As a daily user, Twitter can count me in as one of its daily users that it use as a metric for advertising. Despite the MAGA crowd hating Twitter along with Facebook for banning all those who spread false news and dangerous conspiracy theories, it still offers a wide range of political opinions. Politic aside, it is a very relevant and open social network that is not as manipulative as Facebook (Twitter still relies on ads for its revenue but it is looking at other sources of income). Twitter is far from a saint but it does not carry the stink of Facebook and that is a good thing. However, Twitter is missing out on become even more relevant and the go to source for news and information. If Twitter can turn that around, it will find a huge gold mine just waiting for it to take.
Like cable news, Twitter had an increase in engagement during the Trump years in office. Compared to Trump, no tweet from the Biden administration or the president has yet to generate much headlines, controversies, or retweets. I'm sure it's bad for business from Twitter's perspective. However, relying on elections and wannabe dictators is no way to build your business model upon.
Currently, Twitter is upping its game and trying to make Twitter more appealing to current users. While that is good that Twitter is trying to add features to its app (Twitter is as much a social network as it is an app), it does not hold much appear outside. It does not seem to have ever experienced the meteoric rise that other social networks have had. Aside from competitions from other social networks and apps that are fighting for user engagement and attention, it really has no competition.
So, either Twitter has a limited appear among the seven billion humans on earth or that it needs to do more to make it more appealing and engaging while not being as controversial and disliked as Facebook. Perhaps, the main limitation of Twitter's growth and appeal has to do with its beginning. Short messages of 140 characters allows users to say a lot but it is only 140 characters, basically a text message. That might have been fine in the beginning but even Twitter realized that it had to increase the number of characters users are allowed to send per tweet to 280 characters. It's like that Twitter will increase that again in the future for no reason other than to generate headlines.
Twitter has seen as a microblogging apps that blasts out short ideas but it does not do much after that. If there is a link, users are taken out of the app entirely and probably will not come back right away. Twitter has become a gateway to some. Twitter does not have to become an enclosed Internet. No need for walls to keep users in. What it does need is for users to stay longer.
Perhaps, Twitter also needs to do a campaign that explains what Twitter is all about and how it can be an important part of people's lives - for sources of good information and entertainment. Everyone once in a while, blast something out on television, Youtube, or ads on websites to reminder users that Twitter is the place to go if they to stay informed or engaged on matters or subjects they find appealing. "Local news. Sure! Follow your local news channels and get updates on weather, news, and local issues while making your voice heard." "Into vampire romance materials. Twitter is the place go to!"
One of the things that appear to users is live blogging. Twitter has not done enough to tap into that - live bloggers follow Apple and Google events and are popular among tech enthusiasts and fans. Twitter may consider sponsoring or promoting certain events with social media hosts tweeting out updates - sporting events, the next SpaceX or Virgin Galactic launches, community events, concerts, and host watch parties during new shows and post show chats with users. Spaces, a live audio feature for users to chat about whatever they want to to engage users, is a good start that Twitter needs to promote and help grow. It cannot be only the users pushing it. This is a very exciting new feature.
The possibilities are there for Twitter to rival and outshine the likes of Facebook without being despised. Twitter is not doing bad right now but it is not doing great either. There is a lot of room for improvement and growth. Twitter needs to evolve beyond tweets and move into areas that truly makes it social platform.
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