Is Twitter dead?

Dear PropellerHeads: Social networking fads seem to fall almost as fast as they rise. Remember MySpace? So, is Twitter dead?

A: Dead? With 200 million users and 65 million daily tweets, Twitter seems very alive with an estimated $8 billion valuation. Still, Twitter's advertising revenue is still posting fairly anemic numbers. Many have written (http://nyti.ms/9E0HGd) over their doubts that Twitter can become a money making business.

In addition to the pressures of Wall Street, you make a good point. Social networking success is fragile.

Since 2006, Twitter has become the Internet's SMS service. SMS (Short Message Service) is nerdspeak for phone texting. Twitter showed up and took the Internet by storm by letting you broadcast your texts amongst self-defined affinity groups (followers). This made texting more efficient and useful over the traditional one-on-one conversations your phone supports. Now, instead of texting 10 friends about the half-priced Margaritas at your local bar, you tweet the news and all of your followers get the message instantly. Cheers!

Is Twitter on thin ice? It may be. See, in 2006, your phone made phone calls, took pictures and supported text messages. Twitter's timing could not have been better. Your phone could become a social networking superstar at 140 characters with a $39 monthly phone plan.

Now (for about $60 a month) you have a phone that not only connects to the Internet, but runs all sorts of apps. That includes Facebook (500 million-plus users), FourSquare, GroupOn, MeetUp and many others. So, instead of finding a way to squeeze your latest doings into 140 characters, you can take a picture, record a video, announce where you are, add a link, post a comment and send it to Facebook from your phone. You can also follow what your friends are doing with that same rich media content on your smartphone. Texting is sooo yesterday.

That's not all. If you are like most, your Facebook network is larger than your Twitter network. That's because while your friends may be on Twitter, your mom, brother, aunt, boss and others are not. They never saw the point. But they are on Facebook.

This begs the question, why bother with Twitter? Twitter still has its place, but it may be getting more defined.

Twitter is very good at real-time conversations surrounding events. Using dedicated Twitter accounts, or hash-tag conversations, you can follow and participate in group discussions while events are unfolding. In fact, Google and Bing recognized the power in these tweet storms and will display and refresh them in relevant search results. While I was watching the Oscars in March, I was following tweets with thousands discussing the awards, the fashions and the show, all while it was going on.

Twitter is also great for real-time events. I recently followed the announcement of the Osama bin Laden raid through tweets. The TV news networks were given notice about an upcoming White House announcement, but were delayed. Twitter had the buzz about bin Laden before I saw anything on TV (http://bit.ly/j8Nfzo). Admittedly, this was mostly speculation, but it complements traditional news media well.

Because tweeting can be done so effortlessly, it sometimes gets folks into trouble. I can't count the number of athletes (http://bit.ly/ma1UoY), politicians (http://trib.in/ihElbi), entertainers and others who have gotten fined, fired or had to apologize for a tweet they should've suppressed. So, for now, breaking news and real-time events are a strong point in favor of Twitter's continued relevance.

Also, Twitter is becoming increasingly important as an outlet for corporate promotional information (http://to.pbs.org/coAm6J). By cross-posting blog entries, Facebook updates, press releases and other news, Twitter is becoming an important tool in business public relations and publicity. This activity is captured by Google and Bing, creating more relevance to a business's various Internet venues.

As Mark Twain (sort of) said, "the reports of my death were greatly exaggerated." Twitter looks to be finding its place in a crowded social networking jungle. It may continue to morph, but I suspect it will thrive.

When the PropellerHeads at Data Directions aren't busy with their IT projects, they love to answer questions on business or consumer technology. Email them to [email protected] or contact us at Data Directions Inc., 8510 Bell Creek Road, Mechanicsville, VA 23116. Visit our website at www.askthepropellerheads.com.