Dude, Where's My Twitter?

The micro-blogging platform Twitter has blown up in the last few months, with over 5 million new users signing up in March alone, the mega-popularity of the service is now without question.  Although it certainly lags behind most social networks (like Facebook with over 200 million users) in total number of registered participants, it is getting more press time and attention that most of the other networks combined.  Arguably Twitter is the flavor of the month, but how long will its popularity last?  More importantly, what does the future user of Twitter look like?  Geeks and Nerds everywhere are starting to complain about the influx of celebrities to Twitter, and are now throwing temper tantrums, gathering up their toys and storming off because they don’t want to share the space with the ultra-popular.

Britney Spears On Twitter

Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) has been “racing” CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) to be the first person on Twitter to have a million followers.  A lofty goal indeed.  Later today, The Oprah Show will feature Mr. Kutcher on stage with Oprah as she tweets out her first message (you can follower her at @Oprah if you are so inclined), the “Tweet heard round the world” according to somebody close to her.  As I’m drafting this post the night before, Oprah hasn’t even put up one status update and already she has close to 50,000 followers. The Wolverine himself, Mr. Hugh Jackman (@realhughjackman) has jumped into things by offering to donate $100,000 to a worthy charity, picked solely by tweets from his followers about which it should be. Of course I can’t talk about celebrity tweets without mentioning the one and only Ms. Britney Spears (@britneyspears) that is also pushing the one million mark and will be there soon. 

Twitter was originally a geeks’ playground, but now has becoming a glorified People Magazine, with insights into the lives of celebrities that tabloid-frenzied mobs of stalkerish fans only previously dreamed about.  I’m starting to hear more and more noise in the Twitterverse about people ready to pack up and find the next big thing.  Seems that the early adopters aren’t thrilled with having their space invaded; whereas they used to be big fish if they broke 10,000 followers, now you can’t even be on Twitterholic with anything under 200,000.  The loyal fans that started with the service in the early days are now small fish in  big pond, and frankly I think a lot of their already-fragile egos can’t take it. 

So, is Twitter done with? Hardly.

In fact, as geeks exit, I doubt most people will even hear the door close behind them.  I don’t want to focus on that however, what I do want to point out is that it is ridiculous to say that it’s time to go, because the beauty of the service of Twitter is that everything is opt in.  That is key here…your Twitter universe is only as big or small as you want it to be.  Even though there are millions of new users flocking to the service each week, if you choose to follow just five people, that is exactly how big Twitter will be to you…five people.  You can also choose to block people or make your profile private, so if you only want five people to follow you, then that is all you will get.  The reality of it all is this: the early adopters geeks (and I consider myself to be one, incidentally) that want to pout and run off to something else are free to do so, but the only reason that they would is because their egos cannot handle being in the shadow of somebody like Ashton Kutcher or Oprah Winfrey.  

Ashton Kutcher On Twitter

I’m personally thankful for the massive adoption by new users, it means the service will be around for a while.  There was some question about monetization (and there still is) in the past, and of course without money, companies cease to exist.  Although they still aren’t pulling in dollars hand over fist, any service that is getting as much buzz as Twitter is sure to be around for a while.  They will make money, and they will continue to exist.  Thank you Mr. Kutcher and Ms. Winfrey for bringing all of the attention to the service.  Of course there is a downside…the infrastructure can hardly keep up.  The Fail Whale has been coming up for air quite a bit lately, and there have been plenty of unscheduled down times.  It’s still free, so I’m still not complaining.

Of course this is all to say…I have chosen to not follow Kutcher or Winfrey or most any other celebrity for that matter.  The closest I came was Christopher Walken, but then it was revealed that it wasn’t even him Tweeting.  A shame!  They were creative.  So the next time you complain about celebrities being on Twitter, be thankful that they are so that the service will stick around for a while…and then simply choose to ignore them if you want.

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