Twitter, which turned ten on March 21, thanked all its users for support, but the question that everyone needs an answer to is what the micro-blogging site is planning next or what it has achieved in the last ten years. Critics believe the social media firm has failed to diversify beyond its core product: micro-blogging.
Twitter is trying, but it’s not enough
In an interview with CNBC, Cyrus Mewawalla, managing director of CM Research, underlined the common criticism that the micro-blogging service has received, saying that “Twitter is broadly what it was 10 years ago.”
The expert noted that Twitter invented the tweet and Facebook invented the book of faces, “but then they have to expand into other areas very quickly and whilst Facebook has done that, it’s gone into mobile payments, into virtual reality, into instant messaging, into photographs, Twitter has not.”
Our Coverage Of Brussels Attacks: Brussels Airport And Metro Bomb Blasts Caught On Camera [VIDEO]
Twitter has been trying, for sure. It bought Periscope and Moments last year and revealed a new feature earlier this month called “First View,” which allows advertisers to get the top spot on a user’s timeline. Also both the micro-blogging giant and Facebook are competing to acquire the rights of conventional TV programs, which underlines the importance of video to both services, suggested a report from the New York Post last week.
Communication: the main problem
On the other hand, some analysts predict a better future for the micro-blogging giant. Citing the 500 million people who visit the online platform but don’t actually sign in, Eleni Marouli, an advertising research analyst at IHS, said the micro-blogging firm is not doing badly. Adding this number to the MAU figure gives a total audience of 820 million, she said.
In a phone interview, Marouli told CNBC that the micro-blogging site has not been able to communicate its success to investors well enough, “which is why the Street is not happy.” Twitter was late to the video segment in terms of diversifying its offering, but now it has the products that advertising industry was calling for.
“They are responding to signals, the challenge has always been communication,” said Marouli.
Some analysts also consider Twitter a prime takeover target with such a low share price.
“We still have a sell on Twitter, it is still a takeover target…it’s of a size that can be taken over,” Mewawalla said.
