As you know, Twitter went public last week with a huge amount of hype and fanfare at the NYSE. There were no technical glitches and the opening was incredibly smooth and well managed.
As you would expect, there have been a ton of posts written since then about Twitter. As the evening rolled in, it seemed to me the ratio of positive to negative started to tip to frown town. The posts ranged from sour grapes from those not included in the IPO to rants about why Twitter won’t last and is another fad and as you would expect tons on valuation. I’m going to leave valuation talks to the pros and focus here on what I consider to be the top 5 Twitter misconceptions.
1. Only 18% of US Population Use It
Yes, but who is using it? The vast majority of journalists and the media use Twitter (~80% in North America). Twitter is the global real-time newswire. Anyone whose job it is to report, produce, comment or read the news simply can’t operate in today’s world without Twitter.
Via: Oriella Pr Network Global Digital Journalism Study 2013
So whether you are on Twitter or not, this is how information is being sourced and distributed before you consume it. Almost every night on TV and across the web even printed newspaper’s tweets are mentioned and used as part of reporting. I don’t know what the % of people consuming media is, but let’s assume it’s 100% (who doesn’t consume media?) and on that note, Twitter is being used by virtually everybody. Ok, that’s a little aggressive I know, but I think you get my point.
A great example is my mom (late 70s), who has never been on Twitter, knows about Twitter and has mentioned specific tweets that she’s seen on TV. I love my mom.
2. 80% of Tweets Go Unread
This is just plain silly. Of course tons of tweets go unread. People scan and if not interested, they move on. Using a press release example, how many press releases go unread each day? My guess is a vast majority. On this same note, the stat is meaningless. There are 500m tweets posted each day. So the other way to state this is over 100M tweets are read each day.
Also, the important thing to ask here is ‘what tweets are being read?.’ Carl Ichan starts tweeting and is moving markets with what he has to say. Who cares about the tweets that aren’t important? They disappear into the ether…as they should!
https://twitter.com/Carl_C_Icahn/status/367350206993399808
3. 140 Characters Isn’t Enough
Anyone who uses Twitter knows this, so I’m surprised it’s still being discussed. But here is the reality - It’s a 140 character headline limit. The links to articles, blog posts, videos, photos, etc. are what makes Twitter so valuable. The 140 characters does limit conversation, but does not limit the amount of information that can be shared or distributed. In fact the forced brevity and uniform size of tweets makes the stream easier to consume, allowing the speed of the network to be maintained.
And with the incision of Twitter cards and inline photos and videos, the 140 character limit is even less meaningful. Photos, Videos and even applications (like tuning into a TV station) are being written into Twitter cards. We are just starting to see what Twitter cards can do, the possibilities are endless.
https://twitter.com/HuffingtonPost/status/401358981119356929
4. It’s only 20% the Size of Facebook
Comparing Twitter and Facebook is wrong. Twitter is not a social network – it is an information network. Facebook consists of the people I know, friends new and old and the information shared there is about their lives. Whether you like Facebook or not, it’s utility is about personal connections. Twitter is completely different. On Twitter I know very few of the people I’m connected with AND a huge aspect of the value comes from following hashtags or search results.
Twitter is an information network and has become critical infrastructure.
At any moment, I can focus my attention to a region, a company, a news item. This can be local, national, global, etc. For example, I live in Toronto. Our mayor is a mess. If I want to know what is going on with him at any moment, all I need to do is search #robford…(don’t click on that link, things are unravelling…) on the same note, if I want to see what’s happening with #syria it’s also a click away.
Or, want to see what San Francisco did for a 5 year old cancer patient, whose wish was to be batman for the day? Search the hashtag #SFBatkid. If this doesn’t make your heart melt, you’re not human.
5. There is No Conversation, It’s All Broadcast
It is correct that Twitter is not about conversations. Due to its format and the speed that information can be exchanged, its highest utility is the distribution of information. You can (and many do) have conversations through Twitter, but it’s not the best platform. If you really like conversations, LinkedIn, Facebook or even a message board is a better format.
The misconception here is that broadcast is bad. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. When some type of news breaks about a company that I’m invested in, I want to know this information. I don’t want to have a “conversation” about it, I want to be informed. The same utility applies to any type of information and/or news.
The misconception here is that broadcast is bad. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Using a different example, my wife joined Twitter two years ago and after a couple of weeks started to love it. She since then has moved to Instagram for her daily fix. But anytime she wants to see what people are saying about Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, Rob Ford (incase you missed it, we live in Toronto) or any other current event, she turns to Twitter. As there is no other place to turn for this content, and that’s very powerful.
Final Thought: Twitter is Critical Infrastructure
As a final point, I had a meeting yesterday with some very smart guys. One opinion about Twitter is simply that it is has become critical infrastructure for all information. If you’re in the information business, producing or consuming, you have no choice. Twitter is required reading.