OH: “Wikipedia Raises $11B To Buy Twitter…”

… should be the headlines we will be reading soon. We have seen the other headlines lately about Twitter not “innovating” enough and how they are having a hard time staying relevant in an ever changing technological landscape. In fact, just the other day, #RIPTwitter was being tagged hundreds of times a minute. With Jack back, everyone keeps drawing comparisons to Steve returning to Apple, but the differences are too great to cover in this post. So what should Jack and the Board do?

Enter, Wikipedia or Wikimedia. Wikimedia states that it is a “global movement whose mission is to bring free educational content to the world.” The access to information Wikipedia has brought to the world is unparalleled and just as unparalleled is what Twitter has done to the openness of communication the world over. So much so that “Twitter Revolution” has a page on Wikipedia documenting the influence and role played in social movements around the world. While this may not be educational in a traditional sense, Twitter is helping educate the masses about the corruption and atrocities that exist around the world. This is a service greatly needed by many, but hard to put a distinct value on, which is what has Wall Street all in a frenzy about Twitter’s stock value and possible “real world” value.

So what can be done? I think Jack and the Board are all looking for ways to generate better returns from a company that has no business in trying to generate cash value for shareholders. Originally, I thought it could be a good asset for someone like Google or Facebook, but at the end of the day, I see too many reasons this would most likely never happen. As I was browsing Wikipedia, it dawned on me that with a great public service mission, having Twitter join Wikipedia would be an amazing opportunity for both to continue their service to a growing global community. I also realized that Wikipedia is more trafficked than Twitter both here in the US and abroad(if you believe Alexa). As for the initial headline, $11B seemed like a fair number for shareholders; higher than the current market value, but achievable with the use of current Twitter revenue projections, some generous donations, and a plan for long term financial sustainability.

At the end of the day, I just wanted to share this thought with some of you. Looking forward to other thoughts/questions/comments.

Enjoy! -Scott F.