Why then has the growth become a little sluggish? I can only relate this to my own experience, and those who I have tempted to try twitter and who eventually gave up. See, the whole thing is a bit daunting and weird at first. It's not like spotify, hulu or facebook in that signing up actually feels like you're doing something satisfying or worthwhile.
You sign up with no followers, nobody to follow and the whole thing is very dark.
Simplicity is the key for many of the larger social media mega sites. Despite the message presented by the media, and the best intentions of those willing progress, the vast majority of people are still internet novices.
Lightweight internet use covers your occasional youtube visit, possibly even iplayer and access to online music. The lightweight user also probably uses their PC as a Word Processor, however this user is still not digitally connected in the way many of the social media and technology savvy are.
There are hundreds of services that try to wrap up other services into one simple and easy to use application. Still from the user perspective it's confusing.
Twitter falls into this category of a service with hundreds, if not thousands of apps. Now unless you are following your favourite celebs, how do you get involved? Twitter has an interesting ecosystem and may find the answer. However so far, it seems to require the brilliance of a Mark Zuckerberg to really engage users with a valuable product.
Twitter clearly has value. It's faster than the news for breaking news, an amazing way to check the pulse of humanity and the first service where people come together based on interest rather than social structure.
Does that mean it is useful to your Mum? Probably not. If you're missing the twitter revolution and you want to make a difference in the world. It's wise to get clued up. Otherwise, let the thing happen. It's still very early in its development, and you're not missing much... Yet.
Posts
