If you think of some of the biggest and most popular social websites today you may think of, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. But, according to an article I found on trueslant.com, there was one thing that set apart Twitter from all of the other websites names. Twitter was not making any money. That’s four years with millions of users, and billions of “tweets”, and no income to show for it. So, how do you make money off of a website anyway? The same way TV shows make money, by advertising. Anyone who has a Facebook or MySpace account knows that its common to see advertisements for different random things off to the side of the screen, but not Twitter. At least, not until now. Starting soon there will be, two kinds of advertising on Twitter, promoted Tweets inside search results and promoted Tweets inside users’ streams. Hopefully this new advertisement will bring in some money for the popular website.
Then I found this article, I could not believe that something as big and popular such as Twitter was not making any money somehow. Its extremely rare to find any form of media that is not making money. It was only natural for the website to look toward advertisement as a source of income. In the book, Media Society, by David Croteau and William Hoynes, they mention how the TV industry is run off of advertisements. A show cannot be put on the air unless a certain amount of companies buy advertisement in throughout the show. Seeing how everything is moving toward the internet, its seems ideal for websites to adapt that same mentality. Many websites started using commercials, others used ads. Some of the websites that did this include, Hulu, Youtube, and Facebook. This is what have made these some of the most successful websites in the past couple of years.
You really cant blame Twitter for wanting to make money after for years with no profit. A popular website like that should not have a problem with finding companies to advertise on their website. The company knows that millions of people will see their advertisement a day. It is a good investment for any company and it’s a perfect way for Twitter to bring in some income. As I have said in previous blogs, I personally do not use Twitter, but I acknowledge the fact that its is one of the most popular websites ever, and I am glad they have finally decided to make some money.
David S.
Your post looks interesting, but could you re-format it? The lines are running off the page, and at least on my screen, end up with no background and are therefore virtually illegible (white font on white background).
ReplyDeleteThx!