Twitter turns 10 years old today—here’s a look at how the social network is celebrating (uk.businessinsider.com).
Presumably in a similar way as most that sign up on there do, being that hopefully the “something that comes of it” will eventually involve profit:
“Twitter has undoubtedly changed the way people communicate online, most notably with its 140-character format that, for better or worse, urges users to be judicious with their words. The social platform has also become a go-to for following world events in real time. Though the platform is loved by many, the last few years for Twitter have been turbulent. Its share price has hit new lows time and again since the start of the year. Executives have been leaving the company in droves. And investors have expressed doubt about Dorsey, who works 18-hour days running Twitter and the payments company, Square, simultaneously. Regardless, Twitter remains optimistic, thanking users in its birthday blog post for ‘making history, driving change, lifting each other up and laughing together every day.’”
“Making history, driving change, lifting each other up and laughing together” being exactly what most sign up on there for, while hopefully the… something of it… is “something in it for me” invariably involving profit—being the way Google seems to promote the purpose of blogging or anything else involving the internet—becoming the kind of place views and opinions that invariably involving xenophobic deriding and “free speech” formally shared in the comments section of MSN news articles are aired. It has worked for some though, indeed, it helped columnist Katie Hopkins keep away from Big Brotherish reality TV in forming a bridge and trolling career (thisisnocave.blogspot.co.uk).
It’s main problem though seems to be becoming the over billion signed-up Facebook with related targeted ad-revenue to tap rather than invariably where F’bookers turn on the occasions it’s down to tell everyone F’book is down (25th Sept. 2015), and where Instergramers can post #FreedNipple in rage against Instgram nipple check bots takedown. Which, despite turning a ten-year corner, could still see it going the way of MySpace if indeed people only seem to gravitate to wherever the greater number are, which everyone’s friend Tom would no doubt have disapproved, presumably because he has less friends to introduce himself too.
I’ve never really been one for social networks although I do indeed greatly enjoy the content shared on many, particularly Instagram and Twitter which is related to the celebrities I caricature—and therefore purposeful in the “something in it for me way” it is for everyone else—and indeed, I briefly indulged, signing up with a private account not to “friend” said celebrities but rather hopefully to interact with people I actually knew who were on there, but quickly found communicating with others you actually know as a means to an end in itself was seemingly not its raison d’être, seemimngly being attracting the attention of people you don’t know yet for whatever oppotunity it may hold being more so; indeed, similar to my experience with MySpace.
Nevertheless, perhaps its enduring bequest, now widely appropriated and indeed quite usefull for directing attention, will be the #Hashtag: Hashtags that changed the world (msn.com).
Updated 27th April 2016
Nothing Twitter is doing is working (theverge.com).
“Individually, most of the changes Twitter has made to its core product have been welcome, if overdue. The company has not alienated the service’s core users in large numbers—no small feat. … [But] marketers have withheld their advertising dollars … while Twitter has retained its big brand advertisers, it has failed to develop an enormous self-serve ad platform in the manner of Google and Facebook. (An example of self-serve ads would be app install ads, which have been tremendously successful at Facebook and much less so at Twitter.) It’s simply not clear that Twitter is as effective at direct marketing efforts as its rivals, and its revenues have suffered accordingly.”
Perhaps because a majority using have seemingly learnt that trolling and hate is the most direct method to their own 15 minutes—or 15 seconds—as any attempt to monetise it invariably would too as, you know, those sorts are not really buyers and targeted ad-words or phrases would likely include feelings of exclusion, misogyny, misanthropy, jealousy, envy and hemorrhoid cream.
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