November 25th, 2008
Twitter: is there any point?
The last few days have been an eye-opener for me, because I’ve discovered there may in fact be little point in having Twitter. I see Twitter as a pain in the arse, something you have to go out of your way for and tell the world something you really shouldn’t have to. I’m not the sort of person who’ll want to keep the world updated about a) my bowel movements, b) where I’m heading to or c) some other crap which nobody else cares about.
There are two sides to every story (at least), of course.
Twitter is what we call an “Enterprise 2.0″ application; not only a web application which tells the world what you’re doing, but is highly influential in the way businesses run, keeping customers and partners informed and gaining feedback on services.
Facebook has just been declined a $500m offer for the Twitter brand, name and application, which as Steve Clayton rightly points out, “is a big chunk of cash for something that isn’t making money at the moment.” However with the massive force behind Facebook, many simply update their status their instead.
For those, and us indeed, who are at university, Twitter isn’t something that seems to be catching on. I’ve got many, many friends on Facebook which is used to interconnect the campuses, the counties and the continents, but Twitter just doesn’t seem to have taken off. And thinking about it, how are they making their money? Whether we like it or not, most web startup’s don’t survive the first 18 months; I dread to think what they have to do to keep themselves going.
Whilst it may be a next-generation application, I still struggle to see the point it makes, or the impact it has. With the API and development opportunities, it’s certainly made an impact in developing technologies such as Adobe AIR, but besides this I fail to see why I should continue to update mine; something I haven’t done in months.
Whether you’re a Twitter user or not, let me know. I’d much rather find a viable answer to this question than be left in the dark any more.
Zack Whittaker, the youngest in the ZDNet network, is a British student at the University of Kent, Canterbury, where he studies BA (Hons) Criminology and Social Policy. His insight into the next-generation is unique and first-hand, sharing his knowledge of the here and now but more so what's next and how to get there.
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