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Those at Twitter might be doing some soul-searching today after a bad day in the financial world on Thursday.
When the US stock market closed, Twitter shares had fallen by four per cent to their lowest-ever closing value. But, in truth, this is only part of the problem.
While the stock market had an underwhelming day in general, the drop in Twitter value also tells us a lot about investor feelings towards the company, which has had a rocky year thanks to changes at the top, criticism over protecting users from abuse and an admittance that the service itself is still too difficult to understand and use properly.
But is any or all of this to blame for Twitter’s continued malaise?
Twitter is nine-years-old and yet still isn’t completely convinced about what is is. An identity crisis is ongoing, one that has been amplified by the platform’s decision this year to get rid of the “favourite” star icon and replace it with a “like” heart icon – similar to Facebook-owned Instagram. It drew a surprised reaction from users, but then the usage numbers spiked.
“Moments” also launched this year, and just this week in the UK. This is a more news and trend-centric section of the app, with the biggest news “moments” of the day presented in a digestible package. But does this mean Twitter wants to be seen as a news app now?
It’s a move Apple has also taken this year with their own native news app now on iOS. Twitter has been a solid news source for some time but this feels like a step in another direction.
But now stock is falling again and Twitter is back where it started at the beginning of the year, miles behind Facebook in user numbers and mixed messages over how we should all actually be using it.
Jack Dorsey, the man who co-founded Twitter, has rarely been out of the headlines as he re-joined the company earlier this year following CEO Dick Costolo’s departure. Initially as an interim chief, Dorsey was given the job full-time in October.
Since then stock has fallen 11%, and while this is not something that can be laid entirely at the feet of the man who sent the first-ever tweet in 2006, the fact that Dorsey was ousted as CEO first time around after reports of being distracted by other ventures, it’s perhaps no wonder some investors remain nervous.
Not only are users asking this question, as touched upon earlier, but even senior executives have admitted the site is still too difficult to understand quickly.
During a conference call on financial results earlier this year, Dorsey himself said the service was too confusing and that many users didn’t really understand what Twitter was. A news source? A social network? A public forum? No-one is quite sure and this remains an issue. Other big services have found their niche and pushed it, but it seems Twitter is still trying to be all things to all people and is spreading itself thin in the process.
Instagram famously began life as a check-in app, noticed images were doing well and jumped on the idea. Twitter is in need of a similar moment of prophecy.
This is probably the biggest problem – there doesn’t seem to be an obvious way to solve these issues. New features continue to be met with unpredictably positive and negative responses.
Replacing background images on timelines was given the thumbs-down while the Facebook-esque Like button got the nod of approval.
Some have called for the service to stop chasing Facebook and focus on its own strengths, but the Favourite-Like icon episode suggests otherwise.
There is also seemingly no single way to get all those who use Twitter – but don’t have an active account – to create one without ring-fencing the site. Doing so would alienate most of the site’s users who dip in an out, and completely changes its make-up.
2016 then appears to be a very important year in the micro-blogging site’s history. Yes, it will mark its tenth birthday but Dorsey and co would love to do so with a little less uncertainty and a few more users and, as a result, some happier investors.
