- Image by VitiligoCover via Flickr
It is tempting to blow off new social media applications as fads. When you’ve been “hurt” by the promise of a new, hot social site only to watch it crash and burn or simply stagnate into irrelevancy, the subconscious tends to guard against future disappointment by calling everything new in its wake a fad.
Twitter has long passed the fad stage and has ensconced itself in the common usage stage. Even though it is expecting only 25 million users by the end of this year, there’s enough going on around Twitter these days to start talking about critical mass. WIRED Magazine’s Steven Levy reported Twitter is looking to grow to 100 million users by the end of 2010 and 1 billion users by 2013. (”Mob Rule! How Users Took Over Twitter“, October, 2009)
In every way, the founders of Twitter are taking the long tail to success by building a foundation and resisting all temptations to cash out (and possibly flame out with devoted users) because of hasty decisions regarding monetization and features.
Still, people mining Twitter Search today for real-time buzz about products, services, hot topics and hot questions can be seen as pioneers when comparing the number of current Twitter users with projections 1-3 years out. We just can’t call it a fad anymore.
Related articles…
- Twitter Lists: Share Yours in the Comments! (mashable.com)
- State of the Twitter 2009 (manolith.com)
- What’s the Future of Twitter? 30 Tweeting Predictions [VIDEO] (mashable.com)
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{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
I can’t wait to see how/when twitter monetizes all this traffic. It’s been a challenge for many web 2.0 properties to do. Although I am told, they are one of the leanest companies around.
I just wanted to give you a shoutout man! You are a remarkable blogger and a role model to me! Thanks so much!
Sincerely,
Ben Lang
If you think about it everything is a fad some just last longer than others. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply it to your business.
a billion users in twitter by 2013! I wonder how they come up with that number
I agree that Twitter isn’t just a fad, but hey . . . would it kill them to figure out a way to take at least SOME cash and add some bandwidth? Point being, if they continue to have capacity issues, eventually someone is going to swoop in and take over. I only use Twitter a few times a day, and I’m completely frustrated with the lack of response time.
Nice article.
So these numbers are just fake?
It will be interesting to see if Twitter can maintain it’s popularity levels. For some reason, it still hasn’t hit teens in a big way. If Twitter could grab that market then their numbers would soar.
- seriously, it’s not gonna be long before some kind of Facebook/Twitter miracle replaces the common usage of passports, ID cards etc. All we really lack is our laptops scanning our fingertips and printing out money – and that’s it.
I have long held the belief that Twitter would be just a passing fad, but I am gradually starting to see the light with its partnerships with some of the big titans like Google and Bing. However I agree with the comment on watching how Twitter will monetise all these users.
@ Paula
Yeah, I agree. The teens are still to find Twitter despite much publicity from celebrity Tweeters.
Twitter is huge.
I just hope they find a way to lessen the number of people spamming within the tweetsphere. When it first came out, I was quite amazed how people will use it as a part of their business. Who knows, maybe next year, Twitter will have a competitor.
Twitter is a joke i dont think it will last long because facebook can have applications that can do the same thing as twitter. Plus you look at all the spam it is crazy.
Still think Twitter is just a fad? http://bit.ly/kV905
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Still think Twitter is just a fad?: Still think Twitter is just a fad? is a post from: Blog Marketing Tips by B.. http://bit.ly/3OkDLy
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via @bendtheweb Still think Twitter is just a fad?: Still think Twitter is just a fad? is a post.. http://bit.ly/3OkDLy
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Still think Twitter is just a fad? [The Friday Traffic Report] http://bit.ly/3OkDLy
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Still think Twitter is just a fad?: Still think Twitter is just a fad? is a post from: Blog Marketing Tips by B.. http://bit.ly/3OkDLy
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Still think Twitter is just a fad? http://bit.ly/2AOLx6
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Still think Twitter is just a fad? http://bte.tc/uGv #RTW
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Still think Twitter is just a fad? http://bte.tc/uGv #RTW
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