Is Twitter a Fad or Here to Stay?
August 10th, 2007
Today I ran across an interesting post by Andy Swan entitled Why Twitter Is Not a Fad, in which he details various reasons why he feels Twitter is here to stay. Â
Since it’s creation back in March of 2006, I’ve been struggling to figure out the appeal of Twitter. To me, the service basically helps people stalk you. Why does everyone I know need to receive a text message when I Twitter that I’m driving home from work?  Beyond teenagers, I can’t fathom the use of this service.Â
As far as the statement Andy makes, I’ve always felt that Twitter was such an incredibly simple idea; therefore, it would not be around for the long haul. It’s biggest downfall is that it doesn’t have anything else to offer.  Now companies are starting to integrate similar services into existing products that already have a large user base.  Facebook has already added a similar feature, although on a smaller level.  In time, this feature will continue develop into a more useful function of your Facebook profile, negating the need for Twitter if you have a Facebook page.  Â
With that said, Andy makes several great points in defense of Twitter.  The one that jumped out at me is #3:
3. Become THE SMS alerting and notifications tool used by websites and businesses. Mytrade is interested. API is a great start
With the success of API for companies like Facebook and soon LinkedIn, why not develop an API that allows large corporations to use your service for a practical purpose?  If Twitter had a practical purpose all along, I would certainly support it. They may even be able to find a way to generate additional income by charging corporations fees for use of their service, or make additional advertising revenue. Â
Overall, i’m still of the opinion that Twitter is a great complimentary service for already existing services, but isn’t going to last on its own.  So, can someone explain to me the appeal of Twitter? Do you think they will be around in 5 years? Maybe they’ll sell to MySpace or someone that could find a good use for the service?
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Does Gravator have an affilitate program? 
Great list. All the important ones covered. I've made my own Top 10 list at the following;
http://thatimportantblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/10-best-greasemonkey-userscripts-2009.html
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I use it, but only update it a few times a day. It’s just like how Facebook has a status feature.
I use it as a place to post interesting things that I come across that I may not want to write about, although sometimes I do update it with what I’m currently doing.
Ryan – Yeah, I find myself updating the Facebook status feature occasionally (2-3 times a week), but I like Facebook without it and don’t need it, it is just an extra.
Maybe i’m just to old (29 years old) to be into this whole Twitter thing!
What is a Twitter?
I don’t use it but when I saw something about an SMS feature, it peaked my interest a bit, so I’ll be taking a closer look at it.
Good points. Twitter is definitely a tool and being utilized for some VERY rudimentary things right now. It has potential to be a lot more… but like Bobby Knight says: “They say you have potential….well you know what that means, don’t you? It means you ain’t done shit yet.”
Twitter hasn’t done it for me either. It is one service I have managed to be without and in fact I signed up for an account but haven’t used it! It’ll be interesting to see how Twitter does, once other mainstream services like Facebook integrate this feature into their apps.
Coolio – Give it a try and let me know your thoughts on it
Andy – That is one of my favorite Bob Knight quotes. I find myself wanting to like Twitter so badly, but I just can’t find a practical purpose for it yet. I certainly think there is hope for Twitter, and the stuff you suggested in your post proves that, but I think there best move is to attach themselves to something established in order to maximize their potential.
Thanks for stopping by!
K – I’m in about the same situation, except my account has seen a little use when I was trying it out. I have made maybe 10 “twitters” tops.
Once I looked into Twitter I knew it wasn’t for me. In my opinion, I think it’s a solution in search of a problem. I don’t care to know if you’re at a bar drinking an imported beer, or trying on the latest sunglasses at Walmart. I see potential, however, with it being integrated into communities and/or services. I just hope that MyBlogLog doesn’t decide to integrate it to the point we can’t control how we get spammed by communities we join.
Mark – I’m still undecided on the MyBlogLog communities thing. Its nice getting automatically added to sites I visit regularly, but the spam can be difficult at times. The team has definitely done a good job listening to user concerns so hopefully this won’t be a problem. They’ve actually integrated Twitter if I remember correctly, so it is sort of already included in MyBlogLog, rather than making their own system.