Dear Twitter,
It’s ok that you lost your way. We’re writing because we want to help you continue to transform the world, not by changing yourself (as you seem to want to do), but by applying your own mix of globally connected, one-to-many communications to other problems. Let’s be blunt: you’re ignoring your biggest asset (us!) and are becoming too influenced by gangs shouting letters: UI, UX, TWTR, EPS. Stop that and consider another path of inclusion: help us earn a living.
We knew you were special
When you were born we knew you were special. Your precocious first word (“tweet”) made it clear that while you were big enough to tell the world, you were different enough to include our broadcast, however small our inkling. Similarly rare, your follow up word, (“retweet”) showed us that you possessed the machinery with which our thoughts could become the collective conscious, the meme. As you grew with gigantic leaps, we watched as you’d fall, bringing up that whale: cute and tolerable like the toddler that you were. You were fun to watch, to be a part of, because you were the future. Our future.
Obviously you were powered by technological advances, but let’s be honest about where your power comes from. It’s not from the technology, however awesome it is. It’s from us. You’re the modern conduit for our gossip, and an amazingly efficient one at that. You were (are?) an open, inclusive, medium that is small enough to fit into most places in our lives, but big enough to start revolutions.
Which brings us to today. You’ve connected the world’s people, 140 characters at a time, and for this we will always have a place in our hearts for you. We need you; we’re fickle. MySpace. Friendster. Mosaic. If you want to join them, continue to think that you must iterate instead of apply.
Let’s list your skills:
- you can verify the identities of a large portion of humans on the planet.
- you facilitate communication in a one to many relationship, where the size or particulars of the “many” is not known at the time of message creation, enabling good ideas to spread.
What kind of business can you build with that?
Advertising has historically been adjacent to content, so it was natural that you’ve been chasing that dollar. But it’s really not what we want. Advertising increases the viewing friction, and frankly we need the tiniest of reasons to try something better.
What we want is to make money with Twitter. It’s that insanely simple. We like the world you’ve helped create. Now we want you to help us make money. Not the other way around. When you help us earn a living with our thoughts, we will gladly support you like the utility that you ultimately grow into.
Atri and the Attribution Economy
Here’s a sketch of what we built standing on your back that supports that very idea. We call the concept the “attribution economy”, and our product is called @AtriDotMe (you can download an early version at the Chrome store). We turned your one-to-many model upside down, making the money flow to each content creator. The people that positively influence my month will be compensated by Atri. Those that don’t, won’t. This is what we mean by apply. Surely you can find other opportunities for growth?
As you mature, you know we’re all rooting for you. Your first adult venture into advertising was safe, but we think you’ve got more great things in you. I don’t think it’s time for #RIPTwitter, but you really never know, do you? If you’d like to learn more about our great thing, let us know, and Good Luck.
