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Friday, June 12, 2015

Can Twitter Be Saved?

Oh we got trouble, right here in San Francisco, with a capital T that rhymes with pitter and it is called Twitter.  And trouble leads to change as Dick Costello has stepped down as CEO, replaced by co-founder Jack Dorsey.  The 140 character list of self expression, rants, snarky comments, and news is now pictures, video links, and SPONSORED CONTENT.  And depending how many people you follow, lots of repeated tweets.

Public relation firms must love Twitter as it lets them push stories and drive brand engagement without really having to spend any money.  But for the most part, scrolling down the feed, I start to see a lot of white noise, including my own tweet links.  In fact, I find myself spending less and less time reading the feed.

Certainly there are some exceptions.  A big entertainment event like the Oscars or Grammys can bring some wonderful snarky humor to enhance the show.  But beyond that, I see too much waste that overwhelms the feed.  A solution, perhaps, cutting back on the number of people I follow.  But will that be enough.

Is Twitter the Pandora's Box that can never be closed once it is open.  Many seem to enjoy it but many others are like me and spending less time with it.  Can it be saved and what needs to change to assure that it is both functional and profitable?  Certainly that is what Jack Dorsey needs to do to keep his baby afloat.  Unfortunately much of what Wall Street wants to see is more revenue and that means more ads.  And that is where the trouble may have begun in the first place.  Are we getting a bit tired of Twitter; I think I am.