Twitter is a social networking application that enables users to post short text messages, called "tweets," of no more than 140 characters on their personal feed. These real-time diary entries can then be read by other users, called "followers," who have subscribed to that page.
Under the guise of a fun communications tool, Twitter is building one of the world's most valuable real-time information caches. And as Twitter's profile continues to explode, many wonder whether the company will ever find a revenue model. Others speculate about who will buy the young company.....although Google seems to be the leading candidate.
The social power of Twitter surfaced when co-founder Christopher Isaac "Biz" Stone attended a tech conference, "I found myself watching groups of people twittering each other to coordinate their actions--which bar to go to, which speech to attend--and it was like seeing a flock of birds in motion."
But Twitter is much more than a novel way to share updates of one's daily life with friends. It's now reached its tipping point and evolved into a powerful new pomotional marketing and communications tool. Regional emergency preparedness organizations are looking at Twitter as a way to reach millions of people during a disaster. NASA is using it to regularly update interested parties about the status of space shuttle flights. And one journalist successfully solicited help from fellow Twitters to get himself out of an Egyptian jail.
Co-founder Evan Williams says that the amount of money it would take to buy Twitter right now is more than any company could justify to its shareholders. For now, Messrs. Williams and Stone are keeping their plans secret. With patient investors who just put in $35 million in third-round funding, the company is in no hurry. Mr. Stone will only say that "we are enamored with the idea of going all the way."
Source: The Wall Street Journal, April 18, 2009