Tech Focus: The Slow Death of Twitter

Twitter appears to be going the way of betamax, laserdisc (although laserdisc has been making somewhat of a comeback, at least among the more hip of the Brooklyn hipsters), the dodo bird and myspace.com.  Or, to be slightly less hyperbolic, Twitter could be set to become the social media platform where communications directors of the political, business, journalism and entertainment world talk to and out-snark each other.

Twitter-logoTwitter stock shares (TWTR) were brutalized, dropping over 10% on news that new user, advertisement revenue, user activity and almost all other measurable growth projections have either failed to meet expectations or are in decline.  

This news must be akin to blue collar workers having their factory jobs shipped to Mexico or China for so many communications professionals, who have made careers out of being wizards of the Twitterverse” – leaving many sobbing, “You can take print media, you can slash thousands of salaried positions but keep your dirty mitts off of Twitter!”

Seriously speaking, there is no doubt that Twitter is beloved within the communications field, but as a social media platform, is not growing among regular users like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube or Snapchat.  So while Twitter is unquestionably an effective communications tool (just ask President Trump), without a growing regular user base, potential advertisers seem set to consider Twitter a second-tier platform.

So why aren’t regular people flocking to Twitter?  Opinions vary, and as with almost everything in modern American, appear split down political and party lines.  Experts on the left claim that users are scared away from Twitter due to out of control harassment, cyber bulling and hate speech.  While those on the right, claim that measures to police the dark side of twitter have become draconian and amount to nothing short of censorship.  Wall Street insiders seem more focused on the poor performance and leadership of C.E.O. Jack Dorsey, who is basically working part-time due to also heading his credit card processing platform Square.

What do you think?  Why aren’t regular people flocking to Twitter?

Milo Yiannopoulos (YouTube)

Milo Yiannopoulos (YouTube)

It does seem suspicious that the same year Twitter very publicly banned Milo Yiannopoulos, Martin Shkreli and a host of others in its effort to control cyber bullying and “hate speech,” they experience their worst year in terms of growth and earnings.  Certainly both men will claim Twitter’s slide is due to internet savvy users protesting and leaving the site due to recent censorship.

However, it seems as if the leaders at Twitter are doubling down by recently suggesting that their biggest problem was not taking action to prevent abuse fast enough.

So is Twitter’s problem simply poor management, too much censorship and not subscribing to the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” theory, or allowing their platform to fester as an internet wild west for too long?  We’d love to hear your opinion in the comments section.

 

Rob Giuffre is a Network+ and A+ certified computer/network technician and sole owner of RatCat Computers. Email Giuffre@protonmail.com for a free quote and to schedule a service appointment for any computer or network issue.  We appreciate, respect and value all of our clients.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email