media hurt a company’s ability to generate earned media? Image credit, kentoh , via Shutterstock
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Will Twitter’s ad model be good for businesses?
12
Apr 10
Are acquisitions good for Twitter?
When a business has a problem, it has two avenues for solving it. It can either build its own solution or it can buy one from someone else. Many young companies opt to build their own solutions, since capital is in short supply. Twitter is different. Capital hasn’t been a problem during its four years of operation, but the network is plagued with more shortcomings than the company could hope to address on its own. Twitter could have made some tough calls about where to innovate and where to fall behind. Instead, it took a third path, allowing developers to create solutions in exchange for a chance to piggyback onto the network’s popularity. I’ve argued before that Twitter can’t go on being a piecemeal collection of apps — but with its acquisition of Atebits — the lead story in today’s SmartBrief on Social Media — a new question arises. Should Twitter build its own solutions or buy the developers that have helped keep the network relevant? At first blush, the better move might be to freeze out the developers and create a robust platform in-house. Twitter is all grown up now, right? They’re going to announce a revenue model, and soon they’ll be raking in the cash. The temptation has to be there to scorn their developers and create in-house versions of all the best apps. I might love that as a consumer, but I think it’d be a mistake for Twitter in the long run. Twitter’s app community is always going to be more robust and innovative than Twitter on its own could ever be. Rather than trying to compete with its greatest asset, the network needs to make deals with the best developers, possibly even making more acquisitions, so that the network continues to evolve. I think Twitter has come too far with its community to turn its back on them now. Will buying app developers make Twitter a stronger network? Would Twitter be better off designing its own solutions in-house, rather than partnering with developers? Which solution is more likely to drive innovation? Image credit, bioraven , via Shutterstock
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Are acquisitions good for Twitter?