These days it's easy to say Twitter is done. While it is the newswire of present day, outside of that realm there are huge challenges including but not limited to user growth and activity. In the age of Instagram, Twitter feels stale. Instagram is crushing it so hard right now that Twitter is now ignored by small business more than ever in the past five years
For the record, we love Twitter. Also for the record, we continue to prioritize constant Tweeting, Liking and Re-Tweeting on behalf of our clients. We've always knew Twitter was here to stay and find it important to make these points for those who may have abandoned the platform.
While there are some reasons Twitter is worth a second look, some changes should also be made. Let's start with the changes Twitter should make to re-invigorate the interest of it's users:
1-Add a Story feature, this is the most obvious. Twitter needs their own version of stories. We're well aware of the continued appeal of Snapchat regardless of the negative press it has received since it's IPO. Facebook has made a living adding their own versions of the most popular and promising social media features. Instagram stories is a perfect example of their success. Twitter needs to wake up and start doing the same thing if they want to remain or even grow in relevance.
2-Add a Story feature, seriously, ASAP.
3-Update the layout. Yes, Twitter's simplicity has served it well, but it can maintain a simple and recognizable layout while increasing it's appeal. This can be done by simply adding stories and live videos to the top panel, and by making the newsfeed and trending sections more visual by displaying photos and video of Instagram and Facebook linked posts instead of those silly, ugly and unappealing links. In Twitter's situation, integrating further with Facebook and Instagram serves it well.
Those 2 improvements would provide a much needed boost. Regardless of these needs, Twitter is still great for some other key reasons:
1-The newsfeed is as close as it gets to reverse chronological order. Twitter does have an “in case you missed it section” that appears first, but this is actually helpful to users. The nearly reverse chronological order newsfeed is one of Twitter's core competencies, and is the exact reason why it's worth a second look by anyone who has recently abandoned the platform for Instagram. On Twitter, users can actually expect all followers to have a chance to view their posts, something no longer possible on Facebook and Instagram. This is reason enough not to count Twitter out of the race.
2-Twitter is the newswire of present day. News is disseminated through Twitter by the media as a priority. Being the go-to source to break news and for breaking news is another core competency. Right up there with their newsfeed, this is a very admirable trait of this social media underdog.
Twitter is still in the game, and if they ever take note of history and start adding popular features and improve their layout, this could be one of the greatest comeback stories of all time.