By Megan Atiyeh
This week, Twitter finally introduced plans to monetize its business with “Promoted Tweets.” Much like Google Ad words, promoted tweets are sponsored tweets that appear at the top of the page when users search for keyword advertisers have bought to link to their ads or promotions. On Twitter, ads will continue to appear as long as they show resonance with users via a set of criteria like clicks or re-tweets. Ultimately, promoted tweets will also appear in personal content streams even if users do not perform a relevant search or follow the advertiser in question.
Response to the news has been mixed. Users seem to have adopted a wait and see attitude but I anticipate there may be additional backlash when the second phase of the program is introduced and unsolicited ads begin appearing in personal streams. Its “opt-in” format is one the reasons Twitter has been so popular. As Twitter evolves, can it survive for the long haul, or will it be replaced by the next big social media phenomenon? Only time will tell. According to recent reports, Twitter’s growth has slowed considerably. Of its estimated 75 million users only 10-15M are active tweeters and many new users never utilize their accounts.
What do you think? Is Twitter here to stay?
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