Twitter turns 7

I have been a long time Twitter user...longer than 98.6% of all users.  It is my favorite social media site and I think the idea of it has real staying power.  However, I do have some concerns if the Twitter turns 7 article is correct and Twitter goes public in the near future.

Like the article mentions, Twitter has been quite secretive about their finances.  Some estimates project their revenue to reach nearly $1 billion by 2014.  Once public, Twitter will be under increased pressure to increase ad revenue and create value for their shareholders.  Personally, I am not a fan of the "promoted tweets" that pop up in your Twitter stream, and I'd imagine most Twitter users feel the same way.  I think a likely outcome of IPOing will be an increase in the paid ads that all Twitter users will see, watering down the experience and disenfranchising loyal users.  Facebook has struggled walking the fine line of increasing ad revenue while not bombarding their users with ads.

It might sound crazy, but I almost think Twitter is a public good...not on the scale of national defense, but maybe close to the Post Office?  Who knows what would have happened in the 2009 Iranian presidential election or if the Arab Spring would have occurred if Twitter was chock full of ads

Business Models on the Web

Did anyone else notice that Amazon was listed three times in the Business Models on the Web article?  I think they have really reinvented retailing (and probably a number of other industries), and the fact that they show up three times is a testament to that.

In addition to the models they are listed for, they also compete in the Content Services model with their Amazon Instant Video and Amazon mp3 offerings (Listen.com and Netflix cited), the Manufacturer (Direct) Model through their Kindle products (Dell Computer cited) and the Classifieds Model through Amazon Local (Monster.com and Craigslist cited).

It'll be interesting to see if they can continue to do so many things well.

Full Circle

I had to sneak in one more post this week...I don' think Professor Talbott could have drawn this up any better.

Sunday I was researching for my Twitter as a Brand Building tool.  I was trying to determine the market share of Trek bicycles in the bicycle and cycling market.  My research took me to bicycleretailer.com where I found some commentary on the 2011 Brand Representation in Bike Shops.  Trek had the largest single market share in 2011 with 22.5%.   However, the "Other" category, the combination of a number of smaller, niche brands, combined to make up 31.5% of the market.  I immediately thought of the Long Tail, a topic I just learned and commented about 2 days earlier.  Not only that, the author of the commentary sums up the 2011 report saying, "What does all this mean for the bike-buying consumer, or the bike-selling retailer...it is a classic representation of the Long Tail Effect."

I think my learning this week has come full circle.

Amateur radio and Twitter

I thought the interview with Jeff Pulver was the highlight of the NPR "On the Media" segment.  He tells the story of when he first saw an amateur radio in his uncle's office up and talks about his fascination with it growing up.  He taught himself Morse code and electronic theory and the rules and regulations of amateur radio.  He spent countless hours on amateur radio in high school and junior high school.  He attributes the interest in the radio to his desire to connect to people despite his lonely personality.

I had never made the connection between amateur radio and Twitter before, but their similarities are quite evident.  Their technological aspects are quite different, but at the core, they each allow people to keep in touch and connect with other people.

The Long Tail

I had not heard of the The Long Tail prior to reading the first chapter and listening to the Gil Frisbow and Frank Acito podcast.  The first chapter left me wanting more, so I think I might have to track down a copy.

I think one stat from the first chapter really solidifies the idea of the long tail.  For Neflix, Amazon and Rhapsody, "sales of products not offered in brick and mortar competitors amounted to between and quarter and nearly a half of total revenues - and that percentage is rising each year."  As it turns out, when given the chance, lots of people don't want the mainstream, mass produced option A.  They want Option B with the some special feature and made of some premium material....and in pink.  I hardly ever make a significant purchase without seeing what my options are outside of the brick and mortar stores that carry only mainstream items.  Thanks to my Amazon Prime account, I spend lots of time in the Long Tail.

Sermo and PatientsLikeMe

I have bad knees.  I have had 4 knee surgeries in the past 7 years and am three months out from a tibial osteotomy.  Leading up to my last surgery, I spent hours researching the procedure in an attempt to find out what to expect...how long would I be on crutches, how long should I stay home from work, will I be able to go for a jog again?  All these questions were answered by people who had been through what I was about to go through and shared their experiences online.  I found the info very helpful and reassuring.

The info I found was on a few random blogs and message boards, a far cry from sites like Sermo and PatientsLikeMe.  As the HBR article talks about, online health-related sharing sites are great places where the collective experiences of a large number of people can be organized and used for the better.  Not only can the data be used by practitioners to improve treatments, but it gives patients the hope and motivation that their sickness or injury is treatable and others have overcome it in the past.  I couldn't believe doctors have consulted Sermo while performing surgery... that is just crazy.  To borrow a term from last week's readings, I doubt 10 years ago many doctors would believe me if I told them it was possible to crowdsource surgical advice.

How to get your ideas to spread

I found Seth Godin's idea of marketing to the innovators and early adopters interesting...marketing to marketing to the people that care and listen.  I especially liked his discussion of otaku, a Japanese word that means people with obsessive interests.  I don't think I quite agree when said that marketing a product to a constituency that doesn't have an otaku is almost impossible, but I still think it is a strong idea.

If I think about a few successful companies, I can defintely think of people with otakus for their products or way of doing business.  People on a tight budget shop at Wal-Mart.  They are obsessed with making their dollar go further and Wal-mart makes that happen.  People that love great customer service buy shoes from zappos.com.  Apple has a follwing so strong that someone came along and made a movie about their faithful followers, Macheads.