Are Twitter’s problems a marketing ploy?
Scott Miller | April 22, 2008Twitter was having issues again this weekend. If you use it, you probably know that by now. The service has been plagued by various availability issues since it’s inception. The funny thing thing is that every time it goes down or has any hiccup, the blogosphere goes nuts. Dozens (maybe hundreds) of bloggers swoop in and write posts about the service, its’ problems, and how great it is when it works right.
If you believe that no press is bad press, this could be a very good thing for Twitter. Surely a faulty service can’t survive forever, but anyone who has studied business (or been in business) knows that the best quality product isn’t always the one that wins.
So I pose the question… are all the problems actually helping Twitter gain mass acceptance? Every problem they experience brings tens of thousands of dollars worth of free press, and spreads their name further. Its an interesting feedback effect, and surely one that can’t go on forever, but interesting to watch nonetheless.














While I don't think it's premeditated, I agree that Twitter's
Sam Stevens | April 22, 2008While I don’t think it’s premeditated, I agree that Twitter’s technical problems unleash a flood of viral promotion. Since they don’t have a clear competitor at this point, the “panic posts” do nothing but send more eyeballs their way.
The interesting thing is that all the viral promotion is
Scott Miller | April 22, 2008The interesting thing is that all the viral promotion is helping to solidify them as the market leader. If they can get to mass acceptance (a la facebook) before a strong competitor comes along, they have it made. Right now, such a small percentage of people actually use twitter…
[...] winning the micro blogging platform wars- despite questionable service
Taking the pulse of the Twittosphere | Brainnovate | April 28, 2008[...] winning the micro blogging platform wars- despite questionable service quality. As I mentioned in “Are Twitters Marketing Problems a Marketing Ploy?” - the best option out there is not always the [...]