Why Has Twitter Survived?
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Imagine, for a second, that you have bought a new car. It promises to give you good gas mileage, it gives you more headroom, and it is very, very shiny. Sounds nice, doesn’t it. Now imagine that everytime you put your three best friends in it, it dies. Sometimes it sputters its way along, but most of the time, it just out and out shuts itself off. You take it to the mechanic, and he says “It’s a known issue, and we’re working to fix it. Have patience” The mechanic also says “or you could trade up. There’s this nice van over there, and a jet plane in that hangar.”
And that, in a nutshell, is Twitter. It’s the shiny new car that just shuts down whenever it’s carrying too much of a load. So why do users put up with it? What is it about Twitter that prevents people from trading up for the van or the jet plane, or in this case, competing services like Jaiku, Pownce, Plurk and Kwippy? Would these same people put up with similar behavior from a store, an airline, a doctor, or even more to the point, an email or IM service? The answer is, of course, no. So why do they put up with it at Twitter.com?
While I think there are probably a lot of reasons, I think there is one reason that just keeps people coming back: Twitter is where the community is. Sure, Pownce works better (and allows you to attach files), Plurk has that cool timeline and lets you comment on “plurks”, and kwippy looks nice (and also lets you comment on “kwips”.) But no one is there. See, everyone is afraid to make the jump entirely away from Twitter, because they’ve built up relationships there. Leaving Twitter would be like graduating from a really cool high school and not everyone gets to go to the same college.
I really want to graduate from Twitter. But I can’t. I can’t leave my friends behind. When I lost internet for a few days, it was Twitter that was chief on my mind. Whenever I got access to WiFi, I tweeted. It’s not because it’s addictive (though it seems to have a slightly addictive element to it). It’s because it reminds me of something from long ago: the communities that used to exist on Usenet and IRC. Those have largely vanished (even though both services are still used, the sense of community is long gone.)
I’ve heard Twitter called “The internet’s water-cooler” (and I’m not sure if it was Cali Lewis or her husband, Neal Campbell that I first heard say it. Sorry guys), and Twitter does have that feel to it. I care about what happens to people that I follow on Twitter, and I care about what happens to Twitter. I have accounts on most of the other microblogging services, and I’ve dabbled there, but I always return to Twitter. The others don’t feel at all like the water cooler. They feel almost cold. Twitter is alive. Yes, it crashes constantly and that annoys me to no end. Almost daily I’m saying “I am done with Twitter.” But obviously, Twitter isn’t done with me. And somehow, I’m okay with that.
