Would you still use the Twitter app if you had to pay for it?

Posted: November 24th, 2009 | Author: Tweasier | Filed under: Twitter Apps, Twitter Tool | Tags: , , , , | No Comments »

It seems that the saying ‘the best things in life are free’ never rings true for eternity, and one such example is with the recent news that Twitter looks set to start charging for some of its services this year. Pay for Twitter? Yes indeed. And yet interestingly, we reckon that it won’t make a scrap of difference to the Twitter app popularity.

There are already quite a few Twitter tools already out there that aim to enhance the use of Twitter, and the success of these extra apps proves that people are prepared to pay for what they love. We’re not talking about hundreds of dollars, but for the cost of a pint of beer or a packet of cigarettes, paying a little bit towards some Twitter app extensions seems mighty reasonable. However, if the Twitter platform itself decided to make users pay for some of its services, would you oblige? Naturally, there are those that feel you shouldn’t have to pay for something that has been free from the start, but then you do have to sympathise with Twitter – so far, they haven’t charged users for anything so they need to start upping their game. Let’s not forget we’re still in the midst of a recession and everyone – from Google to Twitter – is revenue-conscious.

So, what will Twitter charge for? That we don’t know, but we suspect it will be some premium services that basic users probably won’t need, so don’t panic everyone. Twitter app founder Biz Stone said there would be some commercial services being offered, which helps businesses on Twitter better understand how to use the service and monitor its success. We say great! If we’re talking about fully integrated analytics and stats then we know this will be a much welcomed addition to the Twitter app, and the fact we might have to pay for it is quite simply irrelevant.

Do you think that the love for Twitter will just keep on growing?

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Can You Make Twitter Local?

Posted: November 10th, 2009 | Author: Tweasier | Filed under: General Twitter | Tags: , , , | No Comments »

As with all social networking sites, they’re never considered local. After all, they span the globe and attract everyone from the teenage boy in the London flat to the Spanish girl eating tortillas. Twitter, quite frankly, is anything but local. But, is there a way of making Twitter local? Perhaps there is something you can do to make it seem more localised; more personal. Everything else is going local, so we have to question if there is potential for Twitter to do the same.

Consider Google for example. They used to just be a bog-standard search engine until they tried to take over the world with web dominance. Some 10+ years later and Google has cemented its position as the number 1 search engine, whilst always pushing the boundaries of search. Over the last couple of years, Google’s Local Search functionality has become a hot topic to internet boffins, and this idea of ‘localising content’ is gradually gaining pace. Google are still working on making it perfect, and competitors like Bing are rapidly trying to gain ground in the local search market. So, with this in mind, are we likely to see Twitter local anytime soon? They might not be a search engine but when you consider they’re global presence, there is significant potential here to make things a bit more localised in order to reach out to users on a more personal level.

Facebook have their own way of localising content – each Facebook member has the opportunity to create a ‘Group’ or an ‘Event’ and this, in turn, invites local people to join based on what they’re interested in. Surely there is some potential here for Twitter local functionality. At the moment, there are Twitter tools out there that allow you to find people in your own town, but what would be interesting is if Twitter actually integrated a Twitter local concept into their own social networking site. This would add a new dimension to Twitter.

So, if you want to experiment with Twitter local, there’s ways to do it, but not through Twitter itself. Perhaps the social networking site would rather keep it plain and simple, rather than try and cram opportunities and complex functionalities into it like Facebook do. Either way, Twitter’s strategy seems to be working.

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