Recently, there has been a lot of talk about how the social network Twitter is dying – Specifically when the hashtag #RIPTwitter started trending back at the end of January. The general public has been starting to write the network off the past few months, however there are some signs that Twitter may not be dying after all.
In October 2015, Jack Dorsey, one of the original co-founders of Twitter was named CEO of the company, after Dick Costolo had resigned a few months earlier. Dorsey was the CEO of Twitter in the early years, when the company experienced some of its biggest growth periods ever. The company has kicked it up a notch since Dorsey has taken over. New products and features were announced and rolled out and suddenly the company is showing new signs of life.
While investors of Twitter may not be happy with the declining stock price and the decrease in growth numbers, there still are several reasons why Twitter isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
New Features
Twitter has been announcing the releasing a handful of new features over the past few months. While some of these new features have been met with harsh criticism, many users and advertisers are happy with these new features/changes.
- Twitter Moments – a new feature that highlights important tweets or posts based around certain events.
- Expanded Tweets – Twitter announced back in early January that it will be releasing a new feature that increases the Tweet limit to 10,000 characters.
- New Timeline – Another feature that was rumored is an algorithmic timeline rather than a chronological one. These rumors proved to be true when Twitter rolled out a new timeline to select users back in early February.
- GIF Search – The internet loves gifs, but the process of sharing .gif files within Twitter was a nightmare of a process. In late February, Twitter released the GIF Search which allows mobile users to directly post gifs from within the app.
- Buy Buttons – Twitter partnered with some of the leading e-commerce platforms to make the buying experience through the app even easier.
Acquisitions
People tend to look at Twitter just as an app, but they often forget that Twitter is a business that has been acquiring other businesses along the way. Some of the more notable acquisitions include Vine and Periscope. Twitter has also acquired: BackType, Trendrr, MoPub, SnappyTV, TapCommerence, ZipDial, TellApart, among others. All of these acquisitions give Twitter a larger platform to stand on rather than just their own app.
User Experience
Twitter’s best feature is the actual user experience of that app. The ease and timeliness is unmatched by all other social networks. Majority of people use the app to get up-to-date information about breaking news. It still remains one of the best social networks for one-on-one interaction. Mainstream media such as television shows use hashtags so users can join in on the conversation and increase engagement. Celebrity rants, feuds, and rumors occur more frequently on Twitter than any other social network.
While many people fear that Twitter is dying, one can see the company has taken many steps in the right direction. Wall Street still believes the platform has a revenue problem but it is safe to say that Twitter will emerge with a few new ad products in the near future that will help the company. Keep an eye out for those and don’t forget to Tweet.
