back to article Honestly though, Twitter can't do anything right

Microblogging platform Twitter has disappointed investors, missing Q1 2016 revenue and user growth forecasts. Its share price has fallen 13.5 per cent in after-hours trading today to $15.35. The San Francisco company's GAAP net loss of US$79.7m was considerably better than the first quarter 2015 loss of $162.4m (and also …

  1. Captain DaFt

    "so users can expect an onslaught of promotional video advertising."

    More annoying ads shoved in your face when you're using a service is always the answer when a trend slows.

    That's sooooo going to help the bottom line! >rolls eyes<

  2. Dan 55 Silver badge

    Google's waiting to swoop in and pick this up at a bargain price. They're desperate for a social network.

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Do you reckon? Even at the current price Google could easily buy it if wanted. The reorganisation last year

      seemed to indicate a move away from buying into more Silicon Valley bubbles.

      Anyway, how "social" is Twitter in comparison with Snapchat or WhatsApp?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        What makes Twitter less social than those?

        The main problem Twitter has is that it has been around too long, people are always looking for something new. I remember when Myspace was big with the high school and college crowd, then it was Facebook, then it was Twitter and now it is Snapchat. I'm sure it will be replaced in a couple years by something else I probably haven't even heard of yet.

        WhatsApp is a totally different thing, it is just a replacement for SMS.

        1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

          WhatsApp is a totally different thing, it is just a replacement for SMS.

          And Twitter isn't?

          FWIW companies like Deutsche Bahn are now actively using WhatsApp to inform customers about delays. While this is initially just a replacement for SMS, it's also an easy way into the "bot-based" customer service that's being hyped at the moment. And here Twitter seems to have missed the, er, Bahn. Again.

          What's left for Twitter? The "I'm on the bus" crowd is moving to the messengers. There's Snapchat for selfies and possibly celebrity gossip. Pretty much leaves the closed loop of the media talking about the media: "Sack of rice falls over in Umberland".; "Our thoughts are with those in Umberland"; "#SackOfRice Disgrace in Umberland"; "Rice the most popular topic on social media"… Hard to see much money in that.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Show me how I can broadcast an SMS message to a million people all at once, and I'll agree that Twitter is just an SMS replacement.

  3. Charlie Clark Silver badge
    Mushroom

    That's in spite of Twitter's claim, during its earnings call on Periscope, that a dollar spent on Twitter generates $6 in ROI for marketers.

    ROFL. If that were anywhere near being true then they'd have to beat advertisers off.

    There's no doubt that Twitter has reach – it's the goto platform for the me too outpouring of synthetic emotion and pithy one-liners – it's just lacking a business model. The yoof seems to have moved on to Snapchat and WhatsApp.

  4. Nixinkome

    Still a loss making utiliy.

    At some stage Twitter is going to run out of funds if it's engagement with users doesn't grow and it's monetization fails.

    I use Twitter: It is a very convenient 'sorter' of the websites I am interested in if they can be bothered to post. It is more up to date than re-visiting them through Favourites or keeping open tabs for them.

    May I suggest secondary tabs for Twitter accounts to receive by? It'd be like some voting systems and give Twitter top brass more data to sell the advertisers.

    P.S. If an advert is annoying enough to catch my attention or direct time I lose the website. Ad blockers aren't the only way. I avoid using Twitter on my mobile - notifications or direct interests are sufficient and I don't bump into lamp posts. Others are making mobile advertising work.

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Re: Still a loss making utiliy.

      I use Twitter: It is a very convenient 'sorter' of the websites I am interested in if they can be bothered to post. It is more up to date than re-visiting them through Favourites or keeping open tabs for them.

      RSS is even easier and cuts out the middle man.

  5. Titus Aduxass

    Algorithmic (i.e. broken) timeline

    ''Users might say they don't like the "algorithmic timeline," but only two per cent could work out how to opt out and return to a strictly chronological timeline''

    I f*cking hate the "algorithmic timeline" - it completely defeats the point of Twitter IMO. I have opted out but I'm convinced that what I now see is not simply my timeline. Tweets from accounts I follow do not always appear :(

    The problem is there's currently no viable alternative to Twitter.

  6. paulf
    Facepalm

    App client just gets worse

    Recently I took the plunge and updated my App from a very old version (12-18 months) to the latest version. I have found how to turn off the algorithmic time line (as I've done on Bookface - its annoying there too) but I now find big chunks of timeline are missing whereas the old app would tend to pick up everything since I last looked. It also very helpfully skips to the top of the timeline so I either spend less time looking at it if I don't want to read backwards through time.

    I've also spotted the number of promoted tweets has steeply increased and I seem to get a promoted tweet of the week. At the moment every 10th tweet for the last two weeks is a promoted one about Kia cars. A few weeks ago it was something else to saturation. Tweets are often appended with promoted tweets about Uber.

    TL;DR - as time goes on the UX of Twitter just gets worse so it's no surprise people aren't sticking about so much.

    [Yes I know crappy social media/time sink/splurging personal info/ad slingers but it's simple chewing gum for the brain when I'm taking a break from the design work to get a cuppa at the office].

  7. Broadwing

    Only two percent?

    Amusingly, when I went to turn off the algo-timeline, I found that the section of the settings page that does that not only requires your password - fair enough - but was also the only part of the site that actively thwarted browser-based password filling.

    It's as if they don't want you turning it off.

  8. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

    Take a seat. Relax. Make yourself comfortable. You are at a safe place. Close your eyes. Take a deep, deep breath. Exhale slowly through your nose. Now open your eyes and repeat after me:

    Twitter will never make any money.

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