A couple of days ago, I was asked a very interesting question by a digital strategy and execution expert (@shaundakin) “Is twitter dead?”
You may have heard, if you follow the news on social media, that Twitter has been in a spot of bother for quite some time now. Over the past year, they have lost 2 million customers, shares and profits are falling and all in all… the picture looks pretty bleak.
So what can we put this awful past year down to? It all comes down to Twitter not keeping up with the times! Look at the progress Facebook has made in the past year with an improved search, proper video integration, instant articles, shopping, the list goes on! Facebook has 1.6 billion users. Even Instagram has overtaken Twitter’s 305 million users by almost another 100 million. Twitter is still struggling to integrate video which is foolish considering the fact that by 2017 it is estimated that 80% of phone usage will be attributed to video. At least they have given us an option to add GIFs to our tweets though, right?
But Twitter isn’t dead yet. What it has is its niche, and that is quick fire communication in 140 characters or less. When it comes to a demand for current information, news updates, press releases, whatever… Twitter is still ahead of the pack.
My final thoughts on the matter, CEO Jack Dorsey has got his work cut out for him but there are some very clear steps forward that he needs to undertake; Video integration being at the very forefront of everything else. There have been rumours they want to do away with the 140 character limit. I think that would just detract from the whole spirit of Twitter. Taking away what makes this social platform so unique. Not dead yet, but all it needs is a burst of life.
Thank you for the question @shaundakin
