BMEC Group 4 – AKANKSHA R (05), ANKIT L(07), Akanksha S(105), ANURAAG S(147)

Q1. How did Twitter amass so many users?

Twitter was built around the idea of sharing your status with friends really easily so that they knew what the user was doing, but at the same time, the user didn’t have to write an entire blog entry or LiveJournal entry. These statuses were called “tweets” and could be sent from any location, using text messages from cellphones. Subsequently the options for “Direct Messages” and “Tagged Replies” were also added to it. This made Twitter very popular and amassed a lot of users.

Q2. Which Twitter users contribute content and which ones do not? Why?

Twitter entered into the mainstream when it had content contribution from TV Stations like CNN News. In times of natural disasters or emergency-like situations, users would post updates and dispense information on Twitter. Celebrities also took to Twitter as a way of communicating directly with the fans. Even Obama used it to promote himself during the Presidential Campaign in US in 2008. Some companies also used twitter as a way of promoting their products. Following the launch of multimedia features with Twitter, the content contribution from news partners like The New York Time, Buzzfeed, etc. increased. This feature was called an “Expanded tweet” and displayed a preview of a headline along with the beginning few words of the article.

Q3. Who gets followed on Twitter and who does not? Why?The following types of users get followed the most on Twitter because they are providing some relevant information/information of interest to the users:

Celebrities News Stations Popular companies promoting their products (Domino’s, Walmart,

etc.) Government Officials

Q4. What should Twitter do to increase its revenues?

Twitter should move away from relying completely on ad revenues. It should:

BMEC Group 4 – AKANKSHA R (05), ANKIT L(07), Akanksha S(105), ANURAAG S(147)

Diversify its revenue stream into other areas. Come up with other innovative products.

Look into the possibility of implementing a “Freemium” model for Twitter. Do a market research to find out if there are features that the users would not mind paying for.

Could also try to develop more advertising products and capture more of social media ad budgets.