Twitter is the first modern format of a media company - even if they deny
date
Nov 9, 2012
slug
2012-twitter-is-the-first-modern-format-of-a-media-company-even-if-they-deny
status
Published
tags
twitter
digital era
social media
type
Post
ogImage
summary
Twitter: The First Modern Media Company, Revolutionizing Information Flow and Real-Time Transmission in the Digital Era.
The microblog Twitter has become a decisive tool for the flow of information in the world. The limitation of 140 characters, initially a hindrance to its use, ensures that the tool occupies a space that no other media could occupy - that of a version of Live television in the digital era. More than that, Twitter has the advantages and merits of real-time transmission inherited from TV with two devastating competitive advantages: coverage reach increased exponentially (you can find sources of transmission from the repression in Syria to the assassination attempts of American extremists in the US) and a decentralized flow dynamics, similar to that of the Internet, which is practically an insurance policy against information manipulation. Even with the questionable decisions of the company in recent times (entry of a Saudi partner in the company's capital, partnership with NBC during the Olympics and consequent censorship of a journalist who criticized NBC), Twitter is the first mass media functional exclusively of the digital era.
The amorphous nature of digital media can raise a debate about the discussion of the pertinence of calling Twitter a media. After all, much of its content is not original, but rather, composed of links to material made by other companies. However, the microblog has a consistent amount of content produced exclusively for consumption in its streams of content. And even the material produced for other supports needs to be packaged in a specific way for Twitter. At the end of the day, the 140 character restriction - initially seen as an obstacle - ensured that all its content had a degree of exclusivity.
Twitter has a commercial problem that the market considers serious - it still does not have a business model equivalent to its massive penetration (supposedly, of 500 million active users). However, as the recent IPOs have proven extremely fallacious (Facebook and Groupon in primis), Twitter's difficulty in saying where the revenues will come from may turn out to be even seen as a positive sign in the future.
The point is that no media company in the world (and even pure social networks like Facebook) can afford not to think about their traffic strategy for content without considering the management of the microblog. From the ease in receiving feedback to the breadth of the reach of its own employees, Twitter needs to be considered apart. And this uniqueness is what guarantees that even without a distinguishable and traditional business model, the company is positioned in the media's future (with much more success than Facebook, which now has shareholders mad for increasing results).
The difficulty of classifying Twitter is a legacy of another division of the media itself. As for TV for example, there was never any doubt: the broadcasters produced content; the factories produced the devices. In the digital media, this division became blurred and the microblog is situated between the two. In theory, Twitter's position, even without a clear business model, is comfortable. The company has a product that media AND hardware companies need. The company can take advantage of its hybrid nature. This is a great advantage over other digital players.