Can Twitter Defy the Critics and Ensure Continued Success?

As a tool of the 'Web 2.0' revolution, Twitter represents everything cutting-edge about the new terminology and has helped to define the user-orientated internet. Social networking sites exploded into life in the mid 2000s, driven primarily by MySpace and Facebook. Twitter joined the pack in 2006 and has grown rapidly since its inception. It's a micro-blogging site where users can post no more than 140 characters sharing their thoughts and opinions or they can use their accounts for the purpose of sharing information by posting links with tweets visible to their 'followers' who pick them up in their personal feeds. After a few years in the limelight, is there a continuing appeal that will ensure progressive growth? Some critics rail against Twitter's celebrity entourage, its publicity obsessed quotient and then there is the trawl through the banal that can encompass the average day in Twitterland.

A major part of the attraction of Twitter is that it counts thousands of celebrities as members, all tweeting away to let fans know what they've eaten for breakfast or if they have an album or film due for release. In Britain, high-profile tweeters have included singer Lily Allen and television mainstay, Stephen Fry. Both have had mixed emotions about the site, leaving for personal reasons or in Fry's case, because of criticism from another user, and then returning again. Stephen Fry, known as a prolific tweeter, publicly had a self-imposed hiatus to concentrate on his writing although on last inspection, it appears he cannot keep away with many tweets listed in the last few days and weeks. Alas, is it revealing to have an insight into the mindset of the celebrity, in a world where they can seem awfully detached? Or should we care about every minute detail of their day? Certain celebrities even ask their followers for their thoughts on what they should wear. Interactive it may be, the worthiness of such exercises can be called into question.

Whilst Twitter is indeed a powerful tool of communication as evidenced in its role in sharing information amongst protesters during the aftermath of the turbulent Iranian election of June 2009, it isn't without its critics. Some say that despite the fluidity Twitter affords those sharing useful information, it does also harbour and encourage the inane. Small, 'txt speak' blogs about someone's favourite colour or what underwear someone is wearing hardly stimulate cogent debate or contribute anything to the already fluff-filled blogosphere however perhaps the ability to pontificate on any subject is another part of its appeal.

However as co-founder Biz Stone delighted in telling all users in a recent email, Twitter continues to grow. "In the course of a year, registered Twitter accounts have grown more than 1,500% and our team has grown 500%", he beamed, adding that the company had just hired its 140th employee. On the flip side, how many of these new users are merely cynical e-marketeers, insistent on jamming our feeds with all of their spam? Plus according to reports representing the back end of 2009, Twitter showed a 2% decline in traffic last October. All of its major rivals continued to show positive growth and MySpace, which has lost some of its lustre since the advent of Facebook, has announced plans for an overhaul to strengthen its position. Whereas Twitter on the other hand, is criticised by some for its failure to evolve sufficiently to provide the features afforded by its competitors (third-party applications, photos, games etc).

If Twitter is to ensure a successful future and maintain user loyalty, there will have to be an evolution to keep people interested and to maintain long-term viability. There's no doubting the benefits. Functions such as the 'retweet' enable micro-blogs and their useful information to be shared amongst a large audience. There is of course the added attraction of access into the celebrity mindset that isn't necessarily restricted to a fan page where content is controlled by a management company. Twitter might not be able to get rid of the marketeers who can smell a fast buck however it does need more to distract attention from the multitude selling their wares and the rest of us peddling our fluff.