Congrats to Twitter. It truly is the microblogging site that has changed everything. It took social media out of the hell of MySpace and put it on CNN. Twitter helped make all things mobile more legit. And for that we are all thankful. As we saw in January & February 2011, Twitter made it possible to topple a government 140 characters at a time.
At the same time, we are starting to see the explosive effectiveness of Twitter dwindle. It was once the hot place to share links, draw traffic, and create buzz. Not anymore. Across all of our client sites we are seeing Facebook widen growth versus Twitter.
Funny how these things work. The harsh reality is that as that gap continues to widen you will start to see interest in Twitter wane and brands, organizations, and individuals shift their focus to Facebook. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy as 200%+ growth is fantastic. Just not as fantastic as Facebook.
The flip side
Interestingly, while Twitter seems to be fading as a place to link bait customers, it is rapidly growing as a place for adolescents and adults alike to connect with their friends. And while that bodes well with engagement… it is just another area where marketers will scratch their heads as they continue to look for high ROI ways to engage without really needing to make the time to engage. (Especially, agency dependent brands.)
Pingback: Google Plus: Two is Company, Three is a Crowd