Is Twitter About to Jump the Shark?
Posted Under: Twitter Marketing
In this article the author asserts that Twitter has peaked & its users are about to “Jump the Shark”.
Here is my take on the article. What is your take?
The author’s premise that Twitter has peaked is a based on a theoretical statement:.
“In turn, when something goes mainstream it begins to loose its “geek cred,” according to Rubel, and like nomads looking for the next oasis, the digerati will begin to lose interest and seek out greener pastures.”
The author did not list a single fact supporting this theory or even an example of where this happened before, which is very poor reporting IMHO. The author instead wastes his time defining what “Jump the Shark” means.
So I would not agree with this article that Twitter has peaked.
Here in this previous blog article I offer my feedback on Why Twitter is the Future of the Internet and the best web platform ever invented.
http://cashinyourcontacts.com/?p=48
Greig
Reader Comments
I think because twitter is based on text, it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. I believe technology fads come and go and geek cred is a powerful thing but, this is useful information in the form of text.
I think it goes the way of email and SMS. You can argue that SMS should have been uncool a long time ago but what it does is pulls together community using words.
I understand your argument and it will be interesting to see what happens.
Greig, the theory you are referring to is Steve Rubel’s and it is well documented in his article, which is hyperlinked from my article. My point wasn’t to support his thesis. My article if you read it all the way through refutes Rubel’s claims and states several reasons why I think Twitter will evolve and endure over time. I referenced the “Jump the Shark” origin because my editor thought some younger readers would not understand the analogy. In fact, if I was to bring it up to date, I guess the more current term is to “nuke the fridge” taken from a recent Indiana Jones movie, and has a similar meaning.
Messaging was at any time the killer application. People want to communicate. As twitter makes the process of sending and receiving messages very easy with a low barrier about usage but the speed of realtime it has the potential to take market share from email, SMS and websearch - as long the user interface stays simple and enough mechanics for blocking spam can be applied to keep the communication channels clean.
Now that Oprah has brought the mass audience onto Twitter I am being inundated with followers with no photo and no clue. Is this how to it is suppose to be? “The Jump Shark” Article has more relevance then ever now IMHO.
PS - How inappropriate was it that Oprah’s co-host who has never used Twitter made the statement” The thing I love about Twitter is that you can find rapists in your neighborhood. Talk about clueless.
Greig
The article is usefull for me. I’ll be coming back to your blog.