Compared to digital giants GAFA, Twitter is still a little birdie. But Twitter is listed on the stock exchange and channels massive power and influence within our media-democracies — as became impressively clear during the last US election. But how can this be monetarised?
This is the big challenge Twitter management — which has unfortunately been changing repeatedly — has been facing. Analysts have talked up developing share performance again and again in the past. However, when the founder of the company Jack Dorsey, rejoined two years ago, share prices actually dropped to half their value. Although stock prices have stabilised since then, Twitter has become a takeover target. Now, with the onboarding of Biz Stone, another founder, the company is revitalising. A Twitter stock analysis by our digital agency .FUF
Twitter is special
Twitter is not like the other social networks. Titbits, fun or keeping in contact with former classmates have never been the platform’s focus. Instead, Twitter has always had something technical, cryptic, nerdish. The type of language and the users themselves are different from those on other platforms. Much of the communication features insider-abbreviations. Right from the start, and to the present day, the majority of the Twitter audience has been internet professionals: editors, media experts, online-freaks and geeks. Twitter has always been a highly efficient tool and the favourite platform for this target group. But it is exactly this that makes this social network, perhaps the most intellectual network, a touch elitist.
Even after years of use, Twitter can still confuse its users. Where is that notification, the one that appeared on the smartphone a little while back, on the desktop now? And did I send the author a message or a tweet last night? This type of uncertainty is highly problematic — after all, we all want to know what we are doing, appear professional in social media and not run the risk of being the laughing stock within the community.
This background alone is good enough reason to optimise the usability of the user interface — to make it more intuitive and less confusing. This in turn means mastering the difficult balance between fulfilling the expectations of the professional Twitter community and adjusting to the needs of a broader audience — about which, more later.
Twitter is powerful
The current US President @realDonaldTrump owes his surprising success in part to Twitter. While the digital campaign of @BarackObama still encompassed all social media, Trump made his way virtually exclusively with Twitter. With direct, partly audacious and confronting Tweets. Basically the birdie not only opens up new opportunities for direct democracy, but also serves populism as a highly efficient tool.
In any case, Twitter is the perfect broadcaster amongst the social platforms, and this aspect makes Twitter still a highly up-to-date media and the probably most interesting social networks for political discussions and social opinion formation.
In line with the principal of the separation of powers, Twitter is the stronghold of the digitised fourth power in stable democracies. States with weak democracies often ingloriously draw attention to the weakness of their democracy by blocking free availability of open internet services like Twitter.
From pro platform to public media
Leaving comparisons with Facebook and the like aside for a while, one could be quite satisfied with Twitter’s position and importance. However, monetarisation of this importance is inevitably limited by this very status. Timeline ads are poison for professional users, which is why the largest part of the advertising potential the platform offers has already been exploited.
Naturally, shareholder’s expectations of Twitter shares are higher.
In the past, Twitter has nearly always opted in favour of the established community of professional users. For example, the holy limit of 140 characters from the SMS Stone Age has not been touched. Even today, standard mails are best left without media content in favour of character, conciseness and frequency.
But all of that hinders growth which is only possible with a larger audience. As do the twitter-typical #hashtags and @abbreviations, despite their being considered cool and geeky at various times.
Where to now, Twitter?
The years don’t seem to have changed much at Twitter. With Vine and Periscope the focus had moved towards video, although this did not generate a great influx of new users either. That is the negative view. The positive side to it was that this rigorous focus on professionals as target group has effectively prevented wrong decisions in favour of a stronger growth of the group of users.
It is a definite that today, any development towards Snap or Facebook’s Camera Effects Platform would be the wrong move for Twitter.
Twitter is broadcasting at its best. Twitter is personal and media broadcast and micro-broadcast. Twitter is instant news. Its positioning at the heart of the media world and its curating and discussing of media content is the core of the platform. Twitter must be the no. 1 second screen next to TV, but be equally capable of replacing the TV. However, in terms of mere functions, even Facebook has long ago left Twitter standing, at least as far as sharing media content is concerned.
In principle, a decision to go for more user growth is overdue. Nevertheless, that will mean sacrificing one or other of Twitter’s unique characteristics. Moreover, the professionals on the platform must be enabled to move along without hesitation — they are Twitter’s capital.
Or, in the future Twitter evolves into a foundation and enhances its self-perceived role as bearer of social responsibility and focuses on political opinion formation, democratisation, equality, transparency and responsible social behavoir — as indeed has been a part of Twitter all along.
Whatever the development may be: design and usability of the apps and websites must become more attractive and more intuitive as soon as possible.
And maybe a groundbreaking decision is required
#Hashtag, @youall
❤ #LoveTwitter
