Ten Ways Twitter Will Change the World

http://247wallst.com/2009/05/26/the-ten-ways-twitter-will-permanently-change-american-business/

This article discusses how changes in technology and Twitter will undoubtedly change the business atmosphere. It delves into ten specific areas Twitter will effect (according to their predictions) ranging from how stocks are traded to how to find out the optimal time to pump your gas (for the best price) to the increasing politicalization of the site.

One of my favorite predictions is Twitter's expected effect on social activism. It's kind of sad that the government may be resorting to using things like facebook and Twitter to find out the real concerns of the American people though...

In an article entitled, "Time is up for Twitter", The Australian (an australian newspaper) argues that Twitter will eventually fail because it does not create a community, much like they argue, a newspaper does. Although I'm not keen on saying that a newspaper creates a community, I do believe that Twitter will not create a community. The article argues that what makes Twitter so popular is the messages that allow someone to receive updates as they are happening, not the medium for receiving those messages. Meaning that the constant message updates are popular not Twitter interface. Twitter is also losing 60% of its new subscribers every month, mainly because its very limited in its audience, while other social networking sites, like Facebook, provide many features to its users.

The Australian goes on to say that Twitter is just a fad, much like Big Brother was a fad in reality shows. During the first two seasons, Big Brother had very high viewership, but afterward the reality just became to "real" and only appealed to the people in the target audience, instead of the general population. Much like Twitter, it had many adopters but now only those who have become its target audience have kept twitter (evidence of the 40% retention rate) and it will eventually fade away as just another fad. It is not able to build a community.

I tend to agree with many points that Australian had to make about Twitter and I personally believe it is a fad that will fade out. Eventually people will realize sending a text message is essentially the same thing as making a "tweet" so whats the point in having Twitter anyway. Only the few people that use Twitter exclusively for following the lives of celebrities and reading their tweets (since their own lives are pathetic) will want it to stay.

Link to article: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25405926-16382,00.html