As you probably know, I'm a fan of Twitter. I was skeptical at first, but I've found it incredibly useful and versatile as I've continued using it. I think I've been a member of the Twitterati for over 2 months now.

But it's days like Wednesday that really make me want to rethink my stance. Twitter had some serious issues that pretty much crippled it for the entire day. This was directly following a day of spotty service while I was on the road. It was frustrating, to say the least.

One competitor to Twitter, Jaiku, is continuing to attract a lot of attention. Evidently, there has been a wave of registrations as a direct result of yeseterday's Twitter-outage. Even TechCrunch has made the leap and has let its readers know.

This gets right at the heart of an important issue for all new media / Web 2.0 / whatever-you-want-to-call-them companies. They need to really ensure that they've got their technology figured out, because their audience will leave them for a competing application or service because of poor uptime. An entity such as Second Life is probably given a little more slack, simply because there are few virtual reality worlds that compare.

But Twitter can be replicated. There are a number of upstarts out there doing so. And it's fairly easy to drag your network along with you to another provider. Good marketers will try a variety of online communities and social networks and should be properly prepared for a mass shifting, should it occur.

Note to Twitter: please get your act together. You're really great when you work well. But if I have to see that cat much longer, I'll make sure he and the Bloglines plumber start hanging out.

Labels: New Media, news, social media, Twitter

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At 5/18/2007 11:17 AM,  Chip Griffin said...

Good post. Two quick points. First, Mike Arrington of TechCrunch said in the comments on that post that he is actually sticking with Twitter. The headline on the post is a bit misleading, I think, in that it talks about alternatives to Twitter and doesn't really outline TechCrunch plans to abandon the platform.

Second, I had a post a couple of days ago asking "When Does Twitter's Free Pass on Poor Performance Expire?" The same question really applies to a lot of startups -- people are generally willing to cut such companies a lot of slack, but how much?

 

At 5/18/2007 11:27 AM,  Scott said...

Thanks for the comment, Chip. I think your post sums it up nicely as well. At some point we begin to realize - even with Web 2.0 - that we get what we pay for.

Those entities that (a) have flawless technology (or as close to it as one can get) and (b) provide a lasting value for users are the ones that will find funding and be sustained int he long haul. What kind of revenue model they'll build is still up in the air.

 

At 5/18/2007 12:13 PM,  Cristian Mezei said...

Scott, please don't hotlink images from my blog :)

Use the post if you want to.

Thank you.

 

Short But Sweet: to Tweet or Not to Tweet?

As you probably know, I'm a fan of Twitter. I was skeptical at first, but I've found it incredibly useful and versatile as I've continued using it. I think I've been a member of the Twitterati for over 2 months now.

But it's days like Wednesday that really make me want to rethink my stance. Twitter had some serious issues that pretty much crippled it for the entire day. This was directly following a day of spotty service while I was on the road. It was frustrating, to say the least.

One competitor to Twitter, Jaiku, is continuing to attract a lot of attention. Evidently, there has been a wave of registrations as a direct result of yeseterday's Twitter-outage. Even TechCrunch has made the leap and has let its readers know.

This gets right at the heart of an important issue for all new media / Web 2.0 / whatever-you-want-to-call-them companies. They need to really ensure that they've got their technology figured out, because their audience will leave them for a competing application or service because of poor uptime. An entity such as Second Life is probably given a little more slack, simply because there are few virtual reality worlds that compare.

But Twitter can be replicated. There are a number of upstarts out there doing so. And it's fairly easy to drag your network along with you to another provider. Good marketers will try a variety of online communities and social networks and should be properly prepared for a mass shifting, should it occur.

Note to Twitter: please get your act together. You're really great when you work well. But if I have to see that cat much longer, I'll make sure he and the Bloglines plumber start hanging out.

Labels: New Media, news, social media, Twitter

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