Twitter
earns a lot of praise and recognition for developing one of the most
powerful and popular web tools to date. However, its increasingly
visible problems are frustrating users and pundits who are demanding
satisfaction – or an alternative.
However,
Twitter's problems aren't easily fixed. In fact, there are 5 major
problems plaguing Twitter:
1-
Over capacity – how many times have you tried to access Twitter
only to be hit with a jovial cartoon whale that lamely apologizes for
denying you of your addiction? Not unlike a bloated whale, Twitter is
slowly being beach by over-capacity problems; with more and more
users come more demand which is grinding on Twitter's servers and
rejecting its fans. And yet, Twitter seems unable to address these
demands despite tens of millions of dollars in fresh financing. The
problem has forced a bottleneck for users, and some are using it less
and pining for alternatives. Fortunately for Twitter, there is no
credible alternative with a critical mass to challenge Twitter...
yet.
2-
Search – I've yet to come across a worse search engine than
Twitter's search. Try and find a person by their real name and you
will intimately understand this frustration. In fact, Twitter search
isn't even good at searching its own user names. I operate a few
accounts, and one is called “intranet2.” A search on “intranet”
does not uncover this account even though it has more followers than
most of the unknown users in its results pages (many of which don't
have the word “intranet” in their user name). As for searching
for content by keyword... forget about it; it's not worth the
aggravation.
3-
Crap, crap, crap – its becoming increasingly difficult to filter
out the crap, and the fly-by-night Tweet spammers. My favorite of
course are the Twitter wanna-be types who follow as many people as
they can come across only to quickly unfollow them in an attempt to
massage their egos by building a follower base. While Twitter
certainly doesn't force me to follow anyone it would be nice to avoid repeated emails from the “internetmarketer” who repeatedly
follows and unfollows me (I'm sure he and his partner in the Nigerian
Ministry of Finance offer superlative, sage advice). While Twitter does provide a "block" feature, it may take 3 or 4 follow and unfollows before I recognize the need (through all the clutter) to go and block a follower. Furthermore, if
Twitter had half a search engine, then I could seek out reasonable
and credible Tweeple to follow instead of having to wait for them to
find me amongst the swarms of spammers.
4- Antiquated
technology – I've been on Twitter for more than a year now (an
eternity in the world of demanding social media users) and its almost
exactly the same. While Yammer and other services beef-up their
technology and functionality, Twitter sits there and does little (or
nothing). Not only is the interface overly simplistic despite its use
and demand, there have been no upgrades (no discussion threads, no
Re-Tweet button, no bookmarking). Nowhere are the technology
limitations more noticeable than the problems with security. Hackers
have taken notice of Twitter's soft approach to technology and are
hammering it with viruses and worms. See Twitter
under attack again
(VNUnet) and Twitter
riddled with worms and scams (again)
(Register).
5-
No (visible) business model – can we please send some grey hairs
over to the Twitter HQ? Please, bring some grown-ups into the office
and develop a source of revenue already, or sell it to someone who
can. All of the above problems could be overcome or minimalized if it
had some revenue to help address these challenges. I really enjoy
Twitter, and recognize its enormous power and potential, but I'm
going to leave in a heartbeat if an alternative with critical mass
presents itself.
Different
platforms, with different approaches, serving different needs... but
both are highly viral and are used for social networking. Facebook is
the most successful social networking website / platform and,
depending on the rankings, the 2nd - 5th most
visited website on the planet. Well down the traffic rankings list is
Twitter at somewhere around 200th on the list (see
Alexa.com for rankings).
However,
it incresingly clear that Twitter will one day soon overtake Facebook
as the social networking champion for a number of obvious reasons...
1-
Connections - Its much easier to add connections (followers) on
Twitter. With a click you can see 30 or more followers of any one
person and by reading a Tweet or two, determine whether you want to
follow them (and often, by custom, they will automatically follow
you... opening up exponential connecting opportunities amongst
respective followers). Additionally, Tweeps don't have to ask for
permission to follow someone, its automatic with no approval process.
Typically, Facebook friends know each other in real life... this is
not the case on Twitter.
2-
Security – Twitter doesn't breed the same security and privacy
concerns that are associated with Facebook and the Facebook platform.
Tweeps only post one photo, often an icon, or representative image
rather than themselves, and a very short bio with a link. Facebook
openly encourages you to share as much about yourself as possible and
encourages the use of applications that want to grab as much personal
information about you as possible.
3-
Interface – The Twitter user interface could hardly be easier to
use: quick hit posts or micro or mini blogs, a quick glance at other
Tweets, and you're out. Facebook is increasingly heavy and cluttered:
a myriad of applications, information feeds, photos, ads, etc.... one
is left wondering where to look. I have no clue where my “Wall”
is anymore, and I now find it stressful to look at Facebook as
there's simply too much to digest, and I can no longer do it at a
glance.
4-
Big brother – Facebook's ownership and management has made
conspicuous effort to get tough with its members in recent months.
Rather than listen, read or watch what users want, Facebook had
decided to do what it wants, in spite of its users. Recently there
was the infamous new Terms of Service that implicitly said, “Screw
you guys, we'll do what we want with YOUR content.” Follow that up
with recent changes to the interface despite massive outcries and
user complaints, and Facebook has taken on a reputation of being a
bullying 'big brother'... and some members have started deleting
their accounts.
5-
Applications – There are thousands of Facebook applications, but so
many of them serve little or no value, are frequently invasive, if
not down right abusive. I have no interest in chomping vampires,
finding out “what kind of sandle” I am (are you frickin' kidding
me?!), or surrendering my soul for a cheap IQ test, let alone selling
all of my personal information for free. Twitter applications are
fewer and far-between, but can be tremendously helpful. Tweetdeck is
a god-send to Twitter, its founders, and users – it has quadrupled
the Twitter experience for highly active Tweeps (ask anyone who uses
it). Those that operate multiple Twitter accounts swear by the Twhirl
application; and the Tweetpic is now taking Twittersville by storm.
There's another key differentiator: people "join" Facebook, but they "use" Twitter. That's not to say that people don't "use" Facebook, but most are passive members that check the site when they get a note or a friend invite, or once-in-a-while to see what people are doing. Twitter's community however is extraordinarily active -- the average Tweep is on the site several times per day (or using an application that connects to the site). So while Facebook will continue to have a larger membership, Twitter will grow at a faster rate, but will be far more heavily used. Additionally, the mobile use of Tweeps who Tweet from their PDA will begin to skyrocket and far eclipse anything Facebook has ever seen from mobile users.
Facebook
is great social networking, but Twitter is more viral, and better used -- it will
overtake Facebook someday soon....
--
Toby
Ward is an Internet & intranet consultant, writer and
speaker, and the Founder of Prescient Digital Media. Feel free to
look him up on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @tobyward.
Need help working with or implementing social media? See Prescient Digital Media's Web 2.0 Blueprint.
Barrack
Obama has 282,000 followers (though his minions have only Tweeted on
his behalf a mere 2x since the election); Shaquille O'Neal has 93,000
followers; and I have a mere 210 after four months of active
“tweeting” (though my followers already outnumber my Facebook and
LinkedIn friends).
Most,
when hearing of Twitter for the first time, merely shake their heads
with a response that includes phrases like “I don't get it,”
“that's stupid,”and “I don't have the time” (my personal
favorite is, “It sounds too much like diddler”). And yet, few
would deny the power of Facebook now, the fourth most trafficked
website on the Internet, but many used the same words and phrases in
response to Facebook when they first heard of it one or two years
ago.
Janssen-Cilag's Twitter-like microblogging tool on the corporate intranet
2.7 million
U.S. visitors in December (U.S. only) a nearly eight-fold rise in
one year (Nielsen)
666,000 U.S.
users accessed Twitter on mobile devices in December (Nielsen)
One in five
(20%) of 18 to 34 year-olds have tried Twitter or a similar service
at least once (Pew Internet Life)
The median age
on Twitter is 31, older than Facebook's 26 and MySpace's 27 (Pew)
Approximately
5-10 million registered users (best guess depending on the guesser;
Facebook has 150 million users, and LinkedIn 34 million) (PC World)
For
Interent users, the evolution of Twitter is best described by MinXuan
Lee (@minxuan) in the 5 stages of Twitter Acceptance (How
Twitter Changed My Life):
Denial:
“I think Twitter sounds stupid. Why would anyone care what other
people are doing right now?”
Presence:
“OK, I don't really get why people love it, but I guess I should
at least create an account.”
Dumping:
“I'm on Twitter and use it for pasting links to my blog posts and
pointing people to my press releases.”
Conversing:
“I don't always post useful stuff, but I do use Twitter to have
authentic 1x1 conversations.”
Microblogging:
“I'm using Twitter to publish useful information that people read
and converse 1x1 authentically.”
Twitter
is changing the face of social media, which in-turn has reinvented
the Internet. The story of U.S. Airways flight 1549 landing in the
Hudson River was broken on Twitter, more than 10 minutes before CNN
had the story. Ditto the Mumbai bombings which triggered an onslaught
of 'tweets' at an estimated rate of 900 per minute during the height
of the crisis.
As
I write this, Twitter is growing by leaps and bounds, and so to is my
list of followers (Barrack Obama just became a follower... must be a
bot). To put it in a business context, a Network
World survey of 583 IT execs found that 84% said they visit
social networking sites on a regular basis, up from 68% last year;
64% use those same sites more than they did one year ago.
As
it transforms social media, Twitter is helping to reinvigorate the
corporate intranet. At Prescient Digital Media we use a Twitter-like
platform called Yammer. It's
free to use and myself and other staff are using it to keep abreast
of each other's work and activities.
The future for
Twitter is extremely bright: they've turned down one US$500 million
offer from Facebook, undoubtedly several other big offers, and are
undoubtedly worth well north of $1 billion. Twitter has just raised
an additional US$35 million in venture capital and no doubt has some
big plans for that cash, but is so far remaining hush and humble about
the plans and their success to date.
For
all the heroics of pilot Chesley Sullenberger and the happy ending
for all the survivors of the ill-fated US Airways flight that
splashed-down in the Hudson, the parent corporation directing that
flight does not earn a similar fate. Though US Airways did not
completely fail the crisis, they did fail at web crisis
communications.
Within
moments of the plane landing in the Hudson, ferries began to redirect
their sterns to the partially submerged wing tips of the big jet
airliner; the only quicker response was the one by users of Twitter.
The tweets were ringing through the Twitter website and PDAs across
the planet faster than CNN could break the story. A simple lesson,
really: the Web has become the ultimate quick response system in
times of crisis. Though this lesson has been re-learned many times
(the bombings on Mumbai are just one of countless examples), US
Airways still had not learned the lesson.
Amongst
the flurry of tweets were those from myself, who working from the
greatest of distances, my building in Vancouver, was able to
communicate more about the story than the airline itself. And while
the Internet continues to prove itself amongst the fastest of
communications channels, US Airways still did not have a response or
a message on their website two hours after their accident. I was
watching – and the company posted no message on their home page,
and none to their press room.
The
Motrin Moms crisis sparked by a controversial Motrin ad on their website has
provided some interesting lessons on how companies must learn to adapt. In
short, Motrin ran an ad that summarized said, “Take Motrin if you wear your
baby in a sling or carrier.”
(Disclaimer:
I don’t support the ad or Motrin’s position, nor am I opposed to it, I’m merely
commenting on the influence and power of social media. My wife is not offended
either and both of us have carried our daughters in slings).
A number
of mothers were highly offended and started a firestorm on Twitter
and on the blogosphere. The protest erupted and began to garner media coverage.
Motrin eventually pulled the ad – then they took down the entire website! In
summary, a bunch of very vocal mothers on Twitter and blogs forced Motrin to
its knees within 3 days. Motrin apologized:
So…it’s
been almost 4 days since I apologized here for our Motrin advertising. What an
unbelievable 4 days it’s been. Believe me when I say we’ve been taking our own
headache medicine here lately!
Btw - if
you’re confused by this - we removed our Motrin ad campaign from the
marketplace on Sunday because we realized through your feedback that we had
missed the mark and insulted many moms. We didn’t mean to…but we did. We've
been able to get most of the ads out of circulation, but those in magazines
will, unfortunately, be out there for a while.
We are
listening to you, and we know that's the best place to start as we move ahead.
More to come on that.
In the
end, we have been reminded of age-old lessons that are tried and true:
When
you make a mistake - own up to it, and say you’re sorry.
I
personally think that the whole case is overblown – which the Web can easily do
– but there was damage, and Motrin has had to face the music. Motrin apologized,
which is sufficient for me, but not enough for others.
You need a community about
your brand -- private or public -- so you can test how these things will
play. This is essential market research.
You need a Twitter account
and/or a blog to be able to respond quickly when these things happen. They
do happen. They could and will happen to you. (They have certainly
happened to me, and it's a good thing I had a place to respond.) Otherwise
you have no voice.
Viral has two sides. Never
forget that.
Immunize your marketing and
brand staff by educating them. Show them what happened here, and ask them,
"Does this scare you? Do you see the power of this stuff?" Then
invest $20 and buy them a copy of Groundswell
or Secrets of Social Media Marketing to
help them get a clue, and use this incident to get them started.
Design Your Website For Rapid
Response - If your site has to be taken down in order to respond to a
crisis, re-design it so that it can be updated quickly and easily without
having to throw your organization and agencies into a panic. Worry about
your response strategy, not the design of your site.
Think Like A Blogger,
Tweeter, Community & Citizen Journalist - Look at how quickly the
mommy community organized and produced an authentic video. It's because
they don't have legal guidelines holding them back. You probably do—but of
you can figure a way around them, you can fight authenticity with
authenticity, which looks less like a fight and more like a conversation
anyway.
Have A Google Strategy In
Place - Aside from perhaps smoothing things over with the offended, the
real incentive for any organization to engage in situations like this is
to influence the search results and digital trail so that your
organization presents well on them. The best way to do this is to have
people saying good things about you which means you have to give them
something good to say and can't force it. The end goal needs to be helping
people. The ROI will be a much more positive long tail.
My
advice: when marketing a product or service, its best to stay away from
religion, and babies. And really, why the hell don’t you have a Twitter account
yet?
Now does
anyone think the Dr. Pepper campaign regarding Guns N’ Roses and their new
album was a smart move? I think it was brilliant… up until their site crashed
and people couldn’t redeem their coupons…
