Twitter Inc (TWTR) Is No Facebook Inc (FB) Or Google Inc (GOOG)

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Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) shares are down more than 15% since the famous selfie was taken; this is surely no correlation, but the fact that shares are down almost 30% this year is a concern for investors, as well as for management. The micro blogging site is the second worst performer, after Sina, on the CNNMoney’s Tech 30 index.

No match for rivals

Recent glitches has not helping either with the most popular tweets disappearing mysteriously. The glitch appears to be fixed with Ellen’s start-studded tweet back on Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) after vanishing earlier this week.

Despite the fix, the social media firm’s market value continue to shrink, which might be due to the realization by investors that Twitter might not be the next Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) or Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), according to a report from CNN by Paul R. La Monica.

Presently, Facebook has more than 1.2 billion active monthly users excluding Instagram users and new users coming from the WhatsApp purchase. In comparison, Twitter only has 241 million active monthly users.

Another factor multiplying the problem for Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) is the declining growth in user growth, which was just 4% in the fourth quarter. Yet another problem is that Twitter, so far, has failed to diversify as Google and Facebook have done.

Twitter has just $2.2 billion in cash, which is chump change compared to rivals like Facebook and Google. Even Yahoo has big cash (though not so liquid) in the form of a stake in Chinese firm Alibaba.

Twitter investors want more

Though Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) has Vine, it has a limited reach. Also, the new photo sharing and tagging tools “are more evolutionary than revolutionary,” according to the author. The new services introduced by Twitter are more desperate measures to catch on rivals like Facebook and Instagram, believe some.

Twitter’s music expedition has also been a disaster as the company recently announced the close of its #TwitterMusic app. On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the company is working on a new music strategy.

Declining shares do signal that investors need something more from Twitter than just selling ads tied to Promoted Tweets and Trends. At 9.33 AM EDT, Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) shares were down 0.04% to $46.28.

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