« SEO is Alive and Well and Looking for a Fight at SES London | Main | Even Google Can't Save Print Media »
January 21, 2009
Twitter Passes Digg For Usage, Is Facebook Next?
Seems Twitter may be the "next big thing" in social media. Hitwise reports it has surpassed Digg for usage - but realistically the two are different types of social media, though Twitter does have the recommendation aspects of Digg. Comparisons to Facebook may be more realistic.
Twitter has come to replace - or at least heavily supplement - the interactions between Facebook users via leaving messages on the Wall of each user. The big difference about Twitter is everyone who is following a person gets to see the messages sent and join in the conversation immediately.
It combines the community nature of Facebook with followers and there have been requests to start groups similar to those at Facebook and other features. But at the moment the rising number of users has been causing problems with overload.
Twitter doubled its resources for yesterday's inauguration, knowing people would log on to share comments, yet still had some problems.
If Twitter is going to continue to grow it will have to overcome more than its capacity issues. Methods of monetization are a major hurdle, but meeting the needs of greater features is the biggest one. Rivals have popped up and have yet to impact. If one can address the other features issue they may have better luck.
Posted by Frank Watson on January 21, 2009 5:36 AM
Comments
With the rising popularity of Twitter, business owners should not discount its role in helping to develop online branding. Twitter can be a powerful tool for businesses when combined with the use of other social media sites as part of a comprehensive online marketing campaign.
Miles Technologies January 21, 2009 10:48 AM
I think Twitter is a great and versatile tool, but compared to Facebook it's more limited as an online identity. A 140-character bio and one small photo is probably not all that most people want to share with their friends and extended network. I can see Twitter continuing to gain popularity but not replacing or even really competing with Facebook.
Phoebe January 22, 2009 4:36 AM
