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Why the Uproar Over Twitter Ads?

 

There has been quite a bit of buzz in the past few days about some rogue advertisements popping up on Twitter.  It is a bit comical actually.  Almost like a game of “Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?” very few people have actually seen the purported advertisements.  Despite this, rumors abound that Twitter is conducting an experiment on including ads as part of its service.

 

What astounds me is the uproar this potential move has caused in the Twitter community.  Overwhelmingly, the sentiment is that inserting ads into the Twitter stream would be a violation of the spirit of the service and degrade the user experience.  In fact, a poll on Tech Crunch currently shows that the people in favor of keeping Twitter ad free greatly out number those that don’t mind the addition of a few ads.

 

Here’s the thing though, the same Twitter diehards that are up in arms over a few ads are the same people that will be lost when Twitter burns through all of its cash.  Folks, Twitter took on $5.4 million in funding—not nearly enough cash to operate for an extended period of time (granted its founder has very deep pockets.)  Are we really surprised, if this is true, that Twitter is exploring its options on how to monetize on its loyal following?  Even if it isn’t true this time around, it will happen.  So let’s dispense of all the nonsense and embrace the fact that Twitter has to make money if it hopes to have any longevity.

 

Sometimes as members of a community, we tend to get caught up in what we think defines the value of that community.  We like to take this naïve viewthat the people running places like Twitter have the same ideals and goals that the participants in the community do.  And while I am not calling into question the motives of Twitter, I think we’d be silly to think that growing a large and vibrant community for discussion is Twitter’s main goal.  No, the main goal of Twitter is to make money and including ads as part of the service is the most viable option to start turning a profit.  This shouldn’t take away from the benefits the community is able to gain from the service. 
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Posted by Chris Iafolla on April 16, 2008 01:39 PM |

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