Twitter Twouble

Twitter...  Like it, love it, or loathe it.  They are having some serious problems.  As of this writing their stock is less than half  of it's value since April 2015.

Number Twouble?

Hard to deny the numbers when you look at some of the Twitter statistics:

1.  The Wall Street Journal Reported that 44% of people who have an account on Twitter have never tweeted.  

2.  The Wall Street Journal reported that only 11% of the people who created an account in 2012 are still tweeting.

3.  This all equates to low monthly active user accounts that co-founder Jack Dorsey does not have an answer for.

4.  A significant percentage of Twitter users are robots or software.

5.  Instagram is becoming more popular with celebrities, athletes, and people in general.

Social Twouble

While the numbers are pretty revealing there appears to be deeper social trouble.  Let's be honest Twitter is about having "followers".  Look, if no one follows you, and you Tweet, well it goes back to my Introduction to Psychology teaching days, it is the same adage, "if someone tweets and no one is there to read it, did you actually say anything?"  Therein lies a huge problem... getting followers isn't easy, and it is time consuming.  

Oh, the social media gurus and experts out there will say to, "you need to tweet value".  Ask them to define "value" in a practical way that expresses cause and effect (i.e. tweet X and get Y  back) not going to happen.   That is because Twitter success is not about the "what is said" it is about the "who says it".

Who versus what on Twitter is the para-social contact problem in Twitter.  When I wrote "Got Social Mediology?"  I spoke about how the people that really are most followed and have the greatest advantage on Twitter are people with celebrity status and fame.  Why?  Because people feel connected to celebrities and people with fame when they follow them without much threat of rejection.  They feel as if they are part of the celebrity's "entourage".  

Quite frankly the fastest way to be successful on Twitter is to be famous, because if you are just an "ordinary Jane or Joe" it is a ton of work to try to get a single right follower.  Let's be honest, when Justin Bieber can put an emoji of a plane and the word "Japan" and receive 85K ReTweets and 142K Likes...it's not what he said, it is who said it.  If you are not a "who" in Twitter...you are better off spending your time else where.  

Then there is the problem of what I like to call Twitter abuse and it comes on many levels.  There is what I like to call the "Billboard Tweets".  We have all seen them.  They are nothing but tweeting about what you are selling.  

This is closely followed by what I call the "Promotional Tweet".  In an attempt to get some attention people promote themselves or their company.  

However, their is another side to abuse which is even more serious.  If you post a tweet that has some political ideology or some personal belief and people do not like it, they publicly ridicule, shame, name call, label, and bully people.  While I occasionally have received this type of abuse, I seen it every day on social media, and it is frightening how awful, irresponsible, and immature other human beings can be to another human being for simply having an opinion that disagrees with another person.  On Twitter there is not discourse or discussion.  If one does not agree with you, then you are "ignorant", "stupid", "moron", "a-hole", and they hope you "die".   Yep...that is the Twitterverse.

Probably the biggest problem with Twitter.  It really is not all that social.  "Likes" and "Retweets" are nice, but those actions are nothing more than the "click of a thumb".  There is very little interpersonal conversation, very little personal interaction in the form of communication, and while that may appeal to some, to the majority it has very little appeal.  People strive to be with other people.  To converse, communicate, and create community.  While there are some that say, "B.S. I don't need anybody", the fact is as humans we thrive in community much better than being alone.  Twitter can be a very lonely place.  It is less about people and more about information.  

Heck even co-founder  Jack Dorsey doesn't even believe that Twitter is really all that social.

What Twitter Needs to Do to Fix their Problems: Recommendations to Jack Dorsey

First, do not change your 140 characters.  It is what makes you unique.  If you expand, then you are just another Pop-tart social media platform that looks like every other social media platform.  I guess if you do expand you become Google+...just sayin'.

Second, eliminate any and all robots and auto-posting.  It is anti-community, but more over it is just not... wait for it....Human.

Third, eliminate any and all abuse.  I do believe in freedom of speech, but I also believe that their should be consequences for your actions and that includes verbal actions as well.  If they want to bully, suspend the accounts.  Make it a place where people feel safe.  Where they can freely express themselves appropriately without fear of being shamed and bullied.

Finally, it needs to be social, not a uni-directional medium.  This is what is killing you more than anything else.  Let's be honest, Twitter is made up of mostly one way posts that people post links to their blog, what they are selling, the media's latest news story, or some celebrity random tweet, there is nothing that drives communication and personal interaction between people.  It lacks a casual friendly appeal.  It is no longer for everyone, it is for the someone.  There is very little motivation for people to choose twitter as a platform if they do not have celebrity or fame already.  It is a waste and a time hole for the vast majority of people as demonstrated by the vacant accounts. 

Why? Twitter is about who has the most followers, not friends or connections.  The average person is looking for personal interaction and connection.  Even though Instagram also has followers, it encourages personal interaction, it is friendly, and has an interface that is appealing.   Perception is everything to the user of social media platforms.  The perception of Twitter is just that it is a bunch of information.  Most of which is never read. Oh and just because you have added a poll...it only works for people who have many followers, and those followers, I promise you are active more than just once a month.

Mr, Dorsey, Jack,  you need to have you and your team ultimately change the platform culture.  There is a lack of interest and people are just not motivated to become part of a platform where they have to work so hard to get some sense of a psychological reward.  The psychological research on social media has demonstrated that power of "self-verification" is key to the success of a social media platform.  This is what keeps the average person from using Twitter.

The fact is, there is no sense of community, no sense of web ideology of self, or self expression that reveals identity.  These motivations are why people use these platforms both qualitatively and quantitatively.  Twitter has a very difficult task at trying to combine these factors to bring people back and bring them back for more.  My suggestion would be rather than focus on "followers" or "number of Tweets", start showing "interactions".  That will let people know who is there because they want to be social versus, just a platform to throw some post on a wall.

It's a big task Jack (can I call you Jack?), but if you get this done, you will have a platform that will in fact regain it's prominence among the social media platforms. 

Stay Successful My Friends!

Jay Izso, the Internet Doctor?

Friend - Follow - Connect 

Jay Izso, the Internet Doctor?, National Award Winning Author of the book, Got Social Mediology?  Using Psychology to Master Social Media for Your Business Without Spending a Dime!  is a national speaker, psychological business consultant, and writer who helps entrepreneurs and businesses reduce their marketing budget and achieve higher ROI by understanding the psychology of their consumer on social media, face to face, and beyond. He has a Master’s of Science in Experimental Psychology and has taught psychology for more than twenty years, including at Washington State University and North Carolina State University. When he’s not busy consulting, engaging on social media, writing, teaching, or speaking, Jay enjoys life as a wine geek, musician, sports fan, and classic movie buff. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his wife Linda Craft, who owns Linda Craft and Team, REALTORS? and their dog Bandit.